European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The waiting game by Marian Burros new York times it s Only been about 10 years since american parents began to be thrilled to announce that their son or daughter had become a chef. Now being a chef is right up there with doctor or lawyer. The same cannot be said for being a waiter or waitress in the United states. Despite scattered efforts by restaurants to professionalize front of the House service through classes in the proper pronunciation of foreign dishes and presentation and serving of wines and food service in most american restaurants appears to be no better than it was 10 years ago. Some would say it is worse. Americans still tend to think of waiters As people biding their time Between other jobs particularly out of work actors. And that is How most of them treat the work. For years this Lack of professionalism has been glossed Over with uncomfortably Friendly service. Maybe there is a theory behind this customers Are unlikely to complain about bad service if the waiter is Friendly instead they feel sorry for him. I still resent a waiter who tells me his name but what i resent even More is the waiter or Mattre do hotel or Captain or manager or owner who puts an Arm on my shoulder in a gesture of intimacy As if we Are sharing some secret. Recently the manager of a restaurant put his Arm around my shoulder when he inquired How i liked my meal. Since i did no to recoil he must have assumed i considered his behaviour appropriate for As we left he threw his Arm around my shoulder again. I m not going Back. None of us is he put his Arm around everyone at our tableland the gesture is not the Only reason another is the incredibly bad service. The disappearing waiter act was compounded by waiters who at every course reached across a round table to serve the other guests instead of going around. Even after we specifically asked them not to Lay their bodies across our table they continued to do so throughout the meal. When service is not professional other gimmicks Are used to make it seem caring. This false sort of professionalism has taken a new turn in the last couple of years and probably reached its height of idiocy at another new York restaurant the other Day when not one but three waiters rushed Over to a friends table with a giant Pepper Mill eager to Sprinkle the grinding Over everything in sight. I remember the first time i was approached with a Pepper Mill in a restaurant. Imagine a restaurant where they cared enough about the food to offer something More than those tiny Little grains of pre ground Pepper. But it was a Long time ago and the invasion of the giant Mills has gotten out of hand. A Little freshly ground Pepper does wonders for a sizzling Steak or a simple salad of greens with a Vinaigrette dressing. But i do not need any on my poached Salmon shrimp cocktail or guacamole. And if i do it would be so much nicer to have a Pepper Mill on the table so that i could decide for myself after i had taken a bite. The friendliness in place of professionalism syndrome is followed closely by the  question. Consider this experience of a Friend customer Quot is the screwdriver made with fresh Orange juice Quot waiter  customer Quot it does t taste  waiter Quot of course its fresh we just opened the  or this incident customer Quot waiter i ordered a 1987 Sauvignon Blanc. This is an 88. Waiter Quot he. It  no explanation. No reduction in Price. Possibly just a new form of bait and switch. At the very least if the restaurant does not inform the Patron about the change in the wine list when the bottle is ordered it owes the Patron a Chance to select another bottle perhaps even on the House. But ignorance versus larceny reached its Peak on a recent visit to a restaurant in Washington. In this Case the Larcelous waitress must have assumed the customers were ignorant. When two of the four people at our table said they wished to split the Bill evenly by providing two credit cards a reasonably routine request the waitress said Quot we automatically add a 20 percent charge for  All our questions Shock and outrage did no to Budge her until we said the magic words Quot Why done to you Call Over the  she blanched visibly asked what All the fuss was about and said she would not add any charge to the Bills. We continued our demand to see the manager who insisted that he had never heard of such a practice. Quot the waitress is new Quot he said. Then Why Wasny to she trained there is no excuse for it. The Bill was paid with two credit cards a with a 10 percent tip. The perils and pleasures of summertime drink by . Guzda special to the Baltimore evening Sun the woman in White Linen pants and knit top held her stomach and hunched Over the Boardwalk. Her worried husband scanned the Street for the ambulance and Siren that blared louder. And the crowd along the Boardwalk tried to step Over the woman a dinner that had been us rejected on the wooden planks in front of the new five and dime. It was t food poisoning the emergency medical services technician explained later. It was too much. Alcohol and too much Sun combined with something a Little spicy like a pizza slice. Her body declared War and made her suddenly and embarrassingly ill. Quot we get More Calls for this than anything else Quot said Ray Redden emergency medical services technician for Ocean City my. Quot people just Don t think while they re sitting on the Beach All Day drinking Beer or not drinking anything and getting a sunburn. Then they take a Shower and go out to dinner. The first drink or food they eat and they re  the problem is dehydration said or. Victor Gong of doctors House Call network in Ocean City. People bake themselves sick on the Beach All Day and replenish their liquids with diuretics a or liquids that cause the body to lose fluids a like Beer and alcoholic drinks. Sailors and boaters for example on the water ail Day might As Well be Bobbing on a sea of Sand for All the attention they pay to essential fluids particularly the 90 percent that makeup their bodies. Quot one Guy was out on a boat All Day and drank several six packs of Beer. He was dehydrated by that. He also had a sunburn and he was delusional Quot said Gong who prescribed a treatment most people would prefer for martinis not bodies. Quot we put him in an ice tub and slowly hydrated  to enjoy the blazing sunsets from your Balcony after a Day of strenuous vacationing try the following popular drinks in moderation tropical illusion 1 ounce Vodka v2 ounce Blue Curacao 1/2 ounce Creme de banana 2 ounces Pina Colada mix like Coco Lopez 2 ounces pineapple juice add the ingredients to a blender with ice and mix. Goose Chaser 1 ounce dark rum 1 ounce amaretto six fresh strawberries 3 ounces Cream add ingredients to a blender with ice and mix. Dark and Stormy 1 ounce goslings Black Seal rum Ginger Beer which is like Ginger ale but snappier. Mix together and serve. Bahama mama 1 ounce Malibu Brand Coconut rum 1 ounce dark rum 1 ounce Brand 151 rum 6 ounces pineapple Orange juice dash of Grenadine shake it up and pour Over ice. By Sonja Heinze i read somewhere that pork was Safe to eat without prolonged cooking if it had first been Frozen at Zero degrees f or lower for a a a Quot number of Days. I think the number of Days was seven. A Elissa Rich Flourtown a. A representative of the . Department of agriculture a food safety and inspection service advises us that the Only reliable Way for a consumer to kill the Trichina larvae which might be in pork is to Cook the pork thoroughly. It s possible to Render the larvae non viable by freezing but there Are too Many variables to take such a risk. Freezing pork for the purpose of killing the larvae can be done in Industry where the conditions Are More controlled but it is not recommended in Home practice with pork thorough cooking is the Rule. I am concerned about Hydrogen. How bad is it what does it do to our health in be been told that its very bad for us and its in so Many foods. I wish i knew How to stay away from it. I Cook from scratch a lot but that Isnit always easy to do. A Thelma Glidewell Richmond ind. There a nothing wrong with Hydrogen in and of itself. Its the simplest and the lightest of the elements and we could t live without it water for instance is two parts Hydrogen and one part oxygen. I think what you re concerned about is a process called hydrogenation which is treating a food with Hydrogen to alter its molecular Structure this process is commonly used to Harden unsaturated fats and oils. In order to turn a liquid fat or Oil into a solid substance you have to hydrogenated it for instance if you grind up some peanuts and let them sit you will get Peanut Oil that rises to the top in liquid form. To eliminate this problem manufacturers hydrogenated the Oil to make it hard this is also done with Margarine. If you want to stay away from hydrogenated fats and oils read the labels of foods you buy. Health experts Tell us to avoid saturated fats of any kind those that turn hard at room temperature. This does t necessarily mean you can t eat any at All just done to overdo it. We have noticed that the oranges used in supermarkets to make fresh squeezed Orange juice Are simply taken out of crates and juiced without being washed. That makes us wonder about commercially prepared juices. Are the apples Grapefruit and oranges washed or Are they still covered with various pesticides ? a Marcia Blackwell Columbia to. While it would be impossible for me to Contact All the Many juice processors in the country the few that i checked this question out with assure me that they Are meticulous about washing the fruit before processing it. Washing the fruit is not Only in the Best interest of the consumer but also the processor who will do everything possible to keep contaminants out of the juice. Tropicana for instance scrubs oranges and grapefruits twice. Then the fruit is sliced in half and the inner Core is extracted by a Quot gentle process a the outside of the fruit not even coming into Contact with the juice. Even though supermarkets should Wash oranges before making juice there May be some Consolation in the fact that most oranges Are routinely washed right after they Are picked. I live alone and Only like the White meat of Turkey so i bought a Boneless breast of Turkey. In a not supposed to use Salt so i was shocked when i got the meat Home to read on the Label that the meat contained Salt Broth and other ingredients. This was Noia cooked breast it was raw. What is there for someone who cannot use Salt a j. Riordan Ventnor Heights . Most supermarkets carry two kinds of Turkey breasts one is injected with Broth Salt and oils to make it juicier and tastier the other is Plain and unadulterated. I found out from personal experience that if you want to have the Plain Turkey breast without additives you have to be careful to read the Small print on the package. If you want Plain fresh Turkey breast and done to see it in the meat Case ring the Butcher and Tell him what you want. Friday Junel 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17