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'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

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21–30 of 48 posts

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#21
post #6

Somewhat related though very different, there are restaurants called Dans Le Noir ("in the dark") - founded in Paris but now in several countries, though so far I've only been to the one in London. You choose one of a few set menus without knowing what's in it (IIRC, roughly "meat eater", "fish eater", "vegetarian") and give any specific allergies or really hated food types. You are then led into a pitch black room w…

It sounds like a fun idea... no knocks against it... but

Even in well lit environments you find things that shouldn’t be there, or the order gets mixed up. I guess as long as it’s not toxic, it’s plough thought it obliviously.

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#22
post #5

In the UK we also have the National Star College (an educational establishment for people with disabilities and ABI) which runs two bistros in and near Cheltenham. These have a good reputation, mostly because the quality of the food is really important to them. https://www.nationalstar.org/ https://www.nationalstar.org/products-services-facilities/st... There's also Wriggly Worm, which has links to Star Bistro. https…

In the Netherlands there is a chain called Brownies and Downies staffed by folks with Down Syndrome. The Dutch are v pragmatic. I went and was humbled - the staff spoke way more English than I spoke Dutch after living there (I'm Canadian) for months. https://www.browniesanddownies.nl

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#23
post #19

In the US there is a trend to not write orders down (the reason is unclear to me:it’s saves paper and makes it mor personal?), short term memorize them and run to the computer and type them in. This tends to lead to a fair number of mistakes, and makes those with allergies ver nervous.

I don't think this is a trend. Experienced waiters have never needed to write things down.

Is that so? Human memory is notoriously fallible, but I could swear that 20 years ago waiters almost always wrote down orders and it was noteworthy when one didn't.

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#25
post #8

It seems like a well-meant idea but how do you prevent it becoming exploitative? Exposing dementia patients to random members of the public in a service role with no understanding of the state of their condition seems like a pretty good way of frequently upsetting them. And how does employment by consent work when you can't actually quite remember why you're in a situation and how you got there? It sounds like - prob…

This seems funny (as a concept) in a really dark way, to the point where it feels inappropriate to implement with real people. It's hard to imagine laughing at mistakes made by people with dementia as being "in good fun". At least for the general public. (Friends and family, I understand it happens and can be appropriate.)

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#27
post #20

In the US there is a trend to not write orders down (the reason is unclear to me:it’s saves paper and makes it mor personal?), short term memorize them and run to the computer and type them in. This tends to lead to a fair number of mistakes, and makes those with allergies ver nervous.

It's a midguided attempted at showing off how smart and talented and sociable the staff are.

I don't know why you're being down-voted - this is the answer. It's a ploy, in most cases outside of long-time career waiters/waitresses, by many chains to make their staff seem more professional. It's a literal marketing tool that is taught to staff in many chain restaurants which employ younger, non-'career' staff.

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#28
post #6

Somewhat related though very different, there are restaurants called Dans Le Noir ("in the dark") - founded in Paris but now in several countries, though so far I've only been to the one in London. You choose one of a few set menus without knowing what's in it (IIRC, roughly "meat eater", "fish eater", "vegetarian") and give any specific allergies or really hated food types. You are then led into a pitch black room w…

Unfortunately the food is rather bad for the price (at least in the Paris branch). So it's a fun experience but you end up eating food that's barely better than cafeteria food at the price of a fine dining restaurant...

I was really disappointed...

Re: 'The Restaurant of Order Mistakes' Employs Waiters With Dementia (2017)

#29
post #28
post #6

Somewhat related though very different, there are restaurants called Dans Le Noir ("in the dark") - founded in Paris but now in several countries, though so far I've only been to the one in London. You choose one of a few set menus without knowing what's in it (IIRC, roughly "meat eater", "fish eater", "vegetarian") and give any specific allergies or really hated food types. You are then led into a pitch black room w…

Unfortunately the food is rather bad for the price (at least in the Paris branch). So it's a fun experience but you end up eating food that's barely better than cafeteria food at the price of a fine dining restaurant... I was really disappointed...

The one in Montréal was good enough. Not haute-cuisine but worth the trip at least once.
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