BRUSHING up his Bengali. And he's finding a sprinkling of Hindi helps. Stephen Redpath's the solitary local man in a kitchen manned by Bangladeshis at Leith restaurant Britannia Spice.
What's a man from Muirhouse doing in a place like this? "Actually I've been here two years as a commis chef after working up town at The Witchery. I'm enjoying it and, if I may say so, the rest of the kitchen staff treat me like one of their own. Lan
guage obviously has been a problem but I've picked up enough words to get me by."
Britannia Spice owner Wali Uddin's perpetual problem is staff. "New legislation makes it difficult to bring in people with restaurant experience from my homeland. Business is good, though. As good as I've known it since I settled in Edinburgh in 1976."
Says something for Stephen that he's managed to curry favour down there for so long.
Fly move, Willie Willie the wally. So our hero prince's much-hyped flight (he was at the controls of a giant Globemaster transport) to Afghanistan to meet the troops wasn't a PR exercise, something to ingratiate himself with the public after they heard of his further amorous antics with Kate, using a Chinook like it was his private chariot.
Least that's what the MoD and the RAF would have had us believe. Busting their guts to repair His Royal Highness's image, they had limp excuses spewing from command headquarters bulimia-style.
Have no fear, Willie. While your photo-shoots in gung-ho uniform aren't fooling us, you remain a hot candidate for Playboy of the Western World. Just keep 'em flying. We'll be seeing you captaining Ark Royal next. C'mon Will! Chest out and show us those wings yet again.
Meantime, wee brother Harry's had a medal pinned on his fatigues by his auntie for his ten-week stint in Afghanistan. Jeezus, wot a mockery!
Afterwords . . . . . uttered in good faith by Sir Rocco Forte, philanthropist, director of the Catholic Herald, owner of the Balmoral Hotel: "I don't think Blair is a particularly deep thinker. I don't find him a deep man. He was always voting against his Catholic principles. For example, he voted for abortion. He constantly voted against the ideas of Catholicism."
The full article contains 381 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
