Food for thought
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Last night we ate at Tribeca, a delightful French restaurant on the famous Avenue Louise. If you're a vegetarian or animal rights' campaigner, look away now because one of my companions insisted that I order the foie gras as a starter. Unexpectedly, I got a double helping because the waiter then recommended that I have foie gras sauce on my Argentinian beef - and before I could say "Enough, think of the birds!", there it was on my plate.
It was a warm evening so we sat outside on the terrace. This was one of two smoking areas - the other was inside, on the first floor. (In Belgium restaurateurs can allocate rooms for smokers as long as no food is served there.)
In fact, smoking continues to be permitted in many cafes and bars, so for most smokers there isn't really a problem. What a pity British politicians aren't as sensible about this as most of our European neighbours.
How long this will last remains to seen. Dick Engel, a colleague from the Netherlands, was also at last night's dinner, and we know what has happened in Holland. Sadly, an attempt to delay or reverse the ban failed in the Dutch courts last week, and the anti-smokers march on.
So, plenty to talk about over dinner. And the food wasn't bad, either.
Reader Comments (2)
A continental comrade has just emailed me this link:
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives
/2008/07/smoking_ban_leads_to_new_relig.php
The campaign to stop people smoking outside pubs is gaining ground.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk
/wdp/news/Customers-told-t-smoke
-pub-doorstep/article-227192-detail/article.html