| Tetsuya's |
[Oct. 20th, 2011|12:20 am] |
So I know I haven't written here in ages, but well, I just graduated and it's a monumental part of my life, and I should journal it down. So besides a trip to New Caledonia, part of the festivities was a dinner at Tetsuya's, arguably the best restaurant in Sydney. And let me tell you, although I have never been to a fine diner restaurant of this calibre before, I would never in the entire world ever expect such exceptional service like tonight, to see a waiter go so above and beyond.
Our evening started when we were seated and the waiter, whose name we didn't get, came to first and foremost ask if we would like to have still, sparkling or tap water. Being stingy and asian as us, after a little deliberation, we decided on tap water. After the water was served, said waiter (let's name him John, for simplicities' sake) came back to ask us if we would like any alcohol. My sister, Maxine, said no, I proclaimed that I was driving, and my mum decided that since it was a mini grad celebration, settled on champagne. After the drinks order, I looked around to notice that EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, had at least a glass of wine. Oh well. By this time when John came back to us, I was pretty sure he was clearly detecting our stingyness and his friendliness seemed very trying, almost to a point of patronising.
He asked us if we were firstly celebrating anything, and I declared to him my graduation. With a few words of congratulations, he proceeded to notify us of the 9-coursed degustation menu of the evening and asked if we were fine with the menu. I hate lamb with all my might, so I told him that I didn't eat lamb, and he proposed an alternative meat such as beef, which I gladly agreed to.
By the 3rd or 4th course, the courses seemed to come in long intervals in between and our bread have ran out. I wanted to take advantage of the divine tuffle butter, so I turned to my mum and asked if we should ask for more bread. My mum obliged, and I told her to wait for one of the kitchen runners to serve the course to ask because I didn't think John was impressed with us as it was.
Somehow, we kept forgetting to ask the kitchen runners as they brought our food, so we relented and Mum asked John for more bread. After the bread came, John asked us if it was the butter that kept us wanting more, and we laughed as I made a joke about how nicely designed the bread was. In turn, John joked that with all the butter on our table, we could just stuff some into our bags. He told us that it would be easy to make it at home ourselves, and we commented that we were thinking of it, as we heard that we could get the truffle salsa range at David Jones. He then asked a bit about my graduation, and we had a pleasant conversation about my graduation and life in Sydney. I was beginning to erase my initial perception of any patronisation.
As the course of the lamb came, I was elated that the kitchen runner had put down a beef dish in front of me. Specially prepared Angus beef with mustard and wasabi. I was actually expecting them to merely replace the meats within the same dish, not to cook up something else entirely. It was so good and Mum and Maxine remarked that it was even better than the lamb.
At this point I was noticing that each waitstaff had a pin on their attire. I asked John what is symbolised, and he happily explained that Tetsuya's is part of a international group of hotels and restaurants that are judged to have a unique quality about them, with high levels of service and quality, called Relaix and Chateaux. These are compiled into a book to help travellers plan their holidays every year. My mum remarked that when she's in France, she always asks for the book to refer to. Upon hearing this, John immediately told us he'll get us a copy of the book, and promptly disappeared, only to reappear with the book at our table.
After our main courses have been served, John asked us if we would like any more of the truffle butter and bread. With a negative, he asked us if we were certain. They was still quite a bit of butter left, and well, we had handbags, he said cheekily. Seriously, handbags. We laughed it off. A few moments later, he returned with a print out of the truffle butter recipe. Amazed, we thanked for it. As we were reading, he said, "And here, I was serious about popping these into your handbags, so pop it in! Go on!" as he gave Mum and Maxine each a small wrapped package. Turns out that it was a bottle of truffle salsa each, retailing at David Jones for at least $15. At this point, we were amazed at his generosity, and my mum remarked to me how he has taken a pleasant yet unexpected liking to us.
As dessert came, he greeted me with a chocolate fondant with a candle on top of the cream. He wished me congratulations on my graduation, and served the other two with another chocolate dish. After taking pictures, we realised that we had no utensils, and politely asked for some. Extremely apologetic, he returned with not only utensils, but a complimentary additional dessert course! For something we didn't even consider a mishap! But let me tell you a bit about my fondant. I've tasted fondant before, but this was fondant from the ANGELS. The cake was light and fluffy with a slight crust on the outside, and gorgeously melty on the inside. I must've died and went to heaven.
As we finished dessert, John came back to our table with a print out of the list of dishes on tonight's menu. It was marked, 'Wednesday, 19th October 2011; Congratulations!'. I initially thought that the restaurant had these print outs prepared for tables with a celebratory occasion, but as I looked towards Mum's and Maxine's copy, I realised that theirs didn't have congratulations on it. My copy was personalised. Wow. I was simply touched.
Over some tea (in which I chose Shen Cha- love it!), we agreed to leave John a $20 tip. However, the bill came and notified us that there wasn't any service charge (and happily, we weren't charged extra for the tea. Hooray! Yes, I'm pretty stingy!!!). We decided to give him a personal $50 tip, and for $50 for the best service I've ever received in my life, I thought that maybe it wasn't enough. But after passing the tip on, John walked us all the way down and out of the restaurant, happily chatting to us. Even though he's already gotten his tip, he still chooses to go the extra mile. Amazing.
Tetsuya's was beautiful for the food, but their staff is what really makes the place truly somewhere fit for royalty. Best. Graduation. Ever. |
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