Post #80031 by floratina on Tue, Mar 9, 2004 1:54 AM

TWT, I agree with you about the staff at TVBH. If you sense a disconnect between their "high-end" image and the real interpersonal comfort level of their service, you are on to something, I think. We have a right to expect more from an establishment that commands such high prices.

In fact, if an establishment demands an exorbitant cost for what they provide, they had better be way better than the average bear, no? I submit that the Tiki Ti is, dollar for dollar, at least as "classy" an establishment that Trader Vic's Beverly Hills. They charge the same price for their drinks, but measured in terms of their instituitional ability to make their guests feel at home, I want to give Tiki Ti the edge.

I remember something I read years ago, I don't even remember where, but I tried to take it to heart. Class was defined as...drinking from the fingerbowl. Granted, this is an anachonism as we don't use fingerbowls too much these days.

Let's say we were fancy and hoity toity and had a dinner party (and lived in a Jane Austen novel) and we had a guest that wasn't as sophisticated as some of the others in the group. Here is this bowl of water used to clean our fingertips (after devouring some baby-back ribs) and there was an invitee present who wasn't hip to the etiquette and thought the bowl was there to quench their thirst.

As the greener guest slurps away, the others who are so much smoother (right) giggle. As a host, you could shut the others up by drinking from YOUR bowl, thus reminding the others that well, it's all B.S. I think that the Tiki Ti is much more likely to insure the comfort of their guests by "drinking from the fingerbowl". TV's staff is more likely to regard a clueless guest with awkward silence - not because they are mean, but because it seems to me that they are so formal that is just how they'd respond.

At Trader Vic's the staff is unbelievably solicitous. I ate there recently with HumuHumu, Chris Tiki295 and Arunas. They hovered over us, one could feel genuinely spoiled - but the "realness" quotient is severely lacking. I have given up trying to relate to any of the staff there on a humor level. I just end up feeling embarrassed as they look at me like an alien. Granted, I AM an alien, but in my experience it is not typically that damn difficult to get people to respond in a "real" manner. You'd think these people were working in the Fox HR department! They are ridiculously businesslike. They need to loosen up!

I also remember how they handled the 100th anniversary of Vic. A few days before the event I approached the manager of the BH Vic's, with the same agreement regarding Mai Tai's and appetizers arrived at by TC members in SF with their Vic's. I also printed the related TC posts, so the BH manager could read them lest there be any confusion) I also sent him an e-mail confirming the agreed-upon price structure for the evening.

In spite of all of that preparation, there was practically a check-for-check fight with them. It was as if I had never met the manager. There was even a server who didn't appear to be a waitress, but was there to help with the overflow (I hope it wasn't your friend) with whom I clarified the "deal" before we ordered. Even though she nodded in agreement, she still proceeded to charge us full price for the appetizers! It was as if she wasn't even listening to me before we ordered! I had to again approach the "manager" I had been dealing with to get the $ sentence plead down. Not a pleasant night.

SOOOO...

Well, Trader Vic's is a nice establishment, to be sure, especially if you decide to go into the restaurant proper for a meal. The attention to the guest is there to an overwhelming degree, but the heart is missing. Who doesn't love a glamourous evening out? It is tough to replicate that TV's pampering at home, but there is an off-putting pretention at our LA branch in my opinion that leaves me cold and they have NO TIKIS. I think the money is better spent on a home luau along with some drinks at the Tiki Ti.

blah blah blah.

[ Edited by: floratina on 2004-03-10 20:48 ]