Radio Chat – Restaurant Rules
I love dropping into ABC Radio Melbourne to chat about what I’ve been eating, cooking and learning. This time, I came in to talk about restaurant etiquette. What are diners doing to drive restaurateurs crazy and what annoys diners about eating in restaurants? This has been a hot topic recently – the spur for this discussion was the founding of Restaurant School by restaurateur Angie Giannakodakis.
Read about my trip to Restaurant School!
DINING DOS AND DON’TS
A good diner does:
- Let the restaurant know in advance if they have dietary needs or a special occasion to celebrate
- Consider their time of booking: if you’ll be ‘hangry’ by 7pm, book dinner at 6pm, not 8.30pm
- Keep the reservation and call ahead if running late
- Wait at the door to be greeted and shown to a table
- Put knife and fork together on their plate when finished with a dish
- Ask the waiter for assistance rather than Googling unfamiliar words on a menu or looking up the wine list
- Keep the napkin in their lap then fold it neatly to the side of the plate when finished
A good diner does not:
- Push cutlery and plates to the centre of the table in order to plonk elbows in their place
- Use all the cutlery for the first dish
- Touch service staff, swear or ask a waiter what they really want to do with their life – it’s hurtful to career waiters.
- Mop up spillages with cloth napkins; instead, signal to a waiter who is better placed to deal with it
- Leave a negative online review before speaking to the restaurant to allow them to remedy the situation
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