‘Split the G' TikTok Trend Is Driving a Guinness Sales Surge
It's midday on a Friday, and Oisin Rogers, co-founder of the Devonshire, is watching a familiar scene: a group of customers are standing outside his lauded Soho pub, Guinness foam round their mouths after their first gulps, holding their pint glasses up to eye level to determine which one of them has secured the bragging rights for most accurately 'splitting the G.'
'I probably see it about 120 times a day,' Rogers says matter-of-factly about the viral drinking game taking over UK pubs. 'They'll be in for another round shortly.'
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16 hours ago
World's oldest restaurant faces challenge from Madrid tavern that says its even older
MADRID -- In the heart of Spain's capital, Sobrino de Botín holds a coveted Guinness World Record as the world's oldest restaurant. Exactly three hundred years after it opened its doors, Botín welcomes droves of daily visitors hungry for Castilian fare with a side of history. But on the outskirts of Madrid, far from the souvenir shops and tourist sites, a rustic tavern named Casa Pedro makes a bold claim. Its owners assert the establishment endured not just the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and the Napoleonic invasion in the early 1800s, but even the War of Spanish Succession at the start of the 18th century — a lineage that would make Casa Pedro older than Botín and a strong contender for the title. 'It's really frustrating when you say, 'Yes, we've been around since 1702,' but ... you can't prove it,' said manager and eighth-generation proprietor Irene Guiñales. 'If you look at the restaurant's logo, it says 'Casa Pedro, since 1702,' so we said, 'Damn it, let's try to prove it.'' Guiñales, 51, remembers her grandfather swearing by Casa Pedro's age, but she was aware that decades-old hearsay from a proud old-timer wouldn't be enough to prove it. Her family hired a historian and has so far turned up documents dating the restaurant's operations to at least 1750. That puts them within striking distance of Botín's record. Both taverns are family-owned. Both offer Castilian classics like stewed tripe and roast suckling pig. They are decorated with charming Spanish tiles, feature ceilings with exposed wooden beams and underground wine cellars. And both enjoy a rich, star-studded history. Botín's celebrated past includes a roster of literary patrons like Truman Capote, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Graham Greene. In his book 'The Sun Also Rises,' Ernest Hemingway described it as 'one of the best restaurants in the world." While Casa Pedro may not have boasted the same artistic pedigree, it boasts its own VIPs. Its walls are adorned with decades-old photographs of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I dining in one of its many rooms. The current Spanish monarch, King Felipe VI dines there, too, albeit more inconspicuously than his father. But the similarities between the two hotspots end there. Casa Pedro was once a stop on the only road heading north from the Spanish capital toward France. Its clientele is largely local regulars, like David González and Mayte Villena, who for years have spent every Friday lunching at the tavern. 'It wouldn't change a thing for us,' Villena said about the restaurant someday securing the Guinness title. Botín, on the other hand, is a stone's throw from Madrid's famed Plaza Mayor, where any day of the week tour guides are herding groups around town — and often straight through the restaurant's front door. Antonio González, a third-generation proprietor of Botín, concedes that the Guinness accolade awarded in 1987 has helped business, but said the restaurant had enough history to draw visitors even before. 'It has a certain magic,' he said. The question then becomes: How can either restaurant definitively claim the title? Guinness provides its specific guidelines for the superlative only to applicants, according to spokesperson Kylie Galloway, noting that it entails 'substantial evidence and documentation of the restaurant's operation over the years." González said that Guinness required Botín show that it has continuously operated in the same location with the same name. The only time the restaurant closed was during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did Casa Pedro. That criteria would mean that restaurants that are even older — Paris' Le Procope, which says it was founded in 1686, or Beijing's Bianyifang, founded in 1416, or the 1673-established White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island — aren't eligible for the designation. La Campana, in Rome's historic center, claims over 500 years of operation, citing documents on its menu and in a self-published history. Its owners say they have compiled the requisite paperwork and plan to submit it to Guinness. Guiñales and her husband couldn't consult archives from the former town of Fuencarral, now a Madrid neighborhood. Those papers went up in flames during the Spanish Civil War. Instead, they delved into Spanish national archives, where they found land registries of the area from the First Marquess of Ensenada (1743-1754) that showed the existence of a tavern, wine cellar and inn in the small town as of 1750. In their spare time, the couple continues to hunt for records proving that Casa Pedro indeed dates back to 1702, as is proclaimed on its walls, takeout bags and sugar packets. But even if they dig up the final documents and wrest the Guinness honor from Botín, Guiñales concedes that her restaurant's quiet location makes it unlikely to draw Botín's clientele in central Madrid. 'To think that we could reach that public would be incredible,' Guiñales said. 'It's a dream, but it's a dream.'
Buzz Feed
17 hours ago
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Ed Sheeran Defends Saying He Is Culturally Irish
On Tuesday, Ed Sheeran's appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast was released, and one headline that came out of the interview ended up causing quite a stir on social media. During the chat, 34-year-old Ed, who was born and raised in Suffolk, England, said that he identifies culturally as Irish. This is arguably fair enough as Ed's father is Irish and hails from Belfast, with Ed spending much of his childhood in his dad's home country of Ireland. "I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with," he told Louis. "My dad's family is... he's got seven brothers and sisters. We'd spend all of our holidays in Ireland. My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain." "I don't overthink it, but I do feel like my culture is something that I'm really proud of and grew up with and want to express," Ed went on. "And I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be [British], there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this." "I don't think there's any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into,' he continued, and when Louis asked if he gets 'a lot of love' in Ireland, Ed said: 'It's basically my second home, musically. I'd say Ireland is the place that I am most successful musically." Before long, headlines along the lines of: 'Ed Sheeran says he identifies culturally as Irish' began to emerge on social media, and without the additional context of his dad's heritage as well as his childhood in Ireland, people were quick to mock the star's comments. 'I've seen B*Witched live and have watched a couple of Gaelic football games, which I think gives me an even more legitimate claim to be culturally Irish than Ed Sheeran,' one person in tweeted in response to one of the news stories. 'Me after 1 Guinness,' somebody else wrote, while another popular response reads: 'Made a song called 'Galway Girl' and now thinks he's Irish.' And on Wednesday, Ed took to his Instagram story to hit back at the discourse as he shared a screenshot of a comment that he left for the haters. 'For anyone with an opinion after what I said about my heritage on the @officiallouistheroux podcast x,' Ed wrote alongside the grab.'My dad is Irish. My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport,' Ed's comment begins. 'The culture I was brought up around is Irish. The first music I learnt was Irish.''Just coz I was born somewhere else doesn't change my culture,' he went on. 'I can be allowed to feel connection to a place half of my family is from.' You tell 'em, Ed — what do you make of his post? Let me know in the comments down below!
CBS News
17 hours ago
- CBS News
Long Island golfer breaks Guinness World Record for playing most consecutive hours
For most golfers, a round takes a few hours, but one Long Island man is taking that to the extreme. Kelechi Ezihie, who only started playing golf two years ago after learning the game as a caddy, hit the course at Huntington Crescent Club at 6 p.m. on Sunday with the intention of setting a Guinness World Record by playing nonstop for 24 hours. However, in the wee hours of Monday morning, he found out his marathon had to get even longer if he wanted his name in the record books. By Tuesday, he broke the world record for the longest game of golf at 36 hours. "This is a test to my energy" Ezihie's drive goes beyond the green. He works at Life's WORC, a nonprofit serving people with disabilities, and he's raising money -- and awareness -- for his mission to diversify golf. The 27-year-old Inwood resident showed no signs of fatigue about 19 hours into his odyssey. He was allowed five-minute breaks each hour, but otherwise must keep walking and swinging. "I feel great. This is for a good cause, so I feel great," Ezihie said earlier Monday. "This is a test to my energy to see how far I can go." He was surrounded by friends who kept him laughing through the night as he played under lights and with glow-in-the-dark balls. "I really showed up thinking I would just play until 10, but the vibes are so good," friend Michaelangelo Garland said. Why Ezihie had to play longer than he planned In the middle of play, he found out that the game that planned to be the longest in history had to get even longer if wanted to set the record. He said he found out at around 3 a.m. Monday that a British golfer had just played 32 hours straight in Norway. So, Ezihie aimed for 36, which would have him finishing around 6 a.m. on Tuesday. "My friends are here to keep me going. I just think about enjoying myself, enjoy every single swing," he said. And that means rain or shine, darkness or light. "A little shower doesn't spoil the dream and the goal," Ezihie said. Guinness officials will now review video evidence to determine if he meets all the criteria for the record. "We have to make sure he's finishing the rounds in the right amount of time, that he is taking breaks in the allotted time that witnesses are logging," said Shartia Ducksworth, of Golf Insights. Why Ezihie embarked on this mission in the first place "People assume that golf is for the wealthy and I'm trying to change that," Ezihie said. "The goal is to let people know that golf is a game for everybody. Whatever your economic background or somebody with special needs, you can play the game of golf." He has bought land in his native Nigeria to build a golf center. "I believe Nigeria has a lot of talented kids that aren't able to show their talent," Ezihie said. Ezihie has a large laugh, a bigger heart, and may be on his way to a spot in the record books.
