The Daily Dish: Birthday Cake Causes Tragic Bar Fire
Birthday Cake Causes Tragic Bar Fire
A birthday celebration turned tragic in France this week when the candles on a birthday cake started a fire in a restaurant, killing 13 people and injuring six more. The celebration was taking place in the basement of a bar in Rouen called Cuba Libre on Friday night. About 20 people were in the room when someone brought in a birthday cake loaded with candles and sparklers. The cake fell, and the carpet burst into flames, filling the place with flames and toxic gas. The fire was so sudden and so extreme that at first people thought it might have been a terrorist attack, but while an investigation is ongoing, authorities in Rouen say it was just a tragic accident.
Norway Hospitality Industry Inundated with 'Frozen' Tourists
A big boost in tourism thanks to a popular movie seems like it'd be a great thing for any hospitality industry, but Norway is still seeing a huge influx of visitors inspired by the Disney movie Frozen and some residents are ready to "let it go." Frozen came out in 2013 and generated a huge spike in tourism in Norway, on which much of the animated film's architecture and geography was based. Tourism in some areas, from Disney fans perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, has grown as much as 20 percent. There's a sequel coming, too, which will doubtless bring more visitors — but some people say Norway already has all the tourists it wants. The town of Flakstad, in the Lofoten Islands in northwestern Norway, has been particularly affected, and is already having problems with waste disposal, crowding, and erosion of walking paths thanks in part to the increased number of visitors.
Drunk Guy Arrested After Mistaking Police Car for Taxi
It's never a good idea to drive after drinking, so one Canadian man had the right idea when he tried to get a taxi after a night out at the bars. Unfortunately, he should probably have stopped a few rounds earlier, because the man was so drunk he mistook a police car for his taxi. The officer in the car, surprised by his unexpected passenger, decided to run the man's name and discovered that he had an outstanding arrest warrant — so the officer drove him to the police station. At that point, one assumes, the man realized he was not in a taxi cab after all.
Food Fight: Popular Blogger Claims Burger King Stole His Mac n' Cheetos Recipe Idea
On the whole, the fast food industry has been trying to make significant strides toward dietary awareness. But Burger King took a giant leap backward in healthfulness when it introduced its new Cheetos-encrusted fried macaroni and cheese bites, called Mac n' Cheetos. This indulgent fried snack may not be an original though: Vulgar Chef — aka Kyle Marcoux — a popular food blogger with a penchant for profanity, is claiming Burger King stole his idea. Last year, he published a recipe for "Cheetos Crusted Mac N Cheese Fries," and nine months later Burger King came out with its own version. Rather than seeking legal compensation from Burger King, he's just adding them to a list of food companies who have "used" his recipes — his way of sticking it to "the man." Patenting a recipe is actually very difficult. The recipe must be totally "novel" and "nonobvious," and something that has "never existed before," according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Grocery Threatened With Closure for Not Selling Alcohol, Pork
A Muslim-owned general store in the Paris suburb of Colombes is under fire for not being "general" enough, because the owner has opted not to sell alcohol or pork in the establishment. Now the landlord and the shopkeeper are fighting over whether it's OK for a shop like this to skip alcohol and pork in France. The shopkeeper says he has opted not to sell alcohol not for religious reasons but because it is a security issue, and that he did not stock pork because he took "a lot of losses in the deli department." The shop premises is owned by the local housing authority, whose representative says the shop is not meeting the needs of the community by not selling alcohol or pork. The shopkeeper is set to go to court to determine whether the store is currently meeting those requirements, or he will be booted from the premises and replaced by a shop that does sell these items.
That's today's daily dish; stop by tomorrow for another helping.