• IT'S all very well sharing your dining experience - and often your conversation - with dozens of other people, but we're delighted to see that booths are back in fashion!

Whether it's a group of friends or you're searching for the intimacy of that one-on-one romantic experience without the rest of the diners hearing your clumsy attempts at courtship, there's nothing like the privacy of your own enclosed little space.

Restaurateur Andy Price has clearly seen the attraction of booths in his latest restaurant - the Print Room that's opening in the Daily Echo building this Friday - and you can certainly see the advantage of providing customers with the choice of open plan or imtimacy.

Of course, there's one local restaurant that's built its reputation for a very special dining experience on its booths - Isabel's at Ashley Cross near Poole - and there's always a rush to reserve one at what must surely be one of the hidden gems of Dorset.

It also helps that the food is consistently good and the staff are both friendly and very individual, but it would be good to see other restaurants - new and old - catching on.

  • OF COURSE, it would be remiss of Bon Viveur not to wish good luck to The Print Room and its bar Ink on its opening this weekend.

Everyone at the Echo has lived with the development in so many different ways, from its early planning stages, through the development of the two venues to the final days before the launch and there's certainly an anticipation - as well as a few tempting aromas - wafting through our Richmond Hill headquarters in the past week.

Sneak previews of the menus and wine lists guarantee a fascinating and original dining experience, day or night And it certainly doesn't look bad for a "staff canteen"!

  • GOOD to see cider is back in fashion, albeit via an expensive advertising campaign for an equally expensive bottle. But there are plenty of old favourites - Strongbow, Bulmer's and some of the supermarket chains' own brands - that will quench that late summer thirst at the lower end of the price scale
  • STAYING with summer drinks, I'm sure we've all been tempted to try the cheaper substitutes to some of the leading brands of spirits and liqueurs. More often than not (especially if you're going all-inclusive abroad) it's never quite the same. But shoppers at Aldi have found what could be a real winner in Austens, a Pimms pretender that's under a fiver and a very good alternative to the real thing. Pack the jug with ice, mint leaves, cucumber, apple and orange and you won't know the difference.
  • If you have any comments, hints or tips - or want to be a Bon Viveur yourself and provide us with your own thoughts - drop a line to Bon Viveur at the Echo or comment below.