Someone once said that dining out has become the new religion for boomers. Instead of attending Church-related events, going out dancing, playing cards, entertaining at home, or whatever else our parents used to do their with their friends, dining out has replaced all of these as the thing to do.
A third book I read on the cruise, titled Front of the House, discusses the dining out experience from a restaurant perspective. It discusses how restaurants set up their operations and train their personnel to deal with customers and thereby ensure a good experience. It was written by the owner of several restaurants in the Philadelphia area. Here is a synopsis of it:
Front of the House is a revealing and wryly humorous behind-the-scenes look at the gracious art of great restaurant service. Great restaurant service is a gracious art that’s been studied, practiced and polished by Jeff Benjamin, two-time James Beard Award nominee and managing partner of Philadelphia’s acclaimed Vetri family of restaurants. Sagacious and observant, he beckons us behind the scenes for an insider’s look at reserving a table, what your server thinks of you, what it takes to get ejected from a fine restaurant and a host of other revelations. (From http://www.amazon.com/Front-House-Restaurant-Manners-Misbehaviors)
Benjamin covers all bases from the initial reserving of a table to their final “We are very glad that you have enjoyed dining with us tonite but we must now say goodbye and prepare the table for our next guests.’ This is their nice way of saying “Get out.”
I always tell folks that because I grew up in the Store I knew the Buzzy business from the “front side of the counter” with regards to how to treat and deal with customers. However, the back of the house is where all the behind -the-scenes stuff goes down and that took some mastering. (The boys in the Store are still ribbing me about running out of some beer items while I was gone these past couple weeks.) Benjamin’s book is a great look at how restaurants operate.
Not my favorite Billy Joel song but it does have its moments:
With Café Des Artiste leaving wouldn’t it be nice if we finally did get a decent Italian restaurant here in the County and NO, Olive Garden is not what I’m talking about. (Read this “Why I Hate Olive Garden story click here.)