My Favorite Tiny Acts of Restaurant Hospitality
plus how to get recipes from my cookbook early!!
Hello!
The past few weeks have been a bit hectic on my end between deadlines and trying to plan a whole book tour! (I will be announcing cities soon, but it’s going to be fun!) Speaking of the book, I did a full AMRIKAN pizza party for the March issue of Food & Wine. It’s so wild to see photos of myself in the actual magazine (you can find the story online here), and not just my words.
We spent a wonderful fall day shooting at this beautiful mansion in Beverly Hills that was once owned by Channing Tatum and is now occupied by my friends at Westholme. The book comes out June 4, but you can find recipes for some of the pizzas, wings, and desserts in the article two months ahead of the launch. Also next week I’m going to start doing a mini series of newsletters around the cookbook — so if there is anything you want to know about the cookbook or the process of making cookbook, let me know!
Also a reminder that you can pre-order the book here if you haven’t yet.
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Now that it is no longer my full-time job to run around the country finding all the best new chefs and restaurants that exist, I find myself much more deliberate and intentional about the restaurants I visit, and more importantly return to. Now that I have the luxury of returning to spots I like and love, I prioritize the spots that really know hospitality. A perfectly fine salad and plate of fries, can turn into a truly lovely salad and plate of fries with the right kind of service.
These restaurants tend to all pay attention to the small details — many of which are subtle — that really show a restaurant cares. I believe truly elegant hospitality is found in those tiny actions, and not in expensive build outs or grand gestures.
The 6 Best Tiny Acts of Restaurant Hospitality
1) Enough Pens With the Checks
When you’re splitting the check at the restaurant, it is frustrating to have to wait for your dining companions to sign their receipts and pass you the pen. It slows down the whole table, and their attempt to make an exit. Do not be a restaurant that is cash heavy, but pen poor. Branded pens will, yes, often get stolen, but are also great marketing tools, so please invest in them!
2) Lemon Seeds
I learned the little trick from chris Shepard, which is to examine how the lemon slices are cut at a restaurant. They should be cut “taco style,” ideally, to maximize the amount of juice and get rid of most of the pith and all of the seeds. I’ve also seen other restaurants offer lemon halves with a little shower cap-like covering so that the seeds do not get into your food, which is another clever alternative.
3) No Tiny Water Glasses
I hate hate HATE when restaurants give you tiny water glasses that fit three sips of water in. I hate always have to request refills (another sign of great hospitality is when the water glasses just remain filled). Plus points to restaurants that have thin glasses for water — water just tastes better in thin glassware!
4) Thoughtfully Stocked Bathrooms
Not only do I love a clean bathroom that always has toilet paper (this is basics!!), but restaurant bathrooms that have both great soap and lotion (for all the girlies with dry hands like me) are always winners. Extra credit points go to all of the restaurants that also stock feminine hygiene products. I once went to a restaurant in Atlanta that had an assortment of pads and tampons to chose from — we stan thoughtful and considerate.
5) Temperature of Plates
I recently went to Mastro’s, a steakhouse chain, that has several locations across the country. What I loved the most about the experience is how much they paid attention to plate temperatures. Salads always were served on super chilled salad plates. Before the steak course arrives, a server will drop a heated dinner plate that arrives spread with melted butter and sprinkled with parsley. And all desserts arrive with a giant cold steel bowl piled high with house whipped cream.
6) No Rhetorical Questions From Servers
Please, never say, “That dish is so great, right?”
What tiny acts of hospitality do you love the most? Let me know in the comments.
Why do we get one drink menu for a table of 6?!
Scrambling to make sure it gets all the way around the table before the waiter comes back to take the order is a small stress we don’t need.
More drink menus pls!
A table that is big enough to hold all the dishes, if served family style, or provides a small side table to hold them.