table talk

Rubbery grub…

Four women have settled a lawsuit against a California restaurant after one of them allegedly found a condom in her soup.

The women sued McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant in Irvine, claiming negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Laila Sultan claimed she was eating clam chowder at the restaurant in February last year when she bit into an unwrapped, rolled-up condom. The case was due to begin in Orange County Superior Court last week, but the two sides reached an undisclosed settlement. In her claim, Sultan said she spent 15 minutes vomiting in the toilet after spitting out the condom, and has seen a psychiatrist and taken medication for depression and anxiety following the incident.

Defence lawyers had argued that neither the restaurant nor its staff was the source of the condom.

Looks like Hutson's even got India covered

Robin Hutson is a recognisable face among the hotel community in this country. But how about as far afield as India? Checking into a hotel in Mumbai recently, we found a copy of Caterer in our room along with copies of Time and the Economist. On the front cover was Robin, in his capacity as Hotelier of the Year.

We left the magazine there on our departure. Robin, expect that call from Bollywood any day now.

Maybe that's why they're sleepless in Seattle

Seattle, the city that spawned America's obsession with strong dark coffee, is giving locals a popular new coffee-flavoured steak, even while the mad cow scare that started in the area is putting some people off beef. Rippe's, a waterfront steak and seafood restaurant, began serving filet mignon steaks dusted with Starbucks' dark espresso blend a few weeks ago and now has a runaway hit on its hands. Despite being rubbed with coffee grinds before grilling, the $29 (£16) steak, although a bit crunchy, carries only a subtle hint of coffee flavouring.

Starbucks socks it to Paris

Many French people would probably say that dusting Starbucks coffee on a steak is a better idea than drinking the stuff. The global chain opened its first store in Paris last week and is facing a challenge to change French opinion about American coffee, which some refer to as jus des chaussettes - sock juice. But Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is taking a diplomatic approach:

"We're not coming here to teach French people about coffee in any way," he stresses. "We have to earn the respect and loyalty of French customers."

It's got ‘Ayers' all the way through

The unusually hot summer last year seems to have gone to the heads of some marketing people. The new promotional campaign from the English Riviera Tourist Board uses Ayers Rock in Australia to focus attention on the resorts of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham.

On his way to Ayers Rock, a young Aborigine stops to read a poster advertising the joys of the Devon coast, which is pinned to a tree upside down.