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| - You may have heard this story already, but here it is from my perspective.
I say one star, but it was actually five stars. I went with a large group and the service was impeccable. It started from when our server, Daniel, proclaimed that corkage would be waived with the purchase of one bottle, only to charge us anyway. It was an honest mistake he quickly rectified by bringing the birthday girl a slice of cake before then leading us in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. And my, what glorious cake it was!
We were ready to forgive; the corkage remained, however. The guilt Daniel felt was evident as he quickly brought his manager, Paul, over to calm the situation. Paul was a fine man who appeased us by listening to our complaints with great patience. He nodded, shook his head, and even adopted a quizzical look once or twice, before telling us 'no' and slinking away. There was literally nothing he could do. I mean, what could he POSSIBLY have done? His honesty was refreshing and it showed him to be a gentleman of the highest order.
Being the deviants we were, a discussion ensued within the group to withhold the mandatory 20% gratuity that had been added to our check. Paul, with his refined sense of intuition, immediately marched back, grabbed our check, and sacrificed his own moral core by waiving the corkage. It was a grand gesture that was wholly unnecessary -- it made me feel very warm and mushy inside. For a brief moment, I considered clapping him on the back, telling him what a fine chap he was, and purchasing another bottle of Rose from him to uncork for us. Truly, I did not want the moment to end.
By then, we realized we had acted out of line, made a conscientious effort to get ourselves together, and paid. It was then discovered that, because they feared they would lose our tip, (without a word to us) Daniel and Paul had devised a lovely plot to pre-charge the entire amount of the tip to one of our credit cards to save us the trouble of having to approve it ourselves. This was quite considerate of them as it wasn't something I had ever experienced at any other fine establishment I have ever dined at.
All in all, it was a wonderful start to the evening. Thank you, Barrymore. You outdid yourselves. I will tell all my friends about my experience and will definitely be back. A++!!
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