The latest on DCist: Plea from a Cafeteria Tray Named Patience
I really struggled with writing a review of Vapiano. It is a new restaurant, and despite being a chain is new to the country so there perhaps need to be adjustments for taste. However, the intent of a chain is to create a certain degree of consistency between the different restaurants. So most companies will train employees with a strict set of rules and install “professionals” at opening to ensure high quality control. In fact, Vapiano sends employees to Germany to get trained so they can maintain that level of consistency. Therefore, the best time to evaluate the level of taste at a chain is right when they open and haven’t had turnover and trainers are still on the premises. My experience there was not good, and I don’t really like panning anyone. But at the same time I felt obligated to share some aspects of my experience.
Unlike most people I was not praying for the concept to not succeed. Some of the finest pizza that I have had has come from auto stops in Italy, so I wasn’t that skeptical about Germans making an attempt. So how could I possibly convey that information? I realized that the way to convey my feelings was by alluding to a song by The Weakerthans – Plea from a Cat Named Virtue. It just seemed like a very natural fit. Anyway, a hat tip to J.L., and GQ for helping me work through this piece.
Pingback: DCeatz » Blog Archive » Recent Restaurant Review Roundup