“Where do you want to eat?”
“I don’t know; where do you want to eat?”
Familiar scenario? You’re not alone. All too often, we end up dining somewhere we’ve been many times before. Familiarity is soothing. Predictability is comfortable — like an old pair of shoes you love to wear but hope no one scrutinizes too closely.
Continue reading Let’s go somewhere new tonight
A server glides through a packed dining room, projecting calm serenity and competence. She breezes through the door that separates the dining room from the “engine room.” As it swings shut behind her, she is delivered to the heat, clamor and chaos of the kitchen, and her smile drops away. She exclaims, to everyone and no one in particular, “Oh my god — I just got triple-sat! I’m in the weeds!”
Continue reading In the weeds
It happens to every restaurant patron at some point: disappointment over poor service, a substandard dish or an unpleasant atmosphere. The trick to getting a satisfactory resolution in such situations is twofold. First, attempt to pinpoint the source of the trouble. Second, make your dismay known to the proper parties – that means management.
Continue reading When restaurants attack
Recently I overhead a restaurant patron sigh and say, “I wish I could cook like this at home.” Well, guess what? You can!
Busy people can easily get stuck in a culinary rut, churning out the same boring repertoire of dishes at home week after week, that “ho-hum, here we go again” dinner that stares as glumly up from your plate as you do looking down at it. Here are a few easy pointers that might help elevate your home cooking to something more like what you get at your favorite restaurant.
Continue reading Put that recipe down and back away slowly
It looks easy, doesn’t it? I mean, they just walk up to your table and take your order. Half the time they don’t even bring your food, right? A food runner delivers your plates – and a busser picks them up after you’re done. Of course your server may help you with wine or beer pairings (and also bring the bill!) but, all told, they may spend 10 minutes or less with you. So what exactly do servers do to earn a tip?
Continue reading Servers – What do they do all day, anyway?
So you’re out with friends for a celebratory meal, or perhaps just a regular meal, and – even though the menu’s obviously in English – you’re stymied. Parts of it seem to be Greek to you, and I don’t mean the part that says “hummus.” Hmmm, you think. I wonder what’s in a Bordelaise sauce? At this point, some folks whip out their iPhones and Google like mad. But don’t isolate yourself from the table conversation to do research – after all, you’re there to enjoy the company of your companions. Ask your server!
Continue reading Hey – it’s your dinner!
Yes. Yes, you can have that recipe. In this economic climate? Heck, you can have my apron, my toque, my chef’s jacket … Are you looking for a used car? Mine’s parked in the back of the lot. Make me an offer.
But let’s be clear about what you’re asking when you request a restaurant recipe. Continue reading Can I have that recipe?
Since I got this writing gig, I’ve spent a lot of column inches imploring diners to support the local independent restaurant industry. I’ve asked this knowing that belts are tightening, budgets are shrinking and moths are flying out of rarely opened change purses all over the city. But what’s in it for you? What are we doing to entice you to spend your decreasing pool of entertainment dollars at our places of business?
Of course we can drop prices. Many already have. Several local fine-dining establishments have recently revamped their menus to adapt to the changing recessionary and discretionary-funds dynamic. Le Relais, Avalon and Seviche come to mind. But what else can we do for you?’
Continue reading Keepin’ it real: our end of the deal
This week, a member of the LouisvilleHotBytes.com forum reported that she had been dining out alone early in the evening, and she’d been told at the host’s stand that certain tables were reserved, but she might be accommodated at one if she could finish before the reservation party arrived. It appeared that she was offended by this response and sought commiseration from the dining community.
Continue reading Supper and the single diner
On my first day of culinary school, the Basic Skills instructor warned that when we worked in restaurants, we would spend our holidays with co-workers, not our families.
“Get used to turning to the guy beside you on the hot line at midnight … to say ‘Happy New Year,'” Chef Graham said. “Get used to taking your wife out for Valentine’s Day some other day in February … Tell your mom you will be cooking her Mother’s Day feast on some other day of the week … Forget about seeing Churchill Downs on the first weekend in May ever again …”
Continue reading Now comes the lean season