Have you evern been charged a cake fee (like a corkage fee)? Rose Levy Berenbaum was charged $25!

S

sandi-in-hawaii

Well-known member
The link has her story. And here's mine:

I've always taken homemade cakes to restaurants for special birthdays, and in my ignorance, I never even thought to ask if it was okay. Practically every restaurant gladly provided plate and forks for us, some even plated it for us and I've always left the remaining cake for the staff. And since they always did it for us, whereever we went, I always assumed it was okay.

Just so happens I went to a small Thai restaurant for my sister's birthday last night with cake in hand. Having just read Rose's story, I asked the server if it was okay if I brought my own cake, and he said that they would charge a fee! Imagine my surprise! At least I asked, and was told the fee, so at least I given the option to serve it or not. Of course, I did.

Unlike Rose's experience, our servers took the cake in the back, brought it back out whole, with the candles lit, took it back, cut and plated it, and served it graciously.

For some reason, though, they did plate an extra piece (there were only 5 of us, and they plated 6?) So I offered that extra piece to the server, and gave the rest of the cake to my sister to take home.

They charged us $10.00. I think their dessert menu has either ice cream or coconut tapioca. No cakes or pies, or anything. They did comp a dish of ice cream to the birthday girl.

Have you ever been charged a cake fee?

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/03/a_bad_taste_in_the_mouth.html

 
I have, a couple of times. Even a pizza parlor here charged me ten bucks.

It's more work for them, and they would no doubt like to earn the profit they'd make by selling you their own dessert, if they have some on the menu.

Larger parties tie up tables longer, so they lose out on seating, if they are busy. Get 'em in and get 'em out is the formula for more profit and more tips for the wait staff. They aren't especially pleased with groups, and that's also why the gratuity is often added to the bill automatically.

Michael

 
WOW!! How horribly rude and nasty they were to Rose! I would have been on Yelp

and every other restaurant chat board within minutes of getting home to spread the word. This was just not acceptable in any way!

I can understand asking ahead of time about bringing in a cake and a small fee for the extra plates and forks (if they MUST), but 2 slices of cake baked by a pastry chef (as she explained) and left over from the event? We always ask for extra plates to share our lunches around and for extra forks when we share a dessert purchased from the restaurant - we are not charged for that. We always tip generously and return over and over to those restaurants who are kind and accommodating - more money for them in the end.

 
This brings back memories...

I was working at a family-style restaurant and a large party of 10 showed up for a birthday. One person in the party made a towering 3-layer cake with a flurry of coconut. The thing was massive. The guest gave it to the hostess, put the cake in the cooler, and told their waitress it was there.

On staff that night was waitress who was particularly ditzy. Added to that, she only worked 1 day a week (it's easy to loose your mojo after a couple days...1 day a week? You're just barely hanging on--especially when things get busy.)

Since we regularly hosted large parties, there were a couple of birthdays that night.

Ditz waitress had a 2-top with a birthday party. We normally celebrated parties with a complimentary housemade cake and ice cream. When ditz heard the request for cake, she assumed that giant 3-layer cake was *theirs*! Candles, signing, all that. The couple was stunned. They took two generous slices, paid their bill and left.

Then the REAL birthday party was ready for their cake. That waitress goes hunting high and low for the cake. She finds it in the back, about to be pounced by the Mexican kitchen crew.

A scream permeated the massive back kitchen.

The entire waitstaff gathers around the gaping hole in the cake. What to do? Fill it with whipped cream? Slice it now & serve in individual pieces? Agh!

In the end, the waitress decided to take what was left of the cake and presented it to the table with a rounding chorus of "Happy Birthday!" The woman who MADE the cake was FUMING, understandably.

A massive scramble ensued, trying to make the table happy. They comped checks, they offered gift certificates...to no avail.

As an avid baker, I was just sick about it. Thankfully this was one of those moments I could just watch from the sidelines. (Not my table, thank God.)

I've been an avid fan of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. I can honestly say, that stuff happens. It's astonishing...

 
interesting discussion over there! also, on the trip entry, go to your public library

online---they will have a downloadable option for many many books. and it's FREE. Ours is called ListenAlaska that we connect to through our library site. I downloaded Barbara Kingsolvers entire book to my ipod and listened to it in the car while driving back/forth to my cabin.

 
What a story! The poor server--at least she rescued the better part of it from the crew.om the

I wonder if taking the cake baker aside before the presentation and explaining exactly what had happened might have diffused the situation.

 
Not a fan of restaurants, but it seems to me if you want to serve your own food, eat it at home and

not at a restaurant. However, I've been guilty of buying what was then the equivalent of happy meals and taking them to my favorite Mexican restaurant when my daughter was about a year old. She was happy and the restaurant staff didn't seem to mind, perhaps it was all the margaritas we ordered, smileys/wink.gif. That was many years ago, almost 40.

 
Diner, beware! New fee on deck, often called "cake fee" similar to corkage...

Here's the deal...their dishes, their labor to cut and serve, their utensils, their washing... I've seen prices ranging from a flat rate to upwards of $2.50 per person. I imagine some of the more upscale restaurants may charge more, if not, it's absorbed elsewhere! These folks have to find ways to cover their costs (I know, I know...but think about it...) too. How many of you can remember the nice young man who used to run out at fill your car with gas, wash your windshields, front and back, AND check your oil? And if you needed wiper blades, installation was included with purchase, no questions asked?? Progress! Ahhhh....progress! (Tongue in cheek)

 
It's not so much whether the restaurant was right or not, but the attitude...no excuse for attitude!

 
I agree about the attitude! The fee was acceptable, but everything else about it was not!

1) Notifying her about the fee AFTER the fact.

2) Not providing plates, and not plating the cake, given the seemingly inflated cake fee.

3) Allowing their GUESTS to eat off of the plastic wrap!

Seriously??

Given these hard economic times, and knowing that the restaurant business is one of hardest ones of all to turn a profit, I can understand that they may have to start charging for services we previously took for granted.

At my dinner, although I was surprised that the restaurant charged a cake fee, I totally understood, and felt that the service they provided in plating and serving the cake was well worth it.

Food is not the only reason I return to a restaurant - hospitality and efficient service play a big part in my decision!

 
This happened to us when out celebrating my mom's 70th birthday

And we had ordered a fancy cake from the restaurant itself. We remembered, during our dinner, seeing a particularly gorgeous cake being served to another table. Only to find out 45 minutes later it was my mom's cake they served to the other table:)

 
I agree

Though I think the restaurant handled all this very poorly, I do think the same as you, Curious. A restaurant is there to serve food and drinks. If you want to eat your own dessert, then for heaven's sake, just go home and eat it there after you've finished your restaurant dinner. It's that simple. I feel the same way about wine. You order wine from the restaurant's wine list and do not bring your own. (I know, I know, but it's a birthday and I have a special wine I want to drink, or some such, blah blah...doesn't matter). It is typically American to think about bringing your own stuff to a restaurant. It doesn't happen here. They're in business and are there to make money and do that, hopefully, while providing a maximum of good taste and service! (And of course, European restos don't go through the number of covers per night per table that a typical American one would. You reserve, you get the spot for the evening. So it means that, once again, they have to make more for the evening at that table. But, still, bring your own stuff?? It's just not-done, I don't care where it is.) Enough ranting. cheers, Bonnie

 
A reasonable "cakeage" fee agreed on in advance is fine for all the reasons stated(more)

plates, utensils, staff time, etc....
I think the outrage is (was) that the server was resistant, brougt out only utenils, AND then added an outrageous charge....
@ my (impromptu) wedding dinner at the Mark Hopkins in San Franciso, when I invited the guests back to the suite for the wedding cake,(Alice Medrich's tri-level chocolate mousse cake decorated with small pink roses) the staff INSISTED on presenting it, serving it etc FOR NO CHARGE!!!

 
Article talks about the server getting advice from the chef. Chefs can be a-holes.

Chefs don't deal with a customer fact-to-face. Anything that goes wrong in the kitchen, I was always the one who had to shmooze the customer. And you know what? The chef makes the same amount of money whether he messed up or not. The server? No matter how hard I work, the customer wants to send a message to the restaurant & takes it out of my tip. This especially sucks because a. I loose money b. when there's an "incident" I have to work twice as hard for that table...knowing it's going to cost me. c. while I'm dealing with a problem at one table, I can't deal with my other tables. In the end, if the kitchen messes up, I'm the one who gets screwed.

In the "Cake Fee" incident, I'm inclined to say the chef was influencing a "green" server who delighted in the us vs. the customer stance. I've had many discussions about this incident and in the end, I keep thinking, "Where was the manager?"

Another point I made elsewhere, a "cake fee" is just stupid, especially for this kind of situation. As a restaurant, we comped far more food for errors and things to make customers happy. A charge like that? Totally unnecessary.

All I can say is, thank god I'm not handling their PR. What a nightmare!

 
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