I received this email message from a reader recently:

“I have a restaurant ethics question. Last night my husband and I dined at The Beauty Shop. We used a $75 gift certificate given by my parents. Our tab came to about $63. The very nice waiter informed us that, although he doesn’t agree with the owner’s policy, he can’t give us cash back or a gift certificate for the remainder. He said that he won’t receive the remainder either. We had planned to put it towards his tip. We decided to enjoy some coffee and cake and it all came out even, but we think it is a terrible policy and are not inclined to hurry back to any of (Karen Carrier’s) restaurants. Is this legal?”

I don’t think this is an issue of legality or even ethics but of policy. I called Kevin Keough, general manager of Beauty Shop, and asked him about the situation.

“Generally we don’t refund a small amount like that or write out a small gift certificate,” Keough said, “because it just creates an accounting trail that becomes endless. When people buy gift certificates, I encourage them to do it for smaller amounts or for, say, three $25 certificates, so that makes it more flexible. If someone comes in with a large gift certificate and spends only half of it or something, then I can write out a $30 certificate or whatever, but not a small amount. The latest version of a gift certificate is a card, like a phone card, and you just spend it out until it’s used up, but we don’t have that technology yet.”

So, readers, how do you feel about gift certificates and the way they’re handled (or mishandled from your perspective) in restaurants? Seems to me that since the restaurant has already been paid for that certificate, if the restaurant keeps that leftover five bucks or so, then it’s making undeserved profit. I want to hear from restaurant owners and managers on this subject too, so we get coverage of the issue from both sides.

I’ve just gotten word that all Starbucks in town (and most across the country) are closed tonight for training. I know plenty of folks, my daughter included, who are going to panic when they go for their umpteenth cup of the day and find their Starbucks closed. Then the one on the next corner closed, and so on down the road.

If you HAVE to have a fix and no other coffee will do (I’m not a Starbucks fan myself), I believe the ones that are inside other stores will be open. Maybe–call first. I’m just getting my info from a wire story and it is time for me to go home; you coffee drinkers are on your own tonight.

As you probably know, the county commission has passed a measure that would allow a 2 percent tax on food and drinks purchased in restaurant. It won’t happen right away because it requires a state law be passed allowing it. The Memphis Restaurant Association is against the tax and wants support contacting your state senator to voice your opposition. Of course, if you’re not opposed, you could contact your senator and voice your support. How do you feel about the proposed tax? Will it keep you home? Here’s a list of three senators the MRA has identified as the key ones:

District 28, Jim Kyle, 527-4050/ 615-741-4167

District 30, Beverly Marrero, 615-741-9128

District 33, Reginald Tate,  615-741-9349

I’ve had e-mails and calls from readers in the past few days telling me that Conte’s, Costa Vida (both locations) and Yazoo’s have closed. Wow. All of these restaurants received favorable reviews from Fredric or me in the past year, yet for whatever reason, they couldn’t make it. Also, Mikasa, the Japanese restaurant that was at Regalia for I’m guessing at least 10 years, has also closed.

Have you heard of any other closings?

FK and I were asked today if any chef cooking in Memphis today should be nominated for a James Beard award this year. The person from the nomination committee had two chefs in mind, which I’ll name at a later date (I’m not sure if it’s a secret, so let me find out). But it made me start thinking about all the people we have cooking here. Who would you nominate?

Well, we know people are reading. Half the calls I took on Friday were from people wanting to know if Maya’s, the Mexican restaurant I reviewed in Playbook that day, was open–because the phone was temporarily disconnected. This is particularly unfortunate because if it had been connected, perhaps the folks at Maya’s would’ve had an idea of how much busier than usual they were going to be Friday night.

I wasn’t there, but I’ve been there four times and each time ate delightful food and had courteous and speedy service–although it’s never been busy when I was there. I gather from the phone calls on my voice mail over the weekend that Friday was a different story. A wife called around 6 wondering if it was still open; her husband called around 9 and said he would never go to a restaurant I recommend again. Online the comments were that the food was great, but that the service was dreadful. Or that it took so long to get served that they left.

I hate this, for the people who will miss out on good food and for the folks at Maya’s–but there’s nothing I can do. We tell people when a review is running, but obviously our job doesn’t include going in and helping them clear tables when it does. When Fredric gets a minute, I hope he’ll tell you about how a good review he gave years ago ended up shuttering a restaurant. This is a strange business…

Anyway, I don’t know what happened at Maya’s this weekend, but I hope if you left with a bad impression, you’ll give them another chance.

This just in: Mac Edwards is selling McEwen’s on Monroe to his friend Burt Smythe. The two worked together at the Half Shell, and Smythe worked at Erling’s and also at McEwen’s for a while.   

Smythe starts working at McEwen’s soon as part of the transition, but it’s not official until May 1.  

Details are slim, but I’ll get more to you as I learn more. I do know that the concept of the restaurant isn’t supposed to change.

Here’s an email from a reader. Can anyone help?

I’ve come to Memphis (from Tokyo) to visit my parents for the holidays.  I saw your article in this morning’s newspaper, and I thought you might know where I can find some Peking Duck [I’m talking about the real thing:  whole duck prepared in the traditional manner, served with thin pancakes, sweet bean sauce, and julienned cucumbers/leeks (or reasonable equivalent)–Formosa’s Taipei Duck didn’t even come close].  If it needs to be ordered in advance, that’s not a problem.  (and if the restaurant also serves Shaoxing Chiew (the brown Chinese rice wine that is similar to an Oloroso Sherry), that would be a bonus).

Ciao Bella might open as early as today in the former Lulu Grill site on Erin Drive. Paul Tashie says they’re just waiting on the health department’s go-ahead. (But it’s the holidays and folks are off work., so call before you go and be sure they’re open:  205-2500)

What is fine dining?

I ask because there has been some discussion about this category of restaurant — whatever it is — in responses to several posts that Jennifer Biggs and I entered on the blog in the past week or so.

In writing about favorite restaurants, FIG said, “Sad to say, not any of the fine dining restaurants, very disappointing.”

When I asked FIG to elaborate about “fine dining” in Memphis, this was part of the response: “not … necessarily bad, just disappointing. They tend to fall into two categories here, (1) misguided hodgepodge of too busy plates with numerous ingredients that are confused as being creative … And (2) pseudo upscale Southern trying to reinterpret Southern cuisine by rehashing tired old ideas.”

Ouch!

And on the post about the pricing of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Chris Henderson, general manager of Equestria (where service is excellent), said this about fine dining in our area: " ... there is no fine dining in Memphis. No one measures up to the standard of service that our parents and grandparents once experienced. I would say that there are only a handful (of fine dining restaurants) left in the U.S."

Ouch, again! You can bet that the owners, chefs and managers of establishments like Chez Philippe and Erling Jensen would disagree with both of these viewpoints.

Perhaps we need to ascertain what fine dining really is.

Does a fine dining restaurant have to have white cloths and napkins on the tables and great china and utensils and glassware? Does fine dining imply an atmosphere of cool, subtle elegance or unabashed luxury? Do we know we’re in a fine dining establishment when we open the menu and see appetizer prices going up to $20 and main courses going up to $40 or more? Does the idea of fine dining imply a particular type of food that employs the best, if not luxury ingredients, creatively conceived and artfully and beautifully arranged? With emphasis, of course, on classic French cuisine? Or can fine dining be “American” or “fusion,” whatever those terms mean?

In a fine dining restaurant, does the waiter say, “Hi, my name is Steve and I’ll be taking care of you guys tonight”? Or do we count on waiters who exercise courtesy, discretion, helpfulness, efficiency and a certain amount of intuition, if not actual clairvoyance? Who are there without seeming to be there?

Has the seemingly relentless tide toward the casualization of American life and culture ruined everything that would contribute to fine dining? Is the “casually elegant” tier in restaurant dining merely a way of getting out of dressing up a little? (Jacket, yes; baseball cap, no.)

Taking the positive aspects and implications (or the negative) of the questions I have posed here, does Memphis (and the area) truly not have restaurants that qualify as "fine"? Does anybody care?

Come on, "fine dining" patrons, restaurant owners, chefs and managers and all you readers who wouldn't pay more than $25 for a meal, including drink, tax and tip, let us hear from you.

Photo credits:
1. The elegant table setting is from jupiterimages.com.
2. Daniel Boulud’s tuna tartare is from nibble.com.
3. This incredibly romantic corner of Michel Guerard’s restaurant is from vanin.be.
4. This dish, from Cafe Toulouse of Le Bernardin, is from shopping.beloblog.com.