The tavern of Albert

On the main paved street of the city, with the shops, people were coming and going in a hurry, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horses, trying to catch everything. Most of them left the countryside and settled in the city, doing various professions. One became carpenter, another one became carriage, another one grocer. In any case, they found a large customer base in the city to sell their products and services. Their needs, year by year grew up and they ran all the time to cover them so they not to be left behind and misunderstood.

Many of them did not miss the opportunity to make fun of those who were content with a few. Of course, success in the city was not a given. Not everyone did equally well, to be rich and to have prestige. Some of them, more cunning, they succeeded with their tricks, the nice conversations, the glossy packaging, sometimes with lies and irregularities, to fill their pockets with gold coins. Depending on his profession, everyone had his own secrets and tried to make others befool.

In the countryside where they lived some years ago, they were not worried about the food either. It was more austere, and they were not busy at that time about when and what they would eat…. In the city, however, things changed and they wanted to eat more and more elaborate and modern food. They were afraid of hunger, more than anything else, and they all ended up being overweight. They had a daily basic idea of ​​what to eat and boasted when what they ate made them feel full in a short time..

Many of their conversations were about food. They were competing to get the most pounds, in the shortest time and there were instructions on how and when to eat each meal. The most read and full of them, were highly regarded in the city, while everyone was asking for their opinion. The old greetings they made in the countryside, were replaced with wishes like ‘good satiety’, ‘Good meal’ and clinked the glasses saying ‘to our food’.

Albert was one of them and ran a well-known tavern in the city center. Spotlights illuminated the front of the store, which was so big, that covered almost the entire square. Many carriages were parked outside the tavern. The hungry, travelers and locals, satisfied their hunger with the great variety of food. Either a little hungry, or a lot hungry, even with the suspicion of hunger, the townspeople were willing to leave plenty of coins out of their pouch. Even if it was not so full. Countless pennies at the end of the day, which were counted with religious reverence by many waitresses that Albert had in his work.

Although he was a very smart and dedicated businessman, his gaze betrayed just the opposite. He was constantly with half-closed eyes and with no glow inside them. Tall and slender, with somewhat crooked teeth, that when he squeezed his mouth, they creaked as they slid on top of each other. He did not bother about the money he spent when he gave rich rewards to his staff, which consisted of cooks, guards, waiters and others. He believed that this attitude improved the image of his business. But he required faith and dedication to work.

He had meals for every taste and he tried with legal and illegal means to prevail in the city. His tavern had been criticized and punished many times in the past, although with minimum penalties – from the authorities. And this was for immoral and frivolous tactics, applied to unsuspecting customers. Tactics known, which unfortunately for him, easily located by city authorities. Cheap ingredients, fast preparation for food, meetings and dinners with lords as well as attempts to finance them. But he did not put it down, he considered himself an expert in taste and rejoiced when the cashier, the night the tavern closed, was full.

He always made sure to advertise his tavern and its food. But also with rich gifts, he could limit any defamation caused by his harmful tactics. In the minimum free time he had at his disposal, he was visiting his friends. They were important people in the city and they talked only about work issues. The evening, just before closing his eyes, depleted by the intensity of the day, he was read one book only. It was given to him by an old mayor of the city, with title: ‘The lord of the market’. From reading and discussing with his friends he had come to some conclusions.

He knew that most people chose to cook at home, with traditional recipes and ingredients of their own taste. So there was no reason to visit his shop. That was a conclusion that made him grit his teeth. He thought that it was not possible for one of the most important needs of man to be undertaken by amateurs. Another conclusion was that at the end people did not go hungry often enough… Yes… Albert considered it as a problem of human nature that people do not go hungry constantly… This opinion was repeated from within mainly in the mornings. And this was happening, because next to his house there was a coop and every morning that Albert left for the tavern, blessed the hens that kept crouching and biting something out of the ground. What more logical he thought, the same was true for humans;

And if nature, it created such worries and frustrations for him, the book he was reading gave him even more headaches. He presented it to the reader with many examples, that the key to any business, whether it was a blacksmith shop, or inn, or stable, is the creation of needs. But also the strong commitment of customers with the company was very significant. Albert, long time ago, had begun to think about how he could achieve these goals.. Surely such a plan would be grandiose and ambitious.

The whole city, upon completion of the implementation of such a plan, he would eat in his tavern and very often. To succeed these goals, had to consider every detail, because he was willing to invest a lot of money in the project. Something that did not bother him much, because somewhere in the book he was reading, in a box with bold letters, wrote that whatever you spend on research and advertising, you will get them back multiple times. This frame always made Albert open his half-closed eyelids.

After all, in complete secrecy, the plan that had been hatched came into effect… First of all, hired specialized and impeccably trained staff. He would create those flavors that will keep customers always hungry but at the same time committed to his own kitchen. Tasters, chemists, food alchemists, experienced cooks... He hired volunteers – testers, with payment of course, and after a long time of trials and experiments he succeeded. The miracle happened… The foods that would make you think you are full temporarily and would make you constantly hungry, it was a reality. Of course, he was a little afraid of food controllers of the authorities, especially those to whom he had not sent gifts. But he hoped that with a very small footnote to the menu, that his superfoods are still in beta, everything would be fine.

He chose a period of fasting to run his plan. So that some people are really hungry and can be a first-class advertisement for its promising cuisine. But as usual, those who were hungry even during a period of fasting, were few in relation to the total inhabitants of his city. So, following the instructions of his favorite book, began to spend much of his fortune, in ads. These appeared on street signs and newspapers. He thought of following this new advertising trick that does not show from the beginning what its advertising.

So, it wrote short messages like ‘Do you feel hungry;’, 'This is hunger...', ‘Do you want to become hungry;’, which were followed by the corresponding sketch of an exhausted from hunger. After a while, and towards the end of fasting, would present his products… The same labels now, were showing his food. Messages like ‘You are hungry; You are full!’, ‘The medicine of hunger’ but also more cute like ‘the food is a concerto , when you eat with Alberto', flooded the city.

For a more realistic feeling of hunger, he bought and filled the city with scales, putting them in different places. On these everyone could measure and check if his weight was normal or he had to eat immediately so as not to falled apart from weakness. It was an unusual scale, with coin acceptor, which did not accurately indicate the weight. It had only two indications, green and red, depending on whether or not the weight was normal. The only easy thing for Albert was to decide for himself when the color would turn green and when red. Later he succeeded, the coins to be put by the mayor from the city revenues…

But the information campaign was not limited to signs, newspapers and scales. Albert contacted the good ones, his traditional clients and asked for their help. Good eaters, with big belly, who have in the past received his great favor, they would not say no to put a hand in the effort of their favorite tavern owner. They would distribute Albert's menu in leaflets, they would write articles in the newspaper with the fame of their tasting knowledge and in their companies and friends they would definitely encourage them to try these excellent foods..

His genius plan, eventually led many people to visit him. In fact, the vast majority were people who were not hungry or even they were hungry in the past, they used to cook at home. The book and the rules it contained did not disappoint him enentually. He knew that these would be his regular customers now. He even arranged when they would come to eat again, after they paid the bill.. Something stomach disorders that appear, with the particular ingredients he used, he attributed them to the food from other taverns, but also to the intolerance of some customers. After all, they were rare cases…

Nevertheless, the investment he had made, he did not consider that it had achieved its original goal. There was a respectable portion of the residents who did not feel hungry from the message signs, and some others who did not trust Albert's well-publicized food. That afternoon sitting at the tavern counter, he was serving customers but he had lost his original smile… A smile, that before, he gave generously as he served and it turned to swearing when he closed his conversations with the phrase ‘please, come back to us’.. Now, sometimes with anger, sometimes with dissapointment, serves customers somewhat reluctantly, while his gaze is flat, it testifies a mind that works with great intense… He wondered, what was he able to do and did not do.

A customer in a hurry, interrupts his thoughts:

– “Good afternoon. Clauss Peterson, I have made a reservation…”

– “What;”, responds with intense, with a questioning expression on his face… He remains a little speechless, with his eyes now wide open… “Yes, yes... please, take a seat, they will serve you”

The surprised customer, sees him walking out of the store in a hurry…

(The B’ part here)