Standing room only. That’s often what you get at a crowded entertainment venue – at the popular bar down the road, say – or at a cricket stadium during a big game. But not at Mia Cucina. Perhaps uniquely, not only does Mia Cucina have very little room to sit – 6 tables, maybe 8 – it has no room whatsoever to stand. And lest you ever think otherwise – be warned – the owner will make sure you don’t forget it.
A few nights ago, a friend and I decided to go to Mia Cucina for dinner. My friend called to make a reservation, but was told that they didn’t accept them. Fair enough. We went anyway, knowing there was a possibility we’d have to wait, which we were OK with.
When we arrived, we walked up to the front door and went inside. No sooner were we inside than the owner materialized and asked us if he could help. We said, yes, we’d like a table for two. He asked us to wait at the tables on the patio, outside. We told him it was uncomfortably warm outside, and could we wait inside in the air conditioning, we were perfectly OK to stand. He said no, if we wanted to eat at his restaurant, we’d have to wait outside. (For the record, it felt like it was thirty-two degrees outside).
Of course the only reasonable way for us to react was to say we’d leave; and when we said that, the owner’s response was, essentially, “By all means.”
We were surprised of course. When we talked about this afterwards, my friend and I struggled to recall a less gracious restaurant-owner. (If anything, it's the wait staff that can be careless; the owners are usually great.) There was no apology accompanying his request for us to go outside; no sense of regret or discomfort at putting would-be customers in an uncomfortable situation.
We left. We wound up eating at Moshe. Half-way through dinner, Moshe was full. We looked around, and saw people standing, waiting for a table. Inside. People were standing inside the restaurant, waiting. Hmmm.... The conclusion was obvious. Clearly, Moshe was making life far too comfortable for his customers; he needed to learn a thing or two from the owner of Mia Cucina.
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