Restaurant Observation

As the clock struck six p.m. on a Wednesday evening, it not only indicated the commencement of fall recess, but also the opportunity to reconcile with longtime high school companions. With last minute phone calls and text messages, I managed to arrange a group dinner with some of my closest friends at a local, well-known restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen. Here, we planned to exchange and share college life experiences and catch up on life. Within American culture, the dinner table renders a hotspot for conversation and rendezvous. From a couple sharing an appetizer of avocado egg rolls to a group of middle school children sharing a five-cheese pizza, everyone engaged themselves in conversation. With this brief observation, it appeared evident
Their behavior and responses toward our needs did not surprise me; every established restaurant lives through the ethics of good service, if not, the establishment falls apart. As food culture goes, consumers do not revisit restaurants with servers that treat them poorly. Our server, a follower of the restaurant ethics, treated us with great respect by offering complimentary bread and water and pitching jokes into conversation. However, there was one element that made him stand out from any server I have ever had. When I told him about my observation paper for my college English course, he was amused and provoked with the idea of me writing about the restaurant he was most passionate about. He offered his extensive assistance from offering to answer any questions to taking photos from the kitchen, although I had only one request for the gentlemen. After ordering our entrees, I asked if I could watch the chef prepare the food, he responded with a delightful, “of course,
Instead I got other nonsense to hide the truth. If the restaurant did serve pizzas with organic ingredients, it’s more likely that the chef would have advocated that in his answer, instead of avoiding answering. Scenarios, like the one I took place in say a lot about the food culture in larger food systems. Big brand food companies hamper the idea of food justice to its consumers, not only through providing scarce details on ingredients, but through other countless ways our society would think appears either ethical or acceptable. New marketing tactics have further prolonged the issue that must come to halt. Our nation must stop being lied to and deserves the food justice it so desperately cannot afford to