wine is not cheap coffee
last night i had dinner at la boca in santa fe. it's a tapas restaurant, and its specialty is small appetizer dishes that include things with
olives (didn't eat these, because projectile vomiting isn't attractive, from what i understand), things with goat cheese (a yummy dish, even without bread), and more. the wine list, while not horribly extensive,has a decent number of choices.
so here's the thing. i've had a glass of wine. i've ordered another. in the midst of good conversation, the waiter arrives at the table with my 2nd glass of wine...and deja vu! what i thought would never happen in a restaurant happens again. the waiter, noticing that i have left a few drops in my previous glass (lots of sediment, probably the end of a bottle of the relatively good cote du rhone), puts down the new glass, picks up the old glass, and proceeds to pour the small remainder of wine from the old into the new. i was
appalled. for those of you who remember the birthday celebration a few years ago at the flying fig in cleveland, this same thing happened to barbara. at the time, we were similarly appalled.
so after much banter about whether or not i should just suck it up and drink it, i decide to send it back. and the waiter (although i have to give him credit, still friendly) - actually states that that's the standard thing to do that he has learned in classes, and that the theory is that the wine is "good to the last drop." no, seriously. he actually used the maxwell house slogan. now, i don't profess to know everything about wine - but there are a few things i do know. 1) you don't pour old wine into a new glass. 2) if you're serving someone wine and they send it back for a valid reason (not just "i don't like it") there's really no need to justify why. you just get them a new glass. And 3) if you're really going to try to justify your actions, comparing wine to the cheapest, nastiest coffee available on the market does not illustrate your immense wine knowledge. it makes you look like an idiot.
other than this, and the fact that the entree wasn't impressive, the evening itself was lovely and there's nothing like goat cheese to make things better. in defense of the waiter, he was actually quite nice and relatively attentive other than this isolated showing of idiocy.
good to the last drop. ha! i'm so going to use that when talking about dom perignon.
olives (didn't eat these, because projectile vomiting isn't attractive, from what i understand), things with goat cheese (a yummy dish, even without bread), and more. the wine list, while not horribly extensive,has a decent number of choices.
so here's the thing. i've had a glass of wine. i've ordered another. in the midst of good conversation, the waiter arrives at the table with my 2nd glass of wine...and deja vu! what i thought would never happen in a restaurant happens again. the waiter, noticing that i have left a few drops in my previous glass (lots of sediment, probably the end of a bottle of the relatively good cote du rhone), puts down the new glass, picks up the old glass, and proceeds to pour the small remainder of wine from the old into the new. i was
appalled. for those of you who remember the birthday celebration a few years ago at the flying fig in cleveland, this same thing happened to barbara. at the time, we were similarly appalled.
so after much banter about whether or not i should just suck it up and drink it, i decide to send it back. and the waiter (although i have to give him credit, still friendly) - actually states that that's the standard thing to do that he has learned in classes, and that the theory is that the wine is "good to the last drop." no, seriously. he actually used the maxwell house slogan. now, i don't profess to know everything about wine - but there are a few things i do know. 1) you don't pour old wine into a new glass. 2) if you're serving someone wine and they send it back for a valid reason (not just "i don't like it") there's really no need to justify why. you just get them a new glass. And 3) if you're really going to try to justify your actions, comparing wine to the cheapest, nastiest coffee available on the market does not illustrate your immense wine knowledge. it makes you look like an idiot.
other than this, and the fact that the entree wasn't impressive, the evening itself was lovely and there's nothing like goat cheese to make things better. in defense of the waiter, he was actually quite nice and relatively attentive other than this isolated showing of idiocy.
good to the last drop. ha! i'm so going to use that when talking about dom perignon.