With James Corden (temporarily) barred from Balthazar, we asked eateries which actions are prohibited
We've all heard horror stories about nightmarish clients in restaurants. If you haven't already read the news, famous talk show presenter James Corden is one of them. Corden was just barred from the prestigious New York restaurant Balthazar for what appears to be significant asshole behavior toward the workers. While the prohibition was not permanent, it made us ponder about a variety of undesirable eating practices.
Explanation of James Corden's expulsion from Balthazar
But what exactly did he do? McNally talked about his interactions with Corden. In one case, Corden allegedly discovered a hair in his dish and wanted an extra round of drinks to compensate, but also insisted that his previous round of beverages be compensated on top of that; McNally reports Corden stated, "Get us another round of drinks right second." And also look after all of our beverages thus far. This way, I don't have to submit any negative Yelp reviews or anything."
McNally claims that on a subsequent visit to Balthazar, Corden's wife requested an egg yolk omelet with gruyere and lettuce, but when it arrived, there was a touch of egg white mixed in with the yolks. Corden requested that the chef duplicate it, but when the fresh omelet arrived, it was served with home potatoes rather than a salad, which apparently irritated Corden.
"You are unable to perform your duties!" You are incapable of doing your duties! According to McNally's recollection, Corden reportedly told the server. "Perhaps I should walk into the kitchen and make my own omelette!" "The manager was able to smooth things over by forking over some promotional champagne glasses," McNally adds.
Apparently, that was enough for McNally, who slammed Corden on Instagram, calling him a "tiny Cretin of a man" and barring him from Balthazar.
But the next day, Corden personally reached out to McNally and was quickly forgiven for his transgressions. In an Instagram post, McNally summarized the unbanning:
James Corden called me right away and apologized profusely. I believe in second chances because I have messed up more than most people. So, if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I'll immediately lift Balthazar's ban. No way, no how. But....anyone who is gracious enough to apologize to a slacker like me (and my staff) does not deserve to be barred from anywhere. Balthazar in particular. So, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden, come back to the 5 & Dime. Everything has been forgiven. xx
When customers are unhappy, they might be really unhappy. Having worked in a restaurant myself, I've witnessed occasional misconduct, generally connected to drinking, but I've never seen a client act so inappropriately that they were barred from the establishment. What exactly does it take to be permanently barred from a restaurant? We interviewed restaurant owners and service sector workers about the dreaded lifelong ban.
If you treat the server badly, you are not welcome
Here in Chicago, Zoe Schor is the executive chef and owner of Split-Rail. She's also a Chopped champion and a Michelin-starred chef, and she's witnessed some less-than-ideal conduct at restaurants over the course of her career.
"I would simply say that the major reason I could ask a visitor to leave and not return is if they were being rude to any of our team members," Schor said via email to The Takeout. "For many years, consumers at many restaurants have treated team members terribly because of a very poisonous and retrograde notion that used to govern our industry—'The customer is always right.' We have a mutual respect expectation that works much better."
Mistreating the workforce does not usually take the form of yelling. Sometimes it's just a lack of care for the servers, or acting as if they're unimportant.
"If you're nasty or disrespectful, you won't be allowed to return to our locations!" Schor said.
Microaggressions will not be accepted
Chef and proprietor of Big Jones in Chicago's Andersonville area, Paul Fehribach, says he had to go so far as to legally prohibit some customers once. It happened when a table of six white diners became obnoxious.
"Then the older gentleman at the table addressed their African American waitress as 'boy,'" Fehribach recounted. "That went too far. They were ordered not to return."
The issue, according to Fehribach, is not simply the disdain inherent in that term of address, but all it represents historically and socially.
"Servers routinely deal with all kinds of microaggressions from guests," he added. "BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] are continually confronted with them in their everyday lives." You are not welcome in our house if you are going to abuse one of our family members."
Fehribach, on the other hand, stated that the staff strives to remain sensitive and pleasant. Flirtation is not tolerated, and neither is any other potentially harassing conduct. Big Jones, on the other hand, holds its customers to a higher level, according to Fehribach.
"We're a restaurant with a lot of detractors because we want people to behave like adults and as guests in our house," he said. "We do not recognize or accept microaggressions." Some individuals are offended by this. But they're free to fuck off."
Do we really need to warn you not to steal?
Derrick Tung is my former boss and the proprietor of two Chicago restaurants, Paulie Gee's Logan Square and Paulie Gee's Wicker Park. Tung admits that, while he hasn't officially banned anyone (yet), he wishes he had since stealing has been a huge issue. One specific occurrence was an unusual example of dining and dashing.
"A woman and her husband came in, ate a great lunch, and then left with a couple rolls of unopened toilet paper from our restaurant," he explained.
Then there was the day a customer came in with a group of his friends—I was working that day, and they were loud and strangely nice. We caught him on camera snatching an iPhone charging at the server station, but we only found out after he and his party had departed.
Sometimes it's even more sinister—Tung described one instance when a pair of diners arrived with a premeditated strategy.
"Two males walked in, one made a scene at a table, while the other distracted employees by asking where the restroom was and roamed around into private areas until staff asked him to leave," Tung explained. Despite the staff's best attempts, the "customers" stole items while the servers were preoccupied by the scenario.
"The person at the table took a pocketbook that was sitting [in the dining area] and they both departed," Tung explained. "We just found the purse, not the money."
Tung has more anecdotes of customers who deserved a lifelong ban, such as the one who coughed on him on purpose while the restaurant was going to close due to COVID-19. When requested to wear a mask at the takeout window, the person retaliated by body-shaming a staff. Tung was branded a "asshole owner" because the business was crowded and her pizza was late. He hopes he never has to deal with any of them again, if only for the sake of his employees.
Restaurant workers have to put up with a lot of crap, including racism, thievery, and verbal abuse (cough, Corden). I have a proposal if you go out to eat and the wait staff has to tell you to behave yourself: learn how to cook at home instead.
#RestaurantBan #JamesCorden #Balthazar
SOURCE: thetakeout
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