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This is a blog in praise of Alvin. And waiters and waitresses like him. I don’t know Alvin from Adam. I’d never met him before he served me dinner on Tuesday evening at the gorgeous new St.Regis hotel. But he helped make an exceptional meal something more than just delicious – he made it comfortable. I ate with my girlfriend at Cero, the hotel restaurant, as part of the Dine Out Lauderdale promotion going on through mid-November. It’s an amazing deal. We figured our meal would have cost us in the range of $200 without the Dine Out menu. With it, I paid $70, plus tax and tip for two dinners.
The food was, as I expected, excellent. We shared sirloin carpaccio and leek soup with trout caviar for the first course. Then we moved on to diver scallops and seared bass for entrees and key lime lollypops and chocolate marquise for dessert. Just $35 per person. My friend Francine, is doing a wonderful job in her blogs of describing the many Dine Out meals she’s enjoying around town, at Cero and elsewhere. So I won’t go into a lot more detail about the food or atmosphere for now. We had a great candlelight meal sitting outdoors by the roaring waves of the sea – enough said. But Alvin, our waiter, allowed us to relax and truly enjoy it all.
After introducing himself, Alvin asked what we wanted to drink in a way that did not suggest we would be cheap by declining cocktails, which we did. Alvin handled our request for water in the same way. There was no pressure to buy expensive bottled water. We opted for good old, environmentally friendly Fort Lauderdale tap water, which he served us repeatedly with a smile. Alvin must have filled our glasses six or seven times at least. Though we were ordering off the less pricey Dine Out menu, you wouldn’t have known it from Alvin’s treatment of us during the meal. He was consistently attentive, respectful of our privacy and genuinely friendly. To me, this is the mark of a first class wait person – and a first class restaurant. We were there to sample the food without breaking the bank, using a special promotion. No one wants a waiter to make them feel cheap for doing that. Alvin didn’t. Just the opposite, in fact. That says a lot about Alvin. And something about the St. Regis. And something about Dine Out Lauderdale too. Go out, relax and savor your bargain meal. You’re not being cheap by taking advantage of these great prices. You’re being smart. And Alvin was smart enough to know that.
The food was, as I expected, excellent. We shared sirloin carpaccio and leek soup with trout caviar for the first course. Then we moved on to diver scallops and seared bass for entrees and key lime lollypops and chocolate marquise for dessert. Just $35 per person. My friend Francine, is doing a wonderful job in her blogs of describing the many Dine Out meals she’s enjoying around town, at Cero and elsewhere. So I won’t go into a lot more detail about the food or atmosphere for now. We had a great candlelight meal sitting outdoors by the roaring waves of the sea – enough said. But Alvin, our waiter, allowed us to relax and truly enjoy it all.
After introducing himself, Alvin asked what we wanted to drink in a way that did not suggest we would be cheap by declining cocktails, which we did. Alvin handled our request for water in the same way. There was no pressure to buy expensive bottled water. We opted for good old, environmentally friendly Fort Lauderdale tap water, which he served us repeatedly with a smile. Alvin must have filled our glasses six or seven times at least. Though we were ordering off the less pricey Dine Out menu, you wouldn’t have known it from Alvin’s treatment of us during the meal. He was consistently attentive, respectful of our privacy and genuinely friendly. To me, this is the mark of a first class wait person – and a first class restaurant. We were there to sample the food without breaking the bank, using a special promotion. No one wants a waiter to make them feel cheap for doing that. Alvin didn’t. Just the opposite, in fact. That says a lot about Alvin. And something about the St. Regis. And something about Dine Out Lauderdale too. Go out, relax and savor your bargain meal. You’re not being cheap by taking advantage of these great prices. You’re being smart. And Alvin was smart enough to know that.
posted by LauderBLOGGER at 4:55 PM
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