restaurant ordering
@Cary: Well, what is your proposal for a server knowing the descending age of each guest at a table?
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restaurant ordering
@Bakerloo Line: That's a pretty stupid concept. What is the server supposed to do? Say "Okay, who's the oldest? You! Congratulations, what do you want to eat? Okay, who's the second oldest?..."
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Having lived in Tuscaloosa for almost 6 years and having bar tended at the best sushi restaurant in the city (no longer, however), I can clearly recommend Hokkaido on 15th street (across from McDonald's). Riza (pronounced 'Ray-zah') is an awesome sushi chef who has worked all over the world, even as private chef for a prince of Dubai. His culinary view of sushi is unsurpassed in its simplicity. His own sushi vinegar recipe is AMAZING, as is his own brew of Ponzu sauce. Make sure you try the Tuna Tataki (seared tuna, easy for a first timer) and the Deep Fried Spicy Tuna roll.
Also, don't listen to huneybumper. The fish is delivered fresh every other day at Hokkaido. The whole "near the coast" thing is untrue, because, well, there are no salmon, tuna, yellowtail (most of the common sushi fishes) anywhere near the Gulf. Sushi is just as safe to eat in Alabama as it is in New York.
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Paella is a seafood dish. If you want chicken and sausage and rice, why not just make Jambalaya or Red Beans and Rice? Leave the Paella for the seafood lovers.
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Urgent! Recs for wine pairing with ham...
Not a wine snob, but you use the term "oenophiles"... I'd check my premises if i were you.
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Responses to Comments by chefimpostor
restaurant ordering
> In reading back through this thread, i realize I may have come off a little
> bit like Miss Manners. I was answering mainly as a former server (who
> loved the job)... Manners boils down to making everyone comfortable
> around you....most often, sticking to etiquette makes people
> UNcomfortable in casual situations so I agree, do what works.
As it happens, I have met and talked with Ms. Martin a number of times. Making people comfortable is in fact what manners - etiquette - is about. The "rules" make sure that everyone is operating under the same set of expectations.
Manners are not for special occasions. They are most important with the people who are most important to you, including on casual occasions.
restaurant ordering
when we first started dating, my boyfriend was pretty shy so i got in the habit of ordering first to break the ice with the server. while he's happily moved beyond most of his shyness problems, i still order first. i had no idea til i read this thread that it was traditional for the woman to order first.
when i go out with my parents, i guess my mom does usually order first... usually because my dad cant decide what to order. maybe i just come from a family of assertive women, haha... or maybe domineering women *whipcrack*
restaurant ordering
LOLOL - I hope you guys are still watching this thread.
Today - Lunch - High End restaurant.
Waiter tells us the specials include a Salade Niçoise. BF loves tuna and is intrigued. "What's in it?" he asks me after the waiter departs. "It will have tuna, boiled eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, string beans, potatoes, olives, maybe anchovies, probably dressed in a shallot vinaigrette. It's a very nice composed salad." "What's it called again?" "Salade Niçoise." (I think he was looking for pronunciation tips. I find this funny because he took French in school.)
Waiter returns. He asks if we're ready and looks at BF. BF turns immediately to me and I say, "I'd like the beet salad and he'll have the Salade Niçoise."
I thought this was hilarious. (Guess you had to be there...LOLOL.)
restaurant ordering
I want no prices on my fiance's menu, so he doesn't cringe when I order! lol
restaurant ordering
"Someone ordering for me" is not QUITE as bad as it sounds. Years ago, it was considered proper for the woman to say to the man, "I'll have a salad and the fried chicken," (or whatever), either before the waiter came or when he arrived, and then the gentleman would relay it as, "The lady will have a salad and the fried chicken, please. And I'm going to order a bowl of soup and that nice liver and onions you do so well. Oh, and a bottle of the Chateau LaTour for us, thanks."
We're talking decades and decades ago here, of course. I remember reading about it in ettiquette books when I was a kid, thinking, "That's not how Mom and Dad do it" at the small-town restaurants we frequented. I really think in all except the white-tablecloth restaurants it had disappeared by the end of the '60's. But it's out of the same era as the no-prices-on-the-menus-for-the-ladies thing--which I suspect some of the younger SEers have never heard of.
restaurant ordering
My fiance always looks to see if I'm ready first, but I usually like to order last so I let him go. I like the little bits of chivalry, like opening doors, or finding out what I want and him ordering for me sometimes, or just deferring to me to order first. But I love to pick the wine!
Speaking as a long time casual (but not chain) bartender and server, I *always* asked the ladies if they were ready first. It just seems to be the polite thing to do. I think I actually went counter-clockwise from the first person who ordered, but we didn't have food runners, and I don't think I ever in 15 years had to call out an order when bringing it to the table.
As for the credit card thing, if I didn't see who put it down on the table, I'd look at the name. In the case of more than one of the same sex or an ambiguous name, I'd ask whose autograph I'd be getting that night.
Good for you, Calichef. My MILtobe raised mine right too, and I always make sure I tell her that.
restaurant ordering
Bakerloo is absolutely correct! Ladies first, in descending order of age, when apparent.
I don't believe chivalry is dead and have raised my son to open doors (including car doors,) help with chairs, coats and wraps and carry packages. He doesn't have to throw his hoodie across mud puddles, but he would be willing to lift a lady across, even if she outweighs him. He also never goes on a date he isn't prepared to pay for, even if he was the one who was asked out. Sorry, but that is just the burden of being a man. Lord knows women have plenty of burdens of their own.
I have never received any feedback from others about him that wasn't positive. He is a true gentleman and as his mother, I feel great pride in having raised him right.
restaurant ordering
I'm a guy, and I actually take pleasure in trying to be a gentleman. If I'm out with women, I enjoy opening doors for them, having them order first, etc. I like the whole chivalry aspect of it. There's nothing political involved - no "women's rights" issues or anything like that. But I do enjoy being perceived as a gentleman. I know that my female friends enjoy being treated as ladies, as well.
restaurant ordering
@Cassaendra - It's probably the result of waitpeople being informed at the eleventh hour that it should be separate checks, management finally caught on and now lets them ask up front. It makes perfect sense. If a group of people go out to lunch together from work, why should they be on one check? It starts all kinds of drama because one guy had the soup and half a sandwich while the girl from accounting (who looks like a model but eats like a lumberjack) ordered the Twin Burger special with extra fries and onion rings. If you want to see blood boil, just watch the bargain lunch people turn red when someone says "split it X ways?"
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