It’s 9:17 on Friday night. What am I doing? Lurking around foodie sites trying to get a sense of what the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (the bequeathor of the Star Diamond Awards, of which Robert Irvine is a recipient) is all about. I look at the list of trustees. I don’t know these people. Are they chefs? Donald Trump, the wind always coming strongly from his left, is on the list. George Schwab out of Palm Beach. But someone interesting catches my eye.

Jean-Pierre Duteron, one-time maitre d’ to the late French president Francois Mitterand, is on the list. He’s been at the Waldorf-Astoria most recently, but his stint there has been sullied by accusations. Waiters Francois Spach and Claude Waryniak say sexual harassment was on the menu in 2006, charging Duteron grabbed their private parts and made unseemly comments about their anatomy.

Hmm.

Another of Irvine's awards, La Toque Blanche International award, I could find no links for. What is this award and who gives it? In a Google search, only Irvine’s bio comes up. Surely, if it’s a legitimate award, someone else has received it?