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lagniappe

1. A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer's purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit.

Lagniappe derives from New World Spanish la apa, 'the gift,' and ultimately from Quechua yapay, 'to give more.' The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans and there acquired a French spelling. It is still used in the Gulf states, especially southern Louisiana, to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean 'an extra or unexpected gift or benefit.'

Whether you call it Lagniappe, amuse, baker's dozen or boot, we have all been the beneficiaries of a little something extra provided by an owner, waitstaff, parking attendant, cashier, etc.

I admit this is my unashamed bait to get our ever increasing membership to participate at least once or twice in the conversations here. This is simple and quick, a short note, it doesn't need to contain quotes or quips or anything special....just let me know what you had and why it was your favorite.

Oh alrighty, I will start off....

At a company event a while back, I mentioned to one of the caterers something about being unable to keep jars of caviar more than a day once they are opended and I wondered aloud if they got to eat the leftovers....as I was leaving and the party was grinding to a halt, the caterer swiftly moved to shove a small package in my pocket, outside I discovered two- 1-oz. jars of sevruga, each about three quarters full. MMMMMMMM eggs with eggs, the next morning!!!

pd

The mention of Indian Boundary Park in the Things TO Do With Kids thread reminded me of this one.When we used to go back and forth from the High Ridge Y there used to be a supermarket on Touhy between Western and California.Maybe Kohl or Eagle.We would stop in and receive free cookies.Anyone remember the name of the supermarket?Thanks in advance.

Frontera Grill, about a year ago. Our server that night was extremely attentive and knowledgeable; he brought out samples of sauces to help us decide on our entrees and a tasting glass of Riesling in addition to the Pinot Noir I ordered. At the end of our meal, we were too full for dessert, but he brought us a scoop of sugarbomb strawberry ice cream. These nice gestures made the evening very memorable.

My parents and brother celebrated an anniversary at Oceanique in Evanston in September and received lots of freebies from the staff. My brother wondered aloud about the "japanese breakfast" course of the tasting menu and the waiter brought it to him to try. My mom loved the goat cheese on her salad, and asked the waiter what it was called. At the end of the meal he brought her an entire package of cheese to take home. My parents loved the meal and were happy with all the extra attention. They will be back.

I was leaving a Grateful Dead concert and someone handed me a bagel with cream cheese, sprouts, and tomato. It was the best thing I ever tasted and I shared it with those around me.

Following a concert at the MCA, my friend and I decided to go to Spiaggia's for dessert.

We sat at the bar (since it was a spur of the moment decision, I was wearing jeans so they couldn't seat us in the main dining room, which was fine). It took awhile for a server to finally show up, and after asking for water from one server, another appeared a few minutes later asking us the same thing....then proceeded to bring us the wrong kind of water.

So it wasn't exactly the stellar start we were expecting, and after looking over the dessert menu and not being necessarily wowed by anything, we were about to get up and go, when the server returned for our order. We went w/ a peach tart w/ ricotta ice cream and honeycomb.

While we were waiting, I noticed that the man standing behind my friend was chef Tony Mantuano, whom I recognized from previous Slow Food events. We made eye contact and he walked over to chat with us. I told him I remembered how good his roast pork was at Slow Food, and my friend asked him which dessert he recommended. He said his favorite, though not necessarily the most popular, was the moscato gelatin w/ fruit, which my friend had almost ordered.

We eventually got our tart (which was only OK considering the caliber of this restaurant...great nectarines--though the menu said peaches--but nothing either of us couldn't do in our own kitchens), but then the waiter came back bearing the moscato gelatin dessert "compliments of the chef."

That and the neat glass box of dessert "amuse buches" ended up making the experience more than the main dessert we came for and ensured that I for one would make a point to come back.

Hattyn, the supermarket on Touhy was originally Mayflower, later turned into a Kohl's (different from the Kohl's department stores) and finally ending its life as a Butera before becoming an auto parts store. My in-laws used to live a block away on Fitch.

At the Belgian chocolate shop on Main in Evanston - this was several years ago, right after I moved to Chicago - I wandered in on a September Saturday afternoon. There was a couple in the store, somewhat touristy - not sympathetic to the Old World atmosphere of the place. The lady asked to try some of the shell-shaped chocolates on display, but the woman behind the counter said they didn't give out samples. The couple left in a few minutes without buying anything.

After they were gone, the woman at the counter and I struck up a conversation. She asked if I was a milk chocolate or a dark chocolate person. I said that I was milk chocolate but that my fiancee was helping me appreciate dark chocolate. Whereupon she reached in the case and handed me a little dark chocolate shell.

It was lovely.

Alriemer