Plain is the new bling

But as the ever-widening circles of the credit tsunami covered the oceans and infiltrated every continent, our disposable incomes reduced: payment, even for bare essentials, now requires strategic planning.
If you were never into consumer culture you won’t have splashed out on flat screen TVs, fake designer suits and Rolex watches from Beijing or imported Italian bathroom suites.
And now that the faceless villain called Credit Munch has hi-jacked our wallets, few individuals are likely to throw a party for two hundred of their best friends or take the Blue Train to Cape Town over Christmas.
But as unemployment figures soar, it becomes less and less cool to boast about travelling abroad, eating seafood or about how much it costs to keep the twins in their private school.
Individuals once distinguished by their wealth have become passé, even boring. Social value is now determined by your community interaction, your counselling skills and the hours you spend helping out in the local soup kitchen.
Style gurus insist that only by embracing the new austerity and renouncing the glamour of bling can we achieve happiness in our lives. Eating out at top-end restaurants will be reserved for special occasions, and individuals too busy to cook or unable to take the heat of their kitchens, will rely increasingly on tasty fast food or upon restaurants offering well-priced, simple meals. Three affordable and popular restaurants within Harare, The Pointe, Cascais and Coimbra, offer a similar Portuguese/Mozambican menu, which specialises in ever-popular grilled piri piri chicken and chips, priced at around US$10.
Recently George and I visited busy Coimbra Restaurant in Selous Avenue, opposite the Musasa Project, resource centred for battered spouses.
Just about everyone was eating chicken giblet starters, followed by chicken and chips. Going with the flow, we ordered the same.
At our table for two, the white tablecloth was crisp and clean, flatware matching, and white tableware attractive.
Our genial and efficient waiter righted the wobbling table and served us with ice cold Cokes and a basket of fresh, white sliced bread.
It became apparent that the waiter was better at his job than the cook, as our chicken giblets, short on garlic and chillis, lacked flavour and bite. Extra chilli sauce in a bottle tasted musty and was of an unknown vintage.
The French fries were brown and over-fried, while the roast chicken was verging on dry.
A few weeks earlier, on a visit to Cascais Restaurant, service was equally impressive, and the grilled chicken and chips cooked to perfection. Paula, the smiling owner, visited each table to ensure that all was well, and encouraged patrons to try delicious crème caramel and Malva puddings.
A large group of hungry bikers, their machines parked outside, devoured platters of chicken, and family groups, ages ranging from Grannies to toddlers, tucked in with similar enthusiasm.
In Britain’s gloomy high streets, where one retail outlet after another is closing down, the fried chicken chain, KFC, is going great guns. A herb and spice coating created by the late Colonel Sanders, an American, remains as popular as ever, and a bargain tub of chicken pieces costing ten pounds, is enough to feed a family of four.
In spite of the recession, KFC will be opening hundreds of new branches and will create 9,000 new jobs. Fast food chains Subway and Domino’s Pizzas are also branching out, and creating new jobs.
So it’s back to basics and cutting your coat according to your cloth. If you can no longer afford silver service and four-course meals, settle for chicken and chips and rustic surroundings.

Cascais Restaurant 139 Samora Machel Avenue, Harare.
Tel: 704830/1
Comments to cmalakoff@gmail.com