Food

Recently I've noticed that food and beverage service has been sub par in recent months. A few examples:
I recently dined at a restaurant that serves many different types of cheesecake. The menu happens to be a novel so you can have whatever you are in the mood for at the time. I wanted chicken. I flipped to the Chicken chapter and there were the twenty choices in front of me. I know had the daunting task of choosing just one. I was not looking to spend a great deal of money, the choices instantly narrowed to 15 or so. Through descriptions and counsel from a friend who happens to be a connoisseur of this particular establishment the choice was narrowed to two. Two chicken dishes that I have forgotten the names of. One of the items was the restaurant's "most popular chicken dish." I had my two choices and was ready to make the selection after a simple question to our waiter.
The waiter was a tall, thin man in his late twenties or early thirties. Except for the first visit (the introduction), before he came to our table, he would have a cigarette. I was seated at the end of the booth and therefore had the pleasure of smelling fresh cigarette smoke every time he graced us with his presence. Perhaps we were the first table he visited in his rounds. He should try to mix it up and let everyone get the pleasant whiff. This cigarette break also made the service slow.
I had just one simple question to ask the waiter and my decision would be made. He came back, reeking of cigarettes and started taking orders. He came to me. The time had come to ask this question and make the decision that could make or break my dining experience. I asked of the two selections, "Which one do you think is better?" A simple question that I assumed would have a simple answer. The reply was simple however, it did not answer my question. "The [whatever] is our most popular chicken dish." was the answer I received. Wrong! I asked what he thought was better, not which dish was most popular. I told him that he did not answer my question and continued to repeat what I had asked. He did not know. I decided on the "most popular chicken dish." It was fine. I was unhappy though.
Yes, I can see how his answer was acceptable to some. One would think that because a dish is "most popular" it is the best tasting chicken dish. I don't think that is necessarily the case. It could be most popular because it has the most appetizing description on the menu. I don't recall ever having every chicken dish laid out in front of me and a survey provided. And I have never heard anybody mention that this establishment did that. If that were done with thousands of participants and the result was that this dish claiming to be the "most popular chicken dish" in fact was the most popular then the waiter's reply would have been acceptable.
I think that any waiter or waitress should have a knowledge of the menu. That doesn't mean solely a knowledge of what is written on the page itself (I can read, thank you) but an actual knowledge of the food itself. When I ask a question about taste, I want an answer about taste. I do not appreciate receiving the discussion from sales data that I have already read.

Last weekend I traveled on an airline. In order to cut losses with the rise in oil prices this particular airline has halted the free beverage service. Instead, if you want a refreshing can of pop, or even water two dollars is required. Fine. Alcohol is seven dollars. Whatever. Same as Tia's. I'm not happy with the service. The flight attendants don't really have to do anything on this airline. Unless a call button is pressed, they walk the isle four times throughout the flight. And depending on the size of the plane they may or may not take the beverage cart. When I heard them announce the prices for the drinks, I immediately decided that was not to buy a drink from them. Even if I were thirsty. No Way! So on their second trip down the isle (the first being before takeoff to check seat belts, tray tables, and seat backs) they were without the cart and the woman was asking everybody if they would like to "purchase a beverage."
The woman was older and had a fake little grin on her face. It looked like she was trying too hard to be nice and understanding. I don't know how else to describe that dumb face.
I had my earphones in and my head buried in my book during the flight. I was the only person in my entire row, the only reason for her to stop at my row was to ask the question. It seemed pretty apparent to me that I didn't want anything to do with purchasing a beverage. I saw her coming. I could tell she was receiving no after no after no. When she got her only order she immediately filled it and continued up the aisle. She was at the row in front of me and was denied. My turn. I thought I could just keep my head down and she would walk by. I was wrong. The earphones I have are amazing, they are sound isolating which means they are basically earplugs with sound coming out. I can't hear what anyone says with them on and the music playing. Here she came. She stood over me for roughly 30 seconds. She could have been saying something along the lines of, "excuse me sir." I have no idea. I kept my head down, not reading at this point, just waiting for her to pass. Nothing. She went nowhere. Finally, with some contempt, I looked up at her. She motioned to her ear. I unhappily removed an ear bud, listened to her ask if I'd like to purchase a beverage, responded no and dove back into my book. I understand that she was just doing her job but I think a flight attendant for this airline should realize that as soon as payment is required for a beverage that had been free for the 23 years I have been flying very few people would buy. In fact there was only one purchase on the entire flight. Just one. And not even pretzels.
I am okay with the airlines now charging for little things that used to be free. They need to stay in the black. On my return flight, they did not have enough change. I don't know how many people bought drinks, as I was near the front of the plane. They came over the loud speaker and asked if anybody had one dollar bills that they could exchange. Good grief. If you are going to have this service and make people buy these beverages for two dollars, you should have the change necessary. The man seated next to me responded to the call for ones. For some reason he was unable to get our call button to work until it they almost had enough. But he got it. The flight attendant came to our row and he asked how much she needed as he pulled out a stack a couple inches thick of paper money. I couldn't see the denominations, but I was able to determine that the man had a good amount of cash on his person. She only needed five. He obliged and told her that he had more if she needed it. The man must have been going to an establishment of questionable ethics with the intent of "making it rain" on women of ill fame. I was astounded.

Lastly, last night I was at a catered event for work. There was a raw bar. Shrimp, oysters, and clams were the selections. The shrimp tasted like shrimp as expected. eating the clams was like eating salt water. Not the greatest taste in the world. I'm sure it would be different when cooked. The oysters, pretty much the same. The man tending to the bar seemed to think I had no knowledge of seafood and that I would not enjoy the taste of oysters. I asked what everything was, just for the sake of asking. He told me, and proceeded to give me a couple oysters after I had a few shrimp. He put cocktail sauce on them and said try it. I tried it, and he said, "See, tastes just like shrimp." I thought to myself, "No, it tastes just like cocktail sauce." I happen to know that oysters do not taste just like shrimp. But if hidden by a condescending chef and eaten by an ignorant patron, then yes. The oysters and shrimp tasted exactly the same. i decided I would have a little conversation with the man about the food. I proceeded to ask if the shrimp was farmed or wild. He responded by telling me that the shrimp was cooked at 500 degrees or something for some amount of time and that I had nothing to worry about, anything that was on the shrimp would have been burned off. I didn't really care for the answer I got. If I thought there was reason to worry about the safety of the food I wouldn't have eaten it, especially not before asking some questions. I told him that I wasn't worried about getting sick and asked again whether they were farmed or wild shrimp. He told me they were farmed and again told me that they are perfectly safe and I shouldn't worry about eating them. The man didn't listen. That is one thing that irks me very much. I then told him again that I was confident in the safety of his product and was only asking the question for reasons of taste. In my experience with shrimp, wild shrimp is far better than farmed. I don't know why, it just is. Again, the man told me the food was safe. What the hell! Listen. He then told me that everything he serves is farmed and that he always keeps the tags and if the FDA came up to the table he could whip the tags out and show them. Otherwise they would shut him down. He was still driving the point that the food was safe. He couldn't comprehend that I was okay with the food and was eating it regardless of my knowledge of weather it was truly safe or not. The rest of the event was great, open bar, some live music, and people.
I've had to do actual work for the last hour and therefore lost the train of thought about this. Basically for the first and last example here, they just needed to listen to the question and respond with the answer I was looking for. And if they didn't know, they should've said that. Oh well, hopefully my next dining experience will be a good one. Of course, I've had a good one here or there in the span of the last few months but those were particularly annoying. That is all.