Lest we forget

Son of Rita (Jamie) has returned from Brisbane, and picked up work at Bar Celona. He asked me today if I remembered doing a review of Prince of Wales a few years back, and naturally I did. He then told me he now works with the guy who was the focus of that positive POW review, a lovely guy named Aaron.

It’s a good job I write what I actually experienced, felt, and ate when I do these reviews, as, if I was bullshitting, I would rapidly get found out! With the POW experience, I well remember the fabulous customer service we received from Aaron, and because I haven’t been back since, it is easy to recall.

What I found notable is the fact that when Jamie and Aaron sat together after work chatting about life (as you do), Aaron had remembered getting written about glowingly on a blog a few years ago when he was at POW. Naturally, as they progressed with the conversation, it turned out that it was Jamie’s mother who had written about Aaron’s performance.

My point is that unless someone takes note of these local stars, they just pass through, un-acknowledged publicly, and maybe ultimately fade away.

Surely there should be some sort of annual hospitality award, based on GENUINE, unbiased nominations from ordinary eaters-outers who are most likely to be the recipients of this service?

If it was, for instance, an xxx award, then naturally you’d expect to only have people nominated who worked in venues that were xxx members. Ditto if it was sponsored by a large company, like, say, xxxx, then only places that used xxxx products would be encouraged to nominate.

Nah – we’ve had enough self-interest lately. Let’s just have an award that has credibility and honesty associated with it. An award that actually means something to the recipient. An award that tells everyone (and particularly a prospective new employer of the winner) they are being served by a devoted and celebrated waitperson. An Oscar of the hospitality world in Hobart.