Some of us have the gift of the gab, and the rest of us do not (except maybe after a few alcoholic beverages).

Everyone knows someone who can talk the leg off a chair. Maybe it’s in the form of an ability to match a story or anecdote to any situation in life; maybe it’s just an uncanny ability to sustain a conversation.
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The success of any business depends on a basic mathematical calculation – how much does a good or service cost to produce – and based on this, how much does it need (and can) be sold for in order to provide the seller with a viable profit margin.

This alone can give you a pretty good indication for the fundamental reason that over 70% of start-up restaurant businesses fail! These are cold, hard stats and pretty depressing if your dream has always been to open up a little café, pizza place, or Belgian beer hall.
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We humans are a divided bunch of creatures. It would not be a broad generalisation, or a remote stretch of the truth to split us into two distinct camps. The first distinct human condition is the dislike of change. This applies to anyone who has ever coined the phrase, “When you’re onto a good thing, stick to it”.

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The ‘have it all’ and ‘have it now’ nature of today’s society pretty much allows us to fulfil our every whim at a moment’s notice.

At a touch of a button we can upload a picture of, let’s say – a car we bought today, to all our family and friends scattered far and wide throughout the globe.
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Double shot soy decaf latte – very hot, not too much froth please … oh, and by the way – I’m in a hurry”.

Phrases like these are a common catchcry in café/restaurants all over the place. Just a casually placed request entailing specifications required in a beverage delivered to you in a timely fashion every morning, right?

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Watched a long-anticipated movie last night – called ‘Bottleshock’. It’s hailed as the new ‘Sideways’, with much to appeal to the senses of a wine and quirky comedy lover.

Set in Napa Valley wine country in the 1970s amongst a fledgling community of viticulturists, it hails the emergence of New World wines from the fortress of French traditionalism … A significant time in the history of the vine and a harbinger of the vinous diversity we are offered today.
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Fashion shapes our lives … Even if you’re not one to purchase every copy of Vogue and religiously adorn yourself with this season’s key pieces, and ‘must have’ accessories, there’s no doubt that trends and fads do dictate how you’ll be looking in 2009.

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Atrip to the supermarket used to be merely an innocuous excursion for essentials, but now on offer down at your local chain of choice you will encounter a literal treasure trove of produce and ingredients.

Supermarkets are cottoning onto such global food phenomenons as celebrity chefs, speciality ingredients, and multicultural culinary expectations.
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Along with weekend footy, taking the dog for a walk or a night out at the movies, dining out (for the most part), is what we commonly refer to as a leisure activity.

It’s something we associate with ‘down time’ – it’s about relaxing with friends or family in an environment we can pretty much put our feet up and let someone else do all the hard work.
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One thing for certain is that we live in uncertain times.

Interest rates in freefall, banks and major companies going bust, ‘voluntary’ redundancies all around us, long-held investments deemed worthless in this volatile market.
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Emerging out of that vortex commonly known as the holiday season (relatively unscathed), my thoughts naturally wandered over to the next significant day on the hospitality industry calendar – that day of cards, flowers and undying declarations of true love.

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Once we hit adulthood, most of us don’t care for it to occur any more than this!

Without the wonder and promise of childhood to add sparkle, it’s easy to get bogged down in the negative when it comes to this time of the year – trolley wars at the supermarket, parking space rage, gritting our teeth at the in-laws, hangovers, sunburn, tantrums, etc. etc.
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Having just returned from a very relaxing and enjoyable trip to the USA, I am still in holiday mode.

Dining out in the States has given me lots of “food” for thought, and has provided a different slant to this month’s column …
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