It's About Last Impressions, Really.

Most of the time I just shrug it off but lately it has been getting to me. Picture this: We call and get reservations weeks before we go. We plan out our every move in anticipation for the night - well dressed excitement really. The night finally rolls in and we head out. We arrive just in time dressed in our best and walk to the stand. Yes, we are here - table for two. The wine is fantastic, the service educated and intelligently pleasing and the food is speechlessly remarkable. Everything we had hoped for really. We are in the clouds as we view the fresh handmade art they call dessert. Wow. The dessert comes along with our choice of coffee - black coffee, a cappuccino maybe. Ah, a cappuccino to accompany this triple chocolate delight. First bite and you just want to float away. It is great! Then, you look at your cappuccino...... It's over. It is the same feeling as when you get water poured on your head as you awake from the best sleep imaginable. It is the alarm clock buzzing in your ear. How could a place this great serve something so bad? A place that has spent thousands on wine and the best ingredients they can find. A place that has spent hours training their kitchen staff and servers. A place on the corner of the hip area of town. Coffee gets forgotten! The major problem with this? It has nothing to do with a coffee snob expecting more than they should. It has to do with the final impression. Think about it, you could easily spend $500.00 or more on a great meal with wine and dessert and to finish it off with something that tastes like the back water in your dishwasher? The way I see it is this. Spend a few bucks to train staff! It is that easy. While many would not even dream of putting a plate on the menu that is sub-par as an offering to their customers coffee seems to take the second hand. Realize that the effort to impress is all for nothing if the last thing I do when I am there is send back a coffee drink. That is on my mind, not the great food and experience you set before me only minutes before! All this said - I think times are changing. As customers begin to understand what quality is in coffee they are demanding it. If they are not yet, they will. While we will not accept a steak not cooked to our liking, we are only beginning to return cappuccinos when not up to par. I would challenge everyone to create a coffee program that is as good as the best thing on the menu. Keep in mind that, just like in sports, you are only as good as your weakest link and if the coffee is bad, you have probably just left a sour taste in the mouth you worked so hard to please. Tomorrow I will be talking about a place that is doing things right - serving top notch food and great coffee and dessert at the end. Check back from some thoughts on Crested Butte's own, Soupcon Bistro - a masterpiece by Chef Jason Vernon. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, Soubcon Crested Butte Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!