Thursday, July 12, 2012

Thoughts on hospitality and service with help from singing utensils


Hospitality - according to Dictionary.com
"The friendly reception and treatment of guests and strangers."
"The quality or disposition of receiving and treating of guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way."

As I was looking for background information about hospitality and service as it relates to the service industries(restaurants, lodging, retail, etc...), I came across many, many quotes that while inspirational, funny, or motivational, just didn't click with what I wanted to say.

quick aside - my two favorites were
Steven Wright- " I went to a restaurant that said breakfast anytime, so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance"
and
unattributed -" In the real world there is yes and no, in the service world there is yes and may I suggest something else?"

Then I remembered a clip from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, where Belle finally comes down to the dining room and most of the servants are so excited to be serving again that they risk the ire of the Beast just for the chance to give Belle a dining experience.

Those of you in the industry- Are you a Lumiere or a Cogsworth? Hopefully you are a candlestick and can make your customer's day a little brighter.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Julie and Julia's Big Night eating Ratatouille with Martha and Babette

Last night my beautiful wife Deb and I had a date night. Dinner at Jule's Bistro and a movie at home with a bottle of Vouvray. The movie we watched (on VHS) was one of, if not THE best food movie ever made - Babette's Feast.


For those of you that haven't seen this masterpiece, do yourself a favor and watch it. I have the tape luckily because DVD versions are going for over 50$ on Amazon and eBay! Netflix does have it (or at least did yesterday so it could be gone now).

After the movie I started thinking " What are my favorite food movies?" so without further ado--

Babette's feast

Big Night - Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub as Italian immigrants trying to make a go of it with a small restaurant.
The dinner scene at the end rivals or maybe even surpasses that of Babette's. The sound track is awesome




Mostly Martha/Bella Martha - a great German film about a self-absorbed chef whose life is turned upside down with the arrival of her niece. If this sounds eerily similar to the Catherine Zeta-Jones/Aaron Eckhart film "No Reservations" that's because not only did they rip off Anthony Bourdain's title, they also made a mediocre remake of a great film.

Ratatouille - yeah, yeah I know..... But the fact is, it was a great food movie, except for the whole rats in the kitchen thing( at least they washed their hands).
Julie and Julia - this is only half a movie for me but the Julia scenes with Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci (again) are great! Julie scenes --not so much.
Dinner Rush - Gangsters and food - c'mon fuggetaboudit. Great movie about a trendy trattoria in New York. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will definitely recognize many of the workers and customers.
and finally... The Godfather...." Leave the gun, take the cannolis " and who could forget the restaurant scene at Louie's in the Bronx? Also it is the best movie ever made, period. (even though some people's father just doesn't understand ).
If anyone knows of another food/restaurant movie that I should see, please feel free to leave a comment!