How to get the VIP service at restaurants: 7 simple tips

There is nothing quite as comfortable a pleasant evening in a gourmet restaurant, but this can be quickly ruined with poor service.

What a lot of people don't realize is that it's pretty simple to make sure you receive first-class service at your favorite restaurant.

Here are some tips to ensure that your event goes as planned.

1) make sure to make a reservation a couple days in advance. This is especially true if you are looking for a romantic evening as allows you to request a quiet table if one is available.

2) while making the request in advance, let the restaurant know about any specific needs so they can take them properly.

Whether it's access for disabled, allergy or specific you want to surprise someone for their birthday or anniversary, called forward gives the restaurant upstairs.

3) when you arrive at the restaurant (make sure it appears in time for your reservation), it is absolutely necessary to treat the waiter or waitress as would like to be treated.

While the evening out, respect goes both ways. Keeping requests to a minimum and to be polite and courteous to your server, you will find that return the favor with quality service.

4) it is also important that you are below your best behavior when around. Regardless of what type of setting of the restaurant may have, there is no room for being loud and obnoxious. All this will do is further irritate those around you and to take care of you for the evening.

5) If you find throughout the meal the server did a professional job and timely manner, feel free to congratulate them. Make it simple and gentle as this will give you a little reassurance that what they are doing is working.

In return, you will find that they put their attention on your table to make sure that the night goes as possible.

6) as the evening winds down, don't be afraid to leave a generous tip, if your server is deserving of it. If it was a pleasant dinner with quality service, chances are they will return at some point. Leave a tip above average return benefit you along the way.

7) the last thing to keep in mind when looking for quality of service during your normal restaurant experience are always rewarded.

This is especially true if you have followed all the tips listed above as the server, and the restaurant managers in General will go out of their way to accommodate all your needs.

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Posted in: Restaurants,service,Simple

Received A Gift From An Online Tea Shop? Simple Rules For Brewing Whole Leaf Teas

One of your friends, knowing you like tea, has visited an online tea shop and bought you a selection of beautiful whole leaf teas from China. You're delighted by this thoughtful and generous the gift but perhaps you're not really sure what you're suppose to do with these funny looking leaves?

If you're used to drinking and brewing tea bags, this guide is here to give you some pointers when starting to brew loose leaf teas.

Brewing tea is deceptively simple and requires only three things: water; tea; and a vestal to hold the two. You need not even heat the water; certain teas, particularly of the high mountain Taiwanese variety are so sweet and delicate they can simply be left in cold water and allowed to infuse overnight. This lack of heat brings out the subtle sweet flavors of the leaves however generally you will require hot water.

Teapot

The first thing you will need to decide is what you're going to brew your tea in. The traditional Chinese methods of brewing involve using a Yixing, a small red clay teapot, or a Gaiwan, a small lidded bowl. Generally most westerners don't have such specialist items but, you may well already have a teapot and, whole leaves can actually be added directly into the teapot.

Following such a method you can immediately see that brewing whole leaf tea really isn't much more complicated, or different, to using regular bags.

Another method for brewing that is popular in China is to simply adding tea leaves into a glass or jar and filling that receptacle with water and drinking directly from it. Larger whole leave are generally heavy, and sink to the bottom, so you're able to drink without swallowing the leaves. Using this method it is traditional to keep adding more water to the jar before you've finished it and often people will sit and drink from the same container, using the same leaves, all day long!

Quantity

A general rule for brewing tea with a teapot is to use 1 bag per person and add an extra 1 for the pot. Surprisingly the rule remains remarkably similar for whole leaf teas - 1 teaspoon of tea per person with an extra spoonful for the pot. However, there are exceptions. Certain teas, where the leaf is long and twisted rather than the style where it has been tightly rolled into a ball, a tablespoon worth of loose leaf tea is used per person, again with another spoonful being added for the pot.

Temperature

Water temperature is probably the area in which most people make mistakes. Most black tea from bags requires freshly boiled water. Using water that is even only slightly cooler than that may result in a badly brewed pot. When using whole leaf teas more care must be taken when deciding upon temperature. Adding freshly boiled water onto tender green tea leaves will result in a brew that is bitter and unpleasant to drink. This is one reason why many people claim that they don't like drinking green tea!

Our second general rule that pertains to temperature is that the lighter the color of the tea, the cooler the water needs to be to brew it. White & Green teas only require water between 65-75 degrees C (149-167 degrees F). For moderately colored Oolongs you should be using water around 80-95 degrees C (176-203 degrees F). Black teas and Puers require freshly boiled water 100 degrees C (212 degrees F). How can you tell how hot if the water is the right temperature? A half filled kettle, freshly boiled kettle, will drop roughly 10ºC every minute it is left to stand. If you are preparing green tea, boil the kettle and leave it to stand for around 3 minutes, and you should have the perfect temperature of water.

By following these simple rules you'll find that you'll be able to brew any tea you may receive as easily as if it came in a bag!

James Franklin Bluth is a tea connoisseur with over a decade's experience sourcing and selecting the finest whole leaf teas and is especially interested in online tea shops.

At his favourite tea shop you can find a range of whole leaf teas from China and Taiwan.

driftwood tea products make perfect tea gifts for any tea connoisseur.

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Posted in: Brewing,Online,Received,Rules,Simple,Whole

Simple Paleo Ice Cream Recipe

It's the festive season and watching relatives and friends gorge themselves on ice cream and tasty sweets can be painful when you're trying to stay healthy and stick to a rigid nutrition plan. I know as a follower of the paleo diet the hardest thing for me to adjust to was the lack of desserts and sweets for the paleo follower. However there is hope, by replacing regular milk with coconut milk and swapping the ultra heavy chocolate and sugar filling for natural fruits and nuts we can create gorgeous and equally delicious recipes for the paleo diet follower.

I got creative earlier and here's a simple tried and tested ice cream recipe to sate the sweet tooth of the Paleolithic patron. The trick with this is preparation and smoothness, as it's tricky at first to stop the eggs from scrambling, which completely ruins the dish. Make sure the temperature is warm enough to melt the ingredients but not too hot to make them curdle and boil, once you've got this right though you will never look back.

Ingredients:
* 400ml coconut milk
* 2 large eggs
* 3 tbsp honey
* 1/4 cup blueberries
* 1/2 cup processed strawberries
* 2 tsp cinnamon

How to make:
1. Place a heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water. Make sure the bowl is wider than the pot so it sits on top comfortably and there is enough space under the bowl to ensure no part of it comes in direct contact with the water.

2. Place the strawberry, blueberry and honey into the bowl and heat until it's warmed through but ensure heat is low enough to prevent boiling.

3. Separately whisk the eggs. When they are thoroughly whisked slowly mix in a quarter of the wet mixture with a mixing spoon, slowly and delicately. Ensure the eggs don't scramble by maintaining a warm but not boiling temperature and constantly stirring with your spoon. Continue until all of the wet mix is mixed in and a thick creamy sauce is created.

4. Let the mixture cool off before placing into the fridge.

5. Place the mixture in a container and place in the freezer. Remove every 25 minutes for 2 and a half hours until you have a creamy ice cream.

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Posted in: Cream,Paleo,Recipe,Simple

Simple Paleo Ice Cream Recipe

It's the festive season and watching relatives and friends gorge themselves on ice cream and tasty sweets can be painful when you're trying to stay healthy and stick to a rigid nutrition plan. I know as a follower of the paleo diet the hardest thing for me to adjust to was the lack of desserts and sweets for the paleo follower. However there is hope, by replacing regular milk with coconut milk and swapping the ultra heavy chocolate and sugar filling for natural fruits and nuts we can create gorgeous and equally delicious recipes for the paleo diet follower.

I got creative earlier and here's a simple tried and tested ice cream recipe to sate the sweet tooth of the Paleolithic patron. The trick with this is preparation and smoothness, as it's tricky at first to stop the eggs from scrambling, which completely ruins the dish. Make sure the temperature is warm enough to melt the ingredients but not too hot to make them curdle and boil, once you've got this right though you will never look back.

Ingredients:
* 400ml coconut milk
* 2 large eggs
* 3 tbsp honey
* 1/4 cup blueberries
* 1/2 cup processed strawberries
* 2 tsp cinnamon

How to make:
1. Place a heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water. Make sure the bowl is wider than the pot so it sits on top comfortably and there is enough space under the bowl to ensure no part of it comes in direct contact with the water.

2. Place the strawberry, blueberry and honey into the bowl and heat until it's warmed through but ensure heat is low enough to prevent boiling.

3. Separately whisk the eggs. When they are thoroughly whisked slowly mix in a quarter of the wet mixture with a mixing spoon, slowly and delicately. Ensure the eggs don't scramble by maintaining a warm but not boiling temperature and constantly stirring with your spoon. Continue until all of the wet mix is mixed in and a thick creamy sauce is created.

4. Let the mixture cool off before placing into the fridge.

5. Place the mixture in a container and place in the freezer. Remove every 25 minutes for 2 and a half hours until you have a creamy ice cream.

Read more »

Posted in: Cream,Paleo,Recipe,Simple