My great-great-great-great grandfather is a distinguished Spanish mathematician and scientist. It would be repetitious to write about him as older readers will remember the story from a September 2015 post, A Spy in the Family.
My maths genes are frayed but not non-existent. Yesterday was glorious in London – perhaps the last day of summer. I walked to Hyde Park Corner to meet Robert. Our plan was to go to the Canaletto exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery. There was an impossibly long queue for tickets but Robert tactfully mentioned that I was in line to buy tickets to see the State Appartments. Anyway the exhibition had timed entry and we were too impatient to wait. By the time we had walked down the Mall and up St James’s Street it was after 1.00 and we were lucky to get a table at Franco’s in Jermyn Street. The prices are high, the cooking spot on and the service impeccable. R had an Aperol Spritz, a Negroni for me, then we both had Parma ham and figs and a seafood risotto to share. As it was the last day of summer we were drawn to the rosés. I would normally have a French one from Provence but £50 seemed a bit steep. Instead I chose a Pinot Grigio rosé, attractively priced at £23. It is worth mentioning that I did not look at the bill and on the way out the manageress stopped me to apologise that we’d been overcharged; not something that happens in every restaurant. Anyway they are going to reduce my bill when I go again next month.
This is where my frayed genes come in. What is an acceptable ratio between the cost of wine and a main course? Say house wine and a middle-priced main. In this instance the risotto cost £24 (each) but was perfection – as were the freshly carved ham and ripe figs. In most restaurants (not clubs) the ratio is close to 1:1. I’d like to know if this is accepted practice in the trade or a coincidence. If I dine with Jancis and Nick again I will inquire.
Another ratio of rather more importance is the amount charities spend on overheads versus their good causes. A charity of which I am a trustee pays 8% but as we pay this administration fee to another charity you could say that we pay nothing. On Thursday evening I listened to a talk about an American/Canadian charity that funds research into Parkinson’s disease; the Michael J Fox Foundation.
They raise (and spend) an astonishing $100 million a year. Last year their biggest donor shelled out $40 million but the median donation was $50. It costs them 10% to raise these funds and a further 3% in overheads. It seems high to give the fund raisers 10% but if they deliver $100 million I cannot argue with that. They are significant donors to research programmes in the UK and Europe but don’t raise much money here. I was in a minority on Thursday, not yet having being diagnosed with Parkinson’s and not being a doctor doing research.
The message I came away with is that charities do it better in the USA.