Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

OK Hannah, as one who spent many years in the restaurant business I always appreciate your youthful insider perspective. I suppose I should have written earlier with a positive comment.

But like most, I only write when I disagree, and two things in this column made me want to write.

First, your condescending tone here:
"the directing towards the bathroom. (Ours is a tiny Manhattan spot, and there are minimal options as to the bathroom’s potential location. Yet, finding it remains a remarkably difficult task for many!)."

I for one feel awkward when entering a new establishment and having to wander around looking for the restroom signs. It is easier for me to simply ask a hostess or a waitress...and isn't that what you say your job is all about - making the experience easy and pleasant for the customer?

Second, there's this:
"Turns out, his request was to take all of the leftovers home. It might be tacky, the owner conceded, but of course we’ll do it. So I outfitted myself in latex gloves, saran wrapped slices of goose breast and baguette and Mimollete, and handed the man his party doggy bag."

I just don't get what's tacky about taking what you paid for. Is it because that meant that you and the staff wouldn't get to take it home? Would outfitting yourself with the latex gloves been less onerous if you were packaging the items for yourself and the staff?

Keep writing, you do a good job. But don't forget that not everyone is part of the restaurant "in crowd".

I've got to go old school here and opt for the "Katherine Hepburn" brownie...you all remember that one, don't you? The recipe was passed around everywhere, and that was pre-internet. They're moist, fudgy and practically flourless...brownie perfection!

If I was feeling extremely decadent I'd add a scoop of chocolate caramel ice cream and a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup...

"Fun contrast: watch the original segment with Lisa compared to what aired. I struggled to see where they FOUND all those silent moments..."

Wow! Lisa got jacked in the editing room...and would someone pleeaase put RR back on her meds

The link to the No Reservations video on youtube gives a "this video is no longer available" message. Can the video be found anywhere else on the web?

Yes, it does all seem very condescending. Once at Nougatine, my guest felt ill suddenly and when we asked a waiter walking by where the rest room was, he just stared at us as if it was beneath him to respond and walked away. Meanwhile my friend was sitting at the table on the brink of passing out. Luckily, a waitress came by and helped us out.

As for calling someone tacky for asking to take home leftovers, I think it was pretty tacky for the owner to insult a patron of his restaurant.

I guess some people have different ideas as to what is theirs to take when they leave. I have no problems asking for my leftovers at a restaurant, if I'm going to eat them. I've never thought about asking for leftovers as a guest at a party. Well, with one exception...but that's not relevant. But if I paid for a party where x number of portions or x pounds of meat was paid for, I'd expect that I would have the option of keeping the leftovers when it was over. I might not want them, but I wouldn't expect to be refused.

On the other hand, my mother used to waitress when I was a kid, and she would talk about the people who would order coffee and drink all the cream and take home all the sugar packets and some would even empty the salt and pepper shakers. In their minds, if it was on the table, it was theirs.

Of course, she's the one who walked out of a restaurant with a little wooden cutting board in her purse.

If a place told me their policy was not to package up leftovers, I'd probably wonder what they did with them. If they were feeding the staff who worked the party, I don't think I'd care much. But if I suspected they were using the leftovers for someone else's dinners, I'd start wondering if they were feeding leftovers from someone else's party to my guests. And that's not a good thought.

We simply don't allow them to take leftovers home *evil grin*...company policy.

i love the way you write, hannah, and i got such a clear image of the party. i used to have a restaurant so i can totally understand the flavor
of your tone..... serving people is a labor of love, believe me. you have
to love what you do in order to do it. in the restaurant business --you see it all ..... and if you PRIVATELY resent what customers do sometimes, i'd like to see anyone in any job that doesn't feel the same way towards co-workers, bosses or clients, sometimes..... it doesn't mean you don't have their best interests at heart.

keep up the good words.... always enjoy your blog.

I understand that maybe this camera guy was too busy taking pictures to eat and would like to take some of it home. Not an odd request. But ALL of it? A plate, maybe, but taking all of the leftovers home unless he himself paid for all of it IS tacky.

The good thing about having an opinion is you don't have to be nice all the time. If the 68th person that night is asking where the bathroom is located, the server should politely direct them to the right place. But they are still allowed to be irritated afterward. The asker only has to ask once, but the server has to answer always.