table for one..

like most people who blog about food, i have a passion about food. the culinary world has so many different aspects that you can enjoy. there's cooking, writing, eating and looking. it uses all your senses and that's what i love most about food. i often eat alone as most of my friends and family are usually working when i get a spare minute to eat. so i've learned how to dine alone and when i do, i am able to truly enjoy my meal. but today this entry is about a bad experience.... 

sometimes servers look at a one top as a pain. a single person eating probably wont eat as much or even tip as much. sadly some servers judge their single diners a bit too fast. i usually tip well all the time. today i went to a restaurant that many people told me was 'amazing' 'one of the best' and i decided to try it out. 

• i was promptly seated  and greeted with a smile. (so far so good) i get a cute table in the middle of the place. my server comes and ask how i'm doing i say fine, i want water to drink. he goes and gets it. i have to ask for the specials after staring at the menu for 5 minutes. but i now start to notice that he greeted everyone else and told them the specials... odd. 
  
• i ask if the ravioli is homemade and he says yes, i get it. simple as that. my salad that comes with the pasta arrives shortly.. its wet. dripping with dressing. not tossed but just lots of dressing. the greens were wet. i don't complain because I'm going to take what this 'amazing' restaurant is giving me. sadly the salad dressing ruined the whole salad dish for me but i politely eat it all and drink lots of water. 
• *good point: they put sunflower seeds in the salad. i love sunflower seeds. 
• my ravioli comes. the thing is okay, nothing super special about it, and for some reason it reminded me of the stuff you can get at Costco. which of course makes me think it might not be homemade. but I'm going to give it to the restaurant this time. 
• i'm excited to get dessert because i saw my server ask another one top if he was having dessert.
• after i finish my meal a nice girl comes by and takes my plate away. i wait patiently for my server to come back and ask me if i want dessert. sadly that DIDN'T HAPPEN. i was given the check. 
• therefore, i paid and left. 
• i did ask the nice girl if they only served dessert at dinner, she said no we have dessert for lunch as well... with that i say thank you and leave. 
• if you're not going to offer me dessert i wont know if you have it since its on a separate menu. 

so with that i experience diner discrimination in service. if you serve you know the routine very well. the more the person eats the more the total will be and usually people take the percentage of the total to tip you. if you follow the correct processes you would have provided decent service. if you go above and beyond then you get more added to your tip. in Pennsylvania servers get half the amount of minimum wage and tips as their pay. so tips is usually what they are trying to get most of their rent money from. maybe my server didn't need the money or maybe he didn't like me because i was a girl, or i was sitting alone. nonetheless i receive crap service. as a former server i always give my best service to everyone who comes in and eat, the dining experience is both great service and great food. today i had half ass service and okay food. nothing 'amazing' as everyone said. everyone else that ate at the restaurant seemed to be known by name and the servers were friendly. sadly i didn't feel the welcoming vibe from my server and that was the only interaction that i was given from anyone. and believe me i sat with a smile hoping i would get a bit better service. i did not. 

now i can only wonder if the dessert could have save the day. i went on yelp and gave them 3 stars. i wont be going back but i'm sad to have receive that type of service as a food lover. 

i hope your culinary adventures bring you to better service and food than i had today. 

eat extraordinary everyday.