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[Jinmyo]

In the Bone Marrow thread on the NYC forum you say,

Note on marrow spoons: The reason few restaurants offer them is that they are way too pretty--and expensive. People steal them. You'd lose every other one if put on the table.

In your experience, what kind of stuff gets stolen the most?

Is this really why one has to flag a waiter just to get some fresh black pepper?

[bourdain]

Steak knives are number one. But if you're silly enough to have nice ones:espresso spoons, espresso cups...God help you if you have nice ashtrays. People will steal anything--just for the fun of it--to furnish their squalid home kitchens, as souvenirs, to fill in gaps in their own flatware and utensils. The amount of stuff lifted is pretty staggering--and breakage--yikes!  I'm sure the top-end places that use expensive china have some great stories of wealthy dowagers trying to pinch crystal snifters, wedgewood plates, silver. You'd be amazed what seemingly normal people do when drunk. But then, maybe not.