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'Other diner' blogs are hilarious reads
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When it comes to venue, I am an equal opportunity lover of food, fun and entertainment. I generally don't care whether I'm sitting at my house, a friend's house, a dive bar or a fancy restaurant, as long as I have great company, some snacks, and a glass of wine. Or something along those lines.
But I have to admit, as much as I really do love hanging out at home, eating and drinking at a restaurant is extra great...and extra fascinating. It's all the other people - I love watching them (and, occasionally, when I can't help it, eavesdropping). I try to chalk it up to "research" and my endlessly inquisitive nature, but in reality, that's just a euphemism for "nosy."
As terrible a habit as it is, I'm sure I'm not alone. Fortunately for the nosy contingent, a whole genre of blogs and books has emerged around the "other diner" phenomenon. They're sort of anthropological studies of the people you see in restaurants, and they're both hilarious and fascinating.
The most famous example of this is probably Waiter Rant, the famous, Kitchen Confidential-ish memoir written by blogging waiter Steve Dublanica. It's super funny, except in that it made me feel pretty sorry for waiters (and super conscious of my own restaurant behavior). A few months back, I reviewed the book here.
My new favorite read along these lines is the Served blog on Serious Eats, written by waitress/blogger Hannah Howard. Last week, Howard delivered a funny, but I'm sure more than true, typology of typical restaurant patrons. I'm hoping that I am, in Howard's terms, a "professional" but I have a feeling I'm a lot more like a "newbie-excited." Because I'm pretty sure I don't exhibit any sort of detached professionalism when I sit down at a new restaurant. And I have been known to let slip a nervous giggle or two when I see something really awesome on a menu. In fact, when I went to Woodberry Kitchen, I think I might have laughed like a crazy person for the whole meal.
Either way, both the blog and the book are a great read and I hope, for the servers' sakes, that they helped at least one nasty diner clean up his or her act.
But if not, at least we can all mock those nasty diners behind their backs, right?
(Also, I'm being dramatic. I swear, if you happen to be at the table next to mine in a restaurant, I will mostly be concentrating on my own meal and friends. Unless you're really, really, really interesting.)
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