Table talk
Chargrilled meals our speciality
We all know customers want value for money but some people can take it to life-threatening extremes. Earlier this year, a restaurant in Orlando, Florida, caught fire and the dining area rapidly filled with smoke. Not quite all the customers made straight for the exits, though. One made straight for the buffet so he could carry on eating outside, and another was seen stealing tips from other tables. And - talk about getting your priorities right - one woman was heard asking firemen if the restaurant would reopen later that day so she could have her pudding.
Making a million from Arabian nights
John O'Sullivan, the amiable manager of the Four Seasons hotel in Cairo, has been coping with some serious drops in occupancy lately. But his takings have received some royal support from an Arab princess, who came for five days last year and liked it so much that she has stayed in a presidential suite ever since. Her bill so far for the 14-month sojourn, which includes kitchen space for her private cook at $100 (£71) a day, clocks in at $1.8m (£1.3m).
Neighbours you can count on
Another manager with pressure on occupancies who has been helped out by some wealthy guests is Raymond Bickson at the Mark in New York. Not surprisingly, his business is not quite as good as last year, but it does help the takings in his restaurant that the two Manhattan post-codes surrounding the hotel, 10021 and 10028, have residents with an average annual income per person of $350,000 (£247,000). "They don't worry too much about the cost of eating out," said Bickson.
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder
AbsinthE can now be enjoyed in JDWetherspoon pubs throughout the UK. The aniseed-flavoured liqueur was the favoured tipple of bohemians from New Orleans to Prague until it was banned in America in 1912 and its production was suppressed by the communists in the post-war Czech Republic. It is made from distilled oil of wormwood. Much of its legendary effect is due to its extremely high alcohol content (75%) and an active neurotoxin, which can have a hallucinogenic effect on drinkers. Wetherspoon's alcopop version, Wilde Mule, is described as "sexy" and "available in a super slick aluminium bottle containing a shot of absinthe, lime, and ginger".
JobCentre gives Spearmint something to chew over
A jobcentre has refused to advertise vacancies for bar staff and waitresses at a lap-dance club in order to protect jobseekers from embarrassment. The international chain Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Clubs has been banned from advertising in a JobCentre for 30 posts at its new venue in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The company, which opened there last week, has been forced to relocate existing staff from its other venues in the UK. Spearmint Rhino accused the JobCentre of taking a ridiculous moral stance and said that people had the right to choose what they wanted to do. An employment service spokesman said jobseekers had an obligation to apply for available jobs and it was not appropriate for them to feel obliged to consider jobs of this type.
