Ms. Beranbaum, you sound exactly like this jerk.
http://aaronallen.com/articles/le-bernardin/

He too thought it was perfectly fine to bring outside food into a restaurant, in this case a cup of Starbucks into the NYT 4-star Le Bernardin. He too ranted how he was "someone" and should be allowed to do whatever he wanted. He too cited another restaurant as being more gracious. The only difference is you were accommodated with the same charge any other patron would be assessed, while he was denied entry.

He was wrong and so are you. His story made it onto Gawker, an internet gossip site, where he was viciously mocked. Be grateful you didn't receive the same treatment because your sense of entitlement is exactly the same.

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@Woody, the consequences are double edged. For every person who thinks that the Breslin was unreasonable, there is another that thinks Ms. Beranbaum acted like an entitled diva. I had heard of the Cake Bible in passing but knew nothing about the author and I'll tell you this blog entry does not show her in a good light, in my opinion.

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The reality is the waiter was wrong for being rude and not mentioning the cake fee. The Chef or Manager should have addressed the table or the server should be fired.

On the other hand, that is not a way to act in a restaurant. Those are the rules, if you don't like cake fees, corkage, or any other aspect of the restaurant or restaurant industry, stick to where they won't charge you. Go to Danny for every meal then. If they don't charge cake fees in MN, thats because you're in Minnesota. In some cultures, like in South America or Europe, you can be charged for bread. Are you going to argue there? Learn the house rules and play by the house rules or never go back and stay in your own house.

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Ms. Beranbaum, you were wrong. As a food professional, you know you were wrong. Whether the waiter was rude to you is an entirely separate matter, but in the case of bringing outside food into a restaurant, then expecting free serveware (flatware and plates) to eat your outside food was beyond what was reasonable. He and management had every right to charge you a fee, the same fee they charge others, for bringing in your own food to eat in their establishment, particularly since you didn't ask their policy beforehand.

In addition, your admonishment not to be "rude to writers" as though it's ok to be rude to others because they don't have your platform is unseemly self-importance. It paints you in a very bad light, and it's sad to read.

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As the requestor for the plate and the forks of “the four foodies”, I am awestruck by the diverse opinions following this article. The Breslin staff took the hard-line stance for a short term gain of a “cakeage fee” to punish the audacity of a group of diners for bringing in a sampling of cake with full intentions of buying dessert. I also called and emailed the Breslin at the time of this posting for which no reply has been returned to me. A chance for them to have a conversation and come to an understanding has not materialized to which the consequences are now apparent: their non action has generated action on a logarithmic scale with this story spreading onto several blogs and websites like the New York Times and Village Globe.

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Rose was not wrong at all. She was completely in the right to do as she felt regarding the tip due to the WAITER'S RUDE BEHAVIOR toward her and her friends, and I would have done the same without hesitation. Tips are discretionary. They are not mandatory. They are earned, and rude wait staff shouldn't be so presumptious about them. My tip to this server and other servers who are posting on here: do your jobs well and you won't have to worry about losing your tip.

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With all due respect, you were wrong and you really need to get over yourself.

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According to the Breslin's website they serve breakfast on a weekday from 7 to 11:45 am and they serve lunch from midnight until four in the afternoon. Is it normal for a 'high end' restaurant to have such an overlap for breakfast and luncheon service? They are only closed for an hour and a half, from 4 to 5:30 in the afternoon, and the bar opens at 4 in the morning? Wow! No wonder the waiter was so grouchy. He's probably dead on his feet from working around the clock.

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I understand that restaurants would want to charge for additional service (cake cutting, especially, since those crumbs can get everywhere and lingering over a whole cake can hold up a table for a bit). It's completely unprofessional to agree to the service, hide the fees until after you've agreed to and performed the service, and to half-ass the additional service that you have suddenly sprung on the customer. Would the plate have carried an additional $25 charge?

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@Roxanne, 'We started to taste the cake, still set on its plastic wrap "plate," when he returned with the information that he had reported us to the chef who said we'd have to pay a fee for the forks. I asked him if it was a "forkage fee" and he smiled and said "yes." I suggested that he might have mentioned that before he brought out the forks.'

So you are implying the server is lying about this and that he also programmed the register to print out the "Cake Fee" line and charge as well?

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Dear ktinnyc:
If you even bothered to actually read this post and thoughtfully and critically think about it, you would realize it had NOTHING to do with the restaurant’s policy, but the unethical and rude behavior of the server. THAT does not deserve a tip. Please go troll somewhere else.

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@Zach, people who stiff waiters because they don't like the policy of a restaurant are scumbags. It would be like attacking a country because terrorist from a third country fly planes into skyscrapers in your own country. Oh, wait, now I know what kind of person you are never mind.

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Oh. My. Word.

I’m a professional baker, a professional pastry chef, and I help to run a little tea shop where we are quite proud of our excellent and gracious service, and I’ve worked in this industry for 12 years now (and some of that time serving in fine restaurants and TEACHING proper table service and hospitality). I would NEVER in a million years think that kind of behavior from a server or a manager would EVER be appropriate in any kind of context. If I got even a whiff of one of our servers treating a customer in such a manner, he/she would be reprimanded immediately and ordered to apologize, not to mention that server’s job would be on the line.

It doesn’t matter the behavior of the customer, whether the server--or even the manager--believes them right or wrong. A server DOES NOT react in negative, inappropriate ways to the customer. You remain pleasant, gracious, as accommodating as you can be, with a smile on your face and in your voice. Rude behavior from a server should never be tolerated, and not leaving a tip is the appropriate way to respond to a rude server. Servers are not entitled to tips; they earn them; and in my world, they better work damn hard for them. Servers who actually SERVE for a living (and in NYC, there are a lot of them) know this and practice this right down to their souls.

If a guest in your establishment brings something from outside that he/she would like to have with his/her meal (a little slice of a dessert that is to be shared is not uncommon. Seriously, it’s not), you don’t blink, you do not react unpleasantly. If there is a service fee, you explain that to your guest graciously, with politeness, BEFORE YOU BLOODY SERVE IT. You don’t throw a service fee on his/her bill without his/her prior knowledge. There’s a word for that. It’s called profiteering, and it’s unethical in all areas of business.

Lastly, forcing your guests to eat ANY TYPE OF FOOD OFF THE DAMN TABLE is exceptionally rude and bad service. Rose and her guests did not bring in 4 slices of cake to snub the restaurant and their menu. She graciously explained why they brought them, it was a little celebration for the finish of a successful filming, something they were also hoping to share with the pastry chef. I would actually call that flattering.

To be anything but gracious and accommodating in such a situation is truly bad business. Bad news about a restaurant’s service and/or food travels faster than wildfire. I’d hate to be the owner of The Breslin right now.

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Really, ktinnyc, a "place in Hell"? Wow, those types of ridiculous overreactions are quite hysterical I must say. You must be the type of person who, when his grandmother forgets to send him a card on his birthday, raises his fist in the air and yells "There's a place in Hell for people like you, grandma!" Please, make some more statements like that to make yourself look like an even bigger fool; It's quite entertaining.

I'll never understand why waiters feel entitled to a tip just because they managed to drag themselves to work whether they are good at their jobs or not.

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There is a place in Hell for people who don't tip a server because of the policy of the restaurant.

Cut the tip if you felt he was haughty but your leaving nothing shows your true colors.

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"Bringing your own incredibly high-quality food from a taping is not like sneaking a sandwich into the movie theater. This was a special occasion. Pity you don't recognize that. It wasn't rude: they were GENEROUS to share that occasion with staff." Hey tana you come across as an incredibly rude and arrogant person. Special occasion, give me a break, this was no birthday , engagement lunch. Just some friends having an early lunch, ho hum. If no one received the memo ,restaurants need to generate sales to stay in business. Imagine if no one bought Rose's cookbooks. Oh My!!!

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I hope before you all write here would think what is like run a restaurant or write cookbooks, indeed what is like to be a cook or pastry chef or make a nice meal at home. I am referring to washing someone elses dishes till the sunrise hours, go to bed at sunrise, squeeze lemons till your nails are bloody, mop floors and clean toilets, eat peoples leftovers, sweet until there are no more sudor to make, drop a cake, watch you arms oven burn marks, etc.

If you haven't, then pls don't write here. I am beginning to feel ashamed to be American.

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Dear Elise:

Presumably you have never worked in the restaurant industry, which is generally one-half incredibly gracious, generous, network-happy good people and the other half, who are unfortunately short-sighted, egotistical, and greedy.

If you were to rent forks from a caterer, do you think you'd be charged $6.25 each? MoreOVER, these forks weren't eaten. They were readily available in the restaurant, and cost nothing to supply. So the dishwasher had to do five seconds more work throwing them in the rack? That cost nothing. Look at the bill, Elise. Over $100 for a LUNCH.

They weren't "bringing their own food," they appeared with food that—as the dynamic baker she is—Rose offered a huge compliment to the pastry chef or the waiter to share with them.

You have to measure good will with the cost of doing business. Rose's apt commentary about this hurtful event will rightfully take its toll on The Breslin's business. I'm glad for that. I hope the waiter, so dense with snobbery, has a lasting imprint on his snooty ass, from the pastry chef's hobnail boots.

Dear Adrian:

Bringing your own incredibly high-quality food from a taping is not like sneaking a sandwich into the movie theater. This was a special occasion. Pity you don't recognize that. It wasn't rude: they were GENEROUS to share that occasion with staff.

Dear Rose:

Rose? Your chocolate cookbook is one of my most stained. The chocolate/coconuts macaroons are my Valentine's Day "stuff of legends." I hope that you don't mind that I renamed them "Nipples of Nefertiti" in honor of the holiday. You absolutely rock, and I am so happy to know you have a blog. (Which I learned on Twitter from Gastropoda.)

You have, however, failed us here. If you were to post a link to The Breslin's website, their webmaster could see all the hits originating from your post, and that would definitely add salt to the squirming slug that is the USURIOUS hospitality policy that The Breslin enforces to their great shame. I doubt this publicity is worth the $25 they netted from ripping off a generous and talented party.

Dear The Breslin:

Your mothers must be so proud. How's that little extra/chargey thing workin' out fer ya?

Love,
Tana Butler
≠ Suffers Fools Gladly

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"You guys need to come to the South to learn this "going the extra mile" concept for people, for Pete's sake. I promise it won't hurt."

I am also from the South. I promise *you* that in my neck of the woods, disregarding industry protocol and stiffing waiters is considered tacky.

"pls don't write here unless you know her well!"

This is possibly one of the silliest remarks I've ever read in the blogosphere. To begin, the blogger can easily make this a friends-only blog. If she makes it public and enables public commenting, then people will comment, after having read her entry. She has presented her side of things, and people will comment. If she doesn't like that, she can easily change the settings.

To make it clearer, you could easily say "Rose, don't publish your blog entry about that restaurant, that chef and that waiter unless you know them well!" You see? It works both ways. If you dish it out, you're going to have to suffer through people sifting through your account and deciding what they believe.

All she had to do was call beforehand and let them know she was planning to bring in an outside dessert. She may forgotten--fine--but when the waiter was taken aback, she should've been completely apologetic. "I'm so sorry--is this okay? What is your slicing fee?--I realize I am asking a huge favor." Instead she appears to have gotten defensive and played the "Don't you know who I am?" card. And then when they didn't respond well to that (again, I will give here the benefit of the doubt, she may have sincerely thought that was an industry wink, as it were)...well, judging from her refusal to accept any blame on her blog entry, I'm going to hazard a guess that she may have irritated the waiter. It's impossible for me to believe she was completely innocent in this exchange (above and beyond her not calling beforehand--she is completely at fault in that). Her blog entry tries way too hard to convince us that the waiter was just rude for no good reason.

"I'm getting the impression that a group of wait staff have gotten wind of this posting and are here just to gang up (David, Ben, and Steph-the-former-waiter)."

Can't speak for them but this blog entry was linked on a news aggregator, which is probably why she's getting so much new traffic. It's comforting to think that a bunch of bitter waiters egged each other on, though, isn't it? Kind of lets her off the hook?

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Just checked the gotham site it out. Yowser! People can be vicious! It is a shame that people just jump to conclusions. It brings out the worst in people ... especially the idiot with the anti-Semitic comment. So sorry that is happening to you. This is why I don't have a food blog. But if I did have one and wanted to make lots of money, I'll be sure to write a fruitarian blog, telling people they're dummies for eating meat or vegetables or anything that hasn't fallen off a tree. (That is not my real point of view, by the way)

I'm sure this will blow over soon and you can go back to talking about cakes. And don't they say any publicity is good publicity? Good luck to you.

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Pardon me for asking, but how exactly do David Chang and Gordon Ramsay have anything whatsoever to do with how you were treated when you brought food into someone else's restaurant, right or wrong?

Isn't that a little like saying "I'm so sick of people like the Unabomber and Rose Levy Berenbaum trying to kill people"? There's absolutely no connection at all.

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Yes, these types of topics are bait for major flame wars on Chowhound. But on the bright side of this, your visitor #s will probably go up big time this week.

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Did Rose really follow all of these customs? When one brings an outside cake to a restaurant, it is common courtesy to notify the restaurant in advance. She did no such thing. I can see why the restaurant was a bit put off by this incident. As I stated before, I do think the restaurant was also at fault. Both parties carry some blame. It is interesting to see that many posters are either 100% behind Rose or 100% behind the restaurant.

It seems that Rose has a lot of supporters on her blog. I'm sure she's a lovely person but the Breslin does not know that. I'll bet they have to deal with a lot of customers trying to finagle their way around things in restaurants all the time. Look at it from the restaurant's perspective: this woman comes in to have lunch, brings her own cake, and thinks she'll try to sweet-talk them into letting her consume outside food because she's in the industry. I'm not saying that was Rose's intent. But from the restaurant's perspective, it does seem like she was trying to get preferential treatment.

Yes, it would be nice if every restaurant was like Danny Meyer's. But I find that his level of service is the exception, not the standard ... at least in America. I don't walk into a restaurant expecting Danny Meyer-level service. And I have also experienced poor service at his restaurants as well. Nobody is perfect and everybody has an off-day.

And fwiw, I'm not a server nor have ever worked as a server in my life.

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A few thoughts in defense of Rose:

The practice of bringing one's own wine, especially a very noteworthy or unusual wine, to a restaurant is well-established in the industry, particularly at better restaurants. Normally, the corkage fee is cited, and the waiter graciously takes excellent care of both the wine and the patrons, for which he or she is tipped generously. Finally, a glass should always be offered to the sommelier. As Zach, a top pastry chef and chocolatier points out, it is fairly common to order special desserts to be brought to a restuarant, in a similar custom.

I'm sorry if there are those who don't like these customs, but they do exist and a restaurant of that caliber knows it and should have dealt with the request in a kind and gracious manner.

Rose followed all these customs, but the restaurant was rude, didn't cite their fee, and didn't plate their desserts, despite charging the fee. As Woody said, they tried to order ice cream to go with the cake, but were given the check instead.

Rose sent her card to introduce herself and make a friend. As she said, she would have hoped to become fast friends with the pastry chef, had she been there.

If the waiter had plated their dessert and treated them with professional hospitality, I'm sure he would have been tipped generously. Rose is nothing if not generous.

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I beg to differ, David. I wonder if you are David, the "gracious" server that made this wonderful experience possible for us.

We hardly brought in this cake to save money on the check. In fact, we were contemplating which dessert to order from the kitchen, such as the "chia-batta" donuts recommended by our server. If saving money was our goal, we would not have run up a $130 tab for a hanger steak, a slice of quiche, a salad, a small plate of fries and one of pumpkin, a beer, and a few soft drinks.

I've been a part of the restaurant industry for over twenty-five years, and have never experienced anything remotely like this.

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rose, you are horrendously beautifully honest, and that is what i call true sweetness.

this posting is as bittersweet as the best chocolate i've ever tasted!.

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Good point, Hector! Let's talk about cake and see what the others have to contribute then.

Rose, sounds delicious! I know first hand your chocolate chiffon is awesome. I'm not familiar with Marie Brizzard but will now have to try it -- sounds like a great variation to the recipe.

By the way, did you know your chiffon bakes up great in a half sheet pan?

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your deep chocolate passion is a GREAT cake, and everyone who has made it has gotten great results, and more than that: an awesome life experience. i feel so compelled to write about my experience and you can read it here

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2009/08/hectors_preview_two_from_roses.html

p.s. oh, oh, now everyone will say that you are not generous from just offering one slice per person, and for just expecting them to have one bite and take the rest home! but guess what: i do exactly the same thing. if i let my guests eat the whole slice, they would be poorly overweight from the MANY cakes i bring to them! the correct portion size is one bite of cake following a meal, or if you want to eat the whole slice do it during breakfast.

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Now that we know the cake, can you also say what video you are working on?

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Rose, just keep in mind what I said -- some people are here just visiting once to vent and take their aggressions out on you, probably people tired of waiting tables or running restaurants, so these overly aggressive comments should just be ignored; they have no real meaning. I'm sure this is the last you'll see of them on this site. They don't know you nor the kind heart you have.

By the way, wait staff always have seem to have a sense of entitlement about their tips, which I never understand. Call me old fashioned, but when the service is exceptional, I leave an exceptional tip. When the service is good I leave a good tip. When the service is bad, I leave a bad tip (or no tip at all if it's bad enough) -- it's a straight forward policy that I believe in. I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior.

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everyone wants to have a cake and eat it, too! Rose, can you please tell us what cake this is? maybe we can change the tone of this posting, by reading about something sweet as your cake!

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Hector,

I do not know Rose personally. But I can tell from reading her blogs every day and following the forums that she is a very gracious person. It is a shame that there are people herecondemning her for her actions. I don't think that what she did was wrong. You can't tell me that anyone here on this blog would feel differently if they were treated in the same manner. Whether it be at a restaurant or any other business establishment. But I know some establishments do not care about their customer service.

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there are 2 kinds of people following this thread, and this blog indeed:

people who devote their lives to cakes for the sake of sharing with others, unconditionally.

and people who devote their lives to what happens outside those cake sharing moments.

please don't take this out of context. rose was just gracious and humbly wanted to share!

i am so upset.

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I read this post and every comment with great interest.
Often I dine alone. I made up my mind long ago that being alone in a great city with great restaurants would never stop me from having a good meal.
I am often treated with distain and outright rudeness by wait staff as well as front of the house staff.
Most of the time I give my message with my tip. Afterall, tipping is for GOOD service, not just because that is your profession. Sometimes I cannot help myself: I must take it up the "food chain" and ask for manager, and in some cases the Chef. Always I tell them that it is THEIR responsibility to make sure the customer has a good experience. They are the ones responsible for hiring, and keeping bad service staff.
Not that you need me to tell you, but you did the right thing, and in fact, I admire your restraint.
I do not think I could have been that generous with my temper, or my blogwords.

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By the way, your friend's generosity with the tip will probably bring her good karma in the future. There's a thread on Chowhound where some posters think you're pissed off because the restaurant didn't recognize you.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/693956

I've got to say that this post isn't helping your image. Maybe you need to reevaluate the situation and do a follow-up post. We all make mistakes.

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Be as mean as you want to Rose, someone who you don't know, but I happen to know this lady personally (I traveled with her for three days in Paris eating in restaurants and walking the streets) and can tell you she's not this person walking around with a sense of "entitlement" that you've decided to make her out to be - quite the opposite in fact. Let's not lose sight of the fact that it was just 4 people asking for extra forks and plates for two small pieces of cake at the end of lunch. You guys need to come to the South to learn this "going the extra mile" concept for people, for Pete's sake. I promise it won't hurt. And if it really put the waiter out, I'm sure the manager will understand and offer him a day's rest to recover from the ordeal.

I'm getting the impression that a group of wait staff have gotten wind of this posting and are here just to gang up (David, Ben, and Steph-the-former-waiter). If that's the case, I hope it's the last we see of them on this site because some of these names I don't recognize as ever having participated in any constructive manner on this site.

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I wonder if Breslin's will still be in business next year. I checked out the reviews on New York Magazine (http://nymag.com/urr/listings/restaurant/breslin-bar-dining-room/) and saw a review from a vegetarian customer who asked the waiter if she could have the grilled ham and cheese without the ham. The chef refused. (No word in the review about whether there was a refusal fee).

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I think both of you committed wrongdoings. The restaurant should have notified you what the forkage fee was when they brought out the forks. The $25 fee is ludicrous! I can understand that for a cake cutting fee. But it seems they didn't even bring out any plates.

But I also feel that stiffing the waiter (who probably had nothing to do with this policy) was equally bad. If you really felt that strongly about it, you should have either taken it up with the MOD or paid with a credit card and dispute the forkage charge with your cc company.

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If I ever take a trip to New York I will remember not to visit this restaurant. I think they forget that it is the patrons who visit their establishment that pay for their salary. I certainly do not want to dine at a restaurant that cares so little about the hospitality they show to their clients. For goodness sakes, it was a piece of cake, not your entire lunch order. You might as well have had lunch at a mcdonalds. Even there, the very few times I have taken my kids for lunch, they have been more gracious and hospitable than what you received at that trendy resturant.

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I am a big fan of this site, also a restaurant manager on the Lower East Side. The service in the spotted pig has always been horrible, so the story in the breslin doesn't surprise me, however, while
the server should've handled the situation differently, bringing outside food to a restaurant is not acceptable, even if it's for the Michelangelo of cakes.

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I think you acted reprehensibly. Not tipping a waiter for a cake fee that he probably didn't set? I also think it was incredibly rude of you to bring out the cake if you weren't having a dessert you paid for. Sorry, paying for the meal is not enough. Unbelievable. The waiter didn't handle it as well as he should have, but you went beyond and were much more rude.

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you all miss the point here, you can't judge by what you just read here! Rose isn't an industry nor is known to be arrogant nor rude. pls don't write here unless you know her well!

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Why, so self entitled!!!!! If you were a regular at the restaurant you might have a point. But since your a "writer" you can bring in your own food with no fee. Hey next time bring in an app, maybe a main course, some wine. You should expect hospitality at a restaurant, but when you float your arrogance, step off!!! You represent what is wrong with our industry!!!!

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Frankly Rose, I'm shocked at your behavior. You work in the food industry - how could you not have expected a fee to bring your own food to a restaurant?

You argue with your poor server who's just doing as he's told (and probably isn't allowed to take food from patrons because he has a job to do) and then stiff him on the tip, leaving just your own snippy comment.

Unbelievable is right, but I would apply the comment to you, not the restaurant.

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Rose, love your books and big fan.

1 - Bringing a cake (I always call first so there are no surprises either way)and asking for them to cut and serve normally brings a nominal cutting fee and I have no issue if known and agreed to
2 - Bringing a slice of cake and asking for a fork with a $120 tab already for lunch is almost an accomodation on the part of the restaurant. Should have been a no-brainer and with your offering the second slice to the staff is a good karma quid pro quo.
3 - Their charging $25 for the fork is definitely snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
4 - In fairness, you using your business card was not cool, though. Once they crossed over to bad service, placing the "do you know who I am" card in play was not professional. They should treat everyone with a minimum of decorum, not just those in the biz.

But they should have called it the "What the Fork" Fee.

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Sorry, I meant to type that gentility should reign on websites, as well as in restaurants. It's been a long day.

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Can we call a time out, please? Please, people do have the right to disagree with what Rose did, but nasty comments are out of line. Gentility should reign on websites, as well as in websites. Beth

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Next time just bring in your own food too. That way the entire meal will be free. Also, name drop next time you're in the restaurant. It comes off very professional I hear.

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(1)- i get into HUGE fights with my best and closest friends, regarding me bringing cake to a restaurant. eventually, these friends are no longer my friends.

(2)- i only dine at restaurants that allow me to bring my own cake, and i dine at those restaurants OFTEN, so often the restaurant owners ask me before bringing the menu to our table: so what goodies did you bring today?

the waiter was so stupid to been so rude, didn't does he know that money is earned and not asked for. shall he would have been nicer and provide the complaint or the forks with a smile, he would have gotten a nice gratuity from Rose!

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I cannot believe you're all justifying her behavior! An attorney now who waited through school, I cannot imagine having to deal with someone with this much of an entitlement complex. We're in the best city for Chefs and Restaurants in the world, and quite frankly, you should know better, Chefs with far more talent and esteem than you have certainly been in the Breslin. My Cake Bible is finding a new home. Disgusted by you

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I had a couple of bad tastes in my mouth. First, this experience ended a wonderful trip to assist Rose in the making of a video, which kept us so busy from Thursday thru Sunday, with this to be our “treat” outing and for me to meet two of Rose’s best friends. Secondly, I always ask permission as I have brought cake to several restaurants in the Twin Cities with the only “cakeage fee” being a slice of cake to the waitress and chef~~offered up front by me as i always bring extra for the staff. Two weeks ago, my teammates and I were enjoying the same Deep Chocolate cake from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes which I had already served our waitress. She came back and quietly asked,” Your last week's waitress asked if she could have a piece too.” Another slice to our hospitable hosts.
We also want to mention that we did look at the dessert menu with intentions to have a dessert. When we asked if the Breslin had a certain flavor of ice cream the reply was the bill and the “cakeage fee”.
I have been in both the restaurant and retail commission sales business, which you treated all customers as your guests as they came to this business and you are the ambassador to take care of them.

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I have to say, I have little sympathy--someone who works in the food industry should know that bringing in your own food, *unless you've cleared it beforehand, such as a cake for a special celebration,* is just Not Done. Plenty of restaurants do this-- for one thing, they have to wash the dishes you use, but the real reason is to discourage you. You can complain about the waiter's attitude if you like and he probably should've told you beforehand, but your petulant tone leads me to believe you might be exaggerating the incident. And people who stiff waiters get their own karma in the end. You may disagree with how he handled the forkage fee, but he still waited on you for the rest of the lunch. Tacky.

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The waiter sounds like he was quite rude, but I do not think it appropriate to bring in your own food, of any kind, to a restaurant. Perhaps if you know the owner or chef this would be allowed. Perhaps if you called ahead and were planning a luncheon for a special occasion and were bringing a whole cake, something could be arranged (with a fee decided upon ahead of time). But I would no more bring out leftover cake and expect to be served than I would bring out a slice of leftover pizza and expect it to be plated for me. Wait until you get home, or get a plastic fork and eat it outside.
The customer is not always right, but should be told so with politeness.

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Adrian, if you can't take it back, quit dishing it out. Typical.

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Charging $6.25 for bringing out ONE fork is entirely fair? Really? THAT's just ridiculous! And on top of the price being ridiculous, did you take into consideration the fact that they didn't even say anything about there being a forkage fee to begin with? This situation is entirely UNfair and makes me mad. Rudeness and greed are the two words that come to mind.

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Seems to be a lot of that attitude going around. Sad.

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There was a time where service in French restaurant seemed to be offered by waiters who were better than you, just because of the very fact they were there. That era, I thought, had disappeared. But this story shows it iasn't. Is it a turn of the wheel? I sure hope not.

I've had my fair share of bad experiences at restaurant (particularly those less than willing to move tables to make space for my wheelchair). Just gets under my skin.

Perhaps the Breslin staff will next refuse to serve someone with "unusual" food requirement, like an allergy to peanuts, or glutten intolerance? Make them feel *guilty* about it? Who knows?

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I agree the server at the Breslin was rude and lacked hospitality, but the customer is wrong here too and emblematic of a lot of customer's attitude...that they are entitled and expect something for nothing. If you bring in cake from the outside, that means the restaurant does not sell a dessert. If you bring in wine, expect a corkage, unless its byob. So what's the difference? However, I agree that the server was off base and should have handled the cake situation gracefully and at least explained the policy instead of shoving forks on the table, and not even providing plates for the cake.

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Rose - thanks for posting this and pointing out their shocking behavior. As someone who occasionally brings a special bottle of wine to a restaurant, I, like you, offer a glass to the waiter (and/or sommelier) and half the time they waive the corkage fee (which is typically far less than the $25 you were hit up for). There should be acknowledgement of a colleague, so-called professional courtesy. Clearly this guy was NOT a professional.

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Thank you! I'll be sure not to give my honest opinion the next time so I don't get insulted. Not surprised this happened. You probably got all cranky with the people in the restaurant as well.....

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To be honest, I see your point. This was not, however, a case of someone bringing in a Happy Meal for their kids to eat while they ordered off the menu, nor someone just ordering a cup of coffee and bringing her own dessert. The rest of the check totaled $110 *FOR LUNCH*.

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Elise, I think you've missed the whole point here and besides, comparing bringing your own dr. into a dr.'s office is hardly comparable to bringing a piece of cake into a restaurant - in fact, it's not a reasonable comparison at all.

I think you've missed the whole point here about hospitality and the concept of "going the extra mile" (or twenty feet in this waiter's case) to be nice to your customers.

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I don't see what the problem is. She is eating in a restaurant. A restaurant is a business that makes money by serving and selling food. If someone insists on bringing her own food, why is it unreasonable that there would be an additional fee? You can't go into a doctor's office, bring your own doctor, and explain you just want to use their office and equipment. Why do people think they can go into a restaurant, take up a table, employ the service of the staff, and use the restaurant's forks and plates - for free??
I am sure that $25 is not the per person fee, but the fee for all four guests, presumably at $6.25 each. I do think they should have brought plates for that price, or taken the cake back to the kitchen and plated the desserts nicely. But I think charging "forkage" or "cakeage" is entirely fair.

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You know, I ate at Michel Roux's restaurant in Bray and they were so gracious. It was a wonderful experience in fine dining. Good food has nothing to do with being rude or belittling your paying guests.

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Spotted Dick, perhaps? Sounds appropriate.

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Snooty 'ole poops!

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....oh, and I have to complete this by saying here this is also no "slicing fee." Geesh, I mean really? When a group of people spend several hundred dollars in your restaurant for an occasion, you're going to charge them a fee to make 10 slices through a cake? Really? THAT'S "just not done" where hospitality means something.

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In response to Adrian, bringing in cake to restaurants for occasions is very common, at least in the states and many restaurants where I've eaten. In fact, many of my customers have taken my desserts that I've made for them on special occasions to upscale restaurants here in Dallas without an issue. I always tell them to check with the restaurant ahead of time, but they've always had no problems. In fact, they tell me the restaurants are even happy to refrigerate the cakes for them up until the time they serve it -- Abacus here in Dallas (whose chef recently competed on Iron Chef) welcomes these types of things all the time; they even take the cake back to the kitchen and slice and serve it for the guests. You see, real hospitality does exist, and harm doesn't come to those who offer it.

Keep in mind, too, that Rose's experience didn't even involve something as complicated as my example above - they just had a couple of pieces of cake wrapped in plastic wrap. If you don't define this restaurant's response to this small request as a total disregard of customer service or the "fork fee" of $25.00 ludicrous, and the waiter's attitude as rude, I can't imagine what you would define as such.

To say it's "just not done" is incorrect. It is done, all the time.

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I wish I could see the look on the pastry chef's face when she sees Rose's card and learns about the incident.

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Maybe you got to keep the forks for that fee?

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I guess I don't need to ever patronize The Breslin.

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I see no problem with taking cake to a resturant to enjoy after you have had a meal. Maybe a little reaching if you only had coffee, but either way....it should not be a problem. I met a friend for lunch the other day at one of the best if not best Chinese restaurants in our county with a 6" chocolate cake in a box. The waiter spotted it and offered to put in the kitchen and inquired if it was a birthday. Of course, it was not a birthday as cake needs no special occasion. (It was one of my test cakes). When the time came, he brought us a huge knife to cut it, with plates and forks. THAT IS THE KIND OF SERVICE YOU SHOULD GET REGARDLESS OF YOUR PLACE OR TITLE. I will go to Grace's Fortune in Bowie anytime.

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I've been following Danny Meyer since he came to speak at my University. His food is great and he gets it.
I remember him talking about service and how easy it can be. Be attentive, helpful and friendly. Something as ridiculous as this fork situation takes everything away from what a restaurant is supposed to do - provide good food.

Thanks for the post, it's good to remind restaurants they can be held accountable for providing lousy service.

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To tell the truth, I would never have brought my own food (whether it be cake from a shoot, or anything else) to a restaurant and asked for forks. It just sounds plain rude. Whether you are in the food writer biz or not. It's just not done. I think the chef just reacted to that. You pissed him off. Other people would probably have impaled you with a fork.

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Unbelievably rude. I own a small restaurant in Brooklyn Heights and we pride ourselves on great hospitality. My first FOH manager worked for Gramercy Tavern for 9 years and I spent a total of 3 years at Gramercy Tavern & Tabla. So the Danny Meyer style is loosely woven into the fabric of Jack the Horse Tavern. We charge a cutting fee of $1 per person and always alert the guest of this fee. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents worth in on the value of Danny Meyer's hospitality sense. And I will never go to The Breslin, don't need the rudeness.

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Unbelievable! Well said.

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I own the Cake Bible and use many recipes from it. My question is about the all-purpose yellow cake recipe. It has an excellent butter flavor, however mine always comes out too crumbly. I have made it many times because I like the flavor. I weigh the ingredients and mix it per the directions. Can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong? The cake just falls into crumbs. It is very disappointing.

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I love that Woody said that ! My mother always told me that politeness was a powerful ally - disarming and especially irreproachable. The key word is karma.

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I'm actually a little amazed that someone working in the food industry does not know who Rose Levy Berenbaum is. Not that food celebrities deserve special service, but sometimes a "name" is enough to shock a rude person awake and make them realize how they're acting.

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I have to agree with Carlos. Whenever I encounter someone rude, vindictive or gossipy, I try to always bear in mind that "their life must be their own punishment."

Several years ago my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary at Spiaggia in Chicago. Our waiter that evening was short-tempered and snooty. He was training another waiter that evening, and made sure to show his full displeasure about the situation to us.

The irony was that the couple seated very close to us was treated by the same waiter with extreme courtesy and graciousness. (They had requested the reserve wine list, after all.)

We both ended up leaving at the same time, and as I was to learn, this other couple did not leave a tip!

I'm not sure if the evening was most memorable for the meal, the romance or knowing that an obnoxious person got their comeuppance. :)

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I've worked in customer service for more almost 20 years in various positions - retail, restaurant, press secretary, theater, design - and it never ceases to amaze me how poorly treat each other. I see it every day. I've always tried to convince myself that the snooties, the rudes, and the impolite were basically unhappy people who must be having a hard day if they're behaving this way. But empathy and "turn the other cheek" will only go so far.

And in the service industry, rule number one is always : YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH. Have people not seen the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts gets snubbed on Rodeo Drive ? ("Big mistake. Huge !")

I could write a book on these kinds of experiences.

Maybe I will. With names.

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I'm totally flabbergasted (did I spell that right?) by this. I would have been so fuming that they would have had to pry that $25.00 fee out of my wallet off my dead body -- no way would I have paid it, but I'm so glad you wrote what you did in on the tip line - "sweet" justice.

Actually, I believe you should go back one last time, this time take your own plastic forks and plates and break out another piece of cake - ha!

Unbelievable.

Zach

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Wow, that is incredibly rude! I went to a place in NYC who charged us $55 for a cake cutting fee. The cake only cost $15. We were not happy campers.

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First rule of thumb in real estate, Location Location Location. First rule of thumb in business, Customer Service Customer Service Customer Service. And that same spirit of care when extended to employees makes for a very happy, productive work environment.

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I'm slowly picking up my jaw from my desk. How unbelievably rude! It's their loss, because you won't be going there anymore and won't recommend it to your friends. At least the food was good... (that's a hefty price for lunch, btw!). Only in NYC :o)

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There is nothing like bad service to ruin a pleasant social occasion, and the tragedy is that the service is the most controllable aspect of a restaurant's provision!
That forkage fee, was rude, inhospitable and needlessly punitive.
Your waiter should be ashamed of his pomposity what a ridiculous fellow! when he had the real power to make your experience utterly enjoyable he abdicated his influence to be a mindless toady.

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