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October 23, 2007
Not So Fine Dining
We recently went to dinner at the Chez Panisse Cafe (the less upscale cousin to the restaurant located on the ground level) with my in-laws, and I have to say that while the food was excellent, we were disappointed in the service.
Things got off to a rocky start when the waiter brought the salads. The four of us were splitting two sea bass salads, but the waiter brought one sea bass, and two other salads that we had not ordered. So two of us had a salad and the other two had to wait for the second.
Later, after we had finished our main courses, the bus person hit my father-in-law on the nose with a dish he was clearing and either failed to notice his mistake, or chose not to apologize for his clumsiness.
Finally, when the check came, we found that the total seemed out of line (even for Chez Panisse) for what we had. Closer inspection revealed that we had been given the wrong check.
As I said earlier, the cafe is not as opulent or as expensive as the restaurant downstairs, which features a prix fixe menu. But it's not cheap. There is even a 15% "service charge" applied to the bill, so you can't dock the tip for poor service except to keep it as is. One would think that all things considered, you could expect service to match the food.
Maybe that's the problem with restaurant guides like Michelin. They only focus on the food, so some restaurants which provide a complete and pleasurable dining experience don't rate as high as those restaurants that are run by customer abusing tyrants who just happen to be very good chefs.
Now don't read into this that I think Alice Waters is a tyrant. Far from it. When I say tyrant, I mean guys like "Hell's Kitchen" enfant horrible, Gordon Ramsay. A great chef, but a terrible boss and host.
Posted by MD Wong at 15:34:06
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