One, Two, Three Strikes.....We're Out!

These are actual experiences in local restaurants lately:

One…The server greets the table, asks about drinks, go and gets them, comes back, we’re not ready to order yet. By way of saying there had been a lot of interaction between server and table before orders were taken. A question from one of the guests after reading the menu…”what is your quiche today?”…. Answer: "It’s ham and fontina cheese, but we’re out."


Two… An order was taken for a dish, and twenty minutes later (another item for discussion) server reappears, menu in hand, and says: “I’m sorry were out of (what was ordered)…”


Three… after presenting the menu, and informing us of the night’s specials we’re left to enjoy our drinks while considering our food choices. When we’re ready to order, MFO selects her item, and I say I’ll have the scallops. “I’m sorry, we’re out”.

Before going off the deep end, I did a little research with some local restaurateurs, and it was unanimous that the chef/kitchen has the absolute responsibility to let the floor staff know what is not available. Some have white boards in the kitchen, or the chefs call out: “only three tuna left!”, or it could be on the point of sale computer where the ticket is entered, and there are some other strategies. Bottom line, it should be known by all the servers what the state of the menu items are.

And, it is not to say that occasionally a restaurant shouldn’t be out of a particular item, suppliers don’t deliver on time, there’s an unanticipated “run” on a dish, more guests showed up than the order to the supplier was placed for, and other reasonable circumstances. You would wish if it is on the menu, they can deliver, but it is understandable that sometimes they are short, and that is forgivable.

What is unforgivable is NOT letting a guest know immediately where choices are limited:

“Here are your menus, and I am sorry but the (tuna) is not available tonight”
“I know we were running short on (tuna), let me quickly check for you”
“I know you’re ready to order, but I just found out that the (tuna) isn’t available anymore”

Just be aware. Good service is good service, starting with coming through the door..

Phood Photography

Over the weekend, a friend sent a link to a live on-line workshop on food photography. Since I had a minute on Saturday, I decided I’d just take a peek figuring, yeah, yeah. Well, in the end I spent a lot of the day Saturday and Sunday glued to the screen (figuratively, of course). The course was “taught” by Penny De Los Santos, who is a contributing photographer to Saveur. Alert readers will recall that one of the reasons I rate Saveur so high in the foodie publications is the photography. It was an eye opening experience. The amount of prep and work that goes into one of those pictures of strawberries in a bowl is amazing. There is a food stylist, a prop stylist, and a host of others that can take three to four hours for getting that “hero shot” (her term) of the strawberries. During the evolution, the camera (she was using Canon, by the way) is hooked directly into a computer display so she can see the results immediately. Light reflectors, blockers, and other devices fill in light where it is or is not needed, pieces of parsley are moved a half inch to the left, no, up, no, down. Of course there are “tricks” used to make the food look fresh when it’s been sitting there a half hour, like spraying water on it, or brushing on oil, but she strives to use the natural look as much as possible.

Of course most of us amateurs (and I now have a feel for how amateurish I am) don’t have those resources available, but she did talk a lot about light, composition, camera angles, what the edges look like, and so on. The “students” had chances to take shots, and then she would critique them, courteously of course. She kept emphasizing that you need to have a story for a picture…why do I want to look at this? Where does my eye fall? Anyway, it was a nice glimpse into the professional end of the business. She’s pretty amazing. I hope maybe I can take something away from the experience that will eventually make some of my shots more interesting..

Funny, she didn’t mention

DFD