THE COUNTER.LUNCH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 564, 20 July 1909, Page 7

THE COUNTER.LUNCH.

REPLY TO RESTAURATEURS

, In. the course of ah article in yesterday's issue' the complaints, of* tJio .restaurateurs against hotel counter-lunch were stated at .some' length. In that article .appeared' a <le-' ■tailed description of what could .be obtained in .a certain, well-known city '■-hostelry for iourpence, and it isthis that is;irritating.th 0 : Keepers or. the sixpenny restaurants. • ; -.■ The-proprietor of the botolin question was waitod.on; yesterday for:his view of the' counter-lunch:, question. His remarks are interesting:—., : . }-\'"'....' . ■ ■ . ."In ,a : Big hotel thoro .is always, a good deal of v waste,in the-kitchen—a waste diffionltto prevent. Whoa I went for a trip to the Continent , ■ some ■ time • ago I noticed' sausages, and rissoles being served out hot to _ oustomers ,of the cheaper bars. I inquired how it was done, and was informed that they were made from the residue of thejoints,and .from the, moat, from which souphad -been, made-stuff wo, used to throw away. This was chopped up with a ■ little enibn, and.made into quite a. palatable dish. TJe triflo it costs to keep the stuff hot is nothing, but it is a consideration to the work-' i«g man'in the : ,winter. The heaviest cost is the potatoes, of which I.use about a'hundredwoight.a day.,- . ~■: \\ -. ■ ' r ""'■is. ridiculous for the restaurant, people to cry out that wo are injuring them We havo as much right to try arid induce trade aa. in any other business, and no one tan but agree that the man who eats-with his drink is a better man-than he who does not: The afternoon-tea people, may as well object ■;. to the : drapers' tea-rooms as to us gmng a light luncheon away which" costs ns next to nothing. Tliat it-is appreciated by the working man'is ovident. I went down to the bar at midday, and the place was crowded—sis men. going as bard as they could. They all seenied to be hard-working men, and there was no question as to their enjoyment of the fare provided." ■ • ■■ ,Mr. Carey, secretary of the Cooks' and Waiters' Union, .was waited on in connection .iivith the matter. He declined to say anything beyond that , ho understood that a deputation ofros-taurant-keepers was to wait upon i tho' Wellington Licensed Victuallers' Association.at an early'date. . . ,•