Many years ago (50+), my newly-minted wife and I honeymooned in Newfoundland. On our journey to our final destination (her brother’s home in St. John’s) we stopped at an impressive hotel in Corner Brook. I don’t remember the name, but we were tired and hungry (and in our early 20s … so, fresh-faced and quite innocent to the world). We went to the hotel’s restaurant, a magnificent room that, I am sure, could accommodate 300 diners. There was one other couple, about 8 or 10 tables away. The waiter, dressed immaculately, asked us what we would like. The menu, however, had nothing but fish dishes listed, which was fine by me, but my wife was deathly allergic to fish, and not a fan of steak as her father had worked at a slaughterhouse in our city and was constantly bring home red meat. She asked for chicken … not on the menu. The waiter said chicken was only available in a separate area of the restaurant … a fast food-styled area … but it was not open after 8 PM. (Lucky us, we were there at 9 PM). The food came from the same kitchen, but chicken was NOT served in this huge dining hall. As I mentioned, we were young and definitely not worldly, so my bride submitted to the pressure and ordered a small steak. She ate the vegetables and moved the steak from side to side. The attentive waiter came back and asked what was the matter with the steak. Nothing, my wife said. The waiter turned around and moments later returned with the chef (this guy even had the tall chef’s hat … la-tee-dah. Again, “what’s wrong with the steak?” “Nothing! I don’t like red meat and I can’t eat fish, and you don’t offer chicken!!!” The chef turned and stormed away! Needless to say she went to bed hungry. It made for an interesting, but sad and true, story.
Many years ago (50+), my newly-minted wife and I honeymooned in Newfoundland. On our journey to our final destination (her brother’s home in St. John’s) we stopped at an impressive hotel in Corner Brook. I don’t remember the name, but we were tired and hungry (and in our early 20s … so, fresh-faced and quite innocent to the world). We went to the hotel’s restaurant, a magnificent room that, I am sure, could accommodate 300 diners. There was one other couple, about 8 or 10 tables away. The waiter, dressed immaculately, asked us what we would like. The menu, however, had nothing but fish dishes listed, which was fine by me, but my wife was deathly allergic to fish, and not a fan of steak as her father had worked at a slaughterhouse in our city and was constantly bring home red meat. She asked for chicken … not on the menu. The waiter said chicken was only available in a separate area of the restaurant … a fast food-styled area … but it was not open after 8 PM. (Lucky us, we were there at 9 PM). The food came from the same kitchen, but chicken was NOT served in this huge dining hall. As I mentioned, we were young and definitely not worldly, so my bride submitted to the pressure and ordered a small steak. She ate the vegetables and moved the steak from side to side. The attentive waiter came back and asked what was the matter with the steak. Nothing, my wife said. The waiter turned around and moments later returned with the chef (this guy even had the tall chef’s hat … la-tee-dah. Again, “what’s wrong with the steak?” “Nothing! I don’t like red meat and I can’t eat fish, and you don’t offer chicken!!!” The chef turned and stormed away! Needless to say she went to bed hungry. It made for an interesting, but sad and true, story.