nwyles

when I get to the restaurant, I will check what is on the shelf and post. I have a couple of suggestions for ice cream as well. cheers the true expert on gingerbread pudding !

Eugene, please let me know where these places are so that when I sell my place, I know where to go to work on my backswing.

That, my good man, is a sure fire method of getting bonus points !

Wow, don't pull any punches Keith ! Jamie, your love of the Vancouver based CFD is well known. They are progressing and making inroads in the food dept. with the likes of Noble and Bond. Having worked for a chain for a number of years, I can tell you one thing about them. Changes comes soooooo slow. The trickle down from the Product Development Committee to the store level takes a lifetime and quite often dumbed down to meet the store level's skill. I would imagine that you are quite often at product rollout meetings etc. and the experience you get at the store level is, well how does one put this, um, you are , um , Jamie Maw, and your experience is perhaps a little different, than Mr. and Mrs. Talent and their Lesser Talents. I certainly enjoy Earl's but it is by no means all that you claim, in my experience. I am the first one to take advantage of their well priced reserve wines. I have yet to have a steak there as I do not enjoy a New York striploin cut into something called the California cut. I have found the service to be hit and miss and although the food serves the purpose, it too can be hit and miss. I know we all enjoy the "Human Resources" aspect of the chain but the one that we frequent has one girl in particular that dresses like a common street walker. She stands out like a glaring red light in the dining room, as opposed to the other servers, who, while pretty, dress more appropriately for a restaurant like that. You have to see it to believe it. Brown's and the Cactus Club, along with the Keg, are all cut from the same cloth. I have gone on record here about the lousy job Milestones has done. They have so many tools at their disposal, but, everytime, without fail, fall down. I am looking forward to the Burger Club's report on CC and eagerly await more of Mike Noble's influence at Earl's. I might have missed it but have not seen any yet.

0I saw a sign flapping in the wind. It would appear they are open. That location has been a tough one for the last few yeqrs but if he can hang on for a few years : Olympic Village !!!!

I know the boys at Coast and Glowbal do lots of off site catering. You might try them. Neil

They are very quick as they lurk in these threads, reading all about themselves.

Do not be upset. At least they had the good manners to cancel than just not show up. Now you have a fighting chance to fill those seats.

Kevin just needed a little "skoolin'". No one has taught him it is not nice to make a large group reservation and not show up. He now knows what to do and he knows why it is not a nice thing to do. At least he did not come up with a lame excuse like " Didn't my friend call you " ( this is the most common one. )

I had a chap cancel, and he said he did it through opentable. He got the cancelation, but we did not. I will follow up with them and I will mention the dining pointd for you. Cheers Neil

It is all about having the last word. P.S. Open Table never forgets a no show !

Thanks Malcolm. Your server was Steve. Dine Out has been a smooth affair thus far. Chef Fowke manned the grill on Friday and Saturday ( Part of National "put a Chef to Work Week" ). As we are only doing a Dine OUt menu, it has been smooth sailing. Had a group of eight no show on Friday night : I called from my cell phone a couple of times after they no showed to try and get someone. He called back today - oh joy !! Kevin: Hi, you called me a couple of thimes this weekend. What can I do to help you ? Neil : Is this Kevin K__g ( call display - the wave of the future ! ) ? You made a large group reservation this weekend at my restaurant. The Hamilton Street Grill. I called and confirmed it with you. I held your table for the best part of the night. What happened ? Kevin : ( silence ).......................uh....... we could not make it. Neil : Were you out of the country or away from the phone for an extended time ? Were you not able to call us ? Kevin : ..............................uh............................I'm so sorry. Neil : I turned away other guests beacuse I was holding your table. I have a business to run and 20 employees depending on me to live up to my commitments. I need you to live up to yours or at least call and let me make the table available to someone else, especially after you confirmed you were coming. Kevin : ................................uh..........................I do not know what to say, I am dreadfully sorry and will never let it happen again. Neil : Ok, thanks for calling back and talking to me. Have a good day. Small consolation for not seating an eight top but at least he feels like a shithead !

Try the Janitor's Warehouse on Broadway and Cambie.

I stroll into Rodney's, have a beer in my hand before my ass hits the seat and say to Ian( part time actor, full time shucker ), " a dozen of your best " Nice to be within walking distance of one of the few oyster bars in town. Life is good.

The Gomae tuna at the sushi bar at Blue Water - it is local albacore to boot.

Ah, but the magic of the Open Table system is that now you can flag them and perhaps not take their reservations ever again or get the money up front. We have had a couple of no shows but not one who has made their reservation on OPen Table with their credit card has no showed yet. Love it.

This one does ! It is also illegal for a restaurant to make a server pay for a " Dine and Dash " and having such funds in a restaurant where servers pay $1.00 per shift as a "quasi - insurance" against that is illegal. Servers do not have to pay for mistakes. It is a cost of doing business. It is illegal to make them do so. Some unscrupulous owner might make them pay in order for them to keep their job, but that is highly illegal. A server might choose to buy a guest something as they are highly valued regulars etc. but usually the restaurant will cover that as well as they are highly valued to the restaurautn as well as the server.

As the one who introduced the " Goat Rodeo phrase, and at the risk of belabouring the points, here we go It pays off in a number of ways. Yes, Mr and Mrs Water do come for dinner. They stand out in a crowd as total non drinkers because appy and dessert are built in, leaving a minimum oppoutunity for the server to upsell. I think they are not present any more or less than non DOV times, they just stand out more. The time constraints make it that much more difficult for the servers to upsell. Do not be fooled by the $25.00 price tag : there are strong desires to get people to buy more : Wine, extra food, bottled water etc. The restaurant is able to put on these meals because of volume, volume, volume. It is a contract that seems understood by most of the people involved. Come, Eat, enjoy and move along in a timely fashion as we may serve someody else as well. It is through these actions we can extend to many the experience of a discounted meal. You are correct in full is better than half full, even at lower prices. Hard costs that we have are not reduced in slow times so we better increase the top line, even though there might not be that much left at the bottom line. It is better than dipping into the cash reserves to make it through January. This business is no different than many others : Airline seat sales in off peak times, seasonally driven retail sales, 0 % finance offers at Auto dealers during slump times. It is a sale. It introduced new people that sometimes come back. I can only speak from my standpoint but our prices are not too far away from DOV the rest of the year and people are able to see what they get. Never mind all of the trickle down effect in the local economy : suppliers, valets, cabs, delivery guys, babysitters etc. I will agree that there is a little griping and whining but softens it when you are able to share your experiences with your other restaurant industry friends. It is like a second Christmas rush, on the heels of the real one.

Just a quick question. You go to one of the best seafood restaurants in the country, with a fantastic view of the water. Your meal is cooked by a team led by a couple of the most forward thinking seafood chefs in the country, driving sustainablilty and fresh locally sourced product into our heads, Rob and Rob are huge Oceanwise supporters, trying to get other chefs to follow suit etc. You look in the kitchen and there are bins of fresh oysters and clams, mussels and lobsters................................... and you order steak. Why ?

There in lies the challange. You have to have the nuts and stand up publically announce your crazy food obsession to get a beer. If you posted under your "real" name..................

You can't be serious ! I do not know how the restauranteur might have dealt with it but if I was the people at the table, I know how I might have dealt with it. What could have been going throught their heads at the time ! We cherish our regular guests but sometimes they can push to the limit of being unwelcome. I worked with a management team that insisted that we let this guest do what ever they wanted, despite the protests of the other guests. I was the lone opposition voice, but as the Chef, not one the floor managers, was ingored. I do not want to say that eventually I won out but it became unbearable to have this person there. I was doing a "floor" shift one day and we had an incedent : I barred him for a year. Much to my surprise, my actions were met with a hearty round of applause from staff and guests alike. Moral of the story : get rid of one poorly behaving customer, three nice ones are ready to take their place.

Done. I will scatter them to the four winds.

I have always had them with a few refreshing pints on the side. Sort of a four oysters to each beer kind of pairing. It seems to work out perfectly for all involved.

A few no shows even though we did confirmation calls. When called again, "Oh, didn't my friend call and cancel" Bullshit , lameass little weasels ! Nice thing about Opentable, it never forgets a no show and I always add little note about needing a serious credit card deposit now. As they have no showed on me, I do not feel bad about asking for it. Entertainment card user : Can I use my Entertainment card for this ? Neil : Sorry, not for this already deeply discounted price. E card user : Oh, are you sure ? Neil : Positive. E card user : I guess we will try somewhere else then ( veiled threat ) Neil : Good luck with that, good night. ( Good luck finding a restaurant that would let you in without a reservation ! )

It was strong. We surpassed last year by about 20 % in covers and the average cheque was up as well. A few hiccups as we were just doing the Dine Out menu and things had not found their proper place yet but Saturday will be even stronger. Chef Fowke stepped in tonight to help up get up and running at insane speeds again. Glad he was here. A few adjustments as a few things that I did not think would be the big sellers really rose to the top of the pile. It just goes to show that the more I think I know, the less I actually do. We will see what Saturday brings. Cheers Neil