Book Review: Service Included

I just completed reading “Service Included, Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter” by Phoebe Damrosch.  The book captures Damrosch’s life as a waiter in one of America’s most acclaimed fine dining restaurants.  Through her obsession with food and her determination to work for the very best, Phoebe Damrosch most recently held a Captain position for Thomas Keller’s New York, four-star restaurant, Per Se.  Today she no longer waits tables but shares her life through the experiences and stories she details in her book.

“Service Included” reveals what it takes to make it to the very top.  This is a sneak peek of behind-the-scenes of Per se.  It’s a perfect book for foodies.  After reading this book you will soon realize why Thomas Keller is one of America’s top chefs.

Service Tips

Within this highly competitive restaurant industry, Per Se has raised the bar to a new level of service.  Chef Thomas Keller understands it takes both great food and great service to make a restaurant the very best.  Since the opening of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, I have made it a mission to try his spectacular creations. I have yet to dine at either his restaurants.  “Service Included” brings imagination allowing you to feel the experience.

Service Included is exciting and hilarious. Damrosch includes tips to any diner that will make you want to think twice before ordering or requesting favors.  Calling all waiters, this is a book that you can all relate. Some of the following dining tips by Damrosch include:

• “Do you know who I am?” is a very attractive question.
• We are happy to split your check, but it helps when you tell us up front. You’d be surprised at how complicated it can be to make changes on some computers.
• Try to consolidate your requests.
• Larger glasses appear less full than smaller glasses. This does not mean you are getting less wine.
• Please don’t involve us in your monetary disputes. Do not shove cash in our pockets or aprons, or wrench credit cards from our hands.
• Don’t hold your waiter responsible if someone else beat you to paying for dinner.
• Most white wine should be served at about 55 degrees and red wine at 67 degrees. We are happy to further chill a white or decant the red to bring up the temperature, but please do not ask us to microwave your wine.
• In more formal restaurants, let someone know when you are getting up to smoke or to make a phone call. Even better, let them know one course ahead, so the chef doesn’t start you dish until you return.
• Don’t send something back after eating most of it.
• Please do not make faces of gagging noises when hearing the specials. Someone else at the table might like to order one of them.
• Please do not ask what we do. This implies that (a) we shouldn’t aspire to work in the restaurant business even if it makes us happy and financially stable, (b) that we have loads of time on our hands because ours is such an easy job, and (c) that we are not succeeding in another field.

If you never heard of Thomas Keller or haven’t yet had the opportunity to dine there, “Service Included” is a must read. Damrosch provides a little taste of what you can expect.

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