Factlets (21 & 22)

  These factlets are food-related, although beverages are also involved. The first has to do with what is now the largest fast-food chain on the planet. The name of the company begins with the letter "M" and it is not McDonald's. The second pertains to one small restaurant in Washington. Washington, Virginia, not Washington, D.C. If you are interested in finer dining, go directly to the second one.

MIXUE

   The company name is pronounced this way: ME-shway. It sells soft ice cream, sugary drinks and bubble tea. Those products are sold in over 50,000 red (really red) establishments scattered throughout the world. McDonald's has around 43,500 outlets. 
   Mixue's Ronald McDonald is "Snow King", who looks like a snowman. Apparently the stores' Muzak plays a song with these lyrics, "I love you, you love me,: Mixue, ice cream and tea, to the tune of "OH! Susanna." 


   The chain was started in 1997 by a student, Zhang Hongchao. His brother, Hongfu is the CEO and the boys are reportedly worth $8.2 billion each. They can afford to eat at the next place in this post, where there is a lot less red and much more ambience.
   According to the company website the full name is Mixue Bingcheng, which in English is"Sweet Snow Palace." For sources see: "Forget McDonald’s. This Chinese Fast-Food Chain Is Now the World’s Biggest: Mixue lures cost-conscious customers with ice cream and drinks under $1 during China’s economic slump," Stu Woo, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 3, 2025 and from the Washington Post: "The World’s Biggest Fast-Food Chain Lands in the U.S. Here’s How it Tastes," Ethan Beck, Feb. 23, 2026.

THE INN AT LITTLE WASHINGTON

   This place is a little nicer and I am sure it is "Worth a Pilgrimage", as they state on their website. The related factlet here has to do with the corkage fee charged by this establishment, about which someone complained - $200 per bottle. I was unable to verify, that, but it may actually be $300.
   You have not wasted your time. Enjoy the rest of your evening here: The Inn At Little Washington. There is a lot to see and there are many dishes to savour, such as, "Carpaccio of Herb-Crusted Elysian Fields Baby Lamb Loin with Caesar Salad Ice Cream Domaine Figuière, Première, Rosé, Côtes De Provence, France (2024).
   As for the wines, if you don't want to pay them a few hundred bucks to open your own plonk, they have plenty to choose from. Here is a random pick which is found on p.66 of their 92 pp. wine list.

Sources:
   The corkage complaint was also found in the WaPo. Unfortunately this is the last day I will be able to present such valuable nuggets from that publication. I have cancelled my subscription and will probably post about it, since I won't be spending the time reading the Washington Post.
  For those who are curious, the first factlet related to the Gee-Gees.

The Bonus:
More Fine Wines at  L'Auberge Provencale Inn & Restaurant 
   Late last year you may recall that two people dined at another restaurant in the Virginia countryside. They then asked to see the wine cellar and tried to remove from it, some valuable wines. They were chased outside and the British woman was captured. Her Serbian partner was not, and he was last spotted at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Some of the pinot noirs taken are still missing.
Some Cancon: The British woman wanted to look around because she was working for a "Canadian client who was evaluating venues for a potential event."
(Once again, the source is from WaPo: "Tricked-out Overcoat Linked to New Charges in $38,000 Wine Heist A Suspect in a Virginia Theft Case is Accused of Slipping Six High-end Pinots Into Interior Pockets of His Coat," Dan Morse, Feb. 6, 2026.)
  The restaurant/inn is L'Auberge Provencale Inn & Restaurant and it is not too far down the road from The Inn at Little Washington, if you want to have a nice long weekend. Very nice. Supposedly the cellar has around 5,400 bottles. To have your cork popped costs $55 at L'Auberge Provencale. Their wine list is only 70 pp. and here is a sample page from it:

Given that the price for one bottle on the page above is $18,000, perhaps the Virginia marketing people should change the state's slogan to "Virginia Is For Wine Lovers."