Sad News

Gourmet has a lot of die-hard fans and among them is this couple (the woman with the bushy hair and her husband who always smiles and says "thank you, thank you so much") that comes (no joke) once a week, usually on the weekends. They would walk down from their house on the Plateau and have dinner, then walk back up. Everyone at Gourmet, even the kitchen staff, knows them.

Every time they'd come in and patiently wait for us to seat them (all the while the husband keeps saying "thank you, thank you so much"). We'd give them the menu and they'd always religiously study it, as if they're really thinking about what to order, even though we know their orders by heart now: a chicken chow mien, chicken chop suey, some green tea and a glass of water (it's always this order week after week; I've only seen them deviate from it once).

They aren't the most generous tippers but they do give 10% but mostly, they tip us with their friendliness, their appreciation of everything we do and of course, their coming back the next week. They're also very talkative and if you ever start a conversation with them (which is highly likely), don't expect to get free without dedicating 10 minutes of your time. The couple, particularly the man, is one of those rare human beings that, even though they don't really know you, gives off this impression that he genuinely cares about you and is really interested in what you have to say. They also remember what you said from previous conversations.

So last night, as I was working, they came in and the usual, they ordered their food, etc. And as I was talking to them, I found out that they will be moving to somewhere 1 hour away which means that they will no longer be able to come for dinner weekly. They did promise to come back as often as they can though.

Even though I don't actually know them (I don't even know their names), I do feel saddened. Good customers aren't hard to find but GREAT customers like these two, very rare. It's like saying goodbye to friends. In fact, I dare say I see them more often than some of my real friends.