We found ourselves in an unfamiliar area, hungry and looking for a "find" of a restaurant, some little un-discovered café with fabulous food and an atmosphere to match. After searching down several miles of a restaurant –laden street unsuccessfully, my wife and I grudgingly settled for a locally based place in a new location to us. It might not be that special find, but we knew it would be palatable by the number of cars outside. We were too hungry from extended shopping for the two new grandchildren on the way (coming three weeks apart in the spring) to extend our search for "food done well". So we turned in and found our way inside.
Surprised was the first response. Here was restaurant with décor that spoke, dare I use this now diminished word: cool. The dark brown wood was expected. The opaque glass, hanging purple spot light fixtures and multi-tiered floor were not. Pictures of Old Richmond adorned the walls with displays of what we originally thought were wine bottles. We later discovered them to be beer bottles from around the world.
After we were seated by the host, we received the food menu and the Beer Menu, much like one receives a wine list. The waitress carefully explained the Beer Menu and offered a round of Beer tasters – five for twenty-five cents each. Our choices were anything on the list of thirty – six pages that came on draft.
Like any red-bloodied American, I took the easy way out of the overwhelming number of choices.
"What would you suggest?"
"I'll have our beer master give you a round of favorites from around the world," she quickly replied.
A pretty darn near perfect answer.
My beer knowledge reputation was saved from certain embarrassment without a moment of uncomfortable silence while trying to choose wisely.
We ordered the Belgian Frites with four different mayonnaises as condiments. The Belgians originally created the form of potato cooking we call French Fries here in the US, while in Europe they are known as frites and cooked a bit different with various spices depending on the European country.
While waiting, we combed through the Beer Menu. Fascinating. No common beers of the beer proletariat could be found – not a Bud, Miller or Coors anywhere. It was carefully divided by kind of beer and the country of origin. Under each category, in small print, a description of the region and/or type of beer was provided.
It read more like a series of poems than a menu. Some had short descriptions like:
"A wow for your mouth, hints of roasted malts, chocolate and nice black licorice finish."
Others had long descriptions like this Belgian one:
"Chimay Grand Reserve is principally distinguished by its character of a strong beer. This is a beer whose fragrance of fresh yeast with a light, flowery rosy touch is especially pleasant. Its flavor, noticed when tasting it, only accentuates the pleasant sensations perceived in the aroma, while revealing a light but pleasant touch of roasted malt. This top fermented Trappist beer, re – fermented in the bottle, is not pasteurized. $26.75." That is for a bottle of beer.
I felt like I needed a course in beer appreciation
Prices in this ale house ranged from $4 to $38 for a beer. Maybe you would prefer the 3L bottle of Eggenberg – Samichlaus Dopplebock from Austria for $150 to share with your table.
The beer tasters and Belgian Frites arrived at the same time. And it is a good thing they did. Those frites had their own spicy energy. Some kind of liquid was a required pairing. Can you say ‘spicy so good?" Of course the beer was close to hand.
The food menu had all the expected fare plus bratwurst platters and various sausage dishes. My wife, true to form, ordered the now famous "Summer Salad." What the heck is a summer salad? It is an entrée size salad with lots of colored vegetables and some form of meat or fish. Her motto, "You just can't go wrong with a summer salad."
After I finished my five samplers, my waitress asked if I had made a choice of one to order. I told her no. She then suggested that she could sneak up to two more tasters to my table if she was careful to get beyond the watchful eye of the beer master. I hastily agreed. She brought them. She had learned the beers that I liked and did not like from the prior five tasters. These next two were the best. My favorite was the Reissdorf Kolsch, brewed under the auspices of the German Purity law of 1516, from Cologne, Germany.
After we finished out food, we were offered, what else, a dessert beer to go with the house's sweets. We declined.
In all, it was a pleasantly surprising foray into heretofore unknown regions of food and beverage. I kept the Beer Menu after requesting it nicely from the waitress. Knowing her tip was at hand, she wisely agreed, fully knowing the predictable response of an appreciative diner. Of course, I made her prediction of pecuniary reward come true!
The lessons of the restaurant still reverberate: differentiation, niche, story and poetic wording, sampling, pricing, size of selection, types of food, the expected and unexpected, points of surprise, naming, the aesthetic of the place itself, beer snob appeal, scripting, service "favors"( especially the second sampling of beer tasters.)
Send me your reflections of these lessons and how you can apply them.
The truth is that the value of this comes from what you can take from it and apply. What did you learn? What can you apply?
What else could this restaurant and ale house do to further develop loyal followers and enhance word of mouth? Hint: it has everything to do with the customer that comes in, maintaining communication and attracting attention.
(For those of you who send me your observations, realizations and potential applications as a result of reading this, which you can do in your practice, will receive my 35 points of additional things the restaurant could do. A reminder: the average do the bare minimum expected. Do you want to be average?)
One last point: it is what you learn outsideyour practice and dentistry that you can take and apply inside that gives you the edge.
Who would have ever thought that a beer joint could elevate itself to the heights previously enjoyed by fine restaurants, to a place that creates positive memories, to create its own category?
Who would have ever thought that a dental practice could…
Best,
Charley
Copyright 2010 Charles W Martin
Surprised was the first response. Here was restaurant with décor that spoke, dare I use this now diminished word: cool. The dark brown wood was expected. The opaque glass, hanging purple spot light fixtures and multi-tiered floor were not. Pictures of Old Richmond adorned the walls with displays of what we originally thought were wine bottles. We later discovered them to be beer bottles from around the world.
After we were seated by the host, we received the food menu and the Beer Menu, much like one receives a wine list. The waitress carefully explained the Beer Menu and offered a round of Beer tasters – five for twenty-five cents each. Our choices were anything on the list of thirty – six pages that came on draft.
Like any red-bloodied American, I took the easy way out of the overwhelming number of choices.
"What would you suggest?"
"I'll have our beer master give you a round of favorites from around the world," she quickly replied.
A pretty darn near perfect answer.
My beer knowledge reputation was saved from certain embarrassment without a moment of uncomfortable silence while trying to choose wisely.
We ordered the Belgian Frites with four different mayonnaises as condiments. The Belgians originally created the form of potato cooking we call French Fries here in the US, while in Europe they are known as frites and cooked a bit different with various spices depending on the European country.
While waiting, we combed through the Beer Menu. Fascinating. No common beers of the beer proletariat could be found – not a Bud, Miller or Coors anywhere. It was carefully divided by kind of beer and the country of origin. Under each category, in small print, a description of the region and/or type of beer was provided.
It read more like a series of poems than a menu. Some had short descriptions like:
"A wow for your mouth, hints of roasted malts, chocolate and nice black licorice finish."
Others had long descriptions like this Belgian one:
"Chimay Grand Reserve is principally distinguished by its character of a strong beer. This is a beer whose fragrance of fresh yeast with a light, flowery rosy touch is especially pleasant. Its flavor, noticed when tasting it, only accentuates the pleasant sensations perceived in the aroma, while revealing a light but pleasant touch of roasted malt. This top fermented Trappist beer, re – fermented in the bottle, is not pasteurized. $26.75." That is for a bottle of beer.
I felt like I needed a course in beer appreciation
Prices in this ale house ranged from $4 to $38 for a beer. Maybe you would prefer the 3L bottle of Eggenberg – Samichlaus Dopplebock from Austria for $150 to share with your table.
The beer tasters and Belgian Frites arrived at the same time. And it is a good thing they did. Those frites had their own spicy energy. Some kind of liquid was a required pairing. Can you say ‘spicy so good?" Of course the beer was close to hand.
The food menu had all the expected fare plus bratwurst platters and various sausage dishes. My wife, true to form, ordered the now famous "Summer Salad." What the heck is a summer salad? It is an entrée size salad with lots of colored vegetables and some form of meat or fish. Her motto, "You just can't go wrong with a summer salad."
After I finished my five samplers, my waitress asked if I had made a choice of one to order. I told her no. She then suggested that she could sneak up to two more tasters to my table if she was careful to get beyond the watchful eye of the beer master. I hastily agreed. She brought them. She had learned the beers that I liked and did not like from the prior five tasters. These next two were the best. My favorite was the Reissdorf Kolsch, brewed under the auspices of the German Purity law of 1516, from Cologne, Germany.
After we finished out food, we were offered, what else, a dessert beer to go with the house's sweets. We declined.
In all, it was a pleasantly surprising foray into heretofore unknown regions of food and beverage. I kept the Beer Menu after requesting it nicely from the waitress. Knowing her tip was at hand, she wisely agreed, fully knowing the predictable response of an appreciative diner. Of course, I made her prediction of pecuniary reward come true!
The lessons of the restaurant still reverberate: differentiation, niche, story and poetic wording, sampling, pricing, size of selection, types of food, the expected and unexpected, points of surprise, naming, the aesthetic of the place itself, beer snob appeal, scripting, service "favors"( especially the second sampling of beer tasters.)
Send me your reflections of these lessons and how you can apply them.
The truth is that the value of this comes from what you can take from it and apply. What did you learn? What can you apply?
What else could this restaurant and ale house do to further develop loyal followers and enhance word of mouth? Hint: it has everything to do with the customer that comes in, maintaining communication and attracting attention.
(For those of you who send me your observations, realizations and potential applications as a result of reading this, which you can do in your practice, will receive my 35 points of additional things the restaurant could do. A reminder: the average do the bare minimum expected. Do you want to be average?)
One last point: it is what you learn outsideyour practice and dentistry that you can take and apply inside that gives you the edge.
Who would have ever thought that a beer joint could elevate itself to the heights previously enjoyed by fine restaurants, to a place that creates positive memories, to create its own category?
Who would have ever thought that a dental practice could…
Best,
Charley
Copyright 2010 Charles W Martin
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