Shop Talk: Fast-food hybrids

There are days when only pizza will do. By virtue of its provenance, an authentic Italian purveyor would be a natural first choice. Its menu, incontestably, would be free from adulterating or diluting influences. So no coleslaw or incantations of potato — wedges, mash or otherwise. By nature, I am a purist. Smythson for stationery, Kérastase for shampoo. You follow? About four years ago I met Greg Solomon, MD of McDonald’s SA, for one of the chain’s back-of-house tours at a store in Woodmead, Johannesburg. He offered me carrot cake and a cappuccino. The combination, he inferred, would be the best I’d taste in SA. Sacrilege, I thought (but was too polite to say). He went on to tell me how McCafé, the group’s in-house coffee chain, was transcending the archetypical McDonald’s offering.Business people, he said, were even holding meetings at McCafés. "Coffice", one calls such a place. Equal parts coffee and office, plus free Wi-Fi. McDonald’s proverbial bread and butter was (and is) bur...