Keep it down, but don't put it down
A restaurant for anorexics opens in Berlin next month. Sehnsucht ("Longing"), a cosy 50-seat establishment, is the brainchild of a former anorexic, employs a bulimic waitress, and has an anorexic chef. The menu, which deliberately distances dishes from their ingredients, consists of non-food names such as "Hello" (a lobster bisque), "Ravenous Hunger" (a rack of lamb) and "Soul" (a cappuccino creme dessert.) "The concept has been especially created with an anorexic in mind," says manager Katja Eichbaum, 32, a former office clerk who battled her own disorder for 15 years. "Anorexics have to be taught that eating out can be fun." But critics have their doubts. One says: "I'm not sure I can see it being a commercial success. I think non-anorexics might be confused by what they can expect to actually eat at an anorexics' restaurant."
Enough to make you cry
A West Midlands community centre is planning to cook the world's largest onion bhaji this week, as part of the National Lottery's 10th birthday celebrations. The Guru Nanak Community Centre, a recipient of lottery funding, will attempt to break the Guinness-certified world record currently held by a bhaji weighing 60kg and with a diameter of 80cm. The record was set by the Veena restaurant, of Cleckheaton in West Yorkshire, in 1999.
Hotfoot to the hospice
Sodexho manager Graham Lloyd was among 45 people who walked across 20ft of red-hot coals to raise money for the hospice of St Mary of Furness, at Ulverston in Cumbria. The coals were heated to a temperature of 670¼C. Lloyd said: "This was a great opportunity to do something out of the ordinary. The hospice's main source of income is donations, and I personally raised £150." And a few blisters...?
What's Greene and pops up everywhere?
Greene King starts its 2004 Pub Partners Masterquiz this week. The in-house quiz allows the company's pubs to enter a team to compete in quizzes across the country. This year's event has Jeremy Beadle, president of the British Quiz Association, as its figurehead. He'll be popping up at various pub quizzes all the way through to hosting the grand championship final next summer.