Like Kissing a Lusty Mermaid

Dinner tv has been excellent for the past couple of nights. We are viewing the final season of Frasier at last (don't get me started on the ludicrous behaviour of Australian commercial networks which buy established series and then SIT ON THEM for over a year!). On Tuesday night, the delightful episode in which Niles and Frasier conspire to acquire a source of superb caviar screened and I enjoyed it hugely. I could sympathise with Roz as she became obsessed with caviar and couldn't think of anything else. It's usually chocolate that does that to me though.

And tonight, SBS screened the first of a five part series Heat in the Kitchen, which documents the impact of the annual Good Food Guide Awards in Sydney. What stunned me most, was learning that the husband and wife team of a 2 hat restaurant, Balzac, took home $480 per week between them. Oh, and they lived in a garage.

Food really is passion for some people. The restaurant life is a hard hard one, and I can't imagine working those kind of all-consuming hours for that kind of pittance. And even swanky Aria needs 1200 diners per week just to break even! It must be love, must'nt it? There really isn't any other explanation.