Would you like Art Nouveau with that? At Haarlem in Holland, the McDonald’s has moulded itself into a shop that melts seductively around a corner. Same epoch, more opulence in Basel, where McDonald’s has infiltrated a grand Jugendstil hotel.However majestic the surroundings, though, the one place to which I shall return is Louis’ Lunch. It may not be fast, but it is food.Louis’ Lunch is at 261 Crown Street, New Haven (001 203 562 5507, ). Choo Choo is at 600 Lee Street, Des Plaines (001 847 391 9815). ‘Mack & Dick – and Ronald’, produced by Rebecca Nicholson, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11.02am on Friday, 11 April.

A phalanx of white-uniformed staff greeted my twin-engined Otter as it touched down at Musha Cay in the Exuma islands. A tanned, good-looking man stepped forward and shook my hand with a powerful Vietnam veteran’s grip “Tom Lawson Great to see you Pleasant flight?” Relatively crash-free. I took in the scenery of swaying palms, iridescent turquoise sea and luggage being yomped from plane to speedboat Ah yes, this is moi kind of island. Ah yes, this is moi kind of island.
Exuma sounds like a nasty throat complaint. In fact it refers to a cluster of cays in the Bahamas that run from New Providence island south towards to the Turks & Caicos Islands like giant stepping-stones. The Bahamas have long been the resort of the rich and famous, chiefly for their pristine soul-nurturing qualities and friendly welcome.

Now that Nassau is traffic-clogged, people are casting towards the outer islands, the most beautiful of which are the Exumas. And the most beautiful Exuma is Musha.Billed “the most luxurious private island in the world”, Musha belongs to John Melk, Chicago-based co-founder of Blockbuster Video. In 1995, Melk forked out $5m for what was then a 150-acre lump of arid low-lying scrub. He budgeted $400,000 to build a villa, but soon twigged that one villa alone wasn’t enough to house family and friends, so carried on building. Five villas, one house, one swimming pool and one state-of-the-art triplicated hurricane-proof island infrastructure later, Melk gave up counting the beans after he’d spent $50m.Tom Lawson, with his glamorous wife Susan, built and runs Musha on behalf of Mr Melk, while pandering to the whims and egos of clients and guests.