A Free Dessert Isn’t Worth It

We have all been to a restaurant with someone who always seems to find something wrong. The worst part is that there are those that find something wrong simply to get something for free. It drives me nuts. If you are complaining in an effort to get a free dessert, something is wrong.

Years ago we moved to northern California. While we were on a house-hunting trip we were staying at a very nice hotel with a really good restaurant. In the middle of our meal the table across from us have a major issue. The customer claimed to have found a cockroach in their salad. There was a blow-up with the waiter and then the manager. After the offended party had left in a huff, the manager came up to us and explained that it was the fifth time he had the same incident happen. It turned out the “Offended” party had replicated a scene from the movie “Victor Victoria” that had recently played in theatres. Maybe the people at the table across from us were just bad actors.

The sad part is that the easiest way for managers of a restaurant or anyone in a service industry to deal with an unruly customer is to give them something for nothing. It is almost like we are being trained to complain. Social media is compounding the problem as complainers have a larger platform to hear their complaints and management is more than motivated to make complaints go away.

When I have a problem at a restaurant I will go out my way to try to explain that I am complaining to let the restaurant know about a problem and that I do not want something for nothing. This has actually worked against me. I once took customers to a very nice restaurant. There were 5 of us and we ordered a bottle of wine. The waiter “over-poured” the wine for 4 guests and then came to me with “you will want another bottle of wine”. The waiter then tried to “up-sell” a few more times through the course of the dinner. It was a situation where I didn’t want to make an issue in front of my customers. The issue just stayed with me. The next day I called the restaurant and got the manager. I told him that I wanted him to be aware but I did not want something for nothing. He handled the situation very well finally he said to me “I know that if I don’t give you something to come back you won’t”. He was right I didn’t accept something and I didn’t go back for 5 years. It became my problem.

I don’t have a solution to the problem. I do know that I make a practice of avoiding known offenders (you know who you are). I also go out of my way to complement good service. I am one of those relics that will still send hand-written notes. I send lots of notes. I also try to use social media to be positive. If you look for good stuff you can find it. In most cases it is easier to be nice. And besides, you probably are better off without the extra calories associated with a free dessert.

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Signature Drinks

One of the keys to kicking off a Supper Club or dinner party is getting guests a drink as quickly as possible as they arrive. It doesn’t need to be a “signature” drink. It doesn’t even have to be alcoholic. There is just something welcoming about giving guests a drink.

Signatures drinks are great for Supper Clubs. The first time I made Mint Mojitos for a Supper Club it was a huge hit. In the spring my mint crop is prodigious so I thought I would give it a try. Initially, our guests were less than receptive. Being wine drinkers they were a little leery of something rum based. A few sips in and they were hooked. I have also used champagne cocktails along the same lines. My brother in law makes cocktails based in fresh fruit juice that are great. Doing something different sets the right mood and gets your guests thinking that there are in for special culinary evening.

Signature drinks are one of the keys for a successful wedding reception. For whatever reason my wife and I have been to a lot of weddings over the last few years. There is nothing worse than having to wait on a long line to get that first drink at a wedding reception. About 80% of the time that is the case. It doesn’t seem to matter how simple or elaborate a wedding is. If there is a long line to get drinks it sets the wrong mood.

We went to a wedding last summer of the daughter of a friend who is a corporate titan. My buddy spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the wedding and that didn’t prevent the 30 – person line-up to get a drink. It is pretty simple; all you need to do is to have the wait staff walk around with trays of drinks. The drinks don’t even need to be all that special. Red and white wine would be great. The key is to get the wedding or any party started on the right foot.

Having been to a lot of weddings one witnesses all types of strange things. One of the funniest things I have ever seen was people trying to eat poorly prepared oysters. This was at a very elaborate wedding where our hosts spent a lot of money for a beautiful raw bar. Oysters have two muscles attachments one for the upper shell and one for the lower shell. The caterer had cut only one of the two muscles. The poor guests had waited on line to get their drinks. Then they went straight to the raw bar. Just picture a group of people dressed in their finest trying to balance a drink and eat an oyster sabotaged by still having the muscle attached to the shell. It was hysterical. Not to mention the one poor guy that lost the oyster’s cocktail sauce down the front of his light blue suit.

For other tips on Supper Clubs and entertaining keep reading my blog at www.impromptufridaynights.com and be on the lookout for the book Impromptu Friday Nights – A Guide to Supper Clubs due out from Morgan James Publishing January 30, 2018

My Favorite “Communist”

My brother in law Bobby is a special guy and he has been in a really different type of Supper Club for years.

My wife Susan used to get upset when I jokingly referred to Bobby as “my favorite communist”. When I told him the story he countered with “I am really more of a Marxist”. The beauty of Bobby is that he is one of those genuine liberals that really walks the walk.

Bobby’s socialist roots go back to being a political science major in the 1960’s. I think he was head of the SDS at the University of New Hampshire back in 1968. The guy has some liberal “Cred”. Now while he has that background he also understands capitalism better than most. When PC’s first came out back in the 70’s/80’s he was teaching high school math and he started a software company to develop school administration programs. He says that I told him to “Cash Cow” the business and started investing in condominiums. I don’t remember telling him to cash out the business, but I do regret not investing in the condos with him. He wound up owning 269 condos that he bought mostly at distress sales from banks. He also set up a company to manage over 500 condos.

In 2006 just before the housing crash he decided to sell the condos. (Perfect timing) The piece that makes Bobby special is that he GAVE the condo management company to the employees. Lots of folks will talk a liberal bent but this guy walks the walk. He sort of combines the best of capitalism with the best of socialism. This reminds me of the old Joke:

A farmer from Maine goes to Boston and hears a lecture on socialism. He goes back to his buddies in Maine and announces that: “I am a socialist”. To which his friends queried:
• You mean if you had two houses you would give one away? To which our new socialist replied: “Yup”
• You mean if you had two cars you would give one away? Again he replied: “Yup!”
• You mean if you had two cows you would give one away? To which he replied: “Well that is not fair, you know I have two cows”

As unique as Bobby’s story is, his Supper Club is unique as well. For years he and his wife have gotten together once a month with another couple for dinner. They alternate between each other homes and enjoy socializing over a meal. The tough part is that Bobby is a good cook and goes to great lengths to serve something special. The other couple consistently serves similar pasta dishes. This dichotomy does present a bit of friction, but the Supper Club continues on.

I guess the moral of the story is that with both people and Supper Clubs – all types can be very successful.

For more tacky stories like this one keep following my blog at: https://impromptufridaynights.com/category/blog/ and watch out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights – A Guide to Supper Clubs due out form Morgan James Publishing January 30, 2018