Saturday 17 June 2006

Food, inglorious food?

There's a new sandwich bar in town. It's called 'Get Stuffed' which has already caused some outbreaks of DBM amongst the more politely spoken members of Suffolk society.

The day it opened, Al went in to try its wares. All the food was temptingly laid out. The proprieter appeared, looking harassed. "We're not open yet, come back in an hour." It was already around 12.30, but Al left it as long as he could before trying again. This time, the man was nowhere to be seen, so he read the price list while he was waiting. And then slunk out of the door and bought his sandwich elsewhere.
There certainly are people who will pay a higher price for a better, or at any rate fancier, product, but they are more likely to buy at the deli down the road, and those who want freshly made, perfectly acceptable filled rolls will surely go to the cheaper bakery, even if the service is a bit slow there.
I hope he will do well, though not being ready for lunchtime on your first day is not a good start. I mean, it's making sandwiches, I'd manage somehow and not turn away a customer, even if I hadn't had time to make up the full range of salad dressings or flake the fresh wild salmon. I'd apologise for an attenuated menu, knock off 10% as an opening offer and be so friendly that customers would forgive any shortcomings and come back again.
Maybe the name does reflect the attitude after all.

There is a new restaurant in Norwich, called 'Tasteless.' This has caused some bemusement, wondering if English is not the owner's first language perhaps and he didn't realise what he was saying (at least Get Stuffed has some connection with a sandwich bar). A columnist in the local paper published a picture of it last week. She has now had a sniffy communication from the owner, who says that the sign actually says 'Tasteless...taste the difference.' He explains "You know when you go to a restaurant and the waiter asks 'Was everything ok?' and you say 'No' for a joke? Well, we were trying to make it a fun thing like that. We are saying 'Are we tasteless? Come and taste the difference!'"
No, doesn't do it for me. But then I don't wind up waiters either.

1 comment:

Z said...

And we're normally so polite in this neck of the woods, too.

They probably aren't locals.