Category General thoughts
Do Americans understand us?
Have you ever wondered what the Americans think of us? Here in the UK, we spend so much time reporting Americans’ activities in the news, watching American movies and eating their beef burgers that we seem to miss the obvious fact that they spend a good majority of their time marvelling at the UK. No, […]
Can you remember?
Some time ago, while all my family and friends were dressing for the winter trying to keep warm, I was sitting with some colleagues on the patio of a superb restaurant overlooking stunning countryside just outside Cape Town and was about to have lunch. Just to rub it in, the temperature was around 30°C but […]
Are vegetarians in danger?
As a child I went through a period of being obsessed by what would happen to me after death. Not in a religious way; Sunday school and RE lessons had sorted that one out – at least until I hit the argumentative stage. No, it was to do with the bit they burnt or buried; […]
We’ve popped up – so pop in and see us in Bishop Auckland
I once spent a very late, boozy evening at a dinner with an accountant. Yes, it appears that sometimes accountants can be fun but maybe it takes a three course meal and a couple of bottles of wine. Anyway, we had a mathematical argument. I told him that a banker once told me that restaurants […]
Of course you can survive on £53 a week. But is it living?
Of course Iain Duncan Smith can live on £53 a week. Remember, that’s a figure after various other benefits have been taken into account so it’s there for actual luxuries – like food. It’s a spurious argument really. Iain Duncan Smith lives in luxury compared with most people but, to be honest, there are very […]
I’ll pop-up if you pop-in
I use a smartphone. Well they call it that but it’s a bit of a misnomer because it’s as thick as a plank unless I use it properly. Much of its time it just sits in my pocket doing little but costing me lots. But despite some limitations, and it’s owner is often the main […]
Let’s be commonsensicle
Instead of using butter, my wife currently insists on coating her toast with some industrial spread that promises to make her live to 120 by lowering her cholesterol or blood pressure or weight or some such. And maybe it will. And maybe you think that’s a good thing. However, it seems to fall into the […]
Mind your own business
Are you, like me in a business where you get people telling you how to do your job? From pricing on the menu to the contents of the dishes, from sourcing of our food to how we cook it, we get enough advice to write a book (now there’s a thought). It doesn’t really wind […]
I don’t wanna be a TV star
Previous published in the Northern Echo Put yourself in my position. It’s six o’clock at the beginning of the evening, the booking diary’s full, the staff are all briefed, the kitchen’s all prepared, the candles are lit and we’re waiting for the first diners to arrive. It’s quiet at the moment but within a short […]
Rules rule ok
Previously published in the Northern Echo Our lives are governed by rules: rules for driving on the road; rules for how we should dress for work, interviews and appearing in court; rules for queuing at the post office; rules for writing emails and letters; rules for eating food. Who invents all these rules? Obviously we […]
Bill Oldfield 