Wracking my brain here. There were two chains of steak restaurants, very well known, 40-50 years ago. One was Beefeater and I cannot remember the other. Not Toby or Angus or Harvester (pre Harvester, I'm sure).
Amazed to realise that Beefeaters still exist. For anyone in or around Colchester, the Beefeater is still at The Albert, Cowdray Avenue and the other one was in The Siege House at the bottom of East Hill, but what was the chain?
Graeme brought next idea :
Bernies ?
Surely the Berni Inn.
To be accurate, most or all of the Berni Inns were eventually rebranded as Beefeater, with some as Brewer's Fayre.
Angus Steakhouses?
Well done all. Yes, Berni Inn was the one I couldn't remember, although I do now remember Berni being taken over by Beefeater.
I know Bernie have been suggested, but Garfunkels ?
I had forgotten about Garfunkels, although memory suggests they were later. Certainly, at least in my memory, Berni and Beefeater were the two well known national names. Hardly haute cuisine, but very good at what they did.
Very expensive because you had to order the veg separately for £3 a pop. Berni and the others include the jacket potato (or chips), mushrooms and peas (or whatever) in the price.
Berni was great - I have never found a steak since that gives the same flavour.
Sort of on topic ... ;-)
Someone has put a few cattle out in one of the back fields at a local public park near us and daughter has befriended them.
She first just sat down in the field and because they are inquisitive beasts slowly came over to see what was going on. One was a bit braver than the others and took some apple off her. After a couple of visits they now all *run* over the field to greet her and the more confident ones love having their heads / necks scratched. [1]
I doubt they were put there to manage the undergrowth so are probably being 'fattened up' and can be slaughtered and sold as 'grass fed', even if it's only for a short proportion of their short lives.
Cheers, T i m
p.s. I don't think I've *ever* been to 'A Steakhouse' although I did go a couple of times to one of those places that did really 'good value' 'Mixed Grill' that was mostly meat with a bit of salad but I never really liked it (meat overload).
[1] She had a similar situation when living in Scotland a few years back as the house backed onto some fields. She befriended those cattle as well and was very sad when one day they weren't there to greet her (and that was the day she went vegetarian).3 people recently in UK (last few weeks) been killed by cattle. I'll take silly detours to avoid fields with cattle, public footpath or not.
AFAIK, all of them had dogs with them and it's possible the cows also had their calves with them, in which case, keeping well away would be the sensible thing to do.
Cheers, T i m
In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Davidm <davidm snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com writes
There are rules related to cattle grazed where there is public access. The early reports of these incidents rarely give enough detail to know what actually happened. Cattle are herd animals and are likely to act as a group. Their initial interest may simply be an expectation of food or being moved to fresh grass. Cows with calves at foot may respond strongly to the presence of a dog.
I suspect the majority of these incidents occur when *running away* leads to an appearance of being chased: the animals in the middle and at the back simply do not know what is going on.
If you fall over, the front ones will avoid you, but you get trampled by the rest!
In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, T i m snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk> writes
You are entitled to walk around cattle obstructing a path. If they show interest in your dog, let it off the lead.
That may be good advice in the extreme case, but some dogs won't return after being let loose. [1]
[1] The problem was solved by a shock collar. I'm aware they are now discredited, but if the dog wears this collar he will always return on command and has never needed reminding since. He now wears it unpowered with the batteries beyond any chance of retaining charge.
Ok (going off a public path you mean)?
Yeah, I read that somewhere which initially sounds counter-intuitive (if the dog is likely to 'worry' the cattle) but it makes sense from a safety / survival pov (of dog and owner).
Most of the horses we have met (over the field fence) seem oblivious to the dogs, no matter how loud one may bark in his efforts to defend us. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
Generally it will outrun you. Outswim you. Outclimb you.
Advice when wandering around in Africa.
Garfunkels were never a steak restaurant
1979
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