We got the kids situated with sitters and set out for Vail. We walked around the town for awhile stopping in some of my favorite shops. These are the kind of shops you can spend an evening just looking because the prices would evoke heart failure. I had made reservations several weeks ago at a very popular Vail restaurant and we headed that direction when the time came. We were seated in a cozy booth and mulled over the menu. It was then that I noticed that they had “Turbot” on the menu. This was amusing because last week I had come across that word for the first time and blog-Stedman had looked it up on Wikipedia to pacify my curiosity. According to Wikipedia, turbot is a desired white fish and is pronounced “turbit”. Wikipedia also mentioned that many people assume it is a French word and pronounce it “turbo”, but that is really not the case and the French actually pronounce it “turbit”. We related this story to our friends because we thought it was funny that we are so crazy that we actually looked up this word. When the waiter came back to take our order, one of our dinner companions asked how the “turbit” was prepared. The waiter patiently answered his question and pronounced it back in a corrected sort of way “turbo”. This caused peals of laughter across the table. The waiter then asked if there was an inside joke and I explained we were crazy and had looked the word up on Wikipedia recently and that it was pronounced “turbit”. The waiter handled it really well and made a little joke that the chef called it “turbo” which meant he called it “turbo”. We continued to order. I went ahead an ordered the turbot, 2 at the table ordered beef and the other ordered a lamb dish. Soon our salads came and we started enjoying them. It was then that we realized that they hadn’t taken our drink orders and we started looking for our waiter. He seemed very occupied with relating his ski adventures to fellow waiters and didn’t make eye-contact. Our table was right by the kitchen and right in front of the computer where all the orders were entered so it became pretty obvious that we were being ignored. Finally, we grabbed him and got something other than ice water to drink. Then we sat and sat and sat. An hour went by and we still hadn’t seen our entrees. We tried to ask, but were still being ignored. Finally, the food came and instead of what we ordered we ended up with 2 turbot orders, one beef and one lamb. We sent the second turbot order back. The problem at this point is that we just waited over an hour for them to cook our food so any replacement beef would arrive well after everyone at the table was finished so we decided to just share what we have and make the best of it. Several waitstaff came by to offer replacement beef, but we just were sharing. The waiter came by and apologized stating that it was his fault. The manager came by and tried to make things right, but really at this point we were just eating and they had done enough. He later came back to offer dessert and coffee which we took him up on. My dessert had a candle in it and a “happy birthday” written in chocolate which was very nice. Throughout the dinner we had been laughing and talking and having a great time. The turbot mix-up was handled in good mood at our table, but we had mentioned to the manager that it had taken them over an hour to bring the wrong order to us and our waiter had spent the evening ignoring us. In the end, the manager sent us on our way without a bill…any bill. That was surprising, but honestly probably the right thing to do. It was a situation where none of us would have ever returned to the restaurant without this gesture. So the question of the night is…was the turbot the root of all our angst?
We got the kids situated with sitters and set out for Vail. We walked around the town for awhile stopping in some of my favorite shops. These are the kind of shops you can spend an evening just looking because the prices would evoke heart failure. I had made reservations several weeks ago at a very popular Vail restaurant and we headed that direction when the time came. We were seated in a cozy booth and mulled over the menu. It was then that I noticed that they had “Turbot” on the menu. This was amusing because last week I had come across that word for the first time and blog-Stedman had looked it up on Wikipedia to pacify my curiosity. According to Wikipedia, turbot is a desired white fish and is pronounced “turbit”. Wikipedia also mentioned that many people assume it is a French word and pronounce it “turbo”, but that is really not the case and the French actually pronounce it “turbit”. We related this story to our friends because we thought it was funny that we are so crazy that we actually looked up this word. When the waiter came back to take our order, one of our dinner companions asked how the “turbit” was prepared. The waiter patiently answered his question and pronounced it back in a corrected sort of way “turbo”. This caused peals of laughter across the table. The waiter then asked if there was an inside joke and I explained we were crazy and had looked the word up on Wikipedia recently and that it was pronounced “turbit”. The waiter handled it really well and made a little joke that the chef called it “turbo” which meant he called it “turbo”. We continued to order. I went ahead an ordered the turbot, 2 at the table ordered beef and the other ordered a lamb dish. Soon our salads came and we started enjoying them. It was then that we realized that they hadn’t taken our drink orders and we started looking for our waiter. He seemed very occupied with relating his ski adventures to fellow waiters and didn’t make eye-contact. Our table was right by the kitchen and right in front of the computer where all the orders were entered so it became pretty obvious that we were being ignored. Finally, we grabbed him and got something other than ice water to drink. Then we sat and sat and sat. An hour went by and we still hadn’t seen our entrees. We tried to ask, but were still being ignored. Finally, the food came and instead of what we ordered we ended up with 2 turbot orders, one beef and one lamb. We sent the second turbot order back. The problem at this point is that we just waited over an hour for them to cook our food so any replacement beef would arrive well after everyone at the table was finished so we decided to just share what we have and make the best of it. Several waitstaff came by to offer replacement beef, but we just were sharing. The waiter came by and apologized stating that it was his fault. The manager came by and tried to make things right, but really at this point we were just eating and they had done enough. He later came back to offer dessert and coffee which we took him up on. My dessert had a candle in it and a “happy birthday” written in chocolate which was very nice. Throughout the dinner we had been laughing and talking and having a great time. The turbot mix-up was handled in good mood at our table, but we had mentioned to the manager that it had taken them over an hour to bring the wrong order to us and our waiter had spent the evening ignoring us. In the end, the manager sent us on our way without a bill…any bill. That was surprising, but honestly probably the right thing to do. It was a situation where none of us would have ever returned to the restaurant without this gesture. So the question of the night is…was the turbot the root of all our angst?
Prolly? What happened? The waiter relayed the correct pronunciation to the chef, who scoffed. Then Googled. Then was humbled yet frazzled and had Turbot on the brain hence the screw up. The waiter who ignored you? Local ski bum just waitin’ tables until the next powder.
Happy Birthday!!! We will have to do something fun when you get back (you old lady)..Gotta say I admire you courage to order something you can’t pronounce. I’d be like Y’all got any of that Chicken fried steak up here. HA HA ..
Biw–I loved the price! thanks.
R–you should really try it…it isn’t as weird as I made it sound!
HC–can’t wait and I couldn’t/wouldn’t come within a yard of anything snail based so you would be safe with me.
M2B–gemius! maybe I can get something else free with your plan
Carmen–I LOVE that you are crazy and agree…maybe this useless knowledge can come in handy for you as well!
NW–I can share my secret info if you need some suggestions. The snow is great and you will have a fabulous time!
Happy Birthday…can’t think of a better way to spend one than skiing. I just booked my trip to Vail, I so need it!
Happy Belated Birthday! Just to reconfirm what you learned from wikipedia, dictionary.com also says that it’s ‘tur-buht’ not ‘turbo.’ I had to look it up–I’m just that crazy, too!
OOHHHH…there you go, taking over Vail and pissing off the locals. What’s next? Any other capers planned? Maybe you could start pronouncing “Aspens” wrong and see what happens. Like, “Oh, look how beautiful those Ashpuns look in the sunset.” Or something like that. This could be a whole new movement, simply for my amusement.
Happy Bday To You! Tammy & I have something for you when you get back…
For some reason, turbot sounds like something that should be snail-based & I wouldn’t even ask what it was! 🙂
Happy belated birthday.
I would have had no idea either what turbot was OR how to pronounce it. (Nor would I probably eat it…so maybe that says something!)
That is a good question, but hey! A free dinner! That’s a great birthday gift! Happy belated birthday!