Say it ain’t so, Kevin!
Kevin Spacey Blamed For Waiter’s Job Loss
November 3rd, 2009 9:32am EST
A waiter has blasted Kevin Spacey after he was fired for asking the actor’s pals not to smoke in a restaurant.
Peter Turner has accused the American Beautyof star of costing him his job at the Clarke Cooke House in Newport, Rhode Island, after friends violated state laws by lighting up during a meal in June.
Turner alleges the head waiter instructed him to ask Spacey’s party to put out their cigarettes – but the star reportedly took exception to the request, reports RadarOnline.com
Read the rest of the post here:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/11/03/kevin_spacey_blamed_for_waiter_s_job_los
Image ©PR Photos
Photo from Starpulse.com
Cookbook of the day – Hotter Than Hell
Hotter than Hell: hot and spicy dishes from around the world
by Jane Butel
Publisher: HP Trade; Revised edition (August 1, 1994)
ISBN 10: 1557880964
ISBN 13: 978-1557880963
This is one of the original “spicy foods” cookbooks. Butel was a pioneer in the field and this cookbook is a foundation volume.
She tends to limit the heat in her recipes, so you won’t even see a mention of habañero, even in the chile guide. But you’ll find many useful recipes that can spice up your kitchen portfolio. Her chile con queso is particularly noteworthy. You’ll also find some recipes that don’t seem to be all that spicy because they are designed to complement spicy fare.
This was a groundbreaking work that anyone who has a taste of fire should have in their library.
Get a sneak peek at the book here:
Top 100 things that a guest should try to avoid doing, #76 – 100
And now, for the butt end of the list:
76. Don’t assume that we have ingredient X or dressing Y in the kitchen. No, my restaurant doesn’t have dashi. No, my restaurant doesn’t offer Green Goddess. I’m sorry. If you’ve brought your own green food coloring, I’d be happy to bring you some ranch if it makes you feel better.
77. If you order a well-done salmon, please don’t assume that it’s not going to be as dry and hard as a brick. Obviously, the same thing goes for a well-done steak. And please don’t order a rare swordfish. Or rare lamb chops. Or rare veal. The former is dangerous and unsavory, the last two too mushy. Both lamb and veal benefit from being cooked at least medium rare. It firms them up a little while still retaining a nice dark color.
78. If you order coffee black, please don’t tell me after the fact that you want sugar. Yes, I know that coffee stays black when you add sugar. But the usual term for black coffee is unadulterated coffee. If you want coffee with sugar only, please just say “coffee and sugar” please. It will save me a trip.
79. And if I ask if you want sugar, don’t assume that regular sugar is the only thing I’m going to bring. They have these newfangled devices called “sugar caddies”. They hold cane sugar, Sweet & Low, Equal and Splenda (and Sugar in the Raw, or any other sweetener in a packet that the restaurant might offer). I guess it’s OK to ask if we have Sweet & Low or Splenda – it’s just a little redundant. But by all means, feel free to ask about Sugar in the Raw, because most restaurants don’t offer it.
80. No, I really don’t want to pick out the portobello mushrooms out of the mixed mushrooms. And if I don’t like it, imagine how the chef feels about doing it at 8pm on Friday night.
81. I’m sorry, but I can’t make the restaurant “a little less noisy”.
82, Don’t stiff your bartender or to-go person on a tip just because “they aren’t waiting on me and don’t provide table service”. First of all, yes, they are waiting on you. They took your phone call, wrote your order, transmitted it to the kitchen, boxed up your order and delivered it to you. Second of all, yes this is a “service”, right – it’s just not table service? No, you don’t have to tip the normal 15 – 20% because it’s true that they aren’t providing table service to you. But you should at least tip 5- 10% for the service and convenience that they are providing to you. Just remember that a to-go server is relying on your tips just as much as a table server. If you don’t do the right thing and tip something, eventually you won’t be able to get to-go food because they can’t pay someone minimum wage or less to ring $1500 worth of food and run their asses off for dozens of customers on a decent to-go shift.
83.Please don’t ask me to box up a piece of filet about the size of a postage stamp. If you want to save it for your pooch, just ask for a napkin.
84. No, it’s not a good idea to ask for Creme Brulee to go. It’s baked in a dish and caramelized on top. Scooping it out of its dish destroys it.
85. Please don’t ask for anything to go if it’s just going to sit in your car for 4 hours while you go see Bruce Springsteen. Of course, if you’ve acted like an ass the whole dinner, please feel free to ask for your food to go so that you can eat it after Bruce. You should enjoy your food poisoning the next day.
86. No, we didn’t give you food poisoning because you got sick two hours after you ate with us. Well, if you did get sick that soon after you ate with us, I will probably be sending a bouquet of flowers to your funeral since I’ve probably just given you botulism. And if you’re sick 6 hours after you dined with us, you don’t have eColi, so stop freaking out.
87. Despite what you’ve read on the interwebs, I don’t automatically hate your child. However, if your child is generally a handful when you take them out to eat, please don’t take them out with you as an alternative to having pay a babysitter. If you need to train them to act nicely in public (and they should be exposed from an early age to dining out), start at kid-friendly places and work your way up the restaurant food chain. Gentle acclimation is best. And, you know what, I love well-behaved and polite kids even more than I love big tippers.
88. Please don’t be mean to your kids when you’re sitting in my section. Guess what? If your kids are unruly, demanding, loud, and generally unmanageable, it’s more a reflection on your parenting skills than it is on them.
89. Please don’t let your kids write on my tablecloth, smash cracker packets, empty sugar packets or run around unfettered through the restaurant. Please feel free to ask me for paper for them to scribble on but please bring your own crayons or pens. My restaurant might not keep crayons around for the kiddies.
90. Please don’t change your infant’s diapers in the dining room If you absolutely must nurse a child, please don’t do it at table. It might get that horny guy in the corner some weird ideas.
91. Don’t take on-line reviews of my restaurant at face value. Use them only as a loose guideline.
92. If you are a foreigner on vacation, please don’t forget to actually read about tipping guidelines in the US. And if you are a regular American tourist, don’t be classless and tip an absurdly low amount simply because you know that we’ll never see you again. That’s just low class.
93. If you’ve stiffed me on a tip, don’t expect me to have turned in the Raybans that you absent-mindedly left on the table.
94. If you are a local official or a fellow restaurant industry employee, don’t take tipping lightly. If the case of the former, I’m not saying you have to bribe me or anything, but you also shouldn’t screw me on the tip either. Remember, I’m in contact with a wide section of the community on a daily basis. In the case of the latter, if you aren’t tipping fat, then shame on you.
95. If you are a struggling musician, don’t use that as a pretext to make me a struggling waiter.
96. If you had a great time, don’t forget to write my corporate office and I’d also appreciate a name check.
97. Don’t hate on me if our menu prices went up. I didn’t redo the menu.
98. Don’t hate on me if we took your favorite menu item off of the menu. I’m neither the corporate or executive chef. and they didn’t do it because they hate you.
99. Please don’t tell me how great my service was and how pleasant I made your dining experience and then leave me 14.5% on the subtotal. Geez, at least try to hit 15%, will ya?
100. Finally just don’t forget that I’m a human too. I can make mistakes, I have feelings and I’m dependent on your goodwill for my living. Ask yourself this – am I perfect in my job? How would I feel if I got docked actual money each time I made a mistake or had a bad day?
More on the Sparks Steak House settlement
Waiters’ $3M beef
Settle tip suit with famed steak house
By DAREH GREGORIAN and DAN MANGAN
Last Updated: 5:32 AM, October 23, 2009
Posted: 4:22 AM, October 23, 2009
Stick a fork in it — Sparks Steak House has settled a class-action lawsuit accusing the famed Midtown eatery of shorting waiters on tips for over $3 million.
“What’re you going to do,” Sparks’ owner Michael Cetta said of the deal, which will be divvied up among 200 current and former waiters.
The suit charged the restaurant had illegally deducted money from the “tip pool” — which was supposed to be shared among about 60 waiters — to pay other workers, including bartenders, the pastry chef, the wine-cellar master and banquet manager.
It sought $5 million for the shorted waiters, and settled for $3.15 million.
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/waiters_beef_eri5tB8soBHSsBVznrt3nJ
Photo by Jonathan Barth
Top 100 things that a guest should try to avoid doing, #51 – 75
51. Don’t take my pen. Even by accident.
52. If you present a coupon, don’t tip me on the discounted amount. The coupon is a discount on food, not service.
53. Don’t take out your frustrations on me if I have to follow a house policy. Especially when it comes to tip time.
54. Don’t forget to ask for me next time if you enjoyed my service. The more times I wait on you, the better I get to know your wants and needs.
55. Don’t get mad if the chef can’t completely rewrite a recipe for you. Sometimes it’s impossible. for instance, you can’t just “take the garlic out” of marinara. And no, she can’t “whip up a quick tomato sauce without garlic” for you in the middle of the Saturday night rush.
56. Don’t bully the hostess. That’s my job. Seriously, hostesses are trying to accomodate everyone and having to deal with the waiters bitching about the rotation.
57. As a matter of fact, don’t bully me. In my specific case, it’s not going to work. In other cases, you might just cause a breakdown. If you ask nicely, I might be able to serve you a lunch item at dinner. If you try to bully me, there’s no way in hell that you’re going to get it. And, if you’re a regular who has a reputation for being a bit of an ass, “Can’t you do it for meeeeeee” is definitely not going to work.
58. And this brings me to “don’t try to play head games with me”. It’s not going to work. You will lose. You see, there’s very little “head” left for you to play with.
59. Please don’t insult my restaurant in sly ways. Yes, I know “it’s so busy that you had to wait an hour for a table”. No, I don’t agree that “it’s stupid that I have to ask you if you want bread”. “The last waiter here wasn’t very good – I’m glad that you’re waiting on me today” is not going to get me on your side. Please don’t use the word stupid to describe anything that goes on in my restaurant. If you think that I’ve acted stupidly, feel free to tell a manager. I might actually deserve it.
60. Please don’t hand me your wine glass (unless I ask you for it) or try to move it for me while I’m pouring. Your zig could be my zag and result in a red stain on the tablecloth.
61. Please don’t assume that I’m hitting on your date just because I make eye contact with her. It’s my job to make eye contact with all of my guests.
62. If your girlfriend flirts with me, that’s your problem, not mine. What am I going to do – insult her by not reciprocating? Unless we both disappear into the cloak room, give me the benefit of the doubt that I’m not going to be exchanging phone numbers with her at the end of the meal.
63. If I end up in the cloakroom with your girlfriend, please don’t shoot me.
64. If you are an aspiring comedian, please don’t try out your routine on me.
65. Please don’t demand the check and then let someone else bully you into letting them pay. I’m not going to get into the middle of it except to say that you already asked for the check and it’s first come first served (unless you’re not the host, then I let them pay if they insist). If you give in, you’ve just screwed me royally because I went to bat for you and you backed down. Now I have an insulted guest who’s going to tip me. At least have the balls to demand that you leave the tip.
66. Please don’t make lemonade at the table in lieu of a drink. Lemons cost money you know. If we wanted to serve freshly made lemonade, we would do it and charge you $3 for the privilege. You don’t cook your own steak do you? Just know that we’re mocking you when you make trailer trash/redneck/:insert any other derisive term here: lemonade.
67. Don’t get pissed off if I have to charge you extra for extra stuff. If I don’t tell you ahead of time, it’s cool to get ticked.
68. If you order a bottle of wine without looking at the wine list, don’t complain when you find out that it costs $150. Yes, I know it costs you $40 on the liquor store shelf. But your $40 New York Strip also costs you $9 as well. Get over it.
69. If you don’t ask me what the price of the special is, don’t get mad about the price. My restaurant might not make me tell you the price and if I don’t have to, I’m probably not going to, unless I think that the price is higher than normal. If you are concerned about the price, ask me.
70. If you go to the bathroom, please don’t forget to wash your hands. Yes, I’m seriously telling you this because apparently, you need a mother.
71. When you wash your hands, don’t forget to use the wastepaper basket, not the countertop, floor or toilet.
72. Ladies, please dispose of your tampons properly.
73. If you’re going to throw up, don’t throw up beside the toilet. Or in the sink.
74. Please don’t tell me it’s your birthday just do get free dessert. If I don’t like you, I might actually ask you for ID.
75. Parents, don’t be offended if I refuse alcohol service to your 19-year-old. I don’t care if they have a goatee and are starting their doctoral degree because they are apparently the local Doogie Howser. It’s nothing personal; I happen to like my job and I don’t like to be led out of the restaurant in handcuffs.
Top 100 things that a guest should try to avoid doing, #26 – 50
A continuation of my post from yesterday.
26. Don’t ask if I’m sure that the coffee is decaf. Why would you think I would tell you if I wasn’t sure?
27. And don’t follow that with the worn-out “If it’s not, I’m going to call you at 3am”.
28. Don’t lie about what you’ve ordered. I understand that we all have brain farts sometimes. But when I’ve written it down and had you repeat the order back to me, I’m pretty sure that you said medium rare, not medium well.
29. Don’t completely dismiss my suggestions, especially if you asked me for a recommendation. No, you’re not required to take my suggestions, but at least make the pretense of carefully considering it.
30. Don’t say, “No, we’re not going to do dessert, but bring the dessert tray/dessert menu anyway”. If you want to see it, fine. Just don’t tell me that you aren’t going to even consider dessert. Have a little class and don’t task me just to show that you can. At least keep it to yourself.
31. Never ever take something off of a waiter’s tray while he or she is holding it. Unless you want the whole tray of drinks in your lap, of course. Those trays are carefully balanced, and it’s especially awkward when you have top-heavy martini glasses on them.
32. Don’t walk into a restaurant 5 minutes after closing without calling first and expect that you will get served. You might or might not be able to get served because the kitchen might already be partially broken down. You have a much better chance of getting served if you are a regular or very deferential, especially if you call first. Heck, try not to come in any later than 15 minutes before closing. If you have to come in so late, please try to decide what you’d like to order as quickly as you can.
33. If you are closing down the restaurant (something that some people pride themselves on doing), for god’s sake, at least take care of the check as soon as you can. Let the waiter do his or her shift checkout. Don’t sit on the check. If you decide that you’ve just got to have dessert after all, you can start a new check.
34. Please don’t hide your credit card in the check presenter. Most of them have a little pocket for your credit card that forces them to stick out. Use it. Remember, I don’t use my x-ray vision for things like that.
35. If you have cash, please have it sticking out of the check presenter so that I can tell that you’re ready to pay.
36. Please don’t say that you know the owner, even if you do.
37. Please don’t try to take over service of the table. Of course you should tell me your wants and needs, but don’t try to structure the service to your liking. You don’t know the logistics of the restaurant – I do. If you try to mess with the system, you’re likely to degrade your own service experience.
38. Please don’t avoid the words “please” and “thank you”. Thank you.
39. If you are in a private dining “cocktail hour” situation, please don’t stand directly in front of the only entrance to the room unless it’s the only place you can stand. I can’t tell you how many times the room is mostly empty and there’s a clot of people standing right at the door. Be a mensch.
40. Don’t forget to tip on wine and alcohol. It’s part of your bill too. You wouldn’t stiff your bartender would you?
41. Don’t forget that I have to tip out fellow tipped employees. You might as well assume that I’m going to be giving away 25 – 45% of the tip you just gave me.
42. Don’t get impatient for the next course when I’ve only removed your previous course’s plates 5 minutes ago. Don’t start looking around impatiently and drumming your fingers on the table and sighing dramatically.
43. If you have a time constraint (babysitter, theater tickets, movie, etc.) don’t forget to tell me upfront. And if your time is truly limited, allow me to speed you through your courses. I’ll try to keep you from feeling like you’re being totally rushed because I have a few tricks that can help.
44. Don’t leave me a religious tract, especially if it’s in lieu of a tip.
45. If you must leave the table for a smoke break, don’t mind if I have to bring your entree while you’re gone. Depending on when you take your smoke break, I might not have a choice if I’ve already fired your order. Once it hits the pass, it needs to go. Now.
46. Don’t joke about this or that affecting my tip. I don’t rib you about your paycheck, do I?
47. Don’t forget that you’re not the only person I’m waiting on.
48. If you don’t want to hear the specials and you know what you want – tell me. I’m glad to get you rolling right off the bat.
49. Don’t forget that I’m reading you from the time you get to the table. If you are taking your time through the first part of the meal, please don’t shift gears and go into overdrive and then complain that your service is slow. If you suddenly look down and realize that it’s later than you thought, just tell me. I’ll do what I can to speed things up for you.
50. Conversely, if you are demanding your drinks NOW, and asking for the specials before I give you the menu, and wondering where you buffalo wings are 5 minutes after you ordered them, please don’t later complain that you were rushed. We take our signals from you. Little passive-aggressive things like “Well, that was quick” (you know the tone) are annoying when you’ve been Speedy Gonzalez through the rest of the meal.
I’ll be posting the rest of the list later, but I can almost guarantee that there actually won’t be 100 things by the time this thing is over.
Your waiter could be a lawyer
So remember, not only can you be served by your waiter, you could be served by your waiter.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/tales_of_deferred_associates_your_waiter_could_be_a_lawyer
Where are the snarky Top Chef posts?
I know that some of you have been overwhelmed with grief over the screeching halt to my awesomely awesome and semi-acclaimed recaps of this season’s Top Chef episodes. It’s a long and torturous story of benign neglect, natural selection, Mother Nature’s revenge, and a horrible sense of ennui.
Well, basically what happened was we had a huge storm two (now three) episodes ago that overwhelmed my Dish Network satellite dish. I came home to find that nothing had been recorded due to some pretty nasty weather. So I had to wait a few days before it was re-broadcast. I got that recording and started my recap. This was a day or two before the “Restaurant Wars” episode was aired. I got about a third of the way through when I watched last week’s episode and got sort of tied up in that one. Then, stupid me almost reflexively erased the last episode at the end of the show, something I did almost out of habit, as I seem to always be less than 10 hours from being maxed out on my available storage.
In any case, now we have yet ANOTHER episode unaccounted for.
I seem to have lost the plot, as our British friends would say (they might also say that it’s all gone pear shaped, but that’s a different kettle of fruit).
I have the partial recap from three weeks ago, but it’s still up in the air as to whether I’m going to finish it. I have all three episodes saved for review purposes, but I’m not sure that I can recapture the lightning in a bottle of the early recaps. Perhaps I should consult the metaphor judges to see if I’ve exceeded the recommended daily requirement of poorly constructed metaphors.
So, bear with me. If I find a flood of pitchfork-raised posts demanding that I put my two cents worth in, I might be persuaded to do my duty and provide the commentary that you are all lusting for.
Failing that, I might just raise my glass to the finalists.
I can sum up the last episode in one word though – hubris.
Gotta love you some hubris, that’s for sure.
Top 100 things that a guest should try to avoid doing
This is a list of things that a guest should consider not doing (in no particular order). Note that these aren’t intended as absolutes – there are always exceptions to the rule depending on the type of restaurant that you are patronizing or special circumstances. Here are the first 25. Who knows? I might not even make to 100 because I’ll try not to be too petty.
1. Don’t make multiple reservations at multiple restaurants for the same night just so you guarantee yourself a table somewhere. I don’t care if it’s Valentine’s Day. If you absolutely must do this because you don’t know your fellow guests’ preferences, at least have the courtesy to call the losing restaurants to cancel your reservations.
2. Don’t lie about having made a reservation. Man up and accept the consequences. Even if you’re a woman.
3. Don’t demand a different table than the one that you have been assigned. You are free to ask politely if you can be moved, but keep in mind that there might be a very good reason why you are being seated where you are. If you are moved, keep in mind that your service might very well suffer, but it’s not spite – you might have just caused a waiter to be triple-seated.
4. Leave your cell phone on vibrate for the first 10 minutes after you’re sat and avoid the temptation to answer it (unless your wife is about to give birth or something). If you violate this, I’m likely to let you sit drinkless and uninformed about the specials until you deign to give me your undivided attention.
5. If something isn’t cooked properly, tell your waiter as soon as possible so that they can fix it. Try not to be mean, rude or take it personally that your food wasn’t quite right. Kitchen people are human, you know. And I can’t use my x-ray vision to tell that your steak is medium instead of medium rare. I only use it to see through clothes and wallets.
6. Don’t snap your fingers at me.
7. Don’t dismissively wave me off.
8. Don’t call me baby, honey, sweetie, stud muffin, buddy, hey you, dickwad, gorgeous, or other terms of endearment unless you know me. However, if you have a southern accent, “hon” is fine.
9. Don’t automatically assume that my intentions are impure. I might have to ask you about bottled water. I might be required to offer dessert. I might have to ask you if you want bread instead of just automatically bringing it. And don’t assume that my sales techniques are evil. I am in sales, you know.
10. Don’t take out your bad day on me. Let me fix your bad day.
11. Don’t avoid my eye contact, especially when giving me an order. It makes it hard to hear you and get your order right. Display a courteous public manner.
12. Don’t grab me, especially if I’m at a neighboring table. If I am an attractive male or female, don’t touch me without my prior consent. Hell, even if your waiter looks like me, don’t touch them or get grabby.
13. Don’t assume anything about my intelligence or educational background just because I’m waiting tables.
14. Please don’t say “I want…”. I know that it’s common parlance these days, but “I’d like” is so much nicer and polite.
15. Please don’t ask me what the soup of the day or what the special is before I’ve had a chance to give you the menu or the rest of your guests have arrived. Don’t worry – I’ll tell you when I tell you about the specials. You’ll have plenty of time to decide.
16. Don’t ask me for my phone number unless I’ve indicated that I’m interested in giving it to you. Don’t confuse friendliness for wanting to sleep with you.
17. Don’t mind if I ask you what kind of change you’d like. It’s my polite way of asking you if you want me to “keep the change”. I’m not trying to manipulate you, I”m just not a mind-reader. The best thing is to tell me directly “the rest is for you” or some variant of this before I have to ask. Believe or not, there is a small minority of people who seem to be annoyed if you bring the change back. I’d rather save the trouble of trying to scrounge up your change and this will help me avoid an unecessary trip or time away from my section. Help me help you get the best service possible.
18. If you really need separate checks, please tell me upfront. If you are ordering almost the same thing, please just split the check down the middle. Don’t worry about paying a buck more than your fellow diner. If you dine out enough together, it will all even out in the end.
19. Don’t just “double the tax” for the tip. It’s not hard to mentally calculate the correct tip.
20. If you are dining with a large group that has requested separate checks, don’t be “that guy”. Don’t let the others pick up your slack when it comes to the tip.
21. Don’t be afraid to lower your tip if the service is lacking. You’re not doing the waiter, the restaurant or yourself any favors by rewarding bad service. However, understand that in the modern dining world, 10% or less is considered an “insult tip”. You should reserve the dreaded penny or no tip for the absolute worst service. If the service is really bad (but not horrific, insulting or totally abysmal without any redeeming value), 5% is appropriate. Remember the standard is 15% for average service. You should tip more when it’s obvious that the waiter has really cared about your experience and has hit all of the right notes.
22. Don’t lie about allergies. If you don’t like garlic, just say so.
23. Don’t put your gum on the bottom of the table. That’s nasty. You’d be surprised how many people do this. I know because I’ve had to scrape off dozens of multi-colored hardened globs of Dentyne Ice from tables while being paid 2.13 an hour to do it.
24. Don’t be rude or demanding if you can’t be sat at the exact time of your reservation. Allow at least a 10 minute variance because, let’s face it, some diners stay longer than expected.
25. Be on time for your reservation. If you’re going to be later than 10 minutes, please call the restaurant and let them know. Understand that if you’re more than 20 minutes late, your table might have been given away.
Yes, there will be more later…
100 things that a restaurant staffer should never do (first 50) – from the New York Times
From The New York Times Small Business Section:
October 29, 2009, 12:39 pm
<!– — Updated: 2:09 pm –>One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)
By Bruce Buschel
Herewith is a modest list of dos and don’ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?
1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting
To read the remaining 49, go here:
This is a fairly reasonable list on the whole, but I would like to comment on a few of them:
“3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived”.
This depends on the flow of the restaurant. There might be a very good reason from a logistics standpoint why you might not want to seat a four top until everyone has arrived. I would add – never seat three guests when the party is expecting eight. Unless the logistics of the restaurant demands it.
“6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral”.
No. My job is to suggest upgrades/upsells to your dinner. You as a guest need to understand this from the outset. If you refuse to be manipulated, that’s fine. But my job is to sell you stuff and also try to improve your dining experience.
“7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness”.
Only if you as the guest don’t want it. It’s my job to determine this from your demeanor by reading you when you begin your meal. I joke with a lot of my guests because they indicate that this is what they’re looking for. Don’t assume that this commandment is what all diners want.
“8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment”.
I agree with this (and I sometimes fall short). However, don’t get pissed and claim that you’re being ignored because you’re suddenly ready to continue but you haven’t given me the opportunity to “break in”.
“9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition”.
And yet, this doesn’t give much indication as to how you want the specials recited. BTW, since you’re in NYC, perhaps it IS an audition.
“10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials”.
OK. I won’t advise you about what’s particularly good tonight. But, please reciprocate and don’t ask me what my favorite is, especially if you’re going to pointedly ignore my recommendation and order something completely different.
“11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left”.
I will especially tell you if there are only two lobsters left because, by the time you’re ready to order one of them, there are likely to be exactly zero lobsters left. And then you’re going to be mad at me for not warning you. But I agree that using a fraudulent sales technique like saying that there are only 2 lobsters left when there are actually 10 isn’t what we call cricket. There are sales techniques and there are sales techniques.
“14. When you ask, “How’s everything?” or “How was the meal?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right”.
That’s fine. Just tell me if something isn’t right instead of passive-aggressively stewing for the rest of the meal, only to speak up when there are three bites left on the plate. Most of us would like the chance to make something right, which is virtually impossible if you don’t tell us. sometimes we have to be mind-readers, body language experts or verbal interpreters to figure out that your mumbled “It’s OK” means, “It’s just OK…no really, it sucks but I don’t have the stones to tell you”.
“17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait”.
There are exceptions to this. One is when the guest pushed the plate to the side. another is when the plate is filled with empty Splenda packets. Another is when you see an expensive coat sleeve dancing dangerously close to a sauce-filled plate, especially if when the plate has been there for 10 minutes or more. In this case, it is proper to ask if the patron would like you to remove the plate. In fact, we as waiters should always ask before removing plates. Finally, there are some casual restaurants where the policy is to clear dead plates as they occur. Yes, this is a departure from the standards of etiquette but it’s also a nod to the modern American diner, who often times sees a dead plate sitting in front of them as a lack of timely service (believe it or not).
“23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.”
I’m confused. This is a “don’t”? This seems to me to be a suggestion for going above and beyond the call of duty. Obviously if the guest asks for the label, a server should so their best to make it happen. But it should be neither routine or happen without consulting the guest. After all, what if they wanted to save the bottle intact as a keepsake?
“26. Never assume people want their white wine in an ice bucket. Inquire”.
I actually second this one. I always ask. It shows that I know about wine, especially since most white wine is over-chilled out of the cooler. Plus, it allows the guest to show that they know about wine (or don’t, as the case may be).
“27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour”.
I’d suggest that it’s my job to serve all food and beverage. I’m happy to let the guest pour their own wine if they speak up. Therefore, I think it’s incumbent on the guest to make this request first. However, I generally ask the guest if they’d like to pour the last half of a bottle because I work in a state that allows wine to be corked and taken with the guest. This allows them to decide whether they want to take any home with them instead of me pouring wine that they’re not going to drink.
“29. Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it quietly, gracefully. The less noise the better”.
Unless it’s obvious that the guests are looking for a show/celebratory POP.
“32. Never touch a customer. No excuses. Do not do it. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them or dust them”.
Depends on the guest. I wait on many regulars who like a little contact. This falls under the category of not being a “never”.
“37. Do not drink alcohol on the job, even if invited by the guests. “Not when I’m on duty” will suffice”.
Once again, this is situational. I’m not going to offend a guest who wants to offer me a taste of their wine, especially if I’ve admitted that I haven’t tried it. And if a guest wants to buy me a drink, I’m not going to turn them down because I’m not going to offend their sense of generosity. However, I’ll ask them to order it and let me drink it when my shift is over if they don’t mind.
“40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad”.
This is an “eye of the beholder” thing. I might say it to validate their choice.
“42. Do not compliment a guest’s attire or hairdo or makeup. You are insulting someone else”.
But it’s OK to do so if you know the guest, especially if there’s been a major change. However, you always have to use discretion.
“43. Never mention what your favorite dessert is. It’s irrelevant”.
It’s not irrelevant. It’s information that can be useful. Yes, it could just be a sales tactic, but if I’m sincere, I’m not going to be forbidden from doing my job and advising a guest about something that I find especially good.
“46. Never acknowledge any one guest over and above any other. All guests are equal”.
All guests are not equal. Regulars are more equal than others. They deserve special recognition. If you want the same, then become a regular.
“50. Do not turn on the charm when it’s tip time. Be consistent throughout”.
Agreed. But, as a diner, don’t turn suddenly sour at tip time either.
Oh yes, you can bet I’ll be posting my own list shortly. And I can hardly wait for next week’s final 50…
PS, I realize that this is a list that is being built as a house service steps policy, but it can be read as universal, so I’m taking issue with that aspect. Any restauranteur has the right to establish policies that are appropriate to the culture that they want to embody, even if they are somewhat separate from how others might do it.
