To add fuel to the fire I lit yesterday, let’s expand the discussion about customer behavior a bit, shall we? Young & Hungry received a bunch of thoughtful responses via e-mail to the issue of loud and obnoxious diners, which basically boiled down the idea to that diners should never be afraid to talk with a manager about other customers who are creating an uncomfortable dining environment. To those who said I was a jackass for criticizing somebody for ordering a chocolate martini with an entrée, point taken. But I still think it’s gross. (And I’m not afraid to use exclamation points in ironic ways!)

Then, there’s this response from a food-service professional who works in an open-kitchen environment at a notable restaurant in the District, who wanted to remain anonymous:

I cook in a place with a very up-close and personal open kitchen. To my surprise, I love it, but I’ve been surprised at the number of guests who don’t. While some people seek out the kitchen seats and make a point of chatting with me, asking for recommendations, etc., a number of people want to sit somewhere—anywhere—else, and sometimes those who sit at the kitchen seats are really uncomfortable—don’t want to make eye contact, etc. Rude behavior is typically just tipsy, nothing harassing; sometimes way too much PDA. I recently ate at Kushi at the robata bar and was amused to see how firmly the cooks there kept their eyes down. Similar at Casa Mono in NYC. Kick-ass restaurant, but the chefs could not have been less friendly, and it really diminished an otherwise stellar dining experience.

So, do open-kitchen diners who really get into the whole open-kitchen thing get on your nerves?

Photo by Flickr user noricum using a Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license