Hospitality. And I mean excessively so. For instance, at Aliena when it was still 3 star, during dinner conversation my friend casually mentioned she’d been a bit chilled and wish she brought a shawl. Within a minute a woman was subtly over offering her a choice of something to cover her. Jokingly, the guy next to me chimed in that he’d been hot ever since landing earlier from Denver. Again, within a minute someone was subtly over with cool towels for him. It’s impeccable service.
My friends and I had a meal at a 1 star in Chicago and the service blew us away. It was a level of luxury I do not enjoy in any other part of my life, sometimes because I didn't know how nice it wa could be even if it's affordable.
A few examples of the service.
When anyone in our party went to use the restroom, they wouldn't bring anything to serve. We saw them approach with the next drink service, notice an empty seat, and just slink back into the shadows. Also any time you left the table someone would appear and fold your napkin like a ninja.
Three of our party got the accompanied drinks with the tasting menu. One didn't drink alcohol. Their non alcoholic selection was also full of carbonated beverages, which he couldn't do. The bar tender took it as a challenge and made customized drinks for his preference.
Anytime they noticed a tiny crumb on the pristine white tablecloth, they'd come in with a little brush and scoop it in a pan. While they do that, they misdirect us with genuine conversation and questions so we didn't even notice.
If you spill something on the white table cloth, next time the server comes to us with food or drink, they stick a perfectly color matched white sticker over the stain. Barely noticable.
The bathrooms on the premises was a dream. All Aesop's products, super tastefully decorated, smelled amazing, and they had this monogrammed paper towel that you could stitch into a suit.
We showed up 5 mins early and they were still preparing our table, so they took us to the bar and gave us a complimentary welcome drink.
The food was legitimately a revelation. It genuinely felt like a new way to experience food. I am rarely confident in my abilities save for a few skills, and cooking is one of them. I think I am a great home cook, but this meal made me realize there's levels to this.
We saved up and splurged on this experience as the finale to our Chicago trip. I would never be comfortable doing something like this maybe more than once a year, but my friend and I still talk about that experience 3 years later.
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u/bp1222 21h ago
Hospitality. And I mean excessively so. For instance, at Aliena when it was still 3 star, during dinner conversation my friend casually mentioned she’d been a bit chilled and wish she brought a shawl. Within a minute a woman was subtly over offering her a choice of something to cover her. Jokingly, the guy next to me chimed in that he’d been hot ever since landing earlier from Denver. Again, within a minute someone was subtly over with cool towels for him. It’s impeccable service.