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October 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.
23 Oct 2007 Posted by MD Wong at 15:34:06
A Brush with Crime
I was going down the escalator at the Mac Arthur BART station on my way home yesterday when a woman started screaming "Stop him! He took my iPod!". I looked up and saw young man quickly running down. I attempted to reach out with my umbrella and trip him, but he was too nimble and got away.
Once he was off the escalator, he hurdled over the gates and was gone. Afterward, I found myself relieved that I was unsuccessful in helping to stop the thief. Oakland has more than its share of violence, and I couldn't help but wonder what I would have done with the guy after I tripped him up. What if he was armed? What if he had friends who would try and intimidate me if there were a trial? In retrospect, I realized that failing to do the right thing was probably for the best in my case.
18 Oct 2007 Posted by MD Wong at 11:04:59
Telemarketers Make Rudeness OK
I'm a courteous and polite person. Because of this, I have a hard time just cutting off a telemarketer or hanging up on them when they call at (usually) inconvenient times. But many of them seem to make it impossible to be courteous and polite.
They call you and go immediately into their spiel about whatever product or service they want you to sign up for. Your only recourse is to rudely interrupt them with a string of "No's" or hang up without even a word. Both options conflict with my own sensibilities.
I understand that the job is to get the pitch out no matter what. But why do I have to be rude just so that I can get on with my life? Can't I just say "No, thank you" and be done with it? Why does rudeness have to be answered with more rudeness?
09 Oct 2007 Posted by MD Wong at 14:07:17
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