Dining quirks

MILLIE: I’m a fussy eater. But not as fussy as my brother Gerry, who smells everything before he puts it in his mouth. I can normally tell if the dish is not right as soon as it’s in my mouth if a foul smell emanates from it or the texture or feel is either slimy or dry. Sometimes, by just looking at a dish, I know that it won’t taste heavenly. When I’m hungry and don’t get the attention I deserve, I sometimes get furious. And when I’m eating, there’s an invisible sign overhead that says, “Do not disturb.” When I was starting a career in the restaurant business, I learned to eat fast before my food got cold, in case I was interrupted by phone calls or needed to attend to a client.

KARLA: Eating out with my mom will teach you a lot of things about service. She is definitely a perfectionist when it comes to that. Ideally, she would want everything ready on the table before she takes her first bite. Meaning, if mom and I are sharing a burger, the waiter better be sure to have some ketchup with him, an extra plate for sharing, plus utensils, of course, or at least have laid it out beforehand. Anticipation. She always says that a good waiter has anticipation of what the customer will need. If mom’s in a good mood, she doesn’t really make a big fuss about this and instead keeps asking the waiter for what she needs one by one. Most of the time, I’m the one that gets tired since I see the waiter go back and forth, but technically, if he had thought about what we needed before he served us our food, then he would have been done serving in one go.

My favorite part about walking into the restaurants we frequent is when the servers make you feel like you own the place. As mom said, they usually greet us by our names and even remember our favorite dishes or what we ordered last time. The worst experience I’ve had was walking into a restaurant very, very hungry, seating myself because the receptionist was nowhere to be found, and the fact that it took the waiter about 15 minutes to approach us, still without a menu, and only because we called his attention.

MILLIE: There is something about entering a resto and not feeling welcome. The vibes of the place or the person greeting me tells me if it will be a pleasant experience. Maybe it’s my sixth sense but most of the time, the same goes for Karla, too. So when we both realize we are getting bad vibes, we decide to leave to avoid any untoward encounters. We simply want an enjoyable meal.

We seem to have this connection as, often, one look and we both know we are experiencing the same awkward feeling. Talk about ESP: we often send each other simultaneous text messages referring to the same subject.

The other night, we wanted to eat crabs for dinner but when we got to the resto, it was closed so we went to another crab place nearby. As soon as we entered, the receptionist blocked my path and said, “Do you have a reservation?”

The place was not crowded at all, there were many vacant tables and we were led to tables in the middle of the dining room, but we opted to stay in a quiet corner where the aircon was not blowing in our direction. They told us to be seated as the table was being prepared and before we could even see the menu, a big, burly man in a thick sweater approached and threw a napkin onto my plate, right before my very eyes. Rude, don’t you think? I felt offended. One look and Karla and I stood up to leave. The other waiter looked apologetic but could not reverse the situation.

There is a myth about customers who reprimand or are unkind to servers and somehow, they get back one way or another at the customer.

I don’t want to lecture, but someone ought to train service staff on the refinements of service because a big chunk of a pleasurable dining experience is getting the proper service and attention a customer deserves.

KARLA: This summer, my cousin Benjo decided to spend some time in our café, Go Gourmet by The Plaza at the fourth-floor Home Department of Rustan’s Makati. It was a one-week summer job that turned into two weeks since it seemed he actually enjoyed the experience. He was directly briefed and trained by my mom a few minutes before starting and was all set. I guess we really just have it in our blood to make it come naturally. Mom gave him a crash course on basic service rules plus pointers he should remember like: (1) It’s not proper when waiters are seen chewing or have something in their mouth, whether it’s gum, candy or food; (2) One should not drink in front of customers; it would be more subtle to duck down below the counter or at least turn around; (3) No chatting while service is ongoing; one should direct attention to customers and their needs without staring at them as they eat or listen in on their conversation; (4) Always hand the customers their menu directly and not set it on their plates or napkins, since menus are held by everyone and are dirty but plates are to be eaten from and should be kept clean; and (5) Service with a smile.

With these simple guidelines, he breezed through his first day, even with the pressure of serving some family members and friends.

MILLIE: What I love most is when you are greeted with a warm and friendly welcoming smile and not with a “Do you have a reservation?” which is a great turnoff. Most people who do make reservations announce that they booked a table. I think the better way is to first welcome the customer with a greeting, and ask how many they will be before asking if a reservation was made.

I love servers who remember my name. I think it is a rare talent good ones are gifted with and something they should learn to enhance.

Many times we go back to restos not just for the food but because we feel welcome and at home. It is every restaurateur’s dream to have staff who are pleasant, cheerful and tidy, not grubby-looking. Perfect are the ones who are attentive and well-mannered. These are rare and hard to find, and those whom I have handpicked in my lifetime were my so-called “presidential waiters.” They have served past Philippine Presidents, from Ferdinand Marcos to P-Noy.

I have trained over 5,000 waiters and hundreds of cooks in my lifetime. In the ’80s when we were handling the food services of the PICC, I used to train out-of-school youths under the Kabataang Barangay program of Imee Marcos. It is heartwarming to know that some of them are now working in the finest hotels and restaurants here and abroad. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, Imee mentioned that when she visited Dubai, she was surprised when a group of Filipino waiters wanted to treat her to dinner in appreciation of the opportunities they got because of the out-of-school youth program. Overseas Filipinos are our modern-day heroes.

Correct and proper training is the key to very good service, which keeps diners coming back to patronize a place. When a customer is dissatisfied, the server or supervisor should attend to the complaint and always remember that the Golden Rule applies: The customer is always right!

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.