Russian Crooks, Truffle ice cream, crazy chef and the Daily Mail - Mainstream press setting the priorities

In digging the dirt on Russian rapists, caspian Crooks and oligarchs with didgy UK / Israeli citizenship this story neatly combines the cloying connections of the mainstream press with the free -spending exiled crooks, and a tenuous connection with the lawyers who are currently threatening the UK blogosphere.

In a fascinating story in (the sister paper to the Evening Standard who were sued for libel by Marco Pierre White with the help of Schillings extortionists for the popstars ) the Daily Mail (The £25 ice cream that isn't to be truffled at) Mr Perendes (the man who was / wasn't beaned by the egotistical Pierre - see below) detailed the delights of a £25 a time white truffle ice cream at Rocco Forte's and White's lacklustre 3 star ersatz Italian eaterie, Luciano's (named after Marco's eldest son) in St. James's.

This concoction was created ," for the London based Russian billionaire (and crook but now of course a UK citizen) Boris Berezovsky, a regular at Luciano and a man whose love of truffles knows no bounds."

Maitre d' George Perendes (then and perhaps still unbeaned by the tempestuous chef) said: "When he is having truffle risotto and I get to his table it's 'come on, George, keep shaving - don't worry about the price'." That price, incidentally, is £1,700 a kilogram when the truffles come from Piedmont in Italy.

He is, the Mail tells us breathlessly ..." not the only member of the super-rich club to have a taste for truffles. Roman Abramovich is also said to be fond of them."

Somehow one gets the impression that the Daily Mail / London Evening Standard will not be detailing the deeply disgusting, criminal background of the wannabe owner of one of the several struggling football teams that litter the nation's capital these days.