oh, my goodness! my suffering from not being able to eat at a restaurant ended today after eight long months. and had i known i'd be taking a selfie, i'd have worn one of my pretty summer dresses.
i thought that i could go to my hairdresser but to my chagrin, they're not open as they're not part of the opening programs yet. my sister and i went to walk around the danforth today. too many people, less seats for diners, but we got lucky with this one greek restaurant that had a large patio and there were a few tables available. what could've easily sat a hundred they made do with just half that number. i could get used to that. my sister said she missed the noise that accompanies restaurant dining, but i didn't. i always liked a relaxed and quiet dining experience, which of course you can only get in a fine dining restaurant. but today, i'm just happy i could take a long walk, then sit down and be served the meal i want and not worry about the cooking and washing.
i think the restaurant people were a bit flustered with all the excitement of people coming in to dine. when they sat us, they didn't give us the menu until we asked for it and the server was even surprised we didn't have it. they gave me bread and i had to ask for butter. my sister and i made a game of untipping the tip jar where i would pretend i would take out a dollar out of the set tip i had in mind. the poor servers wouldn't have had a tip. in the end though, i know how serving is hard work so a twenty percent was not even enough but twenty percent got added to the bill. my sister said, 'they're lucky you're paying.' 🤣
Sounds like they are out of practice! Glad for you that you are getting out and about. I am not very confident to go where people are yet, but I think I am not alone in that.
You look good! And it must have been very nice to be out and about! Poor staff, though - they just have to get use to serving customers again, I suppose!
I'm still in Muscat! And when I travel in July and I will not forget my photo-bag :) We will come back to Muscat and stay here for another (school-) year.
@adi314 - when i went to school for a re-training, i chose hospitality management. we had an actual course on fine dining serving as the school has its own restaurant. people would come not only for the experience of great food, which varied everyday but also for 80% less of what they would actually pay in a normal restaurant, and also helping out the students in learning how to serve properly. i've always been a good tipper but doing the actual work made me have more sympathy for servers and other restaurant staff, no matter if it's fine dining or fast food. here, in canada i found it's not normal to be tipping even the kitchen staff but when i enjoy my dining experience, i fork out the money to let everyone know i was happy with their work. in restaurants i normally frequent, the staff would always remember me and i get some freebies (like dessert or appetizer) and the best seat in the house. sometimes i ask the server if he or she gets to keep all tips; if the restaurant's practice is to divvy up all tips, i give extra to the server in cash and very discreetly and put in at least 20 percent on the bill. thanks, mate.
i miss the Danforth! there's some durned fined dining there!
it would be great if we could meet up now that things are opening up a bit... i'm planning to be away Canada day and that weekend... but maybe next weekend... or the weekend of July 10th?
I'm glad to see you're able to get out and about and especially to enjoy a meal that someone else cooks, serves, and cleans up! I think your attire looks fine too!
@northy - let's do july 10th. apparently, i have a picnic to attend to that although i'm not happy about it, i'm told a couple of artists are going to do plein air painting and i have to join.
You are nice to your servers :)
I'm still in Muscat! And when I travel in July and I will not forget my photo-bag :) We will come back to Muscat and stay here for another (school-) year.
it would be great if we could meet up now that things are opening up a bit... i'm planning to be away Canada day and that weekend... but maybe next weekend... or the weekend of July 10th?