16 Tuesday Jun 2020
Posted in coronavirus, restaurants, sevilla, tapas bars, welcome
Tags
You know, there are always the bottom feeders who try to milk every opportunity for everything they can squeeze out of it. Look at this bill from a bar in the Canary Islands, charging a COVID TAX for serving beer. So you know, this is totally illegal, just like the dread Bread & Service Charges that show up on bar bills throughout Spain, and you are not obliged to pay it.
This has been a public service announcement.
01 Monday Jun 2020
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, spain, welcome
So a couple of weeks ago my friend, and fellow sherry educator, Chelsea Anthon @chelsea_anthon got in touch to tell me about her new non-profit initiative Amigo del Día. It sounded like a great idea to me, so when she asked if I wanted to help out of course I was happy to get involved. For those of you who don’t know Chelsea, she is the founder and driving force behind Sherry Week, which has helped put sherry wines on the international map.
The idea behind Amigo del Día is to help promote independent bars and restaurants as they begin to reopen after the Covid shutdown, and also while they recover. The first campaign is called Let’s Lunch and it is based on the Spanish lunchtime set menu (menu del día) which traditionally includes a starter, main course, dessert, and beverage. Restaurants can register on the website and upload their own menu del día, which they will offer to the public between July 20-30. Registration is free of charge, as is the all the promotion provided, including material that can be downloaded.
For an extra fee Amigo del Día is offering restaurants the option of a menu app that their customers can access by scanning a QR Code with their phones. This digital menu is free for Amigo del Día participants from now until August 1st.
Within a couple of weeks hungry customers will be able to start searching on the Amigo del Día website for participating restaurants in their city, see the menus and check options available (takeaway, delivery, eat-in). They will also be able contact restaurants directly to either book a table or place orders.
It’s still early days but I remember the early days of Sherry Week too and believe that this initiative has legs. I think it’s a great way of not only helping our favourite bars and restaurants get back on their feet, but also to stay with us. Because the effects of Covid are going to be with us for some time to come. And remember that this is an international affair, so you can also look up great places to eat for once we get back to travelling again. I’m so happy to be a part of this.
If you’d like to help spread the word, and help get your own favourite restaurants involved, get in touch by emailing hola@amigodeldia.org and let them know you’d like to be a part of the Amigo del Día team of global ambassadors.
Meanwhile, you can follow @amigodeldia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
28 Friday Feb 2020
Posted in restaurants, sevilla, tapas bars
Tags
bars, bread charge, restaurants, service charge, sevilla, spain
It’s been almost five years since I was dubbed Shawn of the Bread by my friends Anna & Jorge @guitianmayer, due to my continuing battle against the unfair – and illegal – bread/service charges that first appeared on menus in Sevilla sometime around 2010-2012. I was reminded of this yesterday when Lucy @sparkybakewell & I were out for a drink at our new favourite “penúltima bar” and decided to have a snack. And there it was.
Even though we had sent back the unasked for bread basket we were charged 1€ per person for “service”. Well, they tried to charge us. When I explained to the waiter (lovely young woman really, wasn’t her fault) she took the charge off the bill and instead we left the 2€ as a tip. Because that “service” charge never goes to the staff. It’s simply a way of making extra money – illegally – for doing absolutely nothing. Like an admission fee. Not right. And they count on people not knowing it’s illegal, and also that they won’t make a fuss about it. But they never count on me. 😉
The regulations for this are clearly stated here…
Obligaciones de bares, restaurantes y cafeterías
Los servicios no solicitados no se pueden cobrar. Tampoco se pueden cobrar conceptos como, por ejemplo, reservas, cubierto o mesa.
24 Monday Feb 2020
Posted in gastronomy, madrid
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Yay! I got my copy of the March issue of Decanter today. I’d seen the online version of My Top Ten online a couple of weeks ago, but it never quite feels real until I’m actually holding the mag in my hot little hands. This is my third article for Decanter Magazine and, as of last week, a fourth one is on the way! Stay tuned…
28 Thursday Mar 2019
Posted in friends, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas bars
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It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since I met these guys. This week Jeanine and Juan, the husband and wife team behind La Azotea, are celebrating ten years since they opened their first bar/restaurant in calle Jesús del Gran Poder. Since then they have opened three more, as well as having two children, and they also run a successful catering business. Well done, you two, and happy 10th anniversary!
casa azahar 