Jon Bartlett: I like oysters both raw and fried. However, in deprecating the frying of oysters MacColl agreed with another eminent person, viz. H. L. Mencken, who waxed eloquent on the subject in his columns. He once recorded having been in a respectable restaurant that had deigned to serve fried oysters because a misguided VIP had ordered them. The maitre d' should at least have had the decency to set up screens around the table, he said.