The maitre d’ serves a key role: running the room, seating diners and most of all making customers feel welcome. So why is it that so often we just don’t feel the love?
We recently brought a few of our maitre d’ whines to John Nihoff, an associate professor and maitre d’ instructor at the Culinary Institute of America.
Scenario No. 1: Our party of six stopped at California Pizza Kitchen (52 E. Ohio St.; 312-787-6075) for lunch, and we were in a big hurry. One parked the car and the rest of us went in to grab a table and start ordering. Not so fast. Even though the place was half-empty, the hostess told us we could not sit down until the whole party arrived.
“But our last person is just parking the car,” we whined. No dice.
Finally, when we could see our dining mate walking up the street, we pleaded again.
She sighed, stamped her foot, rolled her eyes and said, “Follow me.”
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When we called about this policy, we were told firmly but politely by the Ohio Street manager Pablo Ulibarri, “We don’t seat people until the complete party is here, and that is the rule for throughout the whole corporation.”
Nihoff says: “That doesn’t make common sense, but many restaurants don’t make a lot of sense if you think about contemporary behaviors. People hate to wait and so if there is a table open, put them down, let them sit and look at a menu and order a drink. . . . At the Culinary we try to teach hospitality and teach people to be welcoming of the guests.”
Second scenario: Earlier this month, a colleague had a 9 p.m. reservation at Bucktown’s Cafe Absinthe (1954 W. North Ave.; 773-278-4488), but the table was not ready when his party arrived. When the table finally did become available at 9:45 p.m., instead of getting a hearty apology, they were treated to “service that was exceedingly slow. It ruined the evening for all of us,” our friend says.
Nihoff says: “Waiting anything longer than 15 to 20 minutes is way out of the ordinary. If it will be more than a 5- to 10-minute wait, you should inform them right away about how long it is going to be and offer them some sort of fix. This could be a complimentary beverage or, even better, a dessert. . . . It shows them you are still thinking about them at the end of a meal.”
Chocolate at NoMi
In our chocolate issue last month, we said the hot chocolate at NoMi (800 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-239-4030) was made with plain Oberweis chocolate milk, based on information we received when we called the restaurant. Chef Sandro Gamba later said the drink’s ultra richness comes from heavy cream, chocolate ganache and extra bitter Guayaquil chocolate mixed with Oberweis chocolate milk.
Choco-loco
Speaking of hot chocolate, we’d like to make a plea to all Argentine restaurants for a submarino, a cup of really hot steamed milk, served with a bar of chocolate. Patrons unwrap the bar and let it slowly melt into the hot milk. Yum!
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