Dave and I dine out frequently – probably 1-3 times a week – and always at different restaurants. Sometimes we dine at restaurants that feature daily Specials. Daily Specials are interesting to me because (hopefully) either they feature something the chef is experimenting with, a departure from the ordinary – or because they feature some especially fresh and/or exotic ingredient that isn’t available on a consistent basis. (Anthony Bourdain would tell you that daily Specials are created to ‘move’ the food that is otherwise destined for the trashcan. Fortunately, I have the ability to suppress this bit of insider info when I dine out.)
Regardless of their origin, we hardly ever hear about these illusive and mysterious Specials – which makes me want them that much more. You see, we’re consistently victims of Special discrimination. Here’s the way it usually goes: We’re seated, menus are dealt, preliminary courtesies are exchanged with the waiter/waitress. This is followed by drink orders being taken, drinks delivered, the waiter takes our order, first course is delivered yada yada – typical restaurant meal progression. At some point while we're enjoying our meal people are seated at another table nearby. Then, as they work through their pre-meal progression, we overhear their waiter – usually the same one who is waiting on us – rattle off a list of Tonight's Specials! Dave and I usually look wide-eyed at each other at this point. What!? Why were we not offered a list of Specials? Are we not Special-worthy?
Really – this happens about 75% of the time, and we cannot figure out why. It’s not as if we are so resolute in our menu choices so as to appear as though we do not need additional suggestions. We're flexible! We can be swayed by Specials. It’s not as though we’re not congenial with our wait staff – because we do ask questions, leave ourselves open to dialog, etc. So we’re always amazed when we overhear what we could have eaten offered to the table next to us. Most of the time, there’s something on the Specials list one of us would have ordered. It's the darndest thing.
So I’ve decided on a two-pronged approach to get to the bottom of this discrimination. First, I plan to do a little debrief the next time this happens. The next time we overhear someone else being told about Specials that we were not offered I will ask our waiter to explain why we were not given the same courtesy. I want to understand their profiling criteria because if we exude some unapproachable attitude I want to know about it! I feel we are extremely Special-worthy.
As an alternate approach, maybe I should just start asking if there are any Specials as a matter of course. This would nip any discriminatory practice in the bud. Seriously – this must be stopped. Next thing you know, they’ll start profiling the offering of dessert based on weight – which would make me extremely cranky - since I look as though I should pass on that molten lava chocolate cake. We must stop the madness.
Then again, if what Anthony Bourdain says is true, maybe I’m better off not knowing about the Specials.
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As a former server at a restaurant that was patronized by many uppity types (not like you and Dave, of course) I can offer a possible explanation. If you are arriving at the restaurant during a shift change the servers probably just received the special from the head chef. We were not allowed to use any notes in our presentation, it had to be memorized. If you think about it, most servers are not well-versed with gourmet lingo so it's very easy to stutter through the special. Actually, this can be a nerve-racking experience if the special sounds like a tongue twister. Whereas later on in the night the server has heard other people talk about the special, seen it leave the kitchen, and practiced their delivery. Thus, your only choice is to seize the day, don't be afraid to ask about the special!
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