Eatery with strong ties to clients

ONCE upon a time, in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, an American left his tie with the owner of a Portuguese restaurant as a souvenir.

The tie was hung up and it was not long before other patrons began to follow suit.

Fast-forward 42 years and the family-run restaurant, Parreirinha, now boasts a collection of more than 5 000 ties, a wall covered in matchboxes and a bathroom full of brassieres.

“At one stage my dad took it as a big joke and used to go up to people with scissors and cut their ties off,” said Gloria da Cunha, daughter of one of the restaurant’s founders. One day a customer threatened him with violence. “From there on he thought it’s better if he just asked.”

Over the years, the list of donors has come to include famous people, including actor Laurence Fishburne, former finance minister Trevor Manuel, radio presenter Whackhead Simpson and television presenter Justice Malala.

As the story goes, Fishburne and fellow actors Orlando Bloom and David Harewood came for dinner with a bevy of bodyguards. Fishburne knew of the tie tradition and offered his autographed tie to Da Cunha’s mother.

“We all knew who he was but my mother had no clue,” said Da Cunha. She later had to show her mother a movie in which Fishsa, burne had starred. But her mother was the only person who got to interact with Fishburne as photographs and fan interactions were firmly discouraged.

The gifting of corporate nooses has snowballed. Boxes of ties are routinely dropped off at the premises but there is not enough space to hang them all.

Sometimes ties get pinched. One bearing the image of Mother Tere- sent by the Vatican, has been swiped three times.

“It always finds its way back here. I think people get scared that it is going to be cursed or bring them bad luck, so they always send the tie back,” said Da Cunha.

In order to lead others not into temptation, Mother Teresa has now been knotted above the cash register.

Disappointed by the lack of female representation hanging from the rafters, women began leaving their bras. Initially they hung alongside the ties but health inspectors took a dim view of that and they were moved to frames in the women’s bathroom.

Aside from ties and bras, Parreirinha’s collection of oddities includes a wall of matchboxes from across the globe. They were given by a couple who needed to free up some space at home.

Outside of the food (Parreirinha’s prawns and prawn curry are firm favourites), these traditions have created a bond between the restaurant and its customers — and give patrons a chance to plan the Mother Teresa Heist No 4.