Questionable table manners
By Dwight Daniels (Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2004-04-30 08:47

OK. I'm all for dining out at unusual and off-beat restaurants and it's nice to be in the company of a bright, pretty young woman when you're enjoying an evening's cuisine.

The "feast-on-a-beauty's-body" service was launched several days ago by a sushi restaurant in Kunming, Yunnan Province.[sina.com.cn]

But did a restaurant in southwestern China take things a little too far when it offered to serve sushi on the bodies of nearly naked women?

You've probably already seen photos of the women on the Internet. Slivers of fish and specially rice and shells on plates delicately covered particular portions of the young women's bodies as they reclined on tables.

It was to be called "Feast on a Beauty's Body", and apparently had roots in Japanese history and food culture, according to Qian Ning, a sociologist with Yunnan University, who said that it was once a fashion in the Japanese royal court to feast off a naked woman to reflect women's humble social status in a certain period of history.

An earlier controversial trial "nyotaimori" (eating sushi from a naked human plate) feast was held on April 2 at the Yamato Wind Village restaurant in Kunming in Yunnan before authorities caught wind of the event.

In any case, the dinners were advertised recently at the same eatery, and the ads worked, sparking a lot of interest and some moral pontificating among the conservative in the community and across China.

Health and business authorities quickly moved to shut the plan down, and fined the restaurant 2,000 yuan (US$240) for supposed violations of various codes on advertising as well as food sanitation.

Officials also said that serving food in such a way went "against Chinese moral standards and was humiliating for the women" involved.

Well, I don't know about the health standards. But the photos I saw appeared to show very nubile young women who were pretty darn clean and charming (both were apparently college-educated, I've since learned).

They appeared totally relaxed all laid out on their tables, with the sushi that was to be served appearing to be in good condition ... at least as nice it could be coming from some fat chef's hands (let us pray, good diners, that he'd washed his paws often.)

The feast would've cost 1,000 yuan (US$120) per person and was to require three days' advance notice for a reservation.

The national English-language newspaper, China Daily, reported at the time that some diners were aghast at the idea of eating off of another person. "But others were curious and tempted to have a try."

Put me in that category. If I were eating alone, I could talk to my "dinner date" in hushed, loving tones and see if she'd be interested in going out again some time, perhaps with her clothes on. And, if I happened to get nervous and do something a bit klutzy - say spill my wine on her - I could gently dab it away with a napkin. As I got a good look at her most promising features, I'd swear to her I'd be more careful next time.

It's not like she could get up and walk away.

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