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What is the new French movement #MeTooGarçons?Is France facing a watershed moment for all those who have been silenced in the entertainment industry? The #MeTooGarçons campaign may be a small step in that direction, but it has certainly given male victims of abuse a voice. Launched by American activist Tarana Burke in 2006, the #MeToo hashtag was popularised by American actress Alyssa Milano on social networks, and contributed to the downfall of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. It shook Hollywood to its core and sparked worldwide conversations about the sexism, sexual harassment and abuse suffered by women across the planet, no...

http://ReadyRoom.Life is born… More to follow.

A friend of a friend is convinced they’ve uncovered a novel way of getting extra perks from the kitchen while dining out: buying a round of drinks for the kitchen. More specifically, the person in question believes that this act can be something as simple as rocking up to the kitchen, pre-meal, and leaving a pack of cold ones for the kitchen team. Having worked as a professional chef for the majority of my 20s, I had some immediate reactions to this claim: First, this is not a concept I’ve ever heard of before, nor have I ever experienced benevolent...

It went from “restaurant of the summer” to “not woke enough” in just 24 hours. One day after celebrated Brooklyn rooftop restaurant Outerspace received a glowing review in the New York Times, the chefs and general manager all walked out. One chef issued a scathing denunciation of the eatery’s fashion-world owners, accusing them of misogyny, a “colonial” attitude toward the food and their employees, and “skimming” bar proceeds. SNIP Under her Instagram handle Kreung, the name of her Cambodian food business, Un denounced “culture vultures dressed in normcore” who practiced “dated power dynamics” and “internalized misogyny.”

Ventana Big Sur set a record for the highest per-room sale price when it sold to Hyatt Hotel Group. The $148 million sale comes out to $2.5 million per room, beating the record set in April in Sonoma when Montage Healdsburg sold for $2.04 million. The hotel is located on a 162-acre property in Big Sur and has 59 rooms, 15 cabins and 63 camping sites. According to SFGate, Ventana Big Sur rooms start at $2,000 a night.

Restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania are getting some relief. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced today that starting Sept. 21 establishments can increase indoor seating capacity from 25% to 50%. But Wolf also threw in an additional caveat - restaurants with alcohol sales will have to cut off booze sales at 10 p.m. “While our aggressive and appropriate mitigation efforts have kept case counts low, we must continue to take important steps to protect public health and safety as we head into the fall. At the same time, we must also support the retail food services industry that has struggled throughout...

Less than a week after being ordered to close all dining room service and focus solely on takeout, eateries are pulling the plug on that business, too. Takeout and delivery orders in the face of crescendoing coronavirus contamination fears just aren’t pulling in enough dough to keep the lights on. Plus, it’s not safe, restaurateurs say. Cristina Castaneda on Saturday shuttered her last two remaining restaurants, including Mexican restaurant El Mitote and Mediterranean eatery Ella Social, after deciding she couldn’t continue to sell food without endangering her and her staff’s health. “I worked there all day and just couldn’t find...

President Trump acknowledged Saturday that the coronavirus pandemic was hurting his family business. “I wouldn’t say you’re thriving when you decide to close down your hotels and your businesses,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about reports his Trump Organization properties were being adversely affected by the virus. “I’m very unlevered in everything, so that’s good,” the president continued. “But is it hurting me? Yeah, it’s hurting me, and it’s hurting Hilton, and it’s hurting all of the great hotel chains all over the world.”

You’re not supposed to see them like this, their polyester prince costumes unbuttoned and backpacks hanging from the shoulders of their colonial period dresses. Flip flops on, lunch boxes in hand, legions of workers stream into an employee parking lot at Walt Disney World, weary from another shift of making magic at the world’s busiest theme park. This is the place where the pixie dust loses its sparkle. It’s where the low-wage workers who power Orlando’s tourism machine leave the attractions, hotels and eateries and fade into a community that doesn’t have enough affordable housing, public transportation or opportunities in...

Penny Pritzker, the billionaire heiress whose family owns the Hyatt hotel chain, took a ride on Air Force One this afternoon from San Francisco to Portland, Ore., where President Obama was making a series of fundraising stops. The ride came hours after the announcement of a global boycott of Hyatt Hotels by Unite Here, the nation’s largest hospitality workers union. That boycott has been joined by the National Organization for Women, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Black Justice Center, and the National Football League Players Association. Pritzker was the national finance chair of Obama’s 2008 campaign....

"My wife has already booked our dinner for two at the pool grill for Friday Feb 16 at 7.30pm," reads an e-mail by a guest to a hotel in Singapore. "Our only other request is to have the attached photo of Jeff Goldblum next to our bed." The hotel in question - Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel in Orchard Road - delivered. It put up a collage of the 65-year-old Jurassic Park actor on the pillow for the guest, identified only by the name Elliott. Read also: #MeToo controversy dominates Berlin filmfest opening There was also a photo of a...

The legendary rock band previously argued that the hotel had been attempting to capitalize on their 1976 album's success. The Eagles have settled a lawsuit with a Mexican hotel using the name of the band's famous song "Hotel California." A joint dismissal of the group's lawsuit against the hotel in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, was filed on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The same day, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office accepted Hotel California Baja's request to permanently abandon its trademark application. "This matter has been settled by mutual agreement of the Parties," said Eagles'...

A Midtown-based commercial brokerage filed a lawsuit against Airbnb on Thursday, alleging that the short-term rental listing site is running an illegal brokerage business. Parker Madison Partners argues that because Airbnb helps people find apartments in return for a fee through its website, it should be registered as a brokerage firm. “Although Airbnb blatantly acts as a real estate broker, it is neither registered nor licensed with New York State,” the complaint reads, adding that Airbnb “had no right to receive any commissions for its real estate broker services within the State of New York.”

It is no secret to anyone paying attention that the tech industry loathes president-elect Trump and his supporters... The latest such bit of pettiness comes from the sharing company Airbnb, which enables users to “share” their homes or apartments with visitors, ostensibly at reduced rates relative to the native hospitality industry. However, tellingly, a major exception to that “affordability” standard appears to revolve around housing for – what else? – Trump’s inauguration. Specifically, Airbnb users in and around Washington, D.C., appear to be engaging in flagrant price gouging with absolutely no curtailment from the company. One home that usually runs...

A Hells Kitchen Airbnb host is drawing the wrong kind of guests — hookers, drug users and even porn film producers, according to a new lawsuit by the landlord. The owner of 401 W. 45th St. has filed an emergency suit in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking to block tenant Thomas Tartaglia from subletting his $3,850-a-month studio through Airbnb and other sites.

Forget 3D-printed food and 3D-printed cars. A hotel owner in the Philippines is 3D-printing an entire hotel suite, and unlike other 3D-printed buildings done before, this one will be completely and entirely operational, which means, if you're thinking of vacationing in the country soon, you'll be able to book a night at the 3D-printed suite. The Lewis Grand Hotel in Angeles City, Pampanga in the Philippines will soon have the very first 3D-printed hotel suite in the world. The idea to 3D print an entire room was proposed to hotel owner Lewis Yakich, materials science engineer and home builder from...

Indian officials searched for Rolotti for six days after he jumped into the Ganges River to help a woman who fell over.The body of Hector Rolotti, co-founder of popular Brickell restaurant Novecento, has been found in the Ganges River after six days of searching, according to a press release from the Novecento Group. Rolotti's body was found at 2 a.m. EST in the Ganges by a group of locals who alerted authorities and a search team, the press release said. The 47-year-old had jumped into the river to save a woman who had fallen in. Rolotti was on a spiritual...

Late last week on the blog I made mention of the sins that “cry to heaven for vengeance.” The traditional list, is summarized in the Catechism which states The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are “sins that cry to heaven”: the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan, injustice to the wage earner (# 1867).It probably does not surprise you that I got push-back from certain homosexuals who wrote in to “remind” me that the sin of Sodom “has nothing...

Bearing gifts of extra rations, Coca Cola and nylon stockings it is no wonder that American GIs were popular house guests among British families during the Second World War. With British soldiers away in Europe, war-hit families were issued with an urgent plea to invite their US colleagues to share their Christmas celebrations. Faced with the prospect of their guests bringing extra food with them, families jumped at the chance to welcome the Americans into their homes, with some 50 invitations being offered for every GI, or Government Issue. For troops serving in a foreign land, far away from home,...

The owners of a café in the south of France have struck a blow for good old-fashioned French politeness, with a sign charging extra for customers who forget their manners while ordering their coffee. The French are well-known for their love of everyday formalities. While much of the Western world can sometimes seem to get through the day with grunts and nods, the French insist on sprinkling their exchanges with a “Madame” here and a “C’est trop gentil” there. Baguette purchases must be preceded by a mandatory “Bonjour”, and it’s de rigeur to wish complete strangers a good afternoon, even...