OPEN-AIR DINERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 238, 7 October 1936, Page 12

OPEN-AIR DINERS.

LONDON'S GARDEN CAFE. LESSON TO DOMINIONS. (Special.—By Air Mail.) LONDON, September 12. Austrlians and New Zealanders, favoured by their climate, would do well to note that the open-air restaurant in Kensington Gardens has become so popular among Londeners and visitors that nearly 1000 people had to ho turned away last week. Most of them arrived between 7.30 and 8 p.m. Eight o'clock is closing time. * - « . Mr. Douglas Dunn, manager of the restaurant, said:—"Most of the people wo had to turn away were foreigners, and they could not understand why the only place in which they could eat in the open closed so early. Many people were annoyed, and have signed a petition. "Next year we are going to build a roof garden on the restaurant so that visitors to the park can liavo their dinners unhampered by the closing hours of the gardens themselves. "The kitchen arrangements are being altered to cope with the increased duties. In June, for example, we had 400 diners every night, although the restaurant was originally intended only as a tea garden. We are also applying for a' full license instead of the present restaurant license, so that local people who take a walk through the park before dinner can have a cocktail here without having to have a saiidwich with it as well.