Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Waiter Wind Sprints: Has This Ever Happened to You?

Posted by Ed Levine, September 10, 2007 at 5:00 PM

In a recent blog post, Frank Bruni reminded me of that exquisitely painful moment when your waiter informs you there's only one order of a particular dish left, and if anyone at the table wants it, they should speak now or forever hold their peace. This is Bruni at his best.

Suddenly the meal is a race against the clock. It’s a crisis of split-second decision-making. Were you craving braised veal cheeks? Or has the power of suggestion — the specter of looming competition for those braised veal cheeks — suddenly elevated them to a desirability they wouldn’t otherwise have attained?

You decide you want them. Yes, you want them. You say so, and then you watch the server dawdle on his or her way back to the kitchen or to the electronic screen on which an order is punched in.

The server stops to check on another table. Stops anew to chat with a colleague.

And your heart beats faster. Having committed to those veal cheeks, having decided that there’s nothing in the world you want more than those veal cheeks, you imagine some other diner’s order reaching the kitchen before yours, edging you out of the veal-cheeks race.

And you want to shout to your server: "Run! Run like the wind!"

Last time I ordered the proverbial "last" order, my waiter apparently didn't run fast enough. He returned to my table 30 seconds later to tell me he had failed in his mission.

Post a Comment Favorite this!  (0)

Tags: restaurant dining, wait staff