Michelin-starred chef Chris Staines, head chef at London restaurant Foliage, has been appointed by Lufthansa as the German airline’s first British star chef.

Staines, who has been at the helm of the restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel for six years, will create menus for Lufthansa’s long-haul first and business class passengers in January and February.

He has created a menu including dishes such as fish and chips with sauce remoulade and mushy peas; and fillet of beef Wellington with truffle jus, carrots and broccoli for first class travellers, as well as fettucine pasta with creamy mushroom sauce and white Cheddar for passengers in business class.

The Government today launched a consultation on proposals to ban hotels and restaurants from using tips to make up national minimum wage.

As well as inviting comments on the main proposals – which followed a long-running union campaign - the consultation will also look at ways of improving information for consumers.

Employment minister Pat McFadden said: “When people leave a tip they expect it to go to staff on top of their pay, not to be used to make up the minimum wage. This is an issue of fairness and common sense.

“We also want employers to make it clear how they distribute tips so that customers know where their money is going.”

The Government today confirmed that skilled chefs from outside the European Union will be allowed to work in the UK, despite tougher restrictions on immigration, which come in later this month.

Skilled chefs are on the shortage occupation list, which sets out those jobs for which there are not enough resident workers.

The list will be used as part of the skilled worker tier (Tier 2) of the Australian-style points system, which will be launched on 27 November.

To get in under Tier 2, skilled foreign workers must have:

* English language skills;
* Prospective earnings of more than £24,000 (£8.10 an hour), or slightly less if they have a decent qualification - or an offer of a job on the shortage list;