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Allan’s Top Ten Culinary Wish List For 2012

Now that 2012 is almost upon us, it is my time to reflect on my various experiences and observations that I have made while eating my way through the Inland Empire in search of those great culinary finds that all food critics and foodies dream of finding.
Culinary Wish List for the general I.E. restaurant scene.

• 10. I Wish restaurant owners would hire people who know how to smile when you walk into their restaurant. It is obvious that some staff do not want to be working there. Common, smiles are free and help set the tone for the meal. If they do provide some training, I suggest they work harder at it since it’s really difficult to find those special servers, cooks and managers who really want to make your dining experience special.

• 9. There should be a law that all employees must speak English in restaurants. There is nothing worse than seeing some terrific food passing by with no one being able to tell you what the dish is. This has happened many times this past year and I really don’t understand it. Don’t restaurants want new customers from outside their own ethnic group? I really love ethnic food and know many of you do to but unless you know the particular language or don’t care what the food is you’re eating, I would love to see some changes. I am not signaling out any specific ethnic groups. I have had problems in Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican and believe or not, in American restaurants where the server could not tell me anything about the dish. With so many people having food allergies to foods, shouldn’t the server be able to tell their customers who need to know. Maybe I should just learn all of the languages of the world? Good luck asking for directions and hours! Thank goodness for GPS.

• 8. I wish that cooks would follow the restaurant owner’s directions on making a dish correctly. I can’t tell you how many times management has told me when a dish looked unappealing that “the cook did not follow instructions and knows better than serving food that looks like this”? Is there a shortage on cooks that have brains or can listen? If the cook does not want to follow orders or instructions, get a new cook. Don’t want to sound mean but why should customers who are paying for a quality dish have to put up with incompetence of being served a second rate dish?

• 7. I wish people would have more manners and be considerate of others while in a restaurant. Two examples include children running around in restaurant and people talking on their cell phones. I love children and have worked with them all of my life but…..I wish that customers would quit allowing their children using the restaurant as a playground and thinking their behavior is cute and should be seen and experienced by all. A restaurant is not the place to show your lack of parenting skills. Think about others besides yourself or only your family. If you cannot handle your children, don’t bring them to the restaurant or better yet, go through a drive through window of a fast food restaurant and allow yourself the pleasure of seeing and hearing them fighting and running amuck in your car. Common folks, think about others! As for those who talk to people on a cell phone in a restaurant, and I must admit, I have been guilty of this in the past, can’t you take the time to just relax, enjoy a good meal and think about how others feel by having to put up with your boisterous and often not important business.

• 6. Given the current financial climate, it sure would be nice if every one of you reading this column will try going to a new small independently owned restaurant rather than only eating at the large chain restaurants. There are many great little restaurants out there that will delight your taste buds and pocketbook with owners who really care about quality food and customer service. The majority of large chain restaurants are so structured, knowing their customers and providing a feeling of caring seems phony or nonexistent. If we don’t support our small local restaurants, I am afraid that McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc will be our only dining choices and that’s sad!

• 5. In 2012, I hope that restaurants get more creative and make their foods fun & exciting and give us reasons for dining there. It seems too many restaurants still serve boring and tasteless food. I feel that the IE is ready to experience what other cities have done like allow Food Trucks into the fold or at least for restaurants to start serving the type of foods found on these Food Trucks which are normally far different from what normally is found in most restaurants. Foodies in the IE are now ready for some changes and I feel they will support such restaurants who dare to push the food envelope to a higher level.

• 4. I wish cities would limit how many large chain fast food restaurants can go into their city. This would encourage more small restaurants to open up and offer their citizens food that is far better than what large chains usually serve. I’d much rather eat food that is made fresh daily on the premises that eat food that arrived in a bag and is cooked in a microwave, a practice commonly found among large chain restaurants.

• 3. I wish land owners would not take the bad economy out on restaurants that can least afford a raise in their rent or lease. Shouldn’t the restaurant be rewarded for staying in a center when most of the other businesses have closed down or moved?

• 2. I wish servers would learn how to anticipate a customer’s needs rather than the customer having to ask for everything from more water and napkins. What’s so hard about that? Don’t they know that better service usually means a better tip? I also want them to stop counting their tips in front of people, smoking in front of the restaurant and always being on their cell phones while working or talking to other staff about their personal lives. Do it on breaks or after work.

• 1. My number one Culinary Wish for 2012 is that customers who use various social media programs like Urban Spoon, Yelp, etc will think before they bash a restaurant for all to see. If you have had a bad experience, talk about it but you do not have to “kill” a restaurant just for you to make a name for yourself or feed your ego with the illusion that you are a professional food critic. Restaurants need to hear feedback, good or bad but ripping them apart for small things or because you like another restaurant better can really hurt a restaurant’s business. Try to be objective and fair, two areas a real professional food critic observes, give positive suggestions so that the restaurant can improve and get better. Also, talk to the manager or owner who may not be familiar with Urban Spoon or Yelp and tell them directly you complaint and suggestions. Too often, the people in charge never hear about complaints or get positive feedback so they can improve.                                                                ————————————————————–

At the Movies with Williams and Borgen Contest