US haggis fans rejoice – 21 year old ban on haggis imports lifted!

by Scott Carmichael on

Any fans of boiled sheep heart, liver and lungs cooked with oatmeal inside an animal stomach? Well, good news for you – the twenty one year old US ban on Haggis imports has been lifted!

Back in 1989, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (better known as mad cow disease) forced authorities to ban the import of haggis. Apparently, sheep offal can be lethal when infected with BSE.

Even though haggis is not exactly the kind of dish most Scots serve for dinner once a week, it is an important part if our heritage (yes, I’m Scottish). During the annual Burns Night celebrations, Haggis is always on the table.

American butchers tried making their own haggis, but seriously, who in their right mind would eat an American copycat haggis served in a can – especially when it looks (and apparently smells) like dog food?

It will take a couple of months for the first Scottish produced haggis to make it over here, and even then, you’ll need a specialty butcher to actually get your hands on one. Feel free to let us know whether you’ll be rushing to pick one up!

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Business travelers on the brink of scoring free internet access

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Having to pay for internet access in hotels is nothing more than moronic. If the revenue is such a big deal, hotels should just slap the $9.99 — or whatever it is — onto the room rate and tell us they’re giving it away for nothing. But, nothing’s worse than spending $250 a night and having to pay another fee to connect to the web, which you’re going to have to do even if you’re on vacation, let alone traveling for business.

The slump in the travel business is giving business travelers more negotiating leverage, which they are using to score free access to the web. The need to put heads in beds, and business travelers still command the big budgets. Back in my corporate travel days, I’d spend $1,000 or more simply on the room … every week. Most leisure travelers don’t come near that on an annual basis — and my spend was modest compared to executives with the approval to satisfy more discriminating tastes.

So, you’d think hotels would want to keep business travelers happy, right? And since internet access is what’s most important to this group of hotel buyersSome upscale hotels, like the new Andaz chain from Hyatt, are rolling internet access into their rates, while major chains such as Hilton, Marriott and Starwood are giving in to business traveler demands but not changing their policies (to avoid setting a precedent they’ll be stuck with when the market recovers).

For the hotel business, giving up the internet money isn’t easy. The industry is at its 20-year low point, with revenue per available room-night (RevPAR) off 17 percent last year. The top properties suffered RevPAR declines of 24 percent. So, when Toni Hinterstoisser, general manager of the Andaz Wall Street, calls internet access charges “an easy way to make money,” it’s clear that the fee is a hard one to give up. Easy money is the best kind when the travel market is in the tank.

Kimpton’s rub down will make every day Valentine’s Day

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nobody should have to rub one out on Valentine’s Day alone … nothing is more depressing. So, let Kimpton help you get the contact you need. At 41 hotels , you can take advantage of the “Rub the One You’re with” package from February 1, 2010 through the end of March. Your stay will include a private one-hour massage instruction class. Using the whole “teach a man to fish” concept, you’ll make yourself indispensable to your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or casual fling, with relaxation skills that are positively addictive. Ply your new craft even after Valentine’s Day has passed with a take-home massage kit that includes Kerstin Florian organic lavender massage oil, a lavender and lemon aromatherapy candle and aromatherapy bath salts. You’ll also enjoy a bottle of champagne and complimentary overnight parking.

Says Niki Leondakis, Kimpton’s chief operating officer, “This playful package is a great way for couples to unwind this winter and create memories that will last well beyond their stay with us.”

How to get an F in art class: fall through a Picasso

by Sean McLachlan on

Drunken airline passengers aren’t the only people to do stupid things. An art student examining a Picasso painting somehow managed to fall into it and put a six-inch tear into the priceless work of art.

The painting, called The Actor and dating to the winter of 1904-05, was on display at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The woman who did the damage was not named, but it’s likely she won’t be showing her face around the Met anytime soon. Museum officials were quick to reassure art lovers that the damage would be repaired in time for the Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, which opens April 27 and will feature 150 of the artist’s works from the museum’s collection.

There is no report on what grade she got in her class. No extra credit for guessing the correct answer.

Travel Advice: Five ways to cope with bad restaurant service

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nothing can stain a perfectly planned trip like poor restaurant service. In the hotels, this usually isn’t a problem, as the wait staff is governed by the same fanatical commitment to keeping guests happy as everyone else on the property. But, nobody wants to eat every meal on site, so you’re bound to venture out for most of your lunches and dinners. This is where you’ll wind up rolling the dice. Restaurant service varies. You can do plenty of research and get recommendations, but from time to time, you’ll either make a guess or find out that your friend’s experience was an aberration.

When you get an awful waiter, abysmal food or terrible seating, don’t forget that you have rights. I’m fresh off an awful experience with Citrus, a restaurant in my neighborhood on Manhattan‘s Upper West Side, and while “negotiating” for my food, it occurred to me that most people willingly cede control of the situation to the restaurants that have wronged them. If we work together, this ends now.

Here are five ways to address terrible restaurant service from the start and get the most value for your dining dollars.

1. Don’t ask the waitress twice
If you encounter a problem with your food or drinks — from taking too long to get them to receiving the wrong order — always start with your server. If you don’t see the person walk by within five minutes of identifying the problem, hunt him or her down: doing so sends a message. Make it clear that you will not tolerate substandard service. If the problem isn’t resolved quickly, don’t bother asking the server again … it won’t get you anywhere. Escalate it to a manager.

2. Serve yourself
Part of the point of going to a restaurant is having someone else do all the work for you. But, if the staff isn’t delivering, sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands. Drink order taking forever? Go up to the bar yourself and ask what’s taking so long. Offer to help … you’re not trying to criticize; you’re in the solutions business! Usually, this less-than-subtle behavior can serve as a wakeup call to people who’ve been sleeping on the job.

3. Become the manager’s new buddy
Experiencing continued bad service? Demonstrate to the manager that you will make it your mission to waste his time until his team finally gets its act together. When you don’t get the right food or get served in a timely manner for each course, let the manager know. Getting up to go the bathroom? Find the manager on your way back and give him an unsolicited status report.

4. Don’t settle for discounts
I’ve had problems with Citrus in the past, and on one occasion, the manager offered to knock 10 percent off my next purchase. Idiotic. After the delivery order was screwed up three times (same order, same night), I went to the restaurant to see for myself the stupidity that could yield such results. He immediately proffered the 10 percent off a future purchase. He expected a future purchase from me following a terrible experience and made clear that the current situation was meaningless to him. Learn from this: any offer that is not immediate and substantial is an insult.

5. Recognize the power of the tip
One restaurant forgot to deliver a drink to me. When the waiter realized the mistake, he not only brought the drink, but knocked that one and the previous one off my bill. This is how you turn a service error into a 30 percent tip. I believe in rewarding service, and the standard 15 percent is a starting point, not a destination. Likewise, a staff that underperforms should be compensated appropriately. Don’t be afraid to go under 10 percent — or all the way to zero. On a few occasions, I’ve actually told the manager that the restaurant owed me money following the meal.

Unlike the service on planes, where you are a captive consumer, restaurants don’t have any control. You can leave at any time. And, there are plenty of choices available to you. In major cities, in fact, you can leave one restaurant and enter another within minutes. If you do this, have a frank conversation with the manager: “Look, we just had awful service at [name the restaurant] just down the block. I know you’re crowded, but we’re hungry and, unsurprisingly, not in the best of moods. I’m not looking for anything out of this except to let you know that I’m probably not going to be as fair as I could be … and to tell you that you have a chance to be the one factor that makes my evening amazing.”

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