One of the reasons i get the weekend version of the NY Times is because it provides a pretty comprehensive listing of events during the weekend.
One of the listings that caught my eye was an exhibition of art photography prints by Edward Fausty.
Pretty normal you would think, right ?
Well, this ‘exhibition’ was at a restaurant. The Sawadee Thai restaurant on Newark Av, in Jersey City. (With pretty rave reviews )
It didnt really strike me as an odd venue for an exhibition and i thought we could also ‘grab a bite’ while checking out the prints.
What followed was quite a disappointment
The food was good, the waiters polite(rude ones really tend to get my goat) and a black/chic decor with live orchids on every table.
What was disappointing was the way, the photographs were arranged. They were on on the 2 side walls with no focussed lighting and no information beside them to indicate that they were ‘Art Prints’ and available for sale for $800 to $1200.
The waitress vaguely knew something about the photographs being available for sale and asked me to talk to the manager at the bar for more details. She also very helpfully pointed out that i could see more prints if i went down the corridor on my way to the loo.
I did go to use the restroom, but only because i wanted to see the additional prints. It was even more irritating.
The corridor lead to the kitchen and was even more dimly lit than the restaurant and i could barely see the pictures. At the end of the corridor in front of the restroom, there were even a couple of paintings from the previous exhibition.
Ok, enough of the cribbing.
What was fantastic was the idea of having an exhibition in a restaurant…I know its been done before by the more expensive / high class joints, but this is the first time i have seen it done by a more regular joint..
Ordinarily, i wouldnt have been able to break the clutter and choose Sawadee. It was the exhibition which got me in. I am sure, there must have been others who come there for the exhibitions, which change on a regular basis by showcasing local artists.
Agreed, it may not be very beneficial for the artist (since neither the waiters nor the manager were well informed nor very motivated to make a sale and the info placard kept on the table looked like a ‘special of the day’)…but then again, any publicity is good publicity for the artist.
And ofcourse, the restaurant builds a regular tribe (quoting Seth Godin here ) of patrons.
So if you are a restaurateur or planning a new one, consider using art as a medium to market yourself.
And while i am at it, i would ensure some of the following:
1.) Ensure dimmed lighting in the restaurant with focused lighting on the prints
2.) Conduct a preliminary ‘training session’ for the waiters and staff so that they atleast know the artist’s name
3.) Display the list of past, current and upcoming exhibitions on your website
4.) Develop a subscription list so that regulars can be ‘informed’
Ok. A very long post, so go have fun feeding the 5 senses
The next time you have a tiff with your better half and feel like getting a divorce, or worse still, are in the middle of getting a divorce, listen to some sage advice which the esteemed judges of our supreme court have for you here…
I am in shock.
Not because of the advice per se, but because who has doled it out and at what forum…I mean its the Supreme Court that we are talking about here and these are supposed to be very seasoned judges…Not a bunch of fools from whom you might expect stuff like “Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (Listen to whatever your wife says) etc etc..
A divorce is nothing to joke about,especially for some poor guy who hasn’t been able to get out of his marriage for 17 years…
How do you sue a Supreme Court Judge ?? Where do you go if you want to file a complaint against their brazen comments….
Recently came across this website, SugarStacks.com which shows you the amount of sugar in some of the everyday foods we eat…
Have always had this niggling feeling that we weren’t eating healthy stuff, but the amount of sugar was just mind boggling..
To top it all, saw the documentary, ‘Super Size Me’ yesterday which chronicles what may happen to you if you were to eat solely at McD’s for a month…click here to see the film online
To say that i am scared is an understatement…hopefully, my new found obsession with eating more green stuff will last for sometime
Roberto owns a cab company which i occasionally use for cabs to the airport. He is polite, punctual and his cars are nice and clean.
On my last trip to the airport, he asked me the name of the cologne i was wearing..
Hugo Boss !! was my short reply before i got on the phone..Nice perfume was his reply.
Today, he asked me the same question. Since i was wearing HB again, i told him so..
“Very nice perfume”, he replied in his thick Italian accent.
For a moment, i was wondering if he was just being nice or if he genuinely liked perfumes (or maybe i was wearing too much of it…)
We got talking and after he told about me how he was separated from his wife but they still run the business together, how she likes to shop and women in NYC are ‘difficult’, a case of suicide near my apartment bldg, how not to have kids coz when they come, you can forget about travel, etc etc, he casually asked if i was coming back the same day….
I was returning the same evening and he offered to pick me up.
By this time, we had reached the airport and when I offered him my credit card, he did something which i hadnt expected.
He asked me to pay when i returned later in the evening…and asked me to give him a call when i left from Boston. He would be there.
My flight was delayed by 3 hours but he was there, waiting on the curb…
Well, its normal for limo companies to pick up people but then, he also offered to let me have a smoke in the cab
Well incase you are wondering where this post is leading to… Customer Service in America is pretty shodddy, so Roberto’s attitude (and actions ) were a refreshing change…
Dont know if this will continue when the economy bounces back and business is good as usual (with the result that service quality will tank)…
Hope it does and till then, will continue to call Roberto for my early morning jaunts to the airport.
Incase you live in the Jersey City / Queens area, he can be reached at the following numbers 201 892 5182 / 201 726 2921
I used to blog earlier at http://kihba.blogspot.com
Had been thinking about getting a dedicated domain name for a long long time….Now that i look at my old blog, realise its been almost 6 months since i wrote anything…
Sure a lot has happened in the last 6 months…moved to the US (Dallas)…then moved from Dallas to New Jersey…got married…etc, etc, you get the drift.
Seems like my procrastination is not over as yet…its almost a month since i registered this domain…
hopefully, the posting will more regular…though the direction is going to change a bit…will have more stuff on stuff that i like including Digital media, advertising, photography, startups, customer service, etc, etc.
Got a haircut today. Paid $25 for it. Am pissed off( Or rather was..)
And no, its not because it paid 25 bucks for a stupid haircut…
It was because of the attitude of the barber. He just didnt care and was very ‘off handed’ if you know what i mean..dont think i am ever going back there…
P.S: Hope you appreciate the humour in such tragic circumstances. Somebody sure did to come up with the presentation. Since i received this as a fwd, if you are the original creator of the ppt, pls comment and i will credit you for it.
Rock music in Hindi(lyrics in Hindi) with a very distinctive indian identity…instead of rehashing the traditional rock legends as has been the norm till now
Check out this video …and the audience going wild
For those who dont know what i am talking about, the context is here !
