Global: It’s all go in the wacky world of food and drink this week. The recession-hit industry is rising to the challenge with one coffee shop owner resorting to radical measures to get customers through the door.
Donald Crabtree, owner of The Grand View Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine, thinks he has hit on the perfect solution by combining two of the human 
races favorite obsessions, coffee and nudity, into one recession-busting business experiment.
By opening what appears to be the world’s first Topless Coffee shop, Crabtree may have struck gold. The waiting staff are also reaping the benefits, as customers have fallen in love with the idea, and are tipping the workers as much as $100 a time.
Mr. Crabtree is now considering expanding the idea, although it seems that the plan for a male-only staffed bottomless Bar-B-Que may be a step too far.
“We tried an experimental version, but for some reason, the customers seemed reluctant to sample the hot-dog sausages, even though the chefs were obviously very excited. We can’t understand it, our chefs are all stand-up guys.”
When quizzed about their enthusiasm for the job, Crabtree explained, “They are all incredibly dedicated, in fact once they start splashing their sauce around, there’s really no stopping them.”
Elsewhere, gastro-genius Heston Bloomenthal, owner of ‘The Fat Duck’ restaurant in Bray, UK, has been suffering problems of a different nature. The Fat Duck was voted World’s Best Eatery back in 2005, due to Heston’s radical combination’s of flavours and cooking techniques. The restaurant has been hit with a health scare in the last week or two, with some 40 customers becoming ill after sampling the fayre on offer.
With a menu that includes such items as Snail Porridge, Bacon Ice Cream and Ejaculating Pudding, surely the only mystery surrounding this spate of illness is how anyone can eat that stuff without throwing up immediately.
Finally, another UK celebrity Chef, Anthony Worrell-Thompson, has hit upon hard times with his restaurant chain, being forced to close a number of sites this last week. Thompson, or ‘Wozza’ as he’s known by the British press, should survive the recession by virtue of his other profitable sidelines.
One of his most popular endorsements is the ‘Wozza’ range of traditional sausages. They are displayed prominently in many of the countries’ supermarkets and the front of the packet even features a picture of the diminutive chef holding his favorite cooking utensil . Below the picture is written the line “Prick with a fork”, which this reporter feels is just a little unfair. After all, he is just trying to make a living like anyone else.