Ruminations

There are good things to say about Dome cafes. The food is tasty, the prices aren't heart-stopping, the coffee is fine, and the waiting staff are plentiful and seem to know what they're doing. But this last weekend my dad and I ran into the sort of problem that suggested that underneath the wooden counters and artful cheesecake there is a fast food joint waiting to burst out.

We were there for my stepmum's celebratory half-century cooked breakfast and, having completed fifty successful years on the planet she was quite justified in asking that the tomato should be served raw, rather than grilled. And that was a problem, as there was no option for raw tomato on the computerised register.

Instead, after considerable tapping on the touch-sensitive screen, we were offered a "Slice of Tomato", this being a side dish, usually inserted into a burger. At a cost of $1. Even though the cooked breakfast came with a perfectly serviceable tomato of its own. For the pleasure of receiving an uncooked tomato, we had to pay extra.

And so, when the plate arrived, I was entirely unsurprised to note that it had two tomatoes. Both cooked...