Perhaps it is the unrelenting heat and humidity here in the northeast but it is pet peeve time here at Executive Nomad: it’s time for bar waiters to learn their wine lists.
Last week, I met colleagues at Woodward, the bar at the new Ames Hotel in Boston. The setting was lovely. We sat in the quiet second floor bar in comfortable club chairs overlooking the old State House. When the waiter came over to take our order one in our party asked if he was pouring a Sauvignon Blanc. He said he’d get the wine list and promptly turned on his heel and left.
I thought that perhaps this toney new establishment had a plethora of wines by the glass. What fun we’d have debating between Sauv Blancs from around the world. There might be a new wine to try.
He returned with the list and they were indeed pouring Sauvignon Blanc. One. Uno. Un. Adeen. A Kim Crawford — a perfectly fine if not particularly original by-the-glass offering that should not be hard to remember. There were, I believe, a total of twelve wines by the glass: six white and six red running between $9 – $12 a glass.
I find it increasingly common to have a wine list thrust my way when I ask for something “crisp and white” or “red and full-bodied.” It should be part of basic training — especially in a bar in a hotel that aspires to sophistication but also in any establishment beyond a corner pub — to have waiters understand what is available such that they are able to make a recommendation to a customer. Crisp and white? They had the Sauv Blanc, a Gruner Veltliner, and a Pinot Gris. The GV was quite lovely. by the by.
The Ames is a Morgans Group hotel so it is not as if they are strangers to the business. They should, however, learn to be a little less impressed with themselves and their decor and pay more attention the most fundamental ingredient in good hospitality: informed and attentive service.
From now on, I’m going to begin demanding tastes if the waiter can’t describe any given selection. If mangement can’t educate the staff, I’ll just have to do it for them.
