The Global Village

It seems fitting to start our exploration of Hamville with its oldest remaining restaurant, the Global Village.

When the town of Hamville was founded by the Ham brothers in 1944, they wisely decided to establish a tourist trade by building fantastic and amazing restaurants that people would undoubtedly flock to. A number of visionary restaurateurs were invited to the town to build restaurants. Among them was the legendary Peter Bartholomew James. James (known more affectionately as PBJ) created restaurants of such grandeur that even the creations of the Hams paled in comparison. Three of his restaurants are still open to this day - Time After Time, The Model Depot, and The Global Village.

The layout of the Village is much the same today as it was in 1947, though it is considerably larger. You walk in the front gate and are surrounded by a vast array of ethnic foods. As you walk around, you find that you have left Hamville and are now traveling the earth. Here's a booth from Italy, adorned with replicas of some of the greatest art in the world. Here's a booth from India, with a sitar player bringing in customers. Here's a booth from Brazil, with bright decorative costumes on their employees. And that's only three of the one hundred countries whose native cuisines are represented at the Global Village.

Once you've chosen your meal, you are given a numbered flag that represents the country. You are welcome to sample from several countries, but once you're done, you move into the dining area. It's a large open area with many tables, covered by a roof, but with flags from all the countries dotting the room. As you find your table and look around what others are having, your food is being prepared by master chefs in one of the largest kitchens in the world, an underground behemoth that covers one full city block. The chefs are from all around the room, and all are skilled in several cuisines. The general public is not allowed in this area, but insiders say that it is one of the busiest places on earth. Looking around at the always packed dining area, it's not hard to believe it. When your food is ready, waiters bring it to you, based on your flags, so be sure to have them visible. If you ordered from different countries, do not expect your food to arrive at the same time.

Is it possible that such a massive enterprise can be profitable? The Global Village is consistently the single most popular restaurant in Hamville year after year. When it opened, it only featured ten cuisines - American, Brazilian, Chinese, German, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, and Thai. It expanded to twenty-five in 1960. In 1975, the GV shut down for a two year renovation. PBJ himself shut down the five restaurants surrounding the GV (they were all his), and converted the land into a larger Global Village. When the restaurant reopened in September of 1977, 90 countries were represented. In 1989, the total reached 100, and has stayed there since. Some of the booths are understandably smaller than others, due to popularity (Afghan food, while wonderful in its way, has nowhere near the following that Italian or Chinese). The GV is the largest employer in the Hamville area, with approximately 1000 people working at a time. But, yes, they make their money back and then some. For PBJ, however, it was never so much about the money as it was about bringing the food of the world to Hamville.