Take a guess where an Italian restaurant opened in late 2008. From AP-
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has ordered the opening of the isolated country's first Italian restaurant, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper reported, despite the nation's continuing struggle to feed its 24 million people.If my father was still alive, he should have sent the cooks to Florida. Dad* used to make the best meatballs.Kim -- a reputed gourmand -- sent North Korean cooks to Naples and Rome last year to learn how to reproduce authentic Italian pizza and pasta after "repeated trial and error," the newspaper said Saturday, citing a restaurant manager.
"Our people should be also allowed to enjoy the world-famous food," the manager of the Pyongyang eatery quoted Kim as saying, according to the Tokyo-based Choson Sinbo newspaper.The article went on to say the restaurant was crowded since its opening last December. Do the laws of supply and demand work in the Hermit Kingdom? The above article is based on news reported by the North Koreans themselves. The North Korean media wouldn't make things up, would they?The newspaper, considered a mouthpiece for the communist regime in Pyongyang, said the North's government buys wheat flour, butter and cheese from Italy for the restaurant.
It is unclear how many North Koreans can afford to eat out -- let alone eat imported food -- in a country that is among the poorest in the world. The average per capita income was $1,150 in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available, according to the South's central bank.
*- My father passed away 12 years ago yesterday.
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Comments (3)
Kinda makes you wonder what... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Gmac | March 15, 2009 10:25 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Kinda makes you wonder what they use for meat, seriously.
See this for a view of the two countries at night and tell me the economic scale would even allow a McDonald's to exist there, let alone a 'gourmet' Italian restaurant.
http://tinyurl.com/be8k3z
1. Posted by Gmac | March 15, 2009 10:25 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 15, 2009 10:25
2. Posted by OLDPUPPYMAX | March 15, 2009 11:03 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I hope those folks who have unfairly criticized Kim for so long will at last recognize the sincere concern he feels for his subjects! I mean, just how important are electricity, indoor plumbing, medical care and the host of other luxuries the finicky, spoiled, unappreciative citizens of North Korea have always been without? Pretty minor stuff when compared with a really good piece of pizza, huh? And nearly one third of the country should be able to afford the better part of two slices in less than 5 years!!
2. Posted by OLDPUPPYMAX | March 15, 2009 11:03 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 15, 2009 11:03
3. Posted by GarandFan | March 15, 2009 11:48 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Just another "Worker's Paradise".
3. Posted by GarandFan | March 15, 2009 11:48 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 15, 2009 11:48