Breakfast…one of the most important meals of the day, or so they say.

I have to say that I’m fairly happy with my weekly menu of Vector cereal, bananas, americano mistos, and weekend brunch hopping. Speaking of brunch, I’ve told you about a few places in Vancouver that have either got the breakfast thing ‘dialed’ (Paul’s Place on Granville) and maybe not so much (Tomato Café on West Broadway).

The place: Vancouver’s Juliet’s Café on Cornwall, right in the flux capacitor of Kitsilano (see red spot on map…upper right)

The focus: A café style approach to brunch (more on that later)

The incident: Brunch, late summer 2007

The result: No repeats

The verdict: Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks Juliet’s Café is more of a miss than a hit

For you to fully grasp what I’m on about, let’s start with a quote from Juliet’s Café Web page:

In our café, we offer high quality casual dining in cozy, relaxed surroundings set in the heart of Kitsilano and within walking distance of Kits Beach and just a couple of minutes from the downtown core.

I wasn’t a debater in high school, but I’m going to debate this rather bold statement which Juliet’s Café has made.

The position I will be defending is that Juliet’s Café must have a different view of what the phrase ‘high quality’ connotes when compared to the majority of the human population. And this, like other service experiences I’ve had (State of Mind comes to mind), is best explained by way of a dramatic, yet realistic, example:

Scene:

• couple walks into Juliet’s Café on Cornwall for a nice, leisurely Saturday brunch
• the menu is set on an obscenely large blackboard from which you pick and choose and place your order at the counter
• the food is then brought to your table, according to the flashy little number cards you are told to proudly display
• after having placed our orders, one of the plates comes to the table (which should be followed by the second in quite rapid succession, but isn’t)
• this is where the story derails…

Me (speaking to the server): Excuse me, do you know how long it will be before my plate arrives as well?

Server (busy): Shortly.

Me (5 to 10 minutes later): Go ahead, you should start eating.

Me (flagging down the server who has an identical plate in her hand but was obviously walking by our table): This is taking a long time…a really long time…why don’t I just take the dish you are holding so we can both eat our food at the same time?

Server (with a slight snarky tone): Ummm, no, this is for another table

Me: Yeah, I know…

Server: And we’re more of a café style so I can’t just give you someone else’s order

Me: But it’s the same dish…and what does that mean?!

Server (blank)

Me: And they got here after us…

Server (still blank)

Me: Forget it…

Server (shuffles away)

The whole ‘café defense’ is a rather weak position, in my, non-debater view. I mean, really, whether you’re a fast food, sit down/white tablecloth, or café style establishment, one thing should come first…the customer!

A restaurant is a pretty dynamic place and things are constantly changing (and not necessarily how you want them to, I’m sure). So, as a server, I would think that the ability to think on your feet is crucial, no? If that means making a quick substitution and juggling a few tables to make the customer experience smooth, I say…do it.

To wrap, my food eventually DID come…and we finished our meals (at different temperatures, mind you) while making a mental note to avoid Juliet’s Café in all future circumstances. With this, some closing thoughts for the management at Juliet’s Café with respect to the high quality claim on their Web site – perhaps is time to go back to the white board on this one.

darren