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Hemingway haunt gives discounts to "poor Americans"Mon Apr 7, 2008 12:40pm EDTBy Philip PullellaROME (Reuters) - Harry's Bar, the famed Venice watering hole where Ernest Hemingway held court over hearty food and stiff martinis, is offering a discount to "poor" Americans suffering from a weak dollar and subprime blues.The decision by the owner of the restaurant, one of the most expensive even when the U.S. currency is strong, underscores the growing concern about the weak dollar among tourism operators in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.A sign posted outside the restaurant at the weekend reads:"Harry's Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20 percent discount on all items of the menu during the short term of their recovery."When the euro was introduced as the continent's common currency in 2002, a dollar bought about 1.10 euros. Today it gets about 64 euro cents, making prices seem astronomically high for most Americans."Since the start of January, we noticed a drop in (American) customers of between five and 10 percent and now that we are in April its looks really frightening," Arrigo Cipriani, 76, Harry's owner, told Reuters by phone from Venice on Monday.ENIT, Italy's national tourism board, said in a report this month that the "strong devaluation of the dollar compared to the European currency and signs of a recession are currently the greatest obstacle to American tourism toward Europe."Harry' Bar was founded in 1931 when Giuseppe Cipriani, a barman at a Venice hotel, opened it with money an American named Harry Pickering had given him to pay off a loan.He named the bar and his first son Arrigo (Italian for Harry) -- the current owner -- in Pickering's honor.Hemingway made Harry's Bar his Venice headquarters. He mentioned it in "Across the River and Into the Trees," which was published in 1950 and which he wrote on the lagoon island of Torcello while living in an inn owned by the Cipriani family.Cipriani, whose family company owns high-end restaurants and food shops in New York, Venice, Hong Kong, London and Sardinia, says even well-heeled clients look for discounts."You would be surprised how people like to have a discount on their bill whether they are rich or poor," he said, adding that a full meal with wine at his Venice restaurant could set someone back more than 200 euros ($314.5).Cipriani, who said the discount will apply only to the restaurant part of the tab and not the bar, said Americans in Venice need not bring their passports to his restaurant in order to get a discount."We will judge by the accent and if we make a mistake, we will give a 20 percent discount to the English as well," he said.
By now I’m sure most of you know about the bottle recall from Sam Adams which was issued today. The Boston Beer Company, the 4th largest brewer in the U.S., has voluntarily recalled select 12 ounce glass bottles of its beer. Company officials say the brew could contain small bits of glass. According to the Associated Press, The Boston-based brewer says routine quality control inspections at its Cincinnati brewery found defects in some of the beer bottles which were made by a glass bottle supplier. The maker of Samuel Adams beer says the defects could cause small bits of glass to break off and possibly fall into the bottle.How do you know if your bottle is one of the bad ones? The sub par bottles are embossed (at the base) with the the letter “N”, followed by the number “35″, followed by the letters “OI” (so it would appear “N35OI”).The company released the following statement today via their website: During a routine bottle inspection at one of our breweries, we detected possible defects in a small percentage of bottles resulting in the random presence of bits of glass, most the size of grains of sand, but some small slivers in some bottles as well. Based on this sample, we quickly began testing bottles of Samuel Adams at all of our breweries and identified that the problem appeared to be isolated to a single glass plant of the five that supply us. We assembled a panel of food safety, medical and packaging experts including a medical doctor who have thoroughly evaluated the samples. People who bite or swallow a fragment could possibly be injured. While the possibility of injury to an individual consumer is very low and the Company has had no reports of any injury, we do know that the risk is not zero, so we are voluntarily recalling all products in bottles from this specific glass plant that we believe could possibly be affected.It also appears that the affected bottles are not contained to any one Sam Adams brew, so if you have some fresh in your fridge, it might be a good idea to give them a quick once-over. If you do have recalled bottles in your possession, the company promises a full refund. click here to find out how to get your money back.
Thank God I was drunk; I never felt a thing.
Buster Martin completed the London Marathon this past weekend in just about ten hours. The 101 year old man set a new record for the oldest person to ever complete the marathon. So, what did he do to celebrate? Have a beer, of course. While it would be logical to assume that, since Martin appears in such great health, he must be a health nut but the truth is actually quite the opposite.Buster Martin smokes more than a dozen cigarettes and drinks an average of 7-8 full pints of beer — usually at least one during a break in the middle of his daily run — every day. It truly boggles the mind. “He smokes, drinks, stays out late, which is probably why he is still alive,”Charlie Mullins, the managing director of the plumbing company where Martin cleans vans three days a week told ABC News.Maybe 7 pints a day is the missing link to my physical fitness routine.
