New Orleans Hospitality . . . Red Fish Style!

New Orleans is known for being gracious. However, one experience during my recent visit deserves special mention. If you don't have time to read this entire post, here's the bottom line: go eat at the Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street, just off Canal Street.

Red Fish Grill is one of New Orleans’ many fine restaurants. Red Fish, of course, is worth special note because it is one of Ralph Brennan's establishments—which also include Bacco. My wife, Susan, and I celebrated her birthday at Bacco, while in New Orleans last week. A good number of my colleagues at The Society of Wine Educators also dined at Bacco and Red Fish, during our conference in New Orleans.

But birthdays and Bacco aren't the point. The point is extraordinary guest service! Keep reading. This is one of those rare stories with a happy ending.

Background: A cranky guest (me), who was tired and frustrated for other reasons, arrived for lunch at Red Fish Grill. We were short on time and our meal didn't arrive as quickly as it had on the previous day. There was no chance of finishing our meal and getting to the next conference session for which I was registered. Short version: we complained to the lunchtime floor manager, gave him a business card, and left. Was the problem mine or Red Fish’s? In retrospect, it was at least half mine for being short of time and in a bad mood.

Here's the happy ending: Only an hour later, I received an email from the Red Fish Grill's Assistant General Manager, Leah Magouirk. Her note couldn't have been kinder, despite my crankiness with her staff. She invited us back, assuring us Red Fish would exceed our expectations, and even provided her cell phone number if we wanted to phone her in advance.

Susan and I took Leah up on her offer. Our dinner at Red Fish, the final night of the conference, couldn't have been nicer! Leah greeted us personally, as did Ariel O'Hern. Adam Rahn also stopped by to say hello (since Susan and I had retreated from the heat and humidity earlier in the week, to enjoy margaritas at the Red Fish bar, for which Adam is responsible). Greg and Carey cared for us during dinner, with grace—thank you, Greg—and enthusiasm. Don't miss this team; ask for their section. Carey is 110% energy, knowledge, and smiles. Ask why he salts your drink napkin! And watching Carey crumb a table is like watching an artist.

Congratulations, Red Fish! This kind of guest service is all too rare.

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago on this blog (in a different context), there is a very important sense in which the customer is always right. Any of us who love good food and wine expect that to be the rule when eating out. But when things go wrong, that anxiety we feel in the pit of our stomachs always strikes. It is the anxiety that Harvard professor Shosanna Zuboff calls "the transaction crisis" . . . the fear that we will be snagged on the barbed-wire fence that surrounds too many commercial exchanges. The hotel lost your reservation; will they find you a room? The airline canceled your flight; will they rebook you quickly? Your meal at a restaurant wasn't up to expectations; does anyone care?

Red Fish Grill cares. Kudos to Ralph Brennan and his organization. And a big, big thanks to Leah Magouirk, who was the bright spot of our entire visit to New Orleans!