Thanks to my best friend, the chef at Bizcaya Grill in the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, and my past positions as a waitress in formal dining rooms, this is what I know to be true concerning high-end hotel restaurants: They are part and parcel of a much larger corporation. As such, each employee, from dishwasher to executive chef, must follow a specific set of rules that were written not only to provide the best possible service but also to cause the least potential offense to customers. Typically, such regulations range from a no-cursing policy to a ban on facial hair and are laid out in an employee handbook that all hires are required to read and sign. Infractions and commendations are handled by the Human Resources Department, sort of an in-house FBI. And nobody gets away with anything; chewing gum on the job can be cause for dismissal; going to extra lengths to fulfill an unusual request can be... More >>>