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Here we are again with another story about a shocked diner who could not believe a restaurant would discourage her from bringing outside food. As usual, the "victim" has her own set of special reasons why she should have been indulged: Rose Levy Beranbaum is a baker/blogger/cookbook author, and she went to The Breslin for lunch after videotaping a cooking segment. So she's in the industry, as they say, and even offered to share her cake with the hip restaurant's pastry chef. When the waiter informs her that the pastry chef is out, Beranbaum offers him his own piece. But the "haughty twenty-something server" isn't so easily bribed, and says, "I don’t do that kind of thing." Then things gets expensive:
He left with his nose in the air and his stride smacking of moral superiority as if to imply that the rest of us were moral misfits. I felt like I was back in the second grade! It was as though a storm cloud had eclipsed the joyful mood of our gathering. Oh! the wait person brought back four forks, pushing them onto the table, but no plates.We started to taste the cake, still set on its plastic wrap "plate," when he returned with the information that he had reported us to the chef who said we'd have to pay a fee for the forks. I asked him if it was a "forkage fee" and he smiled and said "yes." I suggested that he might have mentioned that before he brought out the forks. The bill came and that fee for the use of four forks was a shocking $25.
In the space on her credit card receipt set aside for gratuity, Beranbaum left her own fork you to the waiter, writing in "cakeage fee" instead of a dollar amount. Suck on that, servant following orders from your boss! [Via Diner's Journal]
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Lady, it's an f-ing restaurant. You can't just walk in and whip out your own cake or steak or pan-seared ahi tuna.
Go get some plastic forks and eat it in the lobby of the Ace Hotel. Instead of screwing over some waiter who is just trying to not get fired.
Uh, Rose Levy Beranbaum isn't a "baking blogger" - she's the very renowned author of numerous baking books and anyone who knows anything about pastry knows who she is. She wrote The Cake Bible which is pretty much what most pro bakers use as the gold standard.
Then shouldn't she know better than to bring her own food into a restaurant?
She thought she had clout.
How ironic then that she complains about the waiter's air of moral superiority.
Reminds me of the guy who brought his cup of Starbucks to a restaurant recently - Le Cirque? Forget the exact place. But he expected to be let in, paper cup and all. Ridiculous the sense of entitlement, Cake Bible or not.
Le Bernardin.
This woman's story seems a little strange. Isn't The Breslin attached to The Ace Hotel where there is a plethora of tables and chairs in the lobby where people can taste their day-old cakes that they inexplicably brought with them to a restaurant? If she wanted to eat the cake, she could have asked the staff for some plastic forks after dinner, paid the check, and eaten the cake just a few feet from the restaurant.
It also seems strange that she thought it would be OK for her to bring her own dessert to a restaurant and then say "oh, i'm a chef" as if THAT would make it OK. She should know better! It is so rude and implies that her own food is better than the restaurants!
What an ass.
If you want to eat your own food don't go to a restaurant.
I'm happy to join in condemming this woman. I do bring my coffee into restraunts all the time. I hope thats not wrong.
It's wrong you jerk.
FORK THIS SHIT!
John Del Signore's yuppie, cosmopolitan, fauning adventure journal entries fit perfectly with the giant New York Times advertising takeover of Gothamist. Did anyone notice the scary faux superimposition ad that made one believe that they had arrived at "the paper of record"'s site? Does the Times own a stake in Gothamist?
Soon Del Signore may be dining with Sam Sifton (exclusive Saint Anne's High School snarky prep boy and formerly of the lame New York Press). And who knows what they'll do after dinner! Del Signore obviously doesn't know or care how most of the world scrapes for every meal — not surprising with a surname like his.
I liked the Gothamist's independence from Punch Sulzberger's take on NY. Seems like that era is about to end.
Sam
The NY Times barely owns the NY Times anymore, nevermind investing in blogs. You may also recall Mr. Dobkin's "all the reasons the NY Times sucks ass" essay from not too long ago. I suspect it would take more than a one-day-ad-buy to curry any favors.
i'm not sure what you're talking about, but down with yuppie cosmopolitanism!
oh, and forget restaurants: i don't think that people should be allowed to bring their food into subway trains.
Call ahead folks. It's really not that fucking hard. Some places are quite courteous and amenable. A few years ago, I had a valentine's day dinner reservation at Sushi Yasuda. I had made a six layer German chocolate cake for my then girlfriend. I called ahead to ask if it was ok to bring the cake, and they said yes. I got there early, they brought it back to the kitchen, and when dinner was over, they brought it out for us, sliced it and served it, and packed up the leftovers when we were done. For no extra charge.
That's because you used your head.
She should have asked earlier in the process. Believe it or not, many restaurants will let you bring in a cake to (for example) celebrate a special event. Want to bring Granny's special apple pie that you always have on your birthday? Call the restaurant and ask -- a lot of them are glad to do it if you just give them advance warning. Some will even keep it in the back for you. (And some will charge you...in which case go somewhere else, in my view.)
Her mistake was just whipping out a cake and THEN asking. That put the waiter on the spot, and showed a lack of respect for the restaurant's policies (which she must surely know, if she's a chef).
Now, the waiter was apparently then kind of a jerk about it. I can't condone being a jerk -- even if you have to refuse an absurd request, you can do it politely. But, still.
I don't buy the rude waiter crap - he didn't want her cake for whatever reason and probably isn't supposed to take it even if he does. She's throwing a hissy fit and making the staff out to be snotty and obnoxious because she couldn't get her way.
C'mon, though, how you can work in food and not expect some kind of fee at a place like the Breslin. What a bitch.
It could have been worse. They could have sent her to the mosque across the street, where they must draw curtains across their windows whenever they eat cake.
The Jew part was unnecessary, fool.
No it wsn't. It's descriptive.
It doesn't matter anymore, your tasteless comment was deleted.
You call yourself Wild Pansy and you're calling someone else a faggot. I believe you have issues.
On her blog, she says the moral of the story is "Never be rude to writers."
Easy fix if she changes writers to waiters.
i'll never visit the Breslin after hearing this story - rose knows how grown-up restaurants and their employees behave. shame on the Breslin.
Yep, that waiter defamed the place with his attitude. He obviously got that she knew the pastry chef and he shit all over a legendary foodie. Only a king can kill a king: the waiter has to go.
It would have been nice if the restaurant offered plates but bottom line is: it's a restaurant, they set the policy and there's no need to feel insulted if the waiter doesn't take a piece of cake or take it out on him.
ugh, those type of people make me want to own a shotgun.
I've been in the restaurant biz for over 35 years. Most places I have worked charge a cake "cutting fee" or a "corkage fee" for wine. I am currently a manager at a famous upper east side establishment. The idea of bringing in your own food or wine and then complaining about the charge is ridiculous. Restaurants are businesses. They sell a product to make a profit. Why would anyone let people bring in their own product? Why stop at cake and wine? Why not bring in your own entrée or drinks or appetizers? Have dinner and then go home and eat your cake cheapskates!
However I hosted a party at a midtown restaurant, they supplied the cake. When I paid the bill they didn't charge for the cake. It was a nice thing to do and it bulids customer loyalty.
If Mario Batali walked into your restaurant with a dish he just prepared to share with friends, would you charge him for the pleasure? Chase him out? There are rules and then there are truths.
But Mario Batali wouldn't. Most chefs are extremely proud and territorial and have respect for their colleagues, so they would not bring their own food to someone else's turf. Bringing your own food instead of trying the chef's creations is seen as a slap in the face. Mr. Batali has class, and he'd invite the chefs to his restaurant as his guests.
"hey, do you guys mind if we sit at your table and eat our own shit?" "we'll only be here for like another hour or so."
This is belated, but...ewww.
Why would think that bringing in your own food to a restaurant is acceptable?
From the Banquet Manager
Same thing happened to me at Papaya Dog... LOL. Woman, get a grip !!!!
moron.
Once again, John Del Signore confirms his status as a yellow "journalist." Investigate to see if there are two sides to the story? Nah, not Johnny. For those of you interested in reality, Rose has posted some clarifications in her comments section:
"just to clarify, this was supposed to be a taste testing of one forkful for the two people who had not been at the shoot and then they would wrap it to take it home. if you look at the photo you will see along side the bill the two pieces of cake that were not eaten except for two bites.
woody asked for ONE plate and 2 forks. and we had every intention of buying dessert. woody is from minnesota and has never had a problem with this. he agreed to allow me to come clean that it was not i who asked for the plate and 2 forks. nancy suggested i tell them \"who i am\" and i said no. then it occurred to me that if i gave the card to the pastry chef she would be my ally and understand as we pastry chefs are very supportive of each other but unfortunately she wasn't there."
a taste testing of one forkful for the two people who had not been at the shoot and then they would wrap it to take it home
Then why taste it there and not at home? Good or bad, they would have taken it home, no? And since she is such an expert, why would she need their opinion from a "forkful"?
we had every intention of buying dessert.
If so, why did you not buy the dessert first? To make your intentions a reality and known? I'm not eating your piece of fiction.
Buy the dessert first and then use the fork for your cake. Ta-Da!
i recently had my bday dinner with a large group of friends at a small restaurant that i frequent on a regular basis. the owner and waitstaff knows me by now. when a friend wanted to bring a cake to dinner, i called ahead to ask if this was ok and inquired about their policy. it was the polite thing to do. they were fine about it, no charge, whether it was because of policy or because of knowing me.
she has a cooking blog and published recipe books. fine. i don't feel sympathy for either places (for the record, i've enjoyed my meals and service at the breslin). i hope her cakes are better than her umbrage. if she didn't want to be charged a cakeage fee, perhaps she should consider changing her name to martha forking stewart.
Perhaps reading is not your strong suit. A friend asked for a couple forks to taste two bites of cake. Then they were going to order dessert!
On the other hand, I know it is really hard to believe that a waiter at a trendy restaurant might have been a snotty jerk.
dear chunk...or rose (by any other name),
next time you want to bring food into a restaurant and take a bite, or a slice out of it...do it at home or bring your own plastic forks. you seem intent on making every table in this city a picnic ground. you're asking the waiter to bring you the forks. someone else will have to clean the forks. it's service and labor. you wanted them to do it for free because rose is a cake author/blogger. give me a break. perhaps logic is not your strong suit.
Awww, little Johnny D doesn't like it when yet another shoddily "researched" story falls apart.
chunk- stay off the cake (her recipe at least) and perhaps wouldn't be so.
This is disappointing, given the chef involved (she should know better). Although I love her work, I probably wouldn't even recognize her on sight. In my somewhat limited time as a server, I grew weary when people would try to pull this kind of thing. Just call ahead and inquire about the policy! At the very least, you can ask before you're seated and maybe they will accommodate you without a charge, depending on the time and circumstances.
Also, when you bring a cake to an establishment and know they do not charge a plating fee, you MUST reserve a piece for the server if any remains after the guests each receive their portion. I think it was incredibly rude of her to offer one to the server only after he mentioned the pastry chef was not on premises.
Greetings from one of the notorious fourks at Rose's Cake Follies. The crude comments of many above (not to mention the oleaginous & toxic tone of the Goth) make me feel I'm back at the Breslin. Not for a moment were we four, jointly or severally, made to feel our happiness mattered to the staff. At the French Culinary Institute, my alma mater, I often heard the great chefs say: "Ours is the only business whose sole purpose is to make people happy." Rose is an exemplar of that creed: a cookbook writer who offers endless insights as well as precise ingredients so you'll know why you're doing what--the key to success. Scientist as well as grand artist, she hunts for the truths of the lab & the table and then rushes to share them. And so she brought a bit of cake to share with friends. Speaking of sharing--the Breslin kitchen declined to divide dishes they knew we were splitting. We should have been their ideal guests, excited by the menu, eager to taste as much as we could manage at noontime. But whoever we were, even if we'd ordered skimpily & boringly, we should have been made to feel successful as restaurant patrons. The pass/fail attitude of the staff is totally at odds with the pretty licorice walls & adventurous cooking. Should we have been more graceful & called ahead? Sure, if it were a big deal presentation cake & not some leftovers for colleagues to sample. Dear Breslin people, where is your humor, your modesty, your perspective, your heart? Great onion soup isn't enough....
Assuming you really are one of the diners...
It's trashy to ride on the coattails of a pseudo-celebrity and then complain and not tip when you aren't treated the way you expect. If the table had an ounce of class, you would have tipped regardless of the guy charging for the forks. Yeah yeah yeah, you're saying that the waitstaff was rude start to finish, but that ain't why this got all the listings - it's because of the fork thing.
Really this boils down to "boo hoo, I was pretending to be famous with my fancy author friend and she didn't get recognized. Now how can this be used to make the author MORE famous?"
What's interesting is that in your friend's blog, she mentions that up until the cake incident, all of you were enjoying the meal. That would imply that the staff DID see to your happiness and was behaving in an appropriate manner. It is only when the server said NO to your request that you started thinking of him as rude, eh?
Making customers happy does not mean that they have to cede to your every whim. If you want split dishes, dine in a family style restaurant. If you want to bring your own outside food--tacky at best, rude to the other chef at worst--call ahead and clear it with the restaurant manager. Or go have a picnic somewhere.
you sound really annoying. Im sure thats why the waiter charged you for a fork.
Well there is the insulting part! You are aware and clearly acknowledge, that it is appropriate to call ahead and make arrangements for a special occasion cake. But, somehow you don't see the lack of grace in showing up with (admittedly) leftover, day-old cake wrapped in plastic and ask for a fork? Weird and insulting to the in-house pastry chef.
And just curious...if a group were honestly, fully intending to order desserts, why would the group not just order their desserts and then put a forkful or two of the sample cake on the plates that came with the purchased desserts?? Asking for forks and a plate BEFORE ordering dessert does not make any common sense at all - especially when you nbow a fork and plate will come with an ordered dessert. It makes me doubt that the intention was even there.
I do think the waiter should have made the diners aware of the forkage fee ahead of time. The attitude of the waiter, well, that is just the diners' side of the story, but I will believe it. However, a group of experienced diners, especially if industry professionals, should know to bring their dissatisfaction to the attention to the manager, immediately, for possible resolution. To instead go on blogging (badmouthing) about an experience that could have been resolved with a brief conversation with a manager, when you already admitted you were enjoying everything prior to your fork request, is in bad taste.
Nancy,
"Woody asked the wait person if it would be ok to bring out the cake and if he would bring plates and forks."
As stated, I am a fan of her work. However, people in your position ought to know that asking a waitperson to bring plates and utensils for outside food without expecting any extra charge is tacky. It's not the amount of food, but rather the act itself.
I'm pleased you were "spiritually evolved" enough to leave the tip. It's always a shame to hear about patrons stiffing waitpeople over restaurant policies. The other members of your party need to be informed that the government is taxing the waiter according to assumed tips (as I recall, based on sales).
None of us were there.
She _asked_ if she could eat the cake first and got told "yes." Only afterwards when the bill arrived did she learn about the forkage fee. That makes the waiter look pretty evil minded.
i think the "yes" meant "get out"
Since the blogger had identified herself as a member of the food industry, perhaps the waiter thought that she certainly would be familiar with corkage and cutting fees, and did not need them explained to her.
I miss old New York. This wouldn't happen if there weren't all these tourists and transplants all over acting like this was Disney. People should be TERRIFIED of bringing their own food to eating establishments like they were in the 80's before Guiliani.
What, if anything, does Giuliani have to do with this problem? We're talking about waiters not squeegee men.
I guess my tongue in cheek comment missed you
Ace Breslin was better as a near welfare hotel but
each generation of young people need psuedo trendy joints
like this. 122 million dollars invested in this idiocy.
In a year or two it will be passe.,everyone looks like 1980's Elvis Costello that go there and mostly well white.
What well white?