Grateful to Times columnist Giles Coren for putting to the sword a local council pipsqueak for trying to put out of business a restaurant in the middle of nowhere where owner Ruth Hanson does all the kitchen prep herself, the washing up, the bookings, the till, payroll and then cooks it.
The restaurant is called Hansom in Bedale, North Yorkshire. To give you an idea of its remoteness it’s 7 miles from Northallerton and 31 miles from York.
So, on occasions, her husband Mark, who had a job of his own, gives up his evenings to chauffeur some guests to and from their homes.
Coren points out when he reviewed the place last year ( he gave it a glowing recommendation) he had to hitchhike from Northallerton station.
No Bedale train, no metro, no Uber hanging around at the corner.
Enter Chris Doyle, licensing enforcement officer for N Yorkshire council, who has written to Ruth saying in his view Mark was operating a taxi service and that would require a raft of expensive and time consuming licences.
Ruth responded that Mark was her husband, he was unpaid and there was no separate charge for the journey.
Doyle said he didn’t care as there was deemed to be a commercial benefit and warned without a licence the council may take legal action.
Coren has a great last paragraph; “ Yeah, you sue her, you absolute local heroes.
“ You teach Ruth and Mark a lesson for being great at their jobs, for treasuring their customers, for trying to create a little joy and make ends meet in a collapsing world.”
PS Thought you’d like to see what a Ruth menus looks like. This is called the Sunday Sharing Feast.
Starters.
Smoked Leek and Pickled Croque
Monsieur
Whitby Crab Crumpet Pickled cucumber, Garden herbs.
Heritage beetroot, whipped goat’s Curd, Wild Garlic emulsion.
Main Course
Wensleydale chicken, Apricot and sage Wellington.
Honey and mustard mash, buttered spring , cider sauce.
Dessert
Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger trifle.
Cost; £55.
With publicity thanks to Coren’s column and this tweet I suspect the queue will be out the door and Mark can have his evenings off again.
@bbc5live You've lost me - last week Rick ... space travel imperialist! Today the balance comment a producer must have introduced to the Jewish community persecution item. What planet do you people live on?
@AllisonPearson@LiamHalligan belatedly I've been introduced to Planet Normal - I've found my tribe & helps temp restore my equilibrium ... but how can I survive another 3 years of madness?
@VFTLpodcast@kvlmason@JackPittBrooke@JamesTMaw Sorry this episode was worse than the cancel culture one ... producer it was ... unstructured, rambling, needs a leader & the weak banter is just not cutting it. Please change.
@panks_79 Absolutely agree. Hate cancel culture - let the guy be asked about the issue in English & listen. Given our dire predicament we've done well to get him now.
فيلم السهرة 📺🍿 25 دقيقة 🕕
اجمل فيلم شاهدته لدي زيربي
يشرح كل شيء عن مدربنا القادم
اعتقد ان اي مشجع لتوتنهام
بعد مشاهدة هذا الفيلم
سيتحمس كثيرااااا كثيرااا 🤍👏
@VFTLpodcast that was dullest pod in ages It should have been positive - a top manager is joining us in our dire predicament The cancel culture angle was overplayed - let the man speak in English to explain himself & if he does move on I'll judge him on results
@dannykellywords❤️
@dannykellywords Danny so sorry to hear this. Look fella I've been under chemo for 18 months & more to come. But you've kept me going & I just love hearing your voice & your passion for Spurs. The medics will sort you & you will feel better.
COYS & @dannykellywords
In my 60 years supporting Spurs Dragusin is in my view the worst player I have seen play for us. Why can we not recall loanees who must be proper footballers.
@rodbishop15 Flying back from SA today after 5 weeks - only for chemo - then back in Mar for more golf. If Angela Rayner gets in I'm off permanently to SA - it has the potential to be the best country in the world!
@Expedia sent you this message but no reply apart from some fraudsters from Kenya purporting to be you… @Expedia how do we send you a message about https://t.co/72pPVL9T5h that someone will read and respond to?
Take that -if only for respect deserved for 2nd half. But seen script countless times-unadventurous pedestrian first half - apparently manager thinks shots too risky!!!!!
Kills atmosphere & puts pressure on team. Players then take it on in the second half - dullard of a manager
@VFTLpodcast seen the script too often pedestrian first half, players take it on in second. Clown of a keeper. Players like Spence think they are so much better than they are. unbalanced squad without a goal scorer- who is now going to want to come to us?
@BBCNews tonights bulletin an embarrassment - a weather report & some magazine style items. 25 mins before anything about the economy. Nothing about Iran & Venezuela. Why should I pay a licence fee for this dumb down service?