Not THAT Efes, you twerp. And what on earth were you doing on THAT stage?
Having taken a commercial interest in Milet Publishing that year, it seemed polite and fun to make the Milet team feel at home in a Restaurant named after a nearby Aegean coastal town. Ephesus (or Efes) is about 35 miles north of Miletus.
I had fond memories of that Great Titchfield Street Restaurant from my Newman Harris days, as it was one of the “restaurants of choice” to soak up the beer from an after work drinking session at The Phoenix or The Cock Tavern or both.
Efes was willing and able to supply us with a back room for our Christmas dinner. Not the most salubrious grub we have ever had, but the Turkish food at Efes was consistently good and the atmosphere was great that year.
Efes moved a few years ago, see article below:
At the time of writing (2024) I’ve not yet tried its new, posher incarnation in Maple Street.
Back in the year 2000, Michael and I were in especially festive mood, as Tanya Aslan had pulled off a coup with Clean Business Cuisine marketing; landing us a window slot in Waterstones Piccadilly which was deemed at that time to be hitting the book marketing jackpot
Let’s just say, that particular jackpot did not show in the sales figures – just the bragging rights.
Meanwhile Michael also had delusions of adequacy in the matter of seasonal song writing at that time. The year 2000 concluded a hat-trick of his lyrics for the seasonal song, after which Michael rarely, if ever, returned to rune-writing.
Oh Little Court Of St Helen’s
Michael Mainelli – Poet
Oh little court of St Helen’s
How swish we see thee lie!
Beneath thy deep and wealthy sleep
Z/Yen’s offices abide
And in these dark deep shadows
The everlasting blight
Consultancy adds to your years
When packed as tight as mice
How crowdedl-y, how crowded-ly
Z/Yen dishes out advice
Beside the frozen servers
And other bust device
Paper’s overflowing
But Linda’s looking nice
And if we get our Seventh Heav’n
We’ll soon trash Number Five
The concluding apposite but non-rhyming reference in the song referred to our impending move within 5-7 St Helen’s Place, from a small office in the basement of No 7 to a larger one on the first floor of No 5. As usual with Michael’s lyrics, you had to be there…or at least know which door to go to.