FOOD FOR THOUGHT

IT has been another busy week thank God. There are lots of tourists around and we had quite a few Northern Irish visitors.

It’s lovely to hear how well our counterparts in the restaurant industry in the six counties are doing. Being around for as long as we are, one customer asked me about Paul Rankin. Himself and Derry have been pals for years. We opened in July 1989 and he opened Roscoff’s in October of the same year. He then changed it to Cayenne some years later. Again another wonderful restaurant that has closed. Paul and his then wife Jeannie were always on the go. They even had their own programme on BBC1 too.

Now I am reliably informed Michael Deane is cooking up a storm with three different restaurants in Belfast. We had some English visitors who were going north to see the Giant’s Causeway and the Beetling plant beside an old linen factory in Upperlands, Co Derry.

I highly recommended Brown’s restaurant in Ardtara Country House there. My friends and I had a great time and a very memorable meal there last summer. It is important that we are able to recommend suitable places for our guests travelling all around Erin’s green isle. After all, the UK is not only our closest neighbour, but also our biggest and most loyal supplier of tourists. I just hope this does not change when Brexit clicks in.

We love staycations in Ireland. Derry is particularly fond of Cork and Kerry and we have made good friends visiting Sherkin Island, Kinsale and Dingle in the last number of years with people that visit these places at the same time every year that we do.

The weather is a bonus, but it is all about the break, the craic and change of scenery. We have a few trips planned in the coming months, and again we know to book well in advance to avoid disappointment. We have fantastic B & B accommodation as well as stunning hotels and I love to sit and ‘people watch’.

IT amazes me how many people just don’t listen. I read an article recently on how women of a certain age are invisible. I am invisible in work all of the time, as it is my job to make sure service is as seamless as possible. Our Front of House team, all a great deal younger than I, would say they are invisible too.

I had a hilarious incident last week as some gentlemen customers were discussing who was going to tell their wives they would be late home — all while I was helping them with their jackets. One of the gents turned around and said, ‘Oh I forgot you were here’ to which I laughed and replied, “I am blonde, but not deaf!’ and we all had a good giggle before they went on their merry way.

It is all about the break, the craic and the change of scene