Dilly Diner of the Week

What a name for a restaurant - Clink ! I suppose it's appropriate since it will be the first restaurant in Britain where diners will be subjected to a full body search before tucking in to their gourmet delights. Banstead High Down Prison is proposing a new approach to rehabilitation by enabling inmates to serve gourmet meals to members of the public. Al Crisci, the Catering Manager, says the venture will help dozens of prisoners, taking a National Vocational Qualification in food preparation, to transform their lives.
Although the facility, strangely enough, is not an " open " prison but rather a " high security " unit, potential diners should have no fear either for their personal safety or more importantly for their health. Al was previously a chef at the renowned Mirabelle restaurant in Mayfair and knows his stuff when it comes to food preparation so there should be no upset tummies here. In fact food safety is so high on his agenda that he recently was awarded a Good Hygiene Award by the local Mayor acknowledging his achievement in exceeding the basic requirements for providing safe food.
So the food will be hygienically prepared but will it taste good ? Well, Al has another ace up his sleeve, and calling on his old chef's network has managed to persuade celebrity chef Jean-Cristophe Novelli to approve the culinary creations and offer some of his famous dishes such as roasted turbot panella with broad beans and a delicious panfried guinea fowl breast. Al is still awaiting final permission to go ahead with his scheme, believing it would foster good relations with the local community who could benefit from high end dining at low prices. It would probably be an ideal venue for family celebrations although if it's your birthday I don't suppose you'll be allowed to bring your own birthday cake into the prison.
Pollsmoor Prison, here in Cape Town, owes some of it's notoriety to the fact that one of it's most famous inmates in the 1980's was none other than Nelson Mandela but it is also well known for also having a restaurant serving meals to the public since 1995, beating the Brits by several years. The restaurant is open Wednesday and Friday evenings and every lunchtime dishing up fantastic food for under R 30 a main course and if you fancy something special like a seafood platter with prawns, linefish, mussels etc it will only cost about R 100. Stunningly inexpensive cuisine in captivating surroundings.