At the Hospitalitarianism panel, the tablehopper's Marcia Gagliardi chatted with Umberto Gibin (Perbacco, barbacco), Annie Stoll (Delfina), Giancarlo Paterlini (Acquerello), Nick Peyton (Cyrus) and Tim Stannard (Pizzeria Antica, Spruce, Cafe Des Amis). Stannard fielded one of the toughest questions, when Gagliardi asked him how he knows who will make it, who won’t, and how do you let people know.
The takeaway messages included these tasty nuggets: Yelp can be painful for restaurateurs, but is a source of information. Tim Stannard reads a thick stack of Yelp reviews along with any and every blog post or other review each Monday. Social media geeks, these pros wish you would stop "Twittering at the table," (Stannard) and taking pictures of food before eating it.
Some San Francisco spots have adopted their own service style, which may mean ditching the serving tray (looking at you, Delfina). Annie Stoll worked at a spot that required delivery of drinks via tray, and there was always a shortage of trays. She had guests seated by the bar, and was frustrated by not being able to get them their drinks via hand delivery. "So no trays at Delfina," she said.
Flour + Water did the right thing by having Steve Jobs wait in line like everyone else. Also, the restaurateurs felt Jobs behaved well by playing along as the rest of the general public.