Interesting Facts

The £144 record for the most expensive pancake has been broken, with a restaurant in the UK serving up a pancake that will set you back a whopping £800. (Chef Matthew Downes at the Opus restaurant in Mancester, has created what is now the world's most expensive pancake using Scottish lobster, Beluga caviar and Hulle Verge Truffle all served with a Dom Perignon Rose champagne hollandaise sauce. If you want to save yourself a fortune, try my recipe: http://www.learnenglish.de/recipe/Pancakes.html, served with sugar and lemon juice, you can't beat it.)

Mr Twiggy Garcia attempted a citizen's arrest on former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. (Mr Garcia, a barman at a restaurant the ex Prime Minister was eating in, said he had fantasised for years about “arresting” Mr Blair, who is now ironically a Middle East peace envoy, for war crimes.  It was not a plan, he claimed, but “something I have wanted to do for a few years”. He is the fifth person to have tried to arrest Tony Blair, but they don't call him Teflon Tony for nothing.) Source - The Independent

This is more an interesting abbreviation, but I hope you will forgive me.  BYO is an abbreviation that's been in use for some time, usually seen in restaurants, it stands for 'Bring Your Own', and it usually applies to wine or alcoholic drinks. BYOD means Bring Your Own Device. (Seemingly more and more companies are asking employees to provide their own electronic devices, at their own cost. This means employees have the freedom to use a device that they prefer over one issued by their employer and employers don't carry the burden of providing computers, smart phones and other mobile devices. Of course I have no choice but to BMOD.)

According to a survey conducted by Sunshine.co.uk, 55% of Brits on holiday abroad seek out British home comforts. (The things that they admitted to specifically looking out for included:- - Restaurants serving British food – 37% - British bars – 25% - UK TV channels – 21% - British stores – 17% - British Brands – 12% I can understand UK TV channels, and for British Brands, maybe the odd packet of Rich Tea biscuits, or Tetley tea bags, but the rest is a mystery to me.) Source

A restaurant in Oldham removed toothpicks from the tables over fears that customers would stab their mouths or dislodge fillings (A diner was told by a waiter that new health and safety rules had been applied, but he went on to complain to the Health and Safety Executive and it ruled in his favour. It said: “There is no health and safety regulation which stops toothpicks being handed out in a restaurant.” Toothpicks are now back on the tables. Misunderstanding about Health and Safety rules have got so out of hand, that an HSE Myth Busters Challenge Panel has been set up. They even have their own web site. "Who ya gonna call?") Source

From 1 January 2014, jugs of olive oil and dipping bowls will be banned from restaurants in Europe. (After that date olive oil "presented at a restaurant table" must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labelling in line with EU industrial standards. The European Commission, a committee of nameless bureaucrats, has used special Common Agriculture Policy regulations to pass this weird bill. Their reason for the ban is "hygiene" and to protect the "image of olive oil" to attempt to benefit struggling industrial producers in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal. What a load of tosh!) Thanks to    + Luke Pettit for sharing this.

Interesting Food?  Olympics? Have I gone mad? No, but I am incensed, because this little factlet is about French fries at the Olympics. The fast food chain  McDonald’s has been given sole rights to offer French fries by the International Olympic Committee, because they are the official restaurant sponsor for London 2012 and have paid a small fortune for the privilege. (The 800 other eateries at Olympic venues nationwide will be allowed to sell the British favourite fish and chips — but not chips on their own. A note posted at the Olympic venue reads, “Due to sponsorship obligations with McDonald’s, Locog have instructed the catering team they are no longer allowed to serve chips on their own. The only loophole to this is if it is served with fish. Please understand this is not the decision of the staff serving up your meals, who given the choice would gladly give it to you. However they are not allowed.” Now IMHO there is no problem - French fries are not chips...

A New York pizza restaurant is charging $1,000 for a pizza. (Labelled the 'most expensive pizza in the world', the pizza is prepared with thinly sliced lobster and creme fraiche, and then you can choose between two of the most expensive caviars in the world as an extra topping, The restaurant owner, Nino Selimaj, says it is worth every penny, "We sell them to politicians, Wall Street traders, or couples celebrating a birthday or anniversary," he said. I praise his entrepreneurial spirit, and the fact he is able to squeeze a bit of that banker's bonus out of people who can afford it, but during a recession and with half the world going hungry, I have to question his ethics, and those of his customers.)

Over the past 50 years, revolving restaurants have opened in more than 50 countries on six continents, from Colombia to Nepal to Canada. (London's revolving restaurant in the BT skyscraper, previously known as the Post Office Tower was supposed to reopen by 2012 in time for the Olympics. Unfortunately it doesn't look as if it is going to happen now. In fact, it has not been an eatery since 1980 when the the Top of the Tower venue, which was run by the Butlins companys (I kid you not) closed after 14 years. It was shut amid security fears after an IRA bomb exploded in the gents lavatories in 1971. Still if you can't wait to try eating on the move there is a list of the best revolving restaurants here: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-40766329.) Thanks to  Rehan Ahmad  for inspiring me to look this up.