The Prague Post
September 8th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Tempo

Around Town

Any excuse to party

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 4th, 2007 issue

There’s nothing those with six-figure incomes love more than free food and free booze.

Send out a few hundred invites with the promise of refreshments, and the swells will converge on your place. “Welcome to our celebration of white asparagus,” “Join us as we herald the opening of our freshly painted room,” “The embassy of the Marshall Islands would like to …”
So on the occasion of Hilton Prague turning the reins over to a new general manager, 200-plus finely frocked freebie fanatics descended on the hotel’s grand ballroom June 27 for a soiree dedicated to dining on someone else’s dime. Or, more accurately, scarfing down as much food and drink as possible.
There was a steady line at the bouillabaisse trough and people clustered around the woman pouring Penfold’s, an Australian wine.
Women savaged skewers of fruit drenched in chocolate cascading from a fountain while their men picked at delicate smoked salmon. Nearby, a Champagne bar served decent vintages. On one side of the room line cooks sawed at legs of cured Spanish ham. Across the way, another staff member shucked oysters. The dessert table looked like a candy store, and rows of amuse-bouches (appetizers) were stacked like jewelry on display.
The poor server working Krušovice taps over in a corner looked bored and lonely all night, but the rest of the room buzzed.
Let’s face it: The wealthy and the merely well-off live in a privileged world. Many years ago, as I watched a line of inner-city grade-school children pay admission to the Cyclorama in Atlanta, a guard told me Ted Turner and Jane Fonda had visited a few days before. “Of course, they didn’t pay,” he added. Earlier last week at a fete for Jack Welch II (or whatever pundits are calling the new chief executive of General Electric), invited guests received gift bags including Artel glass and other prized goods.
At Prague Post affairs, all the marketing folks pass out is bags stuffed with a newspaper and, perhaps, a 41-percent-off subscription form or two. But I digress.
Attendees were even treated to a little humor. Some funny man walked on stage and spoke in glowing terms about the Czech people—their natural warmth and kindness, their genuine friendliness toward visitors. Not since Jack Benny’s “your money or your life” skit has … um, wait a minute. Just checked the invitation and there’s no mention of entertainment.
Hmmm. It must have been Michael Specking, incoming general manager of the Hilton.
Besides telling a few little white lies to assuage the locals, Specking limited his talk to wry, self-deprecating humor, blanket praise for his soon-to-be employees and a comment about this city’s obvious beauty — although anyone moving from Düsseldorf is bound to be impressed by the endearments of Karlín.
I wish I could tell you sordid tales of discarded Prada tops cluttering the ballroom floor and blitzed district sales managers guzzling chardonnay from crystal punch bowls. Unfortunately, when the Hilton throws a party, behavior rarely strays far from the bounds of propriety. And with The Prague Post general manager glowering from a corner, I couldn’t stir up trouble.
Unless I wanted to learn more about our marvelous severance package, which features, I believe, a 10-percent-off coupon at Hloupý Honza.
So, after a few pleasantries with writers from the Czech press and some light conversation with relatively sober district sales managers and women wearing firmly buttoned Prada outfits, I resigned myself to strolling between the raw bar and the table with all that beautiful cured meat.
Although, like the others, I avoided the Krušovice stand.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Tempo (4/07/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.