Spy unmasked

By Paul Fulford on July 1, 2008 11:47 AM | Permalink

With the sun glinting off my bald head and my ugly mug often pictured in the paper, it's sometimes hard to go unnoticed in restaurants despite my diminutive size.

I'm relaxed about that when I'm reviewing because (a) I'm not vain enough to think I'd get special treatment and (b) I don't think a bad restaurant can become good just to try to get a glowing write-up.

But it can make life difficult sometimes, especially when the bill is trimmed despite my protestations.

I wish they wouldn't do so. It undermines my journalistic integrity (no sniggering from you cynics out there) and, in practical terms, it makes it difficult to tell readers how much a meal cost.

On the plus-side, it does earn me a few brownie points from the ooss for keeping down my expenses.

But please, restaurateurs, no discounts!