Good waiting is an art form all its own. Good service in a restaurant can be the making of a meal, a good waiter the difference between a middling experience and one to remember. A competent waiter walks a fine line. A whole collection of lines really. A good waiter is professional without being officious, warm but not intimate, personal but not invasive, efficient…
Category: Service
Ginsberg on waiting
Debra Ginsberg’s Waiting is a wonderful book. Part memoir, part social commentary, it’s a thoughtful reflection on twenty years of waitressing in American restaurants. From New York to California, from luncheonettes and bistros to pizza parlours and fine dining rooms, Ginsberg’s journey is diverse. At points, her story is quite moving. As is typical of…
Hotel Babylon
Honestly, it’s such a tawdry read I’m almost embarrassed to say I read it. Hotel Babylon is an atrociously voyeuristic account of a 24-hour period in one of London’s five-star hotels. The storyteller, we are told, is an employee working a double shift on the reception desk. Though it’s more likely an accumulation of experiences…
EATING HEAVEN 