Give Me a Break!

So did you know that the Caesar salad isn't Italian at all?

A few weeks ago we had a customer ask for an”Italian style Caesar salad.” Well, in doing some research I learned that the beloved, sometimes bastardized version of the salad was actually first made in Mexico. Yes, Tijuana, Mexico but, the salad was created by an Italian -born Mexican, Caesar Cardini (which is probably why there is the Italian association). The salad was born out necessity when according to Wikipedia, "His daughter Rosa recounted that her father invented the dish when a Fourth of July 1924 rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had adding the dramatic flair of the table side tossing."

Interestingly, the original recipe does not include anchovies or parmesan cheese.....

Chilled romaine lettuce, croutons, lemon juice, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper.

Well the month wouldn’t be complete unless I told at least one customer encounter story.

Two women came in for a snack a few weeks ago. The first part of the conversation was about wine tasting. For some reason, even though we have 2 different size pours of wine, a tasting size and a full glass, occasionally we have customer try to get us to give them “a taste.” In their mind, “a taste” is not the same as a “tasting.” Yes, I’m serious I have this conversation with people fairly often. This dialogue goes on for a minute or so and of course, they typically give in and have a tasting. After we got through this, the woman tasted her friend’s tasting, and decided she didn’t care for it so she got a full glass of something else from a different server. I asked how her wine was and she said “she thought the glass she was about to have would be better than the tasting.”

By this point you know I’m thinking oh lord here we go……..

Next question was, “what kind of oysters do you have today?” I said we have two from Washington State. Now I think sometimes I’ve seen it all, but literally, she leaned back in her chair, rolled her eyes toward the back of her head, and said “Oh.” I was so taken back, that I said, “I’m sorry is there something wrong with Washington State?” She said “No, no, I just, well, I don’t eat oysters from there.” I said “Oh, well that’s unfortunate, they are quite lovely and people have been enjoying them all day.” So off I went leaving her and her companion with a cup of soup and bread.

Oh, yes she loved the bread and soup….. I mean luuuved the bread and soup.

Later, our owner came by to check on them and she told me the woman asked if she could buy half of a crab cake. I started laughing……. Then our owner was laughing and then I was thinking to myself who does that? “I said what did you say?” She said, “I said, no so they ordered a shrimp quesadilla.”

Anyway, another day another dollar as they say, but I guess this is one of those John Stossel moments, who I think came up with the phrase, “Give me a Break!”