It’s a Trial Run - Good For Spooning

This past week I was very flattered to be included in the “Friends & Family” night for Rick Moonen’s RX Boiler Room at Mandalay Place. For those of you who aren’t aware, when new restaurants open, they do what’s called a “soft opening” for regular patrons and those who have spent a good deal of time and/or money with their other restaurants or with properties in the same group ownership. They also invite their personal friends. Now to be honest, I am not sure which group I fell into this week. I am Lynn’s best friend (Rick’s ex-wife), and a friend of his as well, but I also eat at RM Seafood frequently (about twice a month) and hosted a dinner party at RM for 14 people in December. Hubby John is buddies with Rick’s oldest son as well. So I am not sure if I was there because of my patronage, or because of other ties. Either way I was glad to be included.

The thing to remember is that this is a TRIAL RUN. The resto is trying to figure out if their training is working and if the menu items are well received. Sometimes they even give you a questionnaire to fill out. Most of the time we all look at questionnaires and basically ignore them and generally not fill them out, but in this case you really HAVE to because that is why you were invited. They want feedback on everything. Did you like the décor? How was the music? Which dishes did you like best? What problems did your service have and how can they be improved?

If you are lucky enough to ever be invited to a soft opening, here are a few guidelines to remember:
 Be overly nice – they are all NEW employees, they don’t have their own rhythm yet and are still learning.
 Be honest in your assessments and try not to let petty grievances get in your way. If you wait 30 minutes for your cocktails to arrive, and there is some confusion regarding the drink order, be clinical about it without being nasty.
 You aren’t getting a check, so tip generously. You generally will see the regular menu with pricing so you will have a basic idea of what your check should have been. 20% is a bare minimum in these cases, even if the service wasn’t great. Remember, they are still learning.
 If the Chef and/or owner come to the table, tell them what you liked best. They REALLY want to know. Only offer up info on problems if they ask, they will see the questionnaires later. They are stressed out enough without having to hear complaints.
 Expect a manager to come to your table at least once. Be sure to NICELY tell them of any problems so they can be addressed that night for other patrons. If everyone repeats the same comments verbally AND in writing, they know there is a MAJOR issue.
 If you can, go with a group – that way everyone at your table has the chance to try a lot of different things and give constructive feedback, not only on the menu, but also on how the server did with a larger party.

I took not one pic of the room, but Eater Las Vegas posted some great ones! Check Susan Stapleton’s write up here.

I did take pics of all of our food! Because there were 5 of us at our table we were able to eat several small plates and five different entrees. Here are a few – to see ALL of them – go to my FB page – Good for Spooning.

Bacon on Bacon – Bacon wrapped pork belly atop toast, crowned with a quail egg.