Diets for capitalists

It's no accident - as the Marxists would say - that the Financial Times is printed on pink paper. The FT's endless advocacy of economic interventionism and its love affair with the Effeminate Union mean that I rarely buy a copy during the week. But on Saturdays I make an exception.

It's very enjoyable to pop down to Ryries and enjoy a pint or two while reading the weekend section of the FT. But even with this bit of the paper, there's a problem. Usually the Saturday edition carries an interview with some celebrity that takes place over a meal. The thing is, though, these meals are, how shall I put it, somewhat wimpish. Typically the "meal" goes something like this: two pieces of broccoli, three lettuce leaves, one-and-a half bottles of non-sparkling water and two cups of herb tea. Price £85. Good grief! I want my capitalists to be red in tooth and claw.

And today I got my wish:

Daitoen, Fukuoka, western Japan

Menu

3 plates of top quality salty tongue
3 plates of boneless short rib
3 plates of sirloin
2 plates of marinated intestines
1 plate of minced raw beef
1 plate of raw liver
1 x seaweed soup
1 x tail soup
1 x tomato salad
Kimchee pickles
3 x large rice
Ulon tea

Price: Y19,220 (£94)

On second thoughts, perhaps this is slightly over-the-top, but the guy was a sumo wrestler.

Just what's wrong with that little place in the back streets of Nice, a wee bit west of the Avenue Jean Medecin? The place that my wife and I went to quite a few times when we were in town a few years ago and where we consumed many helpings of steak au poivre with pommes frites, accompanied by lots of cheap but good red wine? About a fiver to you, Monsieur.

Here's the deal. The FT can fly us out to Nice on EasyJet, conduct the interview in that back street restaurant, and fly us back to Edinburgh for around the same price as one of those stick-insect meals. What could be fairer than that?