Emma’s Food Grievances: Paying for Bread
I eat often, a lot and with great pleasure, and I regularly notice things. Often they’re positive things, but it also frequently happens that something annoys me immensely. Whether that’s justified or not, sometimes I just need to vent. That’s why there’s the Emma’s Food Grievances column, this time featuring a classic from the hospitality industry: paying for bread.
When you go out for dinner with your friends, you’d ideally have the whole table filled with food. Full of enthusiasm, you call out all the orders to the waiting staff. Meatballs, calamari, fries, naturally a salad for some vitamins, oh, and throw in that pulled pork too. “Would you like some bread with butter as well?” Of course, there’s only one answer to that: an emphatic yes. It’s just a shame that, at the end of the evening, that bread suddenly appears on the bill three times over.
Sopping up sauce
Bread with butter should come with the meal. Period. People often get worked up about restaurants that don’t serve tap water, and I completely agree with them, by the way, but as far as I’m concerned, bread belongs in the same category. If I’ve eaten fish or meat with a good sauce, I want to eat every last bit of that sauce with a nice piece of bread. It’s simply part of the meal.
Secretly lining their pockets
Look, if you’re sitting at a bar somewhere and not having dinner, I can still understand it. By all means charge €3.50 for a bowl of olives too; I simply won’t order it. But if you’re really eating somewhere for an entire evening, I think it’s ridiculous for a restaurant to charge for bread. And often they do it secretly, too. “Some extra bread?” “Yes, please!” Boom, four portions of bread for table 21. Score!
Like in Italy
If you really insist on charging for bread, at least be transparent about it. In Italy, for example, you often pay coperto per person: a few euros for cutlery, bread and water. It’s always clearly stated on the menu, and the water and bread are unlimited. Totally fine! But please stop with the upsell of bread with a complete meal; I’m already ordering more than enough.
Read all about Emma’s other food grievances here.
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