Going... going... gone.

The Vanishing World Cafe on George's street more so.
The place closed down yesterday.

First the photographs started looking worse for wear.

Now the place itself is gone, reunited with its image.

It was not exactly cheap. But it was unique, with home prepared food and original art works on the walls. I went there on a number of occasions for lunch, with Jungle Juice and the Princess.
EUR7.35 is not exactly what I'd call a bargain for a sambo. But the bread was homemade and they used quality ingredients.

There is no magic formula in life. A small place will have less sittings to make a margin on. They therefore need to get a bigger margin. This puts potential customers off and it closes its doors.

There is already so much uniformity in our lives. We have been used for years to paying the lower price tag associated with the mass produced. And this is basically all we will ever get from now on, if we are not vigilant. The bland, tasteless, cutting-corners-on-quality mass produced.

I do make a point of supporting the smaller businesses in my area that offer a genuinely different product. I do not mind paying two euro more per kilo for my Mrs Hicks pork sausages. They are divine! I see the lads who make them in the back shop, I know that what's going into them involves more pork meat and less blended cartilage and ears. It is bound to cost more. It is worth the higher price. Since my budget is finite (why o why can it not be infinite?!?!) I'd rather reduce the quantity than the quality.

For Mrs Hick's sausages at least...