We go to cafés or restaurants to enjoy ourselves, to unwind and to socialise with friends or family. Or we go to eat things which are close to impossible to emulate at home.
At Food and Wine Gazette, we take great interest in excellent service and in quality. We believe that service and quality should not be the hallmark of five star hotels or three Michelin star restaurants. We think that anyone who is proud of the service or product they are offering, whether it is just making coffee or a sandwich should deliver it in a perfect way.
There are many things which make us cringe but one of the worst is how some people in the catering industry handle glasses and cups. A few mornings ago, at an espresso bar, the barista making the espresso spilled a bit of coffee on the outer rim of the coffee cup. Accidents do happen. He tried to clean it up with his finger without giving a second thought to the fact that this is not done. Not to mention that he was also handling cash.
This is the most basic of mistakes and it happens so often it hurts to think how many people fail to get it right. To us, it is indicative of a lack of pride in what one does.
Let’s be honest, everyone has a bad day and we should also be tolerant to mistakes but when basic ones are made, it is obvious that no thought has gone into training the people behind the counter.
A second espresso of the day at a different place and again we experienced another mistake. This time the barista handled the cup by grabbing it with his fingers from the rim. Now couldn’t that have been handled from the side?
So with this spirit we want to launch a new series on Food and Wine Gazette focusing on the most common mistakes we experience from time to time. We hope that this serves as an eye opener to people in the catering industry, But we also want to raise awareness among customers knowing that once you are aware of these mistakes you will also find them unacceptable and start to demand better service.
We believe that customers should vote with their feet. It is in this way that we can ensure that service is given the attention it deserves. After all, we pay to have good service, unless we go to one of those famous restaurants, like in Rome or Paris, where they have made it a point to treat customers badly as part of the allure and fame of the place (such as La Parolaccia)
So please share your thoughts with us. What gets you worked up? Are there things which you cannot stand or which you consider to be bad service? Drop us a line. Let’s start the debate and let’s get better service.
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