Hello Lambs. I'm happy to report that one day after entering my comments on The Melting Pot's website, I received a call from the owner of the restaurant we attended. She was very apologetic about the hard sell regarding St. Jude's and went as far to ask me who our server was so she could tell them to "tone it down." Kathy (the owner) said that she and her staff had a meeting that afternoon regarding the corporation's support of St. Jude's and that the meeting (and video) was very emotional and uplifting. Kathy's feelings were that some of the servers may have gotten "caught up in" the idea of helping the children which resulted in Heather's inappropriate hard sell.
I was very pleased with Kathy's attitude regarding my comments and she did hope that I would change my mind about returning to her place of business. She added that she did make a percentage donation from each customer's check to St. Jude's and she again assured me that we (and other customers) would never again be made to feel uncomfortable. Kudos to Kathy for a quick response. If I go to The Melting Pot again, it will be with my gal pals. No way in hell is John stepping foot back in that place.
On to my next soap box (with thanks to ET)....WTF is up with the Donation Nazi's outside of ACME? For chrissakes....all I want to do is shop for my groceries in peace. Every fricking week it's something. The whiny-ass girl scouts, the boy scouts, the soccer team, the lacrosse team, the make a wish foundation, adopt-a-highway, support an illegal immigrant...the list goes on and on. Getting back to the Girls Scouts for a moment. Do you not harass me enough with those goddamn cookies at home, at work and over the internet? Now you set up shop outside the exit doors at my local grocery store and bombard me with Thin Mints as I'm walking out. Have you looked at my ass lately you little bitches? The last fucking thing I need is a Samoa. That is some serious bullshit. What happened to the once a year door to door selling of cookies? And don't give me that pedophile crap. Don't you get self-defense classes in the girl scouts? Isn't there a badge for that? "The Child Molester Smackdown" badge? Give me a break. I'm tired of running out of the store screaming, "No hablo engles!" Of course, for those who are sporting the Bi-lingual Badge, I'm totally screwed.
Great, now my bowels are in an uproar and the vein is sticking out on my forehead. Thanks Erin. Really appreciate that.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Melting Pot
No, not the good ole US of A, but rather the restaraunt. John and I went there Saturday night with our friends Brian and Ann. Ann and I had been talking about trying something new for awhile and finally got our schedules to coordinate. Now, as we're both married to men who like their brontusourus steaks delivered with a huge side of mashed potatoes, we kept the cook your own food in a boiling pot of broth thing a secret until we sat down at our table. At which time things began to fall apart.
Clearly John and Bri were none too happy with the thought of having to cook their food in a fondue pot. They became downright testy while trying to decipher the menu. Which, I have to say, is a pain in the ass. We're not slow people, but it did take two servers to expain it to us to a point where we were somewhat sure of what we were ordering.
Basically, you order an appetizer which is some form of cheese fondue and it is served with bread pieces, apples and veggies. Then you have a salad (which you eat with a normal fork and not the long skewer thingy you stick in the fondue pot), then comes your main course of numerous types of cut up meats, fishes, and pastas. This is served with many different dipping sauces. Finally, dessert is a fondue of chocolate with fruit, brownie and cheesecake dippers.
We started our entree and soon discovered that we'd be at The Melting Pot all night if we didn't make some adjustments to our cooking process. Sticking one piece of filet mignon on a skewer into the fondue was not going to feed us anytime soon. Brian and John were getting a bit ansy, so we soon were dumping in large portions of beef, poek, chicken and shrimp to cook together while we ate a couple of raviolis. Once we got the hang of it, it was fun and very interactive with lots of passing of sauces and sticking fondue forks into each other's pots.
Dessert was a big hit with Brian, as he quite enjoyed the chocolate fondue. However, things spiraled downhill rather quickly when our server, Heather, popped over to check on us. Heather sat down at our table and launched into a 3 minute hard sell about donating to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. While we were eating. Now, we are all in agreement that St. Jude's is an outstanding organization that does truly wonderful work. But to have a server ask for a $50 donation during our night out was entirely inappropriate. I understand that she was instructed by her supervisors to do this, who in turn were instructed by the owners of the restaurant (which is a large chain, BTW), but we were appalled by the request. I wouldn't have any problem with a card attached to our bill which mentioned they collect for St. Judes, but this was ridiculous. Especially considering that our dinner bill was 300 dollars! How about taking a percentage of our bill and donating it yourself, Melting Pot? I mean, WTF?
Lucky for me, a comment card was left on our table. I was able to enter my comments on line. I gave our server high marks as she was very attentive and the food recieved high marks as well. But I made it absolutely clear that the request for donations was uncouth, inappropriate and in very poor taste. I also said that we would not be returning to their establishment and that they should seriously reconsider the way they request donations. All we wanted was a fun night out so we could forget about all the ills in this world and to be accosted in such a way left a bad taste in out mouths.
And just for the record, John and I have certain charities that we hold very dear and we give to quite generously. The same for Brian and Ann. Had The Melting Pot put a box, jar, container of some sort in their reception area, all of us would have been happy to slip a few bucks in. Instead, they get nothing.
Clearly John and Bri were none too happy with the thought of having to cook their food in a fondue pot. They became downright testy while trying to decipher the menu. Which, I have to say, is a pain in the ass. We're not slow people, but it did take two servers to expain it to us to a point where we were somewhat sure of what we were ordering.
Basically, you order an appetizer which is some form of cheese fondue and it is served with bread pieces, apples and veggies. Then you have a salad (which you eat with a normal fork and not the long skewer thingy you stick in the fondue pot), then comes your main course of numerous types of cut up meats, fishes, and pastas. This is served with many different dipping sauces. Finally, dessert is a fondue of chocolate with fruit, brownie and cheesecake dippers.
We started our entree and soon discovered that we'd be at The Melting Pot all night if we didn't make some adjustments to our cooking process. Sticking one piece of filet mignon on a skewer into the fondue was not going to feed us anytime soon. Brian and John were getting a bit ansy, so we soon were dumping in large portions of beef, poek, chicken and shrimp to cook together while we ate a couple of raviolis. Once we got the hang of it, it was fun and very interactive with lots of passing of sauces and sticking fondue forks into each other's pots.
Dessert was a big hit with Brian, as he quite enjoyed the chocolate fondue. However, things spiraled downhill rather quickly when our server, Heather, popped over to check on us. Heather sat down at our table and launched into a 3 minute hard sell about donating to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. While we were eating. Now, we are all in agreement that St. Jude's is an outstanding organization that does truly wonderful work. But to have a server ask for a $50 donation during our night out was entirely inappropriate. I understand that she was instructed by her supervisors to do this, who in turn were instructed by the owners of the restaurant (which is a large chain, BTW), but we were appalled by the request. I wouldn't have any problem with a card attached to our bill which mentioned they collect for St. Judes, but this was ridiculous. Especially considering that our dinner bill was 300 dollars! How about taking a percentage of our bill and donating it yourself, Melting Pot? I mean, WTF?
Lucky for me, a comment card was left on our table. I was able to enter my comments on line. I gave our server high marks as she was very attentive and the food recieved high marks as well. But I made it absolutely clear that the request for donations was uncouth, inappropriate and in very poor taste. I also said that we would not be returning to their establishment and that they should seriously reconsider the way they request donations. All we wanted was a fun night out so we could forget about all the ills in this world and to be accosted in such a way left a bad taste in out mouths.
And just for the record, John and I have certain charities that we hold very dear and we give to quite generously. The same for Brian and Ann. Had The Melting Pot put a box, jar, container of some sort in their reception area, all of us would have been happy to slip a few bucks in. Instead, they get nothing.
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