The Restaurants of Paris (France) -- about service and stuff.

[TahitiNut]

Since it seems to be such a popular topic, I'd like to describe what I saw CONSISTENTLY during three and a half months of eating out in the restaurants of Paris and environs many years ago. Working in Aulnay sous Bois (a suburb) and staying at the Novotel (a plastic Motel 6), it was necessary to eat dinner in Paris or go mad. Virtually every evening was invested in selecting, making reservations, driving to, eating, and driving back from a restaurant in Paris. Les Guide Michelin was INVALUABLE ... even if the three-star restaurants weren't affordable for me.

I learned that a waiter in Paris was a well-paid and respected vocation. (Good chefs are gods.) I learned that an understaffed restaurant in Paris wouldn't survive. I learned that making a reservation, even if only 30 minutes ahead of time, meant I was polite enough to say "I'm here intentionally, not accidentally." I learned that the waiter was almost never around when I had everything I wanted, but arrived at about the same exact instant that I discovered I wanted more coffee, more water, or the next course. (I actually started testing this and trying to find the waiter when I didn't need anything. It was tough.) I learned that a waiter would never interrupt a conversation and could finish my sentences and look at him with a smile. I learned that a waiter's suggestion was VERY worth taking ... and soliciting. I learned that 15% was expected and 20% was a compliment and 25% ensured I'd be remembered. I learned that the bill would NEVER arrive until I asked "l'addition, s'il vous plaît." I learned that the waiter would never ask me about "EVERYTHING" but would always express his wish that I had a pleasant meal, trusting that I could speak for myself.

Even more, I learned that there were neighborhood restaurants owned and operated by couples who'd worked in restaurants all their lives and were working hard to make their own restaurant a success in a city with over 2,500 restaurants ... half of which failed each year or so.

I spent most of my career in the "belly of the (corporate) beast" ... in management systems, internal audit, operational analysis, and technical support roles. I NEVER saw a business as competitive and well-run as a restaurant in Paris. Never.


It was when I was first returning from a weekend trip -- a weekend sojourn somewhere else in France or Belgium -- driving back late at night (early in the morning) -- that I discovered how Paris was fed. Trucks. Produce and other foods being trucked into Paris every late night from the surrounding regions. I learned NOT to get in their way ... as they rolled on at about 120kmph. The French - and the Parisians - are obsessed with fresh produce and good food. It's a well-oiled machine. They might not be the world's first in some things ... but in EATING, they're beyond reach of anything I've seen in the states. Ever.

I tip. I'd be an idiot not to.