Are you still working on your salads?
Recently my wife and I celebrated our 14th anniversary with dinner at a newly opened fine dining establishment.* It was a wonderful evening and a wonderful dinner.
But…
Strike 1: If the fine establishment’s spacious dining area is nearly empty on a Tuesday night, please don’t sit me right next to another couple, and please don’t seat a group of businessmen next to us on the other side.
Strike 2: If I am paying for a fine dining experience, ordered a bottle of wine and appetizer, please wait until we’re at least halfway through with our salads before you bring out our perfectly prepared steaks. The last time that happened to me was at Perkins, and it annoyed me then too.
Foul Ball: When my wife says “can you bring back that back after we have finished our salad?” the wrong answer is “but it will be cold.” We pushed our salads aside and ate our expertly prepared entrees.
Strike 3: “Are you still working on your salads?” is what a young kid trying to finish clearing our table asked after we had dessert, our server had put what remained of our dinner in to-go containers, and I was waiting for the credit card slip to sign. At that point the all we could do was laugh.
I was fore-warned that the food was outstanding, but the service needed some improvement. I found that to be the case. Will we go back? Only if I hear word that I will be served at a level deserving of a $100 dinner for two.
* I will not mention the establishment by name because I don’t want to harm this locally owned restaurant’s reputation in hopes that they improve, because the food was exceptional.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:35 am
Wow… I hope it’s not the spot in the Heights that I’m thinking of.
We were there last Friday and it was outstanding. Been there three times and have never had an issue with being rushed along. I think they would have let us sit there as long as we wanted on Friday, and there were people waiting to be seated.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:05 am
Perhaps if such places paid people enough money to afford to eat at such places then maybe they would understand, but the servers have probably only eaten at fast food places.
I work at at a job where all day I talk to people to are complaining about things I can’t afford to buy and they think I understand when they talk about a guest room or a second home, neither of which I have ever owned. I have no empathy for people who have exponentially more stuff than me yet zero comprehension that they can only afford so much by exploiting people like me in the first place.
Remember how incredulous you were when Bush sr was amazed at a grocery checkout scanner and Imelda Marcos’s shoe collection and the constant stream of celebrities who get away with murder and other crimes simply because of wealth and charisma, well, maybe the place to start to change such a world is to have some empathy. Time to stop the angry fist shaking at homeless people, not for them as much as for you. The change begins with you.
There are a thousand billionaires in this country and many many tens of thousands of millionaires but they didn’t get that way by sharing their wealth.
We need empathy for our fellow citizens not an attitude of Marie Antoinette distain.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:21 am
I don’t have a guest house or second home, all I wanted was a nice and slow dinner on a special day. Is that too much to ask?
July 1st, 2009 at 6:50 am
A fine dining establishment usually has a maitre d’ who will oversee you having a special evening. You paid for the food – not the service.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:58 am
“…they can only afford so much by exploiting people like me in the first place.”
Exploiting? If you’re being exploited, go work someplace where you get paid what you’re “really worth.” The reason jobs like being a waiter pay low are because (a) if the current employee left, they could find someone else who would do it for that amount, and (b) it’s not that tough of a job (at least to do it to the standards Americans expect – in France, expectations are higher, and pay is higher). Granted, this particular restaurant should pay enough that they get people who actually provide good service – and perhaps be more discerning in their hiring.
Also… I find it hard to believe that you really think “We need empathy for our fellow citizens” when you say “I have no empathy for people who…” What, they’re not your fellow citizens, just because they make more money than you?
The reality is, when the markets aren’t being abused (which, as far as I can tell in this case, they aren’t), Money is the unit of caring of our society – it shows how much the society values a particular item or service. Being a waiter is not valued – both because people willing to be waiters are not scarce, and because the value of the service provided is low.
[rant off]
I’m kinda curious what the restaurant is… if the food’s that good, I might want to check it out.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:25 am
EmergePeoria, I’ve got to say I disagree with this statement completely. You pay for more than just the food in a fine dining establishment, your paying for the experience. Otherwise you’d that excellently prepared steak in a less formal environment and pay far less. The customer experience is affected by the service. The tip will enhance that experience and should be expected by a good server. Of course clueless servers may be getting used to lower returns on their investments of time.
I respect your decision not to publicly call the restaurant out PI. Let’s hope they will work those kinks out before they permanently harm their reputations. Not many other people will give them that opportunity to redeem themselves. It’s rare you hear good feedback in the service industry, but one bad day and everyone knows about it. I might recommend you send them a copy of this blog entry though with a small note saying “Guess who”.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Pardon me for being rude here, but that’s a complete load of crock! How is expecting to get what you paid for comparable to Marie Antoinette’s ignorance toward the social decline of her people? PI works to earn a living, his reward is the ability to treat his wife to a dinner at a fine establishment such as the one described. The failure of that establishment to give him what he paid for is not an indication that he’s insensitive to (or exploiting) the plight of the poor. It’s more of a desire to NOT go into the poor house by paying an outrageous amount of money for substandard service. Or are you saying its ok for Chevrolet to charge you the same amount for you’re Geo as Mercedes might charge for their Benz? If that doesn’t explain the desire to get what you earn, look around you. What is it in your surrounding that you have and can completely take pride in the ownership of? Even if it’s a talent. Is your house cleaner or more decorative then mine, do you have children? Then I think you should be required to share that talent with me. If you want an equal environment then you should cough up what makes your environment that better than mine and share it with me. I’m willing to bet all those persons complaining about the lack of creature comforts and demanding some of the spoils of those who are better off are not so ready to share in their efforts. What a bland society that would be. Oh, by the way… where can I pick up my children you plan to produce for me? Or will you continue to exploit my inability to produce children? I want what’s mine!
Socialization is never the answer to progress, what you end up with in that scenario is mediocre at best. Why bother trying to achieve or excel if there’s no benefit? It works great in a lazy society, but the smart go getters (and lets face it, they are the ones that make things happen) end up feeling cheated. If I put in a hundred and ten percent I should get a hundred and ten percent return, not share it equally with those who only wish to put in 90%. That just makes no sense because it penalizes those who are willing to go the extra mile. I hate hearing people whine about not being given the same opportunity as others. Save your money and go dine there, hopefully by the time you get there PI will have them whipped into shape for you. If you can’t afford to go, sacrifice your internet or some fancy tv programming and perhaps you could. Or, here’s another idea… get a better job. No one hiring you? Do like I did, be persistent, keep trying and eventually you’ll manage to dig your way through that veil of nepotism and find a real job.
Oh, by the way… when the entire world shares equally in the spoils I’ll wish you luck finding a fine restaurant anywhere. Servers will be impossible to find. After all, why should I serve you food when I can take a job and get paid the same as a brain surgeon? Feel bad for the poor patients as I haven’t got the talent to do brain surgery but I’m entitled to equal everything so I’m a brain surgeon today. Never mind the fact that I’ve done nothing to deserve being called one. But that’s life under your plan.
Nuff said.. sorry PI, seems I made a mess of your very fine blog.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
May I suggest a blogging etiquette rule?
Your comment must not be longer than the blog post.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Oh I don’t know, I thought McDonald’s was very good. Was it the one on Western?
July 1st, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I’m a creative writer, I managed to get you guys to think about the subject, vent and write your own opinion = win/win.
I never said I was ‘right’ and a discussion isn’t a competition.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Just stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Naples………….they had exceptional service in every aspect. Oh ya this is Peoria……..I forgot.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:58 am
I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and I feel like a friggin’ genius.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
You said it all in “young kid”. I HAVE fine dining experience but am considered too old to hire because they want the young ones.
July 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
“Are you still working on your salad?” grates at me. Eating a salad, or any other course, at a restaurant isn’t a chore that I have to work on.
This would be an appropriate to ask someone having to drink a gallong of colonoscopy prep liquid – “are you still working on that?” – that’s a chore. Salads – not so much.