You might think your low-key, local pizza joint is the best place to teach young kids about the etiquette of eating out rather than a world-famous establishment frequented by presidents, literary luminaries and Wall Street titans. Think again. The Four Seasons Restaurant, original home of the “power lunch,” may be the perfect setting for discovering dining decorum (and let’s not forget people watching).
Alex von Bidder, an owner of the Four Seasons, has co-authored a children’s book with Leslie McGuirk entitled Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant. In the story, Wiggens, a chocolate Labrador, heads to the legendary eatery and joins other puppies for a crash course in dining dos and don’ts. Von Bidder says it’s important to teach kids about the experience and ritual of dining out not just what fork to use. “We do it because somebody else cooks and somebody else serves and you have a delicious meal … and you don’t have to do dishes,” he remarks. Von Bidder, who teaches classes on manners at law firms and big companies, adds, “I think it’s far more important that they understand what manners mean in terms of life; that’s being thoughtful and respectful of other people.”
So what’s some of the most egregious behavior von Bidder has witnessed at his restaurant? A faux pas committed not by kids but adults. Two grown women were having a food fight in the space between the two dining rooms. “We ended up with some creme anglaise or something like that on the Picasso.” Not a simple clean-up.
Wonder if they got their cotton candy.
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