Failed proposals, unruly children, unrulier adults… what\u2019s going on in Auckland restaurants?<\/p>\n
Why is there so much sex in restaurants? Don\u2019t you people have beds? <\/p>\n
\n When I first asked the city\u2019s top restaurateurs to share the weirdest things they\u2019d seen at work, I was surprised by a selection of
\n stories that would have been at home in Penthouse Forum. So I went back to them and asked them to keep their answers PG. For the most part they complied \u2026\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI was cooking at an event at the top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge,\u201d reports one. <\/p>\n
\u201cPart way through, a diner got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. He\u2019d organised for a drone to film the whole thing. I still remember the woman\u2019s response: \u2018if you think I\u2019d say yes to something like this, you clearly don\u2019t know me\u2019. The man stood back up and the drone hovered for a second, then flew away. The worst thing was we all had to stay up there with them for the next couple of hours.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cOne night I spotted two children crouching next to the wall,\u201d recalled another. \u201cTheir parents weren\u2019t watching them. I looked closer and one of them was sticking a fork in and out of the electrical socket while the other turned the switch on and off. That\u2019s why we now have a rule: no children we don\u2019t know.\u201d <\/p>\n
Some restaurateurs were either too sheltered or too discreet to participate in this survey. Then there were others who couldn\u2019t stop once they\u2019d started… <\/p>\n
\u201cHow about well-known law firm partners scouring the kitchen for cream chargers to get 39 seconds of joy with a balloon?\u201d one suggested. \u201cOr the guest who requested \u2018nothing cooked\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne time, some big noter ordered our most expensive bottle of red wine, then complained it was corked. We brought him a replacement bottle and he told us it was corked too. My quick thinking maitre d\u2019 went away and came back with the first bottle, disguised as a third option. \u2018Finally!\u2019 our guest said. \u2018This one is perfect\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n
What’s the worst behaviour you’ve ever seen in a restaurant?<\/p>\n
\n
Share your stories with Jesse Mulligan<\/p>\n