By job advertisement
Luxury London restaurant is looking for a professional “grape feeder” – the requirements are high
A posh London restaurant set to open later this year has posted a job ad looking for a grape feeder
© Eloisa Ramos / Imago Images
It’s an unusual job advertisement: a luxury restaurant in London is looking for a professional “grape feeder”, the first in the British metropolis. But anyone who is interested in the job needs nice hands – and language skills.
If you want to stand out in the big London restaurant scene, you have to do something special. The planned posh restaurant “Bacchanalia”, which is scheduled to open in the exclusive London district of Mayfair at the end of the year, is now causing a stir with an unusual job advertisement. In early October, Caprice Holdings Restaurants, the company behind Bacchanalia, ran a major ad in the Sunday Times seeking a professional “grape feeder” – the company’s first in London, according to the company. Exactly what the task is is not described, but it is relatively easy to guess: As in ancient Rome, the grape feeder feeds the visitors with fresh grapes directly into their mouths.
The demands on applicants should not be underestimated. Because not only a basic knowledge of Greek and Latin is required, applicants should also have “beautiful hands”. The benefits for future grape feeders are not only food and drink in the luxury restaurant, but also manicures.
London posh restaurant reminiscent of ancient Rome
The “Bacchanalia” is located in a former Porsche exhibition center that is currently being renovated. According to the “Evening Standard”, it will be decorated in the style of ancient Greece with statues, frescoes and 2000-year-old antiques. “This is not just a restaurant, it is a breathtaking feast for the senses, a place where you are drawn into another world,” it promises restaurant on its website. Greek-Italian specialties are served in the restaurant. While no menu has yet been published and consequently no prices, the daily says prices for lunch are expected to be in the range of £300 (around €340).
The fact that the restaurant is not only dedicated to simple food is already clear from the name, which is a reference to the Bacchus festivals in ancient Rome. The celebrations, inspired by the Roman god of wine Bacchus, often ended in rampant orgies of alcohol and sex. Because these festivals became more and more extravagant over time, the Roman Senate made them subject to approval in 186 BC.
The owner of the London restaurant is the British billionaire Richard Caring, who runs other posh restaurants in the city, including “Sexy Fish” in Mayfair and “The Ivy Asia” with three locations in posh districts. It wasn’t until the end of August that he demonstrated that Caring itself is a bit extravagant. Because he wanted to plant new trees in his garden in London’s South Kensington district, the 74-year-old had part of his street blocked by the city – for two weeks. To complete his project, Caring needed a crane to hoist the trees over several rows of houses on his £40million property. Not only the local residents were angry about the action and the city council, “which gives in to the whims of a billionaire who wants to have a beautiful garden,” as a resident put it in the “Guardian”. Not only did four bus routes have to be diverted for the action, Onslow Square is also considered an important thoroughfare for emergency services, who also had to make a detour.
Sources: Evening Standard, Guardians, Bacchanalia