Message 8830 of 22774 in Behind the Bar

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> Customer: I'd like a martini, please.
> Waiter: Would you like that made with gin or vodka?
> Customer: I'd like it with gin, the standard ingredient in the 
> recipe.
> Waiter: Actually gin isn't standard in a martini; vodka martinis are 
> made with vodka and gin martinis are made with gin.

I'm not going to argue on the correctness here, but I will say that any 
customer who said "the standard ingredient in the recipe" to me is instantly 
going to brand themselves as a-holes to me.  It's too matter-of-fact or even 
too arrogant to be a response to a simple and reasonable question (albeit a 
question that's not entirely accurate).  In your case I would have simply 
assumed the waiter is an idiot (as you did) and instead told him the recipe 
I'd want and not bother with a lecture.  I know that it's our responsibility 
as bartenders to educate, but this is one time I would have just clued in the 
bartender on this particular case and left it up to him to set the waiter 
straight.

> Basicly the guy wouldn't acknowledge that if I say "Manhattan", one 
> word, I should expect whiskey, SV and bitters.  I also found it funny 
> that the bartender he sent the order to made it exactly as I told him 
> he would if I'd ordered a Sweet Manhattan.    

Here's the real question...does the waiter NOW know (and understand), or did 
you leave it alone after the drink was ordered?

-- 
Cody