US tipping and doggy bags infest London restaurants

The scourge of US tipping culture, a Pitbull lookalike competition and the world’s longest tiramisu; catch up on the latest London shenanigans in The Capitalist

AT TIPPING POINT

As Gordon Ramsay’s swanky City spot introduces a 20 per cent service charge on select menus, broadcaster Andrew Neil has lamented the arrival of US tipping culture on British shores. Neil recalled an occasion in a New York restaurant a decade ago when he handed over a $150 tip only to be told by the waiter that it was “a bit light”. Embarrassed in front of his friends, the ferocious interviewer subsequently called the restaurant’s owner to complain, and the poor waiter was fired. Neil has no regrets. “I’m from Paisley,” he said, adding he’ll “take no nonsense from aggressive New York waiters.”

It comes just as another US dining import – doggy bags – also enters the national conversation. Interviewed on Times Radio, Jamie Oliver, who has previously campaigned against food waste, was picked up on the policy of his own restaurant, Jamie’s Italian, which refused to let a fellow Times Radio employee take their leftovers home with them last week. To Oliver’s credit, he vowed to change the policy on the spot – and asked if said colleague was American. She was. Go figure. The Capitalist is of the opinion that a doggy bag, however thrifty, is unfortunately unchic, though if we’re going to have to start spending 20 per cent more to eat out, we might just have to get on board.  

IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

Plenty of people feel like the Green Party’s policies and promises are too good to be true, and now one enterprising citizen has set out to prove it. Step forward, Andy Chadwick, a software company founder who says that while he’s “not happy with any of the major parties… the Green Party concerns me the most, because no matter which way I look at the evidence, many of their policies, however well-intentioned, live in a world that doesn’t exist.” So he’s built a site – the rather cheekily named greenpartymanifesto.co.uk – to analyse and score their policies across economic, fiscal and social risk. Using data from the IFS, ONS and various think tanks, Chadwick says he’s playing with a straight bat. The result? The worst-case scenario cost of 14 flagship Green policies is a cool £1.2 trillion.

TIRAMISUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Forget the two-hour marathon, this weekend another piece of history was made in London town – and finely dusted in cocoa. One-hundred Italian chefs put their toques together in Chelsea Town Hall on Saturday to make the world’s longest ever tiramisu. Measuring 440.6 metres, the feat required around 150,000 ladyfinger biscuits and 20,000 eggs, and left the previous record (273.5 metres) set in Milan in its sugary dust.

Mirko Ricci, who led the charge (and set the last record but one in Italy) said he decided to bring the feat to London to celebrate “the most incredible dessert that Italy has exported” and to say thank you to the United Kingdom. From the very depths of The Capitalist’s heart, you are most welcome.

PE JA VU

The private equity boss at the centre of the Silentnight pension scandal is stepping aside – just as a new scandal threatens his company. Sami Mnaymnehi’s HIG, which controls swathes of expensive real estate across London, agreed a 25m settlement with the Pension Regulator in 2021.

Now HIG Capital is being sued over the 2021 sale of machinery giant SIAT, part of the global Maillis Group, which counts Coca Cola, Mars and Nestle among its customers. The accusation? That the firm manipulated pension liabilities to drive down the company’s price. Coincidentally, he is now stepping back from leadership of the $74bn company he founded in 1993.

MR SQUARE MILE

If you notice more bald men in the Square Mile than usual this Saturday, you might just have stumbled across London’s first Pitbull lookalike compeition. Hosted by the F1 Arcade, the winner will get a £1,000 bar tab.