Month: February 2007

Reviewing restaurants becoming dangerously costly?

The Northern Ireland newspaper Irish News -I must say I don’t like their policy of hiding their news behind a mandatory subscription- published a restaurant review back in 2000 by a renowned restaurant critic Caroline Workman.

The review criticized the quality of food and drink, the staff and the smoky atmosphere of the restaurant. On a scale of 1-5 the restaurant got a 1.

The owner of the Goodfellas Italian restaurant on Kennedy Way, Ciarnan Convery, had claimed the article was a “hatchet job” and sued the paper.

A jury found the review defamatory. The paper has to pay the restaurant owner £25,000 plus court costs. The paper lodged appeal.

Unfortunately I am unable to find the actual review.

Various papers claim this verdict a threat to the Freedom of Speech principle. Among them Maeve Kennedy in the Guardian in Critics bite back after restaurant reviewer sued for calling chicken too sweet

But it must be said that critics can be venomous when one sees some of the quotes:

“The worst meal I’ve ever eaten. Not by a small margin. I mean the worst! The most unrelievedly awful! You don’t need to be an atomic physicist to grill steaks. They arrived so raw you could have drowned swimming in the blood.”
Michael Winner, the Sunday Times, on Bibendum in Chelsea, London

“The taste and texture of the pease pudding reminded me of occasions when I have accidentally inhaled while emptying the Dyson.”
Giles Coren, the Times, on Court Restaurant at the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London

Interesting case to follow. During the 2006 hot month of July here in The Hague a restaurant had a problem with a critic who wanted to have desert on the terrace where she had her meal. The restaurant owner had to close the terrace at 9.30 PM pursuant to rules of the City. The critic refused to take the desert inside the restaurant and didn’t give points for the desert (while points for deserts count considerably for the overall points awarded). The restaurant claimed it to be unfair, but the paper in question did not redress which seemed not fair to me.

Kitzbuhel luxury hotels ban Russian tourists

Kate Connolly reports in the Guardian of today No room at the plush Austrian inn for Russians and their rubles that 16 out of 20 of Kitzbuehel’s four- and five-star hotels have agreed to limit Russian tourists to 10 % of total.

Sepp Schellhorn, president of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, condemned the Russian quota as “absurd” and “shortsighted”. “This is not in line with the wishes of those who promote Austria or the Austrian economy,” he said.

But the head of Sporthotel Mayr-Reisch, Rupert Mayr-Reisch, said: “We’ve learned from other resorts, like St Moritz. You get a bit of a nationality imbalance when one nation gets the upper hand. It’s more pleasant when there are not too many people from one country in the same hotel.”

However, Mr Schellhorn said that it was ridiculous to speak of a mix of nations: “Think about it: Kitzbuehel has a large number of Germans, but no one has ever thought of trying to limit their numbers.”

For Sale: Principality of Sealand

Principality of Sealand

The news drew my attention, because a lawyer friend of mine once had given a very humoristic presentation about it and because during the Sixties and Seventies the Brits and the Dutch shared a history of free Radio and even free TV stations on board of ships, platforms and other constructions outside territorial waters which officially were dubbed Radio (TV) Pirates. Some of that history is documented on line by one time “pirate” DJ Bob Le-Roi.

The Principality of Sealand is a concrete and steel platform located 7 miles East from the UK shore and North of the Thames Estuary. It was built as a fort, called Roughs Tower, in WW II and derelicted afterwards. In 1967 Paddy Roy Bates, a former English major, settled there with his family. He proclaimed the island his own state and gave himself the title of prince, Prince Roy. When the Royal Navy tried to evict him, Prince Roy saw them off with warning shots fired from the fort. A judge ruled that Sealand lay beyond the three-mile limit of Britain’s territorial waters and was, therefore, outside government control.

The Brits and Dutch even extended their original 3 mile territorial water zone to a 12 mile zone because of the ongoing piracy. After the extension at least the Dutch radio pirates were rolled up by the Dutch Royal Navy.

Sealand cleverly, and thus far probably effectively, countered the extension of the 3 to 12 mile zone by extending its own territorial zone to 12 miles and thus claiming they are still in international waters and the border between them and the UK being half way, 3.5 miles from the UK shore. It is not a nation recognized by the UN, but has its own currency, stamps and passports (including falsifications).

According to World Hum and UK Times Prince Michael, son of Prince Roy, has put the Principality on the market.

Principality of Sealand Arms

It is easy to see that it has some potential: A wedding location, a resort with (virtual) casino and tax free shopping facility, since nowadays tax free shopping is almost impossible within the EU, to name a few….I wished I had some cash laying around.