Restaurants and Institutions

Stu Stein

The Power of a Compliment
January 11, 2008

Last week I received a letter in the mail. Yes, real mail, not e-mail, text message or carrier pigeon.

There’s nothing that earth-shattering in receiving a letter, except that is from a customer and her husband who dined with us a few days before and who happen to live in our neighborhood.

Let me digress for a moment and say that I’ve been jaded and skeptical about the online restaurant-reviewing “media,” particular in my fair city of Portland. In general, they pull out their keyboards before connecting the synapses in their brains and generally have some pre-existing biases that tend to conflict with the true ethics of reviewing.

With that in mind, I opened this handwritten envelope with a bit of trepidation and cynicism. My mind was thinking, “Oh great, a complaint letter.” That in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’d hoped I had trained my staff to be proactive about customers’ wants and desires and that I would, at the least, have heard about a customer’s negative experience before it got to the letter-writing stage. Inside the envelope was a postcard depicting November from the Les Tres Riches Heures du Doc de Berry. The handwritten note—yes, in cursive handwriting—said this:

Dear Mr. Stein,

It was a treat, as always, to come into your calm and warm restaurant – a treat to myself after cooking for my son and two grandchildren for a week! Our waiter was especially gracious given the tiny plates I kept ordering. The swine [depicted in the postcard’s artwork] remind me of your fine game pâté (though I doubt there was wild boar in it). Thanks for providing such a wonderful oasis. We look forward to many more visits.

Happy new year –

Betty Barker

The fact that Betty went out of her way and took the time to write a positive note reminded me of why I wanted to open this particular restaurant at this particular time in this particular place. Even a cold-hearted cynic like me was touched by her gesture. It also both humbles and additionally reminds me that Betty will be there watching and will let us know when we do well and when we don’t. That short, little, 80-word message is worth more to me, and constantly motivates us to continually strive for perfection, than any online commentary or local restaurant reviewer’s overly written, self-serving diatribe ever could.

And the journey continues.

Cheers!

Stu

Posted by Stu Stein on January 11, 2008 | Comments (0)