Cookbook of the day – Larousse Gastronomique and The Food Lover’s Companion

Larousse Gastronomique by Prosper Montaigne (ed.) Clarkson Potter; Rev Sub edition (October 2, 2001) ISBN-10: 0609609718 ISBN-13: 978-0609609712 Food Lover’s Companion, The (Barron’s Cooking Guide) 3rd Edition (Paperback) by Sharon Tyler Herbst Barron’s Educational Series ISBN-10: 0764112589 ISBN-13: 978-0764112584 I combined these two reference works because every server should have at least the Food Lover’s [...]

10 quick tips on upselling

1. Never upsell just to build the check. Always do it to enhance the dining experience. 2. Mention specifics. Don’t ask, “Would you like an appetizer”? Instead, ask, “Would you like the crispy hot Mozzarella sticks with the homemade marinara dipping sauce”? 3. If your restaurant allows it, ask if you can put together an [...]

Cookbook of the day – nobu the cookbook

    by Nobuyuki Matuhisha Kodansha International ISBN-10: 4770025335 ISBN-13: 978-4770025333 With an introduction by his business partner Robert DeNiro, this lavishly illustrated book illuminates Nobu (as he and his flagship restaurant are known) and his forward-thinking take on Japanese and Asian cuisine.  As Alain Ducasse, famed three starred chef succinctly and accurately proclaims on the inner [...]

Happy Memorial Day to one and all

And a special shoutout to those currently serving away from their families, those who have been damaged by war and those fellow veterans of mine who served in peacetime even though they didn’t have to. When you’re having fun today, don’t forget what the day’s for. There’s not a better day to pray for peace either.

Being a waiter under the age of 18?

Someone found this blog by typing in the above question in a search engine. Generally, the answer is a qualified no. First of all, it’s a definite no if the restaurant serves alcohol. There are lots of places that don’t serve alcohol.  But there are problems with the various states’ requirements for allowing school age [...]

New foodie show worth checking out

So, yesterday as I was typing my rambling tribute to my chef’s knife, unbeknownst to me, my DVR was recording a show on PBS whose title I found intriguing while breezing through the program guide - Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie. And this morning I got around to watching it. In an amazing bit of syncronicity, [...]

My favorite kitchen tool

This is my Shun 10 in. chef’s knife (technically, this is Shun’s stock photo).. I use it to smash garlic, slice meats, cut veggies and just to admire. It’s a sort of “faux Damascus” knife. Damascus is the process of folding two or more different steels many times to get a layered and stronger blade.  There are 16 layers [...]

Designing and building the perfect dining experience redux

We’ve been talking about the parallels between architecture and waiting tables. To build a successful building, the architect and builders have to have a plan. They have to have the requisite training to be able to work raw materials into a finished form.  They have to understand how the aesthetic is used not only to present [...]

I want…

Why is it that guests don’t have any idea how rude this sounds? I suspect that part of it is the gradual yet accelerating breakdown of modern civilization as we know it and the complete disregard for common courtesy that is so prevalent in modern day America. Let me ask this – wouldn’t I be perceived [...]

Link of the day – The Waiter’s Digest

This is one of the oldest waiting tables sites on the internet. Helmut Schonwalder is a transplanted German who waits tables in California. It’s a shame that he probably had to drop the two umlauts in his name – perhaps he could borrow one from Queensryche, who has an unnecessary (and incorrect one, for that matter) [...]