Dining’s dirty little secret
Re: Why the ‘ bridge- and- tunnel crowd’ seem incapable of manners, Calum Marsh
Want to talk about proper manners and “a developed sense of respect?” Then let’s talk about the dirty little secret of how diners — particularly women — are seated in restaurants, shall we?
I was passing through Pearson recently and popped into a bar/restaurant for something decent to eat. I was travelling by myself. I pointed to the table where I wanted to be seated, a two-person table on the edge of the dining area, facing the openness of the main space.
“No,” the hostess told me. “That’s for parties of two.” At the adjacent table sat a man in his 40s. By himself.
Instead, she walked me through the restaurant, which was about 50 per cent full, and sat me at an identical twoperson table in — literally — the far back corner. She proceeded to remove the second chair.
When my server showed up I said, “Sorry, but I’m not sitting in this seat. I want to be reseated at the table I asked for,” and pointed at my original choice. The server, about my age, apologized profusely and moved me. She continued to apologize throughout my meal. And that solo male diner at the table next to me? Nobody removed the second chair from his table.
Cue established high-end hip restaurant in Ottawa. Midweek — with reservations — my friend (also a woman) and I are seated upstairs at the most high-traffic table in the place. I ask for a better table, one where I don’t have a brick wall in my face or feel the whoosh of wait staff on my neck. “They’re all reserved,” we’re told. When the maître d’ leaves, we stand up and move to the table across the aisle, one where we’re parallel to the movement, where we can see and enjoy the space. “Oh,” the young man says when he returns. “I guess it’s OK.” And how full did the restaurant get that night? Not so full.
These are only two examples, neither exceptions to the rule nor the only trick of the restaurant trade, right?
So, let’s not talk about random bozos spoiling rarefied spaces to the chagrin of sophisticated diners, about restaurants and their select patrons as victims. Let’s have a discussion about the pernicious disrespect — arguably discrimination — that occurs with the blessing of the owners and managers in charge.
Andrea Cordonier, Burritt’s Rapids, Ont.