Rotating Plates

Last night I needed a well deserved timeout. I went for a drive with no destination in mind. Thinking I would hit the interstate and just d-r-i-v-e, I started the car and drove down Magazine Street towards Downtown. I made it 6 blocks, stopped at a red light, turned my head to the right to see Sake Café and pulled right in.

As I pulled in, I thought, never mind to the long drive. All I need is a couple of cocktails, some sushi and an outdoor patio. While I was enjoying my cocktail out on the patio, which overlooks Magazine Street, I overheard a group of ladies at a nearby table.

The ladies were in their mid twenties, and had just arrived to the city for graduate school. They began to talk about how they were making their budgets work while still enjoying all the distractions New Orleans has to offer.

Since I have recently begun my wedding diet and have committed myself to more clean eating lifestyle, I began to tune into their conversation. I was partly curious to their dinner out because I have really been missing my best friends in Washington DC lately. Oh how I miss them, I would have done anything to have had a ladies night out with them last night!

Ok, back to dinner.

One young woman stated that she had some friends visiting last weekend, and were dining out every night. Since she was really pinching pennies, she talked it over with her guests and decided that they would in fact dine at the cities best restaurants. But they had a plan…to order 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and 1 dessert for 4 people.

Not only would they be ordering a fraction of the amount of food most people would normally order for 4, but they would be rotating their plates throughout their entire meal.

Now, obviously the restaurant waiter was not too thrilled about this table. The waiter seemed upset because this would mean he would make half of his normal tip on a table of 4, but still doing the same amount of work. The young woman stated that their particular waiter clearly seemed irritated by them.

Coming from a background in restaurants, serving, cooking, and managing I can relate to this disgruntled waiter. But, there is always a ‘but’…the dining guests have a right to choose what and how much they wish to order, and there should never be a discrimination against that.

The young woman went on to explain how much fun they had! She said they would have normally over indulged and left stuffed to the brim. And that is not to mention the fact that they would have also spent a fortune on the bill.

I congratulate this group of diners! I think what they are doing is a fantastic idea. They are collectively using their financial situation not only as a way to limit their portions and spend less, but are still getting out there and enjoying the cities great restaurants!

I am also beginning to feel like a lot of area restaurants are forgetting to market to this particular clientele. The possibilities are endless here, and I will save those for another blog….