Re: Letter – “New Hot Eatery Needs Salt Pepper and Manners” Michelle Etheridge July 30 – August 5
Let me preface my comments regarding your rebuttal to Tara MacKinnon’s review of Petite by saying that I don’t know or know of the owner(s) of this restaurant nor have I eaten there nor do I plan to (I don’t usually frequent the haute-cuisine eateries).
Michelle: I used to be like you when I was younger. I would piss on people or establishments whenever I had a good excuse with much the same bitter venom. Since becoming a (relatively) young entrepreneur however I’ve come to understand what it’s like to be in business and how ridiculously difficult it can be (I presume you aren’t a small business owner).
I figure that the owner(s) of this new restaurant have directed a large amount of capital time effort soul and hope into securing loans; securing and maintaining a lease; presumably hiring designers and contractors to improve the new space; advertising for interviewing and selecting staff; creating recipes; preparing a logo menu stationery and other graphics; securing contracts with suppliers and sourcing food; setting up an accounting system for ticketing payroll and accounts payable; engaging in marketing campaigns; complying with labour health and safety regulations; and doing whatever else restaurateurs do to be in business before just $1 rolls in the door. One wonders if all of that is worth it in the end — especially when dreams finances and personal health are at stake.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the people you denigrated in your lengthy comments much of which were unnecessarily harsh. So you didn’t like the food the service or the surroundings. I get the point. No need to write a novel or yell it out to the world. I can think of no greater punishment for someone who’s invested all that heart not to mention money into something that gets rejected and fails — except the day-to-day agony of knowing that their business is bleeding and everyone outside can probably tell. They don’t need our hate on top of it. Let’s give the place a chance to get its bearings and get going.
Just today I resolved not to return to my favourite Vietnamese restaurant which recently moved to another location. Among other things I experienced yet another dodgy post-relocation meal and some poor service. At least I had the compassion to make some excuses for the place (“Perhaps it’s the entirely new staff that’s to blame”) and to silently wish the well-liked owner all the best. After all it’s a tough business to be in.
And by the way the “very large and very visible tattoos” you and your boyfriend sport are part of a larger dubious trend (much like Twitter faux-hawks guys who wear white sunglasses yuppies who swear by yoga and Lululemon as some sort of “lifestyle mantra” and the resurgence of the much-maligned mullet). I could equally and hatefully fault you on that.
GARY HAMMER
CALGARY
