Oh, don't mind us, we're just your customers.
It feels as though some eateries may be forgetting that. I've never been the "customers are always right" kinda girl, even during my decades of being a business adviser. Yes, it's important for business owners to listen to their clients and to
show a keen interest in their wishes and demands but looking for "patterns of wants" is far more important for longevity than bowing to any individual's needs. I get that.
Yet when I turn up at a busy, casual, fast-paced restaurant the other night I couldn't help but feel like we're losing the middle ground where gratefulness and generosity used to live, where, indeed, hospitality is derived.
I'd lost track of whether this particular restaurant was of the no-bookings or bookings type but I'd figured as it was only 6pm (i.e. hopefully before the main dinner rush) and we were only two, we might be okay.
Hostess (I'd call her a maitre d but she was dressed more like a hooker): "Have you booked?" she barks.
