There is much of this story I’m not at liberty to tell you, but the purpose of this post is to share a quiet, non-vindictive chuckle at what happened today.
Rita was part of a group of reasonably high-profile food industry people, meeting at a reasonably high-profile eatery which naturally went to a fair amount of trouble to ensure all would go well for the day for these esteemed ‘foodies’.
The weather today was pretty unpleasant – cold and rainy. The venue was one with huge open spaces, and floor to ceiling windows – and NO heating! Owing to an electrical fault the whole place was absolutely freezing. We all shivered in varying degrees of immense uncomfortability – all day. Free-standing domestic heaters were bought in and positioned on both sides of the large square table, but unfortunately made not one skerrick of difference.
When it was lunchtime, we all partook of a beautiful lunch, then resumed our meeting.
(Pictured above - Fish of the day, and Affogato)
About half an hour into the afternoon following lunch, first one, then another, then another of our number had to suddenly, and hastily, exit. This happened four or five times before everyone compared notes and decided something was definitely amiss with the stomachs of most present.
Ginger ale was summonsed for those queasy tummies; severely embarrassed management came in to check on everyone and see what the affected customers had eaten in common. We still don’t know what caused this, but it culminated in one of the group having to go home early with stomach cramps.
You couldn’t script it, but as much as anyone could do to redeem the day, the Restaurant Manager and his trusty staff did all they could – so I’m sure I speak for the others when I thank the venue for their efforts on our behalves.
I’m SO grateful I am now home, glued to the heater!
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29 comments:
hang on a second. They freeze you, then you get sick in there and you say thanks!
No wonder we are all doomed. Sounds like a right farce. (No, not the stuffing).
Oh dear, here we go again! which place, when & which chef is leaving as a result Rita!
Hi Rita. Have just started to read your blog and love it. I have previously owned a restaurant & have encountered potential 'food poisoning' situations. The scenario is a common one. Did everybody eat the same meal? If not, I would suggest that food poisoning is not the culprit. Also, doesn't it take a while before the symptoms of food poisoning are evident?
Anon 9.05 - of course I thank them! They didn't plot to freeze then poison us prior to our arrival, and they certainly couldn't have been more concerned or solicituous than they were. In hindsight (taking into consideration the fact that I myself was not affected one iota by the food, or whatever caused the others illness) it was indeed farcical, hence my writing the post about it.
Anon 9.48 - sorry - no names today, and hopefully no chefs leaving amongst extraordinary circumstances.
Anon 10.00 - hello and welcome. What fine taste you demonstrate in your choice of blogs to follow!
Re your comments on food poisoning, naturally we all compared notes as to what we ate and drank in common. Four of us had the fish, three of whom later were ill. Three had the Affogato, two of whom subsequently became ill. The ones who shared the common food which appeared to make the others ill, were fine.
Kitchen staff went into the provenance of the food in great depth, questioning the freshness of, particularly, the fish. It had been delivered fresh in the morning from their reliable supplier. There was no apparent reason for peoples illness but let me hasten to assure you that no one was 'putting it on' and feigning illness!
The food looks so boring you could have been at almost any of Hobarts restaurants....maybe it was the oj...the waiter did it, you probably slagged him off recently
Any food would look boring to you with that attiude.
Anon 9.35 - as I myself was not affected, if it was indeed the waiter then it backfired - but it wasn't, and I haven't slagged any of them off at any time!
Venue give away with stemware, sugar bowl and affogato presentation - Mmm and how good is their affogato!!
napkin guy
Mmmm good photos! Did you read the Merucury today about bean shoots and alfalfa causing problems? Blame it on the garnish.
Glad you are OK (and warm)
looks like moorilla......
A freezing day in Tassie and a freezing venue with no heating.
And they serve what looks like a cold fish on baked beans.
You need heartwarming stuff. Fish with some piping garlic mash etc. Or roast spuds.
Then the pudlooked cold.
Whatever happened to a nice steamed pud, or hearty ricepud, custard, etc.
What is it with pretentious dining?
It misses the point. You need convivial, satisfying food, not this designer stuff.
Sir G that last comment is SO you!
Your style is unmistakable, no need to use the od 'anon' chestnut mate!
Oops forgot to add: Sir G , you might be right about the warming componants of a dish but do you seriously think fish fillet & mash is something that the dining public will go out on a cold day for? But before you answer, yes meyb ethe dish in question is not to your liking, but hows about you commit to a dish that WOULD make the dining public go out on a cold day for-kinda like masterchef, Hobart style! Now there's a challenge!
Anon said:
If they wouldn't go out for fish with a warm component, why would they go out for one without?
I'd say lightly flour or crumb- dusted fillets, flash fried like the Greeks, Italians or Spanish do, with fondant potato or some fanned, olive oil and butter sauted potatoes. Add a salad (yes cold, but the overall dish is warming) with a bit of fetta crumbled in, aided by an oilive oil, lemon and white pepper dressing.
A nice ginger and citrus steamed pud with custard or brandy sauce and a splodge of King Island cream.
To follow, a selction of tassie cheeses and crackers with a decent port.
Let me see if I understand this - on the one hand Rita will blithly accuse China Diner of serving deep fried cat, but on the other hand she won't name the restaurant at which a bunch of people dined prior to succumbing to 'queasy tummies'?
Lighten up Stephen! I repeated what I read in the Merc years ago about CD, for a start. I couldn't give a toss whether they use cats or dogs, and didn't accuse them of anything!
Secondly, I have subsequently found out that there's a gastro thing going round, and that would be more likely to have contributed to the queasy tummies than the food. My reasoning is that I was the only one of the four who ate the fish that didn't have anything wrong after eating the fish. Surely if the fish had been at fault, Rita would have spent the next day or two on the loo as well? My tummy is particularly susceptable to anything dodgy (to the point that I take two prescribed tablets daily to keep this under control) so I find that relying on my tummy to pass on messages like that is a great indicator for me. If anyone was going to succumb to food poisoning, it would have been me! So, no, I won't dob in some poor restaurant for what none of us is at all sure about.
I just phoned up the Glenorchy City Council re China Diner. I explained the allegation.
Once the lady had stopped laughing she assured me that she had never heard of any food seller serving cats (or dogs for that matter). She's been in the job for 13 years and even if it happened before her time she'd expect such an amazing event to be handed down by inspectors over the generations.
Fish and Roast spuds. Rice Pudding.
OMG Anon 5.12
Hey Stephen can you give the inspectors at the HCC a call too and see if they can remember the Har Wee Yee?
Yes Rita,
That China Diner allegation was false. You didn't read that in the Merc.
You also lambasted the merc for mentioning the donut thing but that was based on factual reporting.
In the defamation game Truth is king, not allegation. I think I even advised you to cut out those comments about the cats and dogs...all nonsense, all purely allegation.
Careful old girl.
Anon 2:21, afraid I'm not sufficiently interested to do that - especially as I don't want to be laughed at again (I get enough of that in the bedroom).
grrrowwlll this is getting exciting, or should I sat meowwwwww
I remember the 'the cats in the stir fry' thing being touted in the 60s when our - soon to be - favourite local general store at the time, owned by a Chinese family, opened on the corner of Harrington and Warwick Streets. This family, the Quons, became good friends. My mum assisted in making representations in helping them to bring family members out from China.
These kind of racist slurs were common at that time by some in our community who would not accept migrants from unfamiliar cultures. The hoary old urban legend about the cats is one of the most persistent and ridiculous of these taunts.
Have things changed? Not really!What about our Muslim and Hindu brethren?
Just finished watching tonight's Masterchef. The hosts are humble, they treat the contestants as adults and they want to freely share their knowledge and wisdom.
The result is that we're watching real people taking a personal cooking journey. The contrast with the nastiness of Hells Kitchen is striking.
Stephen, you rubbished me when I mentioned the place in North Hobart and you said you had searched for the court records.
Its much more likely to be a HCC health inspector matter and I have faith that you will find some records there.
By the way most of us are not interested in your bedroom problems.
Anon 2.21
Rubbished you?? You're an anon, how can I rubbish you in particular? You could be one of (or none of) 20 anons.
I'm not going to chase every vague memory of Buk Bow Cat with Special Fried Rice. If you want to know what the HCC health inspector says, then you should pick up the phone and ask the question.
I think that you will find that the four affected people all had affogato.
From where I was I can assure you that there was nothing farcial about the tummy problems.
I haven't heard back that the 4th person to have the affogato had succumbed to the tummy problem as well, but assuming that was so, that indeed would seem to be the common thread, Anon 8.11. And I hasten to reassure you that my point was that the situation itself was farcical, not the queasy tummies. Having long been a sufferer of tummy disorder, I am the first to be extremely wary of any food which could potentially cause this to recur.
It is a physological immposibility to get any kind of food bourne illness in any time period under seven hours. An Environmental Health Officer will state this as fact. Most food bourne ilness take at least 72 hours before any symptoms show. In this case it would more than likely be, as Rita said, a gastric illness, particularly if the group concerned had spent time together. Gastic illnesses have a much shorter gestation period.
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