The New York food scene is the best in the world, so this foodie likes to keep an eye on what’s cooking in the big apple. This weekend an article in the New York Times about “One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do” caught my eye.
Service in Amsterdam restaurants often is poor. And I am frequently struck by the rather pretentious behavior of many Amsterdam waiters that make you feel that you’re lucky being served at all, that your presence is causing them all sorts of unexpected troubles, and is terribly untimely and utterly inconvenient.
I guess the publication of this list means that not everything is perfect in New York. But at least people still complain and try to change the situation. In Amsterdam, people pretty much got used to poor service and just put up with it. Where, for example, rule number 3 of the New York Times article urges to “Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived”, Amsterdam has restaurants like L’Angoletto that make it a house rule. And you’re lucky if waiters fix your table upon request as opposed to the very reasonable rule number 5 that “Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated”.