Friday, April 08, 2005 | Good service is part of the dining package, and I admit to being a stickler for it. On the one occasion I have dined at The French Laundry in the Napa Valley, the wait staff was so pretentious, the entire table was on edge for the entire evening. I will never go back, even though the food was exceptional. I don’t spend $200 for dinner to worry about if I am picking up the correct fork and, worse, to be chastised by the waiter. The following are my top ten pet peeves of restaurant service. Next week I’ll give you some insight into what goes into great restaurant service.
9. Waiters who pretend to know about wine, but actually know nothing.
10. Waiters who give wrong answers to customer’s questions rather than admitting they don’t know and finding out.
Pamela J. Wischkaemper is a local food consultant and is the founder of San Diego Gastronomically Correct, a group that goes on the road twice a year to promote the San Diego restaurant industry. The only criterion for membership is having cooked at the James Beard House in New York. Nineteen chefs in San Diego are members.