Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian, in the Square One Mall Luxury Wing
The Personal god Touch
The image above is from the Instagram page of the Square One's Jamie's Italian,I went yesterday to placed an order at Jamie's Italian, one more of the first class Square One Mall's (Mississauga) shopping "experiences."
in Mississauga. It is one of the bartenders. She has a large tattoo
of the Buddha in the inner arm of her right arm.
Just a little background. Jamie is the British chef, Jamie Oliver, who has made an international name for himself with his working class accent and sophisticated dishes. He is somewhat the antidote to that very posh British-sounding American chef Julia Child who brought French cooking into American households. Jamie also has a steakhouse Barbecoa (named after Mexican and American barbecued meat dishes), a diner, and his own cooking show on television which loops silently on the big screen in bar area of Square One's Jamie's Italian.
The waitress at the door told me I should place my takeout order at the bar.
I waited a while for the bartender, who was mixing some fruity cocktail while chatting to a waitress, to take my order. She either didn't see me (not likely) or was biding her time, which often happens to me. I don't look very important.
I watched for a while the big screen tv above the bar which had Jamie's Fifteen Minute Meals on Gusto TV explain how he pounds chickpeas to make hummus, using his very own special Jamie's Olive Oil and canned chickpeas, all products we can buy at Jamie's Italian.
My wait also gave me a chance to observe her. She had yellowish skin and smooth hair. She looked like a hybrid, a mulatto of some kind of Chinese and Indian and white. And she had a very large tattoo of a buddha's head just below the elbow, on the inner arm. She had no "foreign" accent. She was swishing the drinks like an expert. She was no apprentice.
"Are you ready to take my order?" I finally ask with a tone of irritation.
"What would you like?" No apology.
"The focaccia to go."
I was going to ask her about the tattoo but I wasn't too friendly with my order.
I paid and pulled myself up a bar stool to wait some more.
But I got my chance when she handed me the order package that a waitress brought over.
"Thanks!"
"I wanted to ask you about your tattoo. Are you Indian?" She looks more Indian than Chinese.
"No."
(I look Indian so I often get away with that question.)
"Oh. I wondered about your tattoo of the Buddha."
"Oh. That's just a personal touch."
"I've probably asked you this before." Which I remembered just then that I had.
"Lots of people ask me about it!"
"Oh!"
I smiled. "Thank you. Do you have a bag I can put this in?"
And I left the restaurant with my bag in hand.
Jamie's Hummus Live Demo
Jamie's very own Every Day Olive Oil