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- wondersofwine - 08-09-2007
What are the "classy" touches you appreciate in your favorite restaurant or any restaurant you might visit?
Some examples:
A German hotel restaurant where when we rose from the table, a maitre d' or waitperson hastened over to help the ladies get into their winter coats.
At St. Jacques Restaurant in Raleigh, if you come in wearing a black suit or black dress, the waitperson provides you with a black linen napkin instead of the normal white lines so that you won't get white lint on your clothes.
At a fancy restaurant in Strausbourg near the Cathedral we arrived unfashionably early for dinner and watched the waitstaff polish the crystal over a flame.
If I am considering two different wines by the glass and I'm not familiar with them, several restaurants in Raleigh (or DC)allow me to have a few sips of each before choosing one.
Any one care to chime in?
[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 08-09-2007).]
- TheEngineer - 08-09-2007
I like this post!! For me, it is all about attention to detail, whether it's in the meal, the service, the decor or just something else.
(1) In Vancouver, at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel / restaurant, when you go into the restaurant, daily newspapers / magazines from multiple countries in multiple languages are available to single diners (out of sight) so that you have something else to do while you wait for dinner and don't feel awkward eating alone...(I usually have my own things to read but this is great when I forget). They also immediate create a small card with your name and table on it which is invisibly passed onto all staff so that they all know who you are down to the bus boy. When you get to your hotel room, either a plate of your favourite fruits snacks will be waiting for you or if you like a surprise from the dessert/pastry staff...and oh yeah, your shoes are shined for free.
(2) In Hong Kong, at one dinner club there is a 2 to 1 ratio of wait staff to dinners. That is each person gets two people to make sure that all needs are met. Glasses are switched immediately on switch of wines and the dishes and utensils...I can't remember how many I used over a 10 course meal plus 2 desserts. Impeccable service impossibly fast and invisible.
(2a) Hong Kong Aberdeen Marina Club, Snooker Room, one table in a room about 2000 SF with a view of the harbour, hugh sitting area, private bar, staff of four including one bartender, two wait staff and one person to wipe and place the balls for you and also keep score.
(2b) You've gotta live in the Peninsula once in your life to understand pampering. Then go outside to pick up one of their fleet of Custom Rolls Royce to go shopping or anything else.... [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Even the colour of the cars are the hotel colours.
(3) Calgary, Divino restaurant will let you try all wines served by the glass before you purchase as well.
(4) Toronto Ultra supper club has a spa and a bar for just women in the Women's washroom. My female friends love this as if they are on double dates and can't stand their dates, they can restart the evening in the washroom, get a drink and a massage as well before going back out...the guys generally will be done by then... [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
(5)Toronto Sense Restaurant in Metropolitan Hotel. Chef Claudio Aprile who has since left had made one of the biggest impressions on me with the 14 course tasters menu in the style of El Builli and Ferran Adrià . One of the dishes came out on top of a large platter of warm spices that gave this great aroma that complemented the dish (the eaten portion) perfectly. The next dish was very simple, and served in a dish that looked like a bowl sitting on top of an upside down bowl. The surprise was that the next dish actually had been already served. They jsut had to turn the dish over and the bowl on the underside actually had a brulee type vegetable assembly in it already. Quite the imagination and quite a laugh from us. Food as entertainment.
(5) Toqui, Montreal, Chef LaPrise would come out of the restaurant and quickly try to assess what it is that you would like to eat. The tasting menu's main course is based on his interpretation on what you might like to eat.....he's not been wrong yet....while not a luxury, it is attention to detail.
(6) Can't remember restaurant name, Guong Jiang, China, Tea cups are warmed up with tea prior to being use for tea service. While a very normal practise in high end tea shops, less so in restaurants unless they have a focus on tea. Tea used to warm cups will be the same as the selection that you pick for consumption.
(7)Hilton Paris....no joking.. [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] When you check in, you are asked to go to the 10th floor with a view of the effiel tower and you are served great coffee and a light snack while staff unpack for you very quickly (Justine is a cutie!!!) and then you are brought to the room where almost immediately you are brought a platter of more fruits, bottle water and a couple of bottles of wine plus other snacks.
(8) Riad (can't remember name) restaurant in Marrakesh, Morocco. You are driven to the restaurant from your hotel and then a guide will come out and guide you down a long path (in pitch black) to the front of the restaurant where a whole team of wait staff are their to greet you and lead you to your table, take your coats, pretty much anything you need to take the sting of the dessert heat off you right away (rose petal water, etc),.. You can see the staff respond very differently to the needs of women and men,..distance to people, etc,..very respectful....I wish I remembered the name.
[This message has been edited by TheEngineer (edited 08-09-2007).]
- wondersofwine - 08-10-2007
Great examples, Engineer.
I thought of another one. When I visited Parkhotel Wehrle in Triberg (Black Forest or Schwarzwald Germany), right after arrival my mother, sister and I asked if we could have a pot of tea. We were the only ones in the dining room at the time. It had a wall of windows looking out on greenery and several cages of songbirds who chirped cheerfully through our tea service.
- hotwine - 08-10-2007
Classy joints that come to mind..... Kreutz Markt in Lockhart - they always offered clean fresh butcher paper to serve your BBQ on. And the one in downtown SA years ago, that kept a barrel of clean sawdust handy to spread on the floor to sop up the blood from the frequent knifefights. And the thoughtful staff of the laundry and dry cleaners downtown that had a sign in the window that read "We re-weave bulletholes". That kind of thoughtfulness does my heart good.
- TheEngineer - 08-11-2007
We once ate at a restaurant that was essentially a wood shed in the middle of a very shallow (like less than 1 foot) stream (but that was like 100 feet wide). The running cool water that our feet were submersed in acted as the location to wash off our dirty hands....no one asked where the water came from....though it was veyr clear and it we did smell it first....clear... [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] at least to my eyes.
- wondersofwine - 08-13-2007
HW, Sounds like you have lots of friends in low places. LOL