clokwurk

That got me an interesting look at the market the other day as I was squeezing past a rather large lady in the isle. I was immediately laughing in my head that an innocent habit made me instantly guilty of rude public behavior.

My restaurant near Charleston, SC. typically sends guests home with a delicious cake intended for morning coffee. It's a nice touch and costs little to nothing to make other than a little labor. What better way to seal in the memory of a great evening.

YES! This is probably my biggest restaurant pet peeve. Drives me bonkers. ← So right, its so dated, dated, dated. Put the things way. Jmahl Then tell people to stop asking for it! When an occasional guest comes in and IMMEDIATELY asks for *The Pepper Experience* when the salad course arrives all my guessing is resolved and I know immediately the sum of their past culinary misfortune.

I "echo" Fat Guy's comment, that would be awesome!

All of the ones I've seen used in Japan are just touch pads with different dishes on each key. You don't have to type in anything. But I imagine the letters on the keys are quite small, so it would be difficult for some people to use. This assumes the waiter is a machine and takes in no more data than -App, -Entree, -Dessert. I have not seen this technology correctly adapted to the living, breathing river of a meal, short or long. Communication, inevitably is face to face - FoH or BoH. A trend like this looks ideal on paper and to the short-sighted, busy waiter. No experience, well conceived, can be distilled into 1's and 0's. We don't have to reinvent the wheel every time a restaurant opens up!

Read your tables people! This is one of many moments through an experience where we servers have an opportunity to show our value and earn our reward units(read: gratuity).

$, and don't be stingy. Remember the expo, line cooks, prep, steward. Your shiny $100 bill will look like $5 after it's pooled. Otherwise, a thoughtful, hand-written note will go far for morale if they really have souls of a chef. AND, You will most likely be remembered when when you return.

If you get the opportunity to experience this, DO IT. You won't get another chance until another one opens up close to the one that just bent belly up.

I sometimes ask a form of this question so that I don't insult them by guiding them (even broadly) around a menu/wine list they might have seen before. It opens up necessary dialog to many who might not offer up the fact they might be a bit turned around in a new environment. Ultimately, it's reading the guest. But you are right, most times I hear this, there is no connecting response.

I'm not a parlor trick. You are not there to watch me do magic. You do not come to my restaurant to be impressed by me. You come for the food and come back (typically) because the service complimented your food experience. Servers only memorize when it is inconvenient(in the weeds),ill-prepared, or showing off. True professionals write the order and often take notes that typically contain more information about the service aspect than the order (special occasions, likes, pairing options, speed, gifts, etc).

By the way, it's difficult to fully enjoy any nuanced-based cuisine when your pallet is numbed by a liquid that is anywhere close to freezing point. This includes white wine, of course.

you would think that a hamburger from Trotters would be mindblowing not 1/2 assed, served with a side of attitude.

Raechel Ray infiltrates Iron Chef America!

no doubt, choosing something you enjoy is good, but "General Tso chicken" is kinda like...I dunno, going to Romagna Mia and asking for pepperoni pizza...or a California roll at Hiro. It's not Chinese food, so not only are you going to get crappy food, you're also going to be treated like...a "tourist" I guess, I'm not sure how to express what I mean. Sort of a "oh, you're looking for chop suey, I guess we can throw together some slop for you.". whether or not such treatment is fair/polite/etc. is not my argument here, just that it will happen. ← completely irrelevent. You put an item on your menu and contend that people should expect something less than your best effort?

this may be a crazy idea...but are all of the dishes/ramekins the same thickness? Even in a water bath they might be prone to cooking unevenly. Sysco dishes aren't exactly perfect. : P