Who knew that a bowl of pasta (or, crucially, two) could cause such a furore? The details of a recent dinner date between US President Joe Biden and the first lady Jill Biden have sent the internet into an absolute frenzy. While eating at The Red Hen restaurant in Washington, the first couple ordered a chicory salad, bread and butter and the restaurant’s signature rigatoni pasta.
So far, so ordinary — or so you might think. The “controversy” arises from the fact their order was a duplicate, with both tucking into exactly the same main course. And while the tomato and fennel sausage ragu does sound rather tasty, foodies are outraged that the couple didn’t each order a different dish, with almost 3,000 comments appearing under The Washington Post’s original article on the subject.
Whether you think that the Bidens' double order hints at long-term compatibility and savvy selecting (they’ve obviously found a dish they love and are staying loyal to it), or a boring, stuck-in-the-mud attitude might depend on your own approach to eating. Read on for our overview of the different restaurant-ordering personas jostling for space around the table and then consider: which one are you?
Persona: The strategist
The need to present strategists with an actual menu is pretty much obsolete. They will not only have already viewed the menu online, but also read the reviews, Googled the head chef and done a deep-dive into his or her cooking background, homed in on the restaurant’s best-selling dish, checked it out on Instagram and then planned the rest of their food choices around said item. As such, the strategist has little interest in hearing the specials and is frankly baffled by those who don’t follow their studious approach.
What they’ll be ordering: The restaurant’s signature dish, of course.
Persona: The risk taker
Bear Grylls has nothing on the risk taker, who views every meal out as an opportunity for experimentation, culinary exploration and the chance to sample something new (and let the world know about it on social media). RTs pride themselves on their intrepid appetites and are intent on seeking out the most obscure dish on the menu, all while regaling fellow diners with tales of the time they chowed down sheep's eyeball juice in Mongolia or white ant egg soup in Laos.
What they’ll be ordering: Anything with a side of danger.
Persona: The overorder-er
Say hello to the Fomo diner. So worried are overorder-ers about missing out on trying something tasty or, even worse, making a dud choice, they take things to the extreme and order excessively. The overorder-er is aghast at the thought of plates not being shared, insists on requesting a couple of extra items “for the table” and will always attempt to persuade their companions to select different dishes. To their credit, the overorder-er is not afraid to ask for a doggy bag to take leftovers home.
What they’ll be ordering: Everything.
Persona: The stick-to-what-you-know diner
This culinary-uncurious diner has zero interest in trying every dish on the menu, taking the view — much like the Bidens — that once you’ve hit the restaurant jackpot and discovered a meal you love, there’s little point in deviating from it ever again.
And while they may be accused of being too predictable — particularly by the likes of the risk taker — this type of restaurant goer is rarely disappointed (unless, of course, the restaurant in question removes their favourite dish from the menu). They also actively shy away from sharing; if they had to adopt a mantra it would be Matt LeBlanc’s from Friends: “Joey doesn’t share food”.
What they’ll be ordering: The usual.
Persona: The ambivalent eater
For the ambivalent eater, the restaurant experience is about far more than the dishes on the menu; in their eyes, it’s the music, the company, the banter and the beverages that make a meal out memorable. As such, ambivalent eaters barely glance at the menu before choosing their food, a move that simultaneously leaves both the strategist and the stick-to-what-you-know diner flabbergasted, albeit for entirely different reasons.
What they’ll be ordering: A dish plucked out at random or selected by a friend.
Results
1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000
2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000
3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
- Sweden (19%)
- Austria (14%)
- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
- Luxembourg (10%)
Source: VCOe
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
