I may have started the said thread? But if I didn't, I certainly contributed to it. I don't hide behind my posts.
I was one of the people invited by the club to that event. I went with an open mind, and I'm certainly not up the club's arse, or the arse of anyone who works at the club. I have met people high up who work for City, but I don't name drop, or pretend I'm in anyway important because of who I've met and spoken to at City. That aside, I haven't been invited back to the club in any capacity since, so I must have done something wrong. ;-)
As I've already stated, I went to that event with an open mind. Good or bad, I would have posted it on here. Of course we were given the full fanfare.(excuse the pun) We were treated like Kings and Queens for a couple of hours, and nothing was too much trouble for the club or Fanfare.
The food that was brought out was excellent. And yes, it was always going to be. There wasn't a chance in hell that the food wouldn't look or taste good. 1st reviews are makers or breakers in most cases, so they had to get it right, even catering for a handful of people. On a personal level I ate the first burger in full, and part of the Hot Dog which followed. After that I didn't have anything else, even though the food came thick and fast. After the tasting was over Jamie Oliver did his speech, so did a representative from Legends Hospitality, and finally one of he club officials responsible for the catering at City. After that was over we got together and had a question and answer session with Jamie Oliver, Legends Hospitality, and the club officials.
I'm the ugly b****** in the picture. ;-)
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/club-news/2013/july/fabulous-fan-fayre" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/club-news/20 ... -fan-fayre</a>
During that question and answer session numerous things were put forward to the club, Jamie Oliver, and Legends. TBH it wasn't anything they didn't already know, but they listened, responded, and played along.
We stated that the quality and appearance of the food had to stay the same, regardless of the demand. We questioned the increases in prices. We were assured they would be minimal, and they reflected the better ingredients used in the food. We mentioned time and again about poor service, not enough staff, etc, etc. We were assured extra staff would be taken on and trained. We discussed numerous ideas to try and improve service, paying etc. Yes it was a talking shop, but it felt like we touched on a lot of issues that still haven't been addressed properly by the club.(there you go I've admitted it)
What I reported back from the event was the truth, and nothing more. The food was good, the questions we asked were noted and would be addressed, and the overall feeling was that City and Fanfayre were upping the anti as regards food and service on matchdays. That's what came across, rightly or wrongly.
The event aside. Whether people agree with me or not, the food has improved since the previous incumbents were replaced by Fanfayre. Others may disagree? That's fair enough. Once again from a personal point of view, there are more staff at the bars, and in general they are better trained than those who worked for the previous incumbents. That aside, there are still plenty of issues to be resolved. Have City and Fanayre done enough? Probably not. Are they still trying? Yes they probably are, but they need to do much more.