How many times do you have to relearn the phrase caveat emptor?

Published 7:00 am Friday, August 14, 2009

How many times do you have to relearn the phrase caveat emptor? Restaurants run specials all the time, counting on servers to convey the information to guests verbally, including the price. If a waiter is telling you about the cracked crab special, you have a pretty good idea that it’ll be expensive. When ordering dessert, you wouldn’t expect sticker shock. Last week, four of us were charged $5 per person for two desserts at Cafe Presse. This was outrageous for three reasons. 1.) It doesn’t fit in with any of the pricing structure of the restaurant, which is overall extremely affordable. 2.) The server made no mention of the cost, which was unusual enough to warrant it–a big mistake in service. 3.) At that price, the portions were ridiculous. Two maybe 1/2 inch thick slices of pound cake sitting on compote and a bowl with two egg-sized scoops of ice cream set us back $20.I was told that Presse has a dessert plating charge, which makes absolutely no sense. It would make sense had we ordered a few desserts and the kitchen had plated a portion of each dessert for each guest because that’s what a plating charge is; you’re charged for the extra work/plating. $5 per person for just putting dessert on a plate it has to go on anyway? Oh, hell no. Moral of the story: It’s better to overcome the temporary embarrassment of asking “And how much is that?” about any and all verbalized specials in a restaurant than it is to end a lovely evening on a sour note. Guess I’ll stick to my usually $4 vermouth on the rocks, $6 liver pate and zero surprises in the future.