224. A Restaurant Rant

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Hello and welcome back to the Drink Less Live Better podcast.

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I'm Sarah Williamson and you can find out more about me on my website, follow me on Instagram, or read my book for all insights and wisdom.

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Drink Less Live Better Related I have coaching spots open at the moment.

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Send me an email sarahinklesslivebetter.com and and ask for my calendar link.

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Book a slot and we can have a coffee and chat.

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I'll tell you about how coaching with me might look and you can tell me anything you want to offload at this moment. Let's get on with today's show. My rant about a restaurant Mr.

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W and I were invited to a really fancy restaurant for an anniversary party a few weeks ago.

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This party was laid on by one of Mr.

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W's clients, so I'm not going to tell you where it was, but it was a beautiful place in a fabulous building right in the centre of London.

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We arrived for this party looking pretty damn cool, if I may say so. Mr.

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W and I had put on our very fanciest outfits.

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I was wearing gorgeous heels, my hair looked fabulous, and even worn lipstick.

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We walked into this lovely restaurant and as we descended the stairs into the amazing basement, there were trays and trays

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of champagne being offered to the guests as they arrived.

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I said to the waiter, oh, that all looks very beautiful.

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What do you have on offer for somebody who doesn't drink alcohol?

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And he said to me, oh, I've got nothing here for you.

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Head on round to the bar and somebody will sort you out with something. So Mr.

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W and I walked around the corner to the bar.

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There were about four waiters wearing their very impressive uniforms waiting at the bar and then a bar manager standing just behind them.

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There was nobody waiting to be served at the bar at this moment because people were all enjoying their champagne.

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And I said to the barman, hello, I don't drink any alcohol.

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What do you have for me as an alternative to the champagne, please?

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And he paused, he stuttered, well, we haven't really got anything to offer you, actually.

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And I said, oh, that's such a shame not to have been thought of.

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And he said, I can get you a champagne glass, perhaps.

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Would you like something like a lime and soda in it?

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And I said, no, thank you, I don't think that quite fits the bill.

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And I paused and I smiled at him and he said, how about something like a peach puree with fizzy water in it?

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And I just smiled and I looked at him and at that point the person who I Assume is the bar manager stepped forward and said,

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oh, yes, because this is a private party.

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We haven't laid on the normal alcohol free options that we might have done.

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And I thought, that's such a shame for some of your guests, isn't it?

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And he didn't say anything to me.

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And I said, oh, I saw on your menu on the website that you have lots of interesting cocktails and mocktails.

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And he said, oh, oh yes, okay, yes, there are cocktails being served tonight, so I can make you one of those without the alcohol.

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And then he listed off some ingredients and I said, that would be lovely, thank you so much.

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And he made me the delicious alcohol free drink, quite begrudgingly, but he did make it and he pushed it across the bar to me and I said to Mr.

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Williamson, oh, what are you going to drink then?

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And he had sort of been watching this unfold and said, I guess I'll have a fizzy water, please.

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And the barman looked at him, got a glass out, poured about 2/3 of the glass with fizzy water, didn't put any ice or a slice

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in it, and, and pushed it across the bar to him without a flicker of a smile or acknowledgement. Mr.

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W and I picked our drinks up and walked off to enjoy the rest of the glorious evening and the amazing food.

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Why am I telling you this story?

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I'm telling you this story because I felt such a sense of disappointment.

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Even though I haven't drunk alcohol for over five and a half years, I still feel sad not to have been thought of at a night out like this.

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I will always be asked whether I'm vegetarian or vegan, or whether I require a diet that doesn't include gluten or perhaps lactose.

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When people are asking for your dietary choices in situations like this, they're only too happy to talk about what you might or might not eat. Why?

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Why are we not talking about whether you do or don't drink?

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And why are we not making provision for people who don't drink?

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There could be any number of reasons why we're not having a drink, and I don't need to list them off.

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But let's just start with maybe you don't drink, and then maybe you're pregnant and then maybe you're on medication. It just doesn't matter.

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Lots of people choose not to drink alcohol.

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Let's celebrate that and give them something else to drink instead.

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The food was served, it was really nice, and then it was time to pick up the next drinks and there was a whole huge bar area

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set up with I think it was probably between 7 and 10 different types of wine that then you could use your bar tokens and pick up your wine. There was no alcohol free wine.

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I wasn't surprised by this point I'd had a glass of fizzy water as my other drink.

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And of course there are so many amazing options that the restaurant could have bought in for this event.

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There are so many good alcohol free wines that could have been showcased and celebrated and could have fed into the story

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of how wonderful and inclusive this restaurant is.

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But they didn't take that chance and it is disappointing.

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I'm not going to tell you we didn't have a lovely night out because we absolutely did.

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And when we left we walked home over Waterloo Bridge back to the train station, had a really good chat, stopped for a coffee,

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got the train home and felt really happy about having spent a really lovely evening together.

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I'm not going to tell you anything about the fact that the drinking stuff ruined our night in any kind of way, shape or form, because it didn't.

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But it does just sometimes take the shine off things and it's so unnecessary. Please, fancy restaurants do better. Thank you for listening in today.

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Check out the show notes for resources and ways to work with me one to one and P.S. i believe in you.