“This is Rasika, who were you holding for…”
“Hi, my name is Anna– I had reservations for this Saturday which I was just discussing with–“
“Ah yes, for 10:30 pm.”
“Well, I was told that it would be closer to ten and that we could do drinks in the lounge for an hour before.”
“A group of ten? You may try, but I don’t think that will be possible–”
“But the hostess just suggested that very course of action, since the lounge empties around then–“
“I can’t hold any tables in the lounge for your party.”
“I didn’t ask you to, I’m sure we’ll be fine there, at that hour.”
“No, I don’t think so, I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“It’s a Saturday evening, it will be very busy, very full.”
“Okay…FINE. I guess we’ll try our luck and just look forward to dinner, which again, I thought was at ten.”
“Madame, I will have to push two tables together. It will take time. I cannot seat you until 10:30, I have to use two tables.”
“Oh…well, would it help if it was just a party of eight? Some of my RSVPs weren’t firm…”
“Is it a party of ten or a party of eight?”“Well if it’s so difficult to do ten, I’m willing to make it eight.”
“I will still have to use two tables and that will take some time to set up. 10:30pm.”
“Oh–“
“I will also need to insist that you adhere to a pre-set menu.”
“Oh…you want us to…do something…family-style? That’s fine, it’s nice of you to accommodate us.”
“No, not family style– a pre-set menu. So the chef knows what to expect, since you ARE such a large party and you’re coming so late. I will fax you–“
“I’m familiar with your entire menu, that won’t be necessary.”
“I will also need your credit card, standard practice for a party of ten or more.”
“It’s a party of eight.”
“I still need your credit card to secure this reservation.”
“I have to tell you– I’m a bit surprised; I had my birthday at Rasika, my sister’s birthday there and at least two other dinner parties…I’ve never been asked for my CREDIT CARD, not even when I initially made this reservation with your hostess.”
“Very well, but I will not hold your table then–it is only a tentative reservation, if someone else–“
“I also want to be straightforward and let you know that since we seem to be so difficult to accommodate, I quite understandably will be looking at other options, which is the OTHER reason I don’t feel comfortable giving you my credit card.”
“Very well.”
“Good-bye.”
:+:
“Hi, Zaytinya…”
“Hello, I realize this is very short notice, but I was wondering if you could accommodate a large party for dinner on Saturday?”
“How many?”
“Around 8-10…”
“We do take parties of that number, yes, but unfortunately, we are no longer accepting reservations for that night. You are welcome to try and walk-in and if we can, we’ll seat you.”
“Do people actually do that? Roll in with ten people and then nail a table?”
“Mmmm…sometimes. If they’re lucky.”
“Thanks for all the information, but I think I need something confirmed. I appreciate your help.”
“I understand. Have a good day!”
:+:
“Heritage India, how may I help you?”
“Hi, I’d like to make reservations for Saturday?”
“Of course! For how many?”
“Ten.”
“Excellent, what time?”
“Uh…8pm?”
“Very good–“
“Sorry, is the private dining room free on that night?”
“Let me…ah, yes. Yes it is. Shall we reserve that for you?”
“YES! How many can it accommodate?”
“Up to 14, madam.”
“FANTASTIC. Is there a minimum we need to guarantee if we want that room?”
“Minimum…? No…not at all. Has someone asked you for such a thing?”
“Yes, they have. They asked me to guarantee $2,000 for their semi-private room and they were rather unreasonable about everything else, too, which is why I’m calling you. I’m just sorry I didn’t call you first.”
“Oh my, well I’m happy you have called. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.”
“If I need to increase the number of the reservation–“
“No problem! No problem at all. We will take care of you.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Thank YOU, Madam!”
:+:
Heritage India Brasserie
1337 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 331-1114
8pm.
The dining room is behind the giant Buddha pictured above. And yes, CoffeeFace– you plus your “one” can be our final two, to make our party exactly 14. 🙂
Hey ANNA and mutinous sepias, thank you for the invite:) I am sorry Rasika was mean, maybe they should gft, though their palak chaat is yummy/amazing. I doubt my infulence would have helped. I agree with the desi-on-desi rudeness sometimes. Any words of advice from American Desis who have gone to India on business? How is the treatment/etc? I like many, have only been on the frequent fam visits.
Ha! That’s EXACTLY what I think of every time I hear a white person speaking Hindi. I know, I know – not a fair association – and I don’t actually think they’re colonialists or anything like that, but it’s sort of pavlovian at this point and I can’t get that goofy image out of my mind!
Shruti, It’s okay because out of all of the dialog in the movie it was Cpt. Russell’s Hindi that I found the easiest to understand! 🙂
But your point about colonialists is well taken, and I will henceforth pledge to not wear my pith helmet when I go dine at the local dhaba.
You will get royal treatment as long as you are willing shell out lots of bucks (compared to those that don’t have accents).
This is probably because I’m very tired and jealous of Manish’s literary exploits, but for FUCK’S SAKE, Manju, not EVERYTHING is rational!
Hmm, feel better now. Off for a bubblebath 🙂 Have a fun dinner…
Bah forget Rasika; judging by your encounter, we probably wouldn’t have had fun there anyway..
I yam sooo yexcited!
tamasha
I think you misunderstood my “practice peculiar to us”. I meant that I think we desis are the only people who use the word ‘deity’ to mean something different from what it normally means.
Looks like we might have jumped to the conclusion that there was desi-on-desi discrimination here (as is often the case). Was there, ANNA? Or are they equal opportunity jerks? I don’t suppose you have a discernible accent or anything. How would they know?
If you go here you can hear Anna being interviewed on NPR’s ‘The World’. I don’t really detect a traceably distinct accent here but that’s not to say that she couldn’t have affected one for the phone call. I don’t mean ‘affected’ in a bad way, just that my mom’s from Germany and you can vaguely tell when she speaks that she’s “not from around here”. When she does speak German, she still sounds close to native.
My feeling is that we have roots in a country where families of four ride on scooters designed for one and where 7 people ride two seat auto rickshaws. I’m guessing that we have the genetic capacity to fit 15 peeps at a 14 seat table. Come on down Jay!
Deepa, you should come as well. I don’t want to step on the toes of our gracious hostess, but I say the more, the merrier.
Not at all, Deepa, you are welcome to come– since you apparently missed the first two announcements for this meetup you might not know that one thing which differentiates this event from those we’ve held in the past is that we’ll be in desi formal wear. Air out that sari, you’ll need it tomorrow. 🙂
We just had our first cancellation (don’t worry MJ– we aren’t worth the FOUR HOUR drive anyway, seriously). So Jay, Deepa…come on down. 🙂
Nice interview. So there probably was no desi angle to the Rasika incident. That’s a terrible way to treat any guest, though.
I’ve been turning this around in my head since it happened and while that could be true, I can’t help but wonder if “Anna John” immediately identified me as a Malayalee to the desi Maitre d’.
p.s. Thanks! 🙂
ANNA: Thanks for the cancellation notice!
Sriram: You’re right. Cramming is a way of life. Like excess luggage filled with mango chutney and/or chevda and wrapped with extra strength cello-tape, I’m there!
…in a sari, too??? 😀
perhaps.
My name is quite like yours. I haven’t had any interesting incidents at restaurants because of this, though. I was selected for a special security check at Frankfurt as I was boarding to LAX. The dude there said it was on account of my name. I asked, “What’s special about my name?”. His random explanation was, “Well, you have two American names. If a terrorist wanted to blend in with Americans, this is exactly the kind of name he’d choose”. Hahaha 😀
I worked with a guy for a while who’s name was Jose John. He would deal with clients and developers in other offices, and they’d always ask to meet /Ho-zay/ when they came to the office.
“No no, you want to meet /Joesz/!”
Hozay, can you see… Thanks for the NPR link, Maurice.
ANNA,
If you had the slightest spine you’d show up on another day at those places that turned you down, cause a scene, yell about finding a baby rats in your salad (loud enough for every patron to here), and call in the health inspector. Weak, Anna, WEAK! You need to show some vindictive spirit or else no one’s going to learn their lesson.
Maurice Reeves, I don’t really detect a traceably distinct accent here but that’s not to say that she couldn’t have affected one for the phone call. I don’t mean ‘affected’ in a bad way
Quite right, because affected is not a verb. In its second meaning, “speaking in an artificial way”, the word is still an adjective. You probably meant she couldn’t have put on an affected one for the phone call. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t; I yawn at the thought of either.
P.S. Maureen, no I’m not picking on you. Anna, yes, I am picking on you. Go trash those restaurants!
Maureen,
Nevermind, my linguistically superior roommate proves me wrong; affected is also a verb. You got away this time. Don’t let it happen again!
I don’t mean to prolong this discussion since things seemed to have worked out well in the end and I think Heritage is the kind of place that you can do this sort of thing, but it isn’t just whether you want to squeeze someone else in, it is also whether the restaurant is cool with that. Heck, I don’t mean to desi-hate, but this is probably exactly the kind of thing that ends up with restaurants treating desis poorly. To be clear, I think a restaurant should be willing to accommodate a couple of extra people here and there, and should certainly try, but I wouldn’t just assume. I guess I’m just not a fan of the desi “don’t vorry, we will ajjust” attitude when it also causes third parties to “ajjust.”
Anyway, have fun all — I’m sorry to miss the gathering.
DTK: Point-taken, but I think the goal of accomodating 1 or 2 more won’t constitute a population increase for the sake of the restaurant. And as a former waiter many times over, I don’t actually see the connection between our “habits” and the resulting “treatment.” Folks who overcrowd at restaurants come from every race and background. As Dave Barry would write, a ‘universal equalizer – like boogers.’
Besides, I really want to go. 🙂
Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be a problem, but this event is in a private dining room, so there may not be space to expand, meaning “extra” guests would be seated outside in the restaurant, which defeats the purpose of a meetup. It might end up being like musical chairs.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to single out anyone in particular, and it sounds like there will be room because of cancellations. I was just addressing what I see more often in the desi community than outside it (though I certainly agree that this sort of thing comes from people of all backgrounds, and nevertheless does not justify poor treatment by the restaurant staff), which is a general sense that people will “adjust” and everything will be fine. Having recently spent a year or so living in India, this attitude drove me up the wall and so is one of my pet peeves. Everything from just letting kids run around the restaurant and take things off other customers’ tables to showing up at a restaurant with 8 people for a reservation for 4. As I said, I think restaurants should try to accommodate all customers, but customers shouldn’t have the attitude that they can do whatever they want in the name of “the customer is always right.”
To reiterate, though, I do agree that you see this sort of thing from all sorts of people, not just desis. When I read washingtonpost.com’s restaurant chats, I find that 2/3 or so of the complaints about poor service at a restaurant are really examples of whiny customers who think the world revolves around them.
Cannot wait….cannot wait….absolutely cannot wait. Hehe.
I thought you had it right the first time, DTK. No matter who is doing it, it’s a question of not being selfish or inconsiderate. In this case, if people RSVP’d properly in the first place vs. on the day of (and on a completely outdated thread, no less), I’m sure everyone would have been accommodated without unduly stressing out the hostess.
SM Intern: You’re right. Private dining area.
DTK: No need to explain, you’re correct. I was trying to be tongue in cheek, and as is often the case when I try, I fail. In group dining situations and in Life, there’s always the desire to be reasonably accomodated, and the obligation not to become an unruly jackass.
Eofia: Yes, had I RSVP’d when this was originally posted, there wouldn’t be any complications. But I didn’t see this until last night, and well, that’s my fault alone. That I was accomodated via cancellations, I’m grateful.
So, with that, proper etiquette has been queried, discussed and noted. Let’s move on.
Considering the potential for flake-hood, I’m starting to think that everyone who has expressed interest should come. If we don’t have space, someone can have my seat– I tend to be up and running around anyway. 😉
oops…as a longtime lurker i had wanted to attend the DC meetup with a friend, and emerge from (self-imposed) purdah. we RSVPed on the earlier post (brunch at rasika), but i guess we missed the boat. maybe next time. have fun y’all.
I love Rasika and they are usually extremely busy on weekends. I would think they were trying to be accommodating and avoid a long wait for Anna’s party.
Hey ANNA that wa possibly the best meet up ever!!!! thank you to the hosterst-with-the-mostest (bling)
HARK! The Album from last night is already up on Flickr! 😀
KD- I concur. What a FABULOUS night!
i went to rasika for thanksgiving with my cousins and their 11-year old son. my cousin, always a sourpuss and a pragmatist to a flaw, was most unhappy with my selection. some highlights:
“oh … uh … this is the entire menu? this is it?”
“why is there so much silverware? why not just give a fork and knife and be done with it?”
“oh … hm … let’s not order too much … every dish is very expensive.”
interjection by 11 year old: “i hate this place!! the decoration is ugly and there are like 2 choices on the entire menu!!! everything is $10 more than new jersey!”
back to cousin: “what?? all this silverware to eat tiny dishes?”
me: slowly dying the whole time, trying to figure out how to justify my “posh” selection (which i thoroughly enjoyed for its appreciation of ettiquette and modern decor) when … is there really any justification for anything besides digging in with your hands and having a messy, delicious, loud ol’ time? sigh.
ANNA Auntie (I kid),
Thank you for a fabulous evening.
Vunderful even-ing. Thanks for hosting ANNA!
That was an operation super-dinner last night. Thanks to ANNA, I met some wonderful people. May the tribe have a long life. 🙂
my pics are also up…
Looks like everyone had a great time. The saris looked great! I guess the LA people are a bit more lax in pic posting….or Abhi hasn’t recovered.
I went to their website (http://www.rasikarestaurant.com/rasika.html) and pointed them out to this post. This is the response i got :
We hope that you understand our view point
everyone looks gorgeous! great photos!
When I took this picture, I told the ladies we should move because of the flash reflecting in the mirror. However, looking at it now it seems quite appropriate b/c it looks as though our gracious hostess was sporting a halo for the evening.
Sigh….I don’t know what I miss more this monday afternoon…the fun we had or the absolutely delicious out of this world ‘maa ki daal’!
Upon review of the photos, I realize I need to shave. And cut down on the drinking…
Cheers to all and see everyone at the next one.
Everybody looks really nice in their desi outfits in those photos. Very glamorous stuff.
I won’t comment on the pic where Kenyandesi appears to be nibbling on Anna’s ear ahem.
what can I say? I just can’t turn down a girl who loos THAT good, AND makes googly-eyes at me all night
…who looks…
😛
Next time you have to make the guys wear saris too. And then take photos.