Time to acknowledge changing social mores
At a friend's wedding recently the best man closed his speech by placing the groom's hand on top of his new wife's.
"Enjoy that", he told the groom "as that is the last time you will enjoy the upper hand."
The best man certainly seems to have a point when it comes to eating out. For, according to a new study by PizzaExpress, when it comes to making the key decisions about such matters, it is women who wear the trousers.
The survey reveals that 95% of women decide when they want to eat out, and where. Not only that, but 69% choose their man's meal and two out of three women select the wine, including taking a taste before accepting it.
This survey will probably come as little surprise to many, but although women may be making the important dining decisions, in many cases they are still being left out in the cold by waiters.
While things have certainly improved on this score, it is now way past the time that any waiter should assume that it is the man who will choose the wine and pay the bill. Not every woman has the attitude of why have a boyfriend and a purse.
Following a paper judging the finalists have now been selected to take part in the 12 category cook-offs in our search to find Pub Chef of the Year and Pub Chef Team of the Year 2006.
Follow how our finalists get on from the next issue of PubChef.
See you next month.
Jo Bruce
Editor, PubChef