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Previous Page Comment
The Naked Lunch
The Nude
Café's Liz
Egger has little appetite for Nude Dining.
( April 2005)
No sooner had I been asked to write a “Nude
Perspective” piece for the new Nude Café web site, than I read that a real
life restaurant in New York has started serving nude diners, which is as
uncanny a case of life following art as you’re likely to find outside the
pages of “The Da Vinci Code”!
Apparently, the
group’s organisers wanted something a bit more elegant than the
wilderness getaways and beach resorts they generally frequent on
nudist breaks. “When you go away on holiday it’s more you’re
roughing it in the woods, whereas this is a really nice
restaurant,” said one of the party.
Which is fine
if the thought of un - dressing for dinner turns you
on; personally, given the choice between dining on lobster
thermidor in a swish restaurant with my kit off, or grazing at
McDonalds fully clothed, I’ll take the Big Mac and fries every
time – and I don’t like hamburgers!
Now don’t get
me wrong, I’ve nothing against eating whilst naked; as a life-long
nudist I’ve lunched in the buff at resorts and beaches from Palm
Springs to Perth and thought nothing of it. But, on those occasions
I was already naked, at a nudist venue, and it was altogether
natural and appropriate, given the setting. Ambience is
everything, and to wander out of the sun into a cool beach side
restaurant at some sun drenched nudist resort and lunch au naturelle
is just the thing to do on a sweltering day, and I’ll do it again
whenever I can.
But I
can't, for
the life of me, see the attraction in fighting my way through the
Manhattan traffic on a dismal February evening to get to a
restaurant – however plush – just so that as soon as I arrive I
can strip off. Frankly,
I just don’t get the point.
It is, of
course a purely personal thing, but dining out in an uptown
restaurant is more than going for a meal – for me it’s an event.
It means dressing to the nines, with my make up just so and an
outrageously expensive slinky dress that makes me feel like a
million dollars. It means fine perfume, and my best jewellery.
It’s the pleasure I get from seeing that my partner and friends
have prepared themselves for the evening with the same care and
pride. It’s about elegance, and luxury. It’s about ambience
To arrive and
dump my clothes into a plastic bag just doesn’t have the same
distinction.
Ah well, each
to his own; at least the waiting staff and the chef remained
clothed. It’s something to do with hygiene regulations, which is
just as well too; tables are about the same height as a man’s
groin and I’ve attended enough nude barbeques to know that the
sight of a naked man, standing at a table with his – how shall I
say this -- equipment dangling centimetres above the dish
of the day can put you right off your food.
But enough of
this; I see that I’m in danger of becoming a bore. (Long time
readers of mine may recall that in previous “perspectives”
I’ve banged off in a similar manner about nude discos and nude
pubs. It must be my age.)
Anyway, I wish
‘em well. They obviously gain a lot of pleasure from their pastime
– as well as a slap-up feed - and the restaurant gains revenue and
some free publicity, so I suppose everyone wins. I personally still
fail to see the point, but I’m prepared to be educated; if you
think you can enlighten me I’d be more than happy to hear from
you.
Just
don’t invite me to dinner!
Regards
Liz
liz@thenudecafe.com
This article may not be published, copied, printed
transmitted or otherwise used without the written consent
of the author.)
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