I thought I'd share a story that, to me, exemplifies both the frustration and inefficiency inherent in the Schwa system, but also the fact that these folks really do seem to care about sharing great food with their customers.

I tried to make reservations for my wife's birthday in March. After calling and leaving a message, I got a call back from Chef Carlson about 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I missed his call, but he left a message saying they had space and to call back to confirm that I wanted the reservation. I called back as soon as I got his message and left another message confirming that we wanted the spot. I then never heard back, but assumed we had a spot.

We showed up the evening of my wife's birthday and were told they had no record of a reservation for us. Nonetheless, they seated us and we had an amazing meal (the 9 course menu). They were nothing but friendly and gracious about the presence of 4 unexpected diners. So, while the reservation making experience (and the failure of communication) was frustrating, the folks at Schwa never made us feel like it was our fault and didn't bat an eye and making it work. And the meal was, as had been previous meals at Schwa, really something special.

efood wrote:I tried to make reservations for my wife's birthday in March. After calling and leaving a message, I got a call back from Chef Carlson about 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I missed his call, but he left a message saying they had space and to call back to confirm that I wanted the reservation. I called back as soon as I got his message and left another message confirming that we wanted the spot. I then never heard back, but assumed we had a spot.

We showed up the evening of my wife's birthday and were told they had no record of a reservation for us. Nonetheless, they seated us and we had an amazing meal (the 9 course menu). They were nothing but friendly and gracious about the presence of 4 unexpected diners. So, while the reservation making experience (and the failure of communication) was frustrating, the folks at Schwa never made us feel like it was our fault and didn't bat an eye and making it work. And the meal was, as had been previous meals at Schwa, really something special.

Folks-

I think efood just found everyone a way around the reservations system. You show up, tell the chef that you made the reservation, and then get seated anyway. Problem solved.

It seems to me that the bad reservation system is wasting potential customers' time and wasting Schwa's time. So why not simply fix it? (kennyz suggested a number of ways in an earlier post.) A win-win.

efood wrote:I tried to make reservations for my wife's birthday in March. After calling and leaving a message, I got a call back from Chef Carlson about 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I missed his call, but he left a message saying they had space and to call back to confirm that I wanted the reservation. I called back as soon as I got his message and left another message confirming that we wanted the spot. I then never heard back, but assumed we had a spot.

We showed up the evening of my wife's birthday and were told they had no record of a reservation for us. Nonetheless, they seated us and we had an amazing meal (the 9 course menu). They were nothing but friendly and gracious about the presence of 4 unexpected diners. So, while the reservation making experience (and the failure of communication) was frustrating, the folks at Schwa never made us feel like it was our fault and didn't bat an eye and making it work. And the meal was, as had been previous meals at Schwa, really something special.

The word I'd use, instead of "frustrating," would be "unacceptable."

Re Mike G's observation that there had been 87 posts in a row not talking about Schwa's food, I think (with respect) that this is irrelevant for two reasons. One has already been noted by sundevilpeg (that this thread is not about the food). The second, to me, is even more important: that LTH, from the time I joined two-and-a-half years ago, has never been only about food. It has been mainly about the Chicago restaurant experience, which includes food, and a whole lot more. There are many who find the food of such paramount importance that all else pales in comparison, and that is valid. There are others who are interested, additionally, in other aspects of the restaurant experience, and that is also valid. LTH has always been a place that welcomed both groups.

Hello all,

I wanted to give you an update on my issue, which was needing to know if Chef Carlson could accommodate someone who has a severe allergy to all seafood. I already have a reservation for the end of May, for 6 of us doing the 9 course menu.

I was already downtown for other stuff last night, so I stopped in to the restaurant at about 4:30. I immediately was met by Chef Carlson, who I could tell was a bit apprehensive about an early walk in. When I told him who I was, reminding him of the phone call and the letters I had sent, he immediately gave me a warm reception.

This was the first time I had met him and he was an extremely nice guy. I could tell they were rushing around to get the night's service ready, so I made it short. My impression however is that he is not an egotist or any of the other negative personality traits attributed to him in earlier posts. I think he's just concentrating on the food and just hasn't gotten the front office stuff together.

His response to me about the allergy issue was "Brother, we'll do whatever we have to. It's not a problem". Then he apologized for not getting back to me sooner. Issue solved, and I'm a happy camper again. I'm looking forward to the dinner. I'll likely follow up with a note in the mail closer to the date of the reservation just to remind him of our special need.

All the best,
John

Thank you, John, I am glad to hear that it was satisfactorily resolved and, I must say, not surprised to read your first-hand impressions of Michael Carlson.

Perhaps the moderators should consider starting a board called Non-Food Restaurant Talk.

One thing I should have added to my previous post. Based on the way they were rushing around to get ready for their service, I would definitely NOT walk in to try to set up a future reservation.

I guess I was simply lucky a few months back because I was able to leave a message for a reservation request upon my first phone call. A few days later, Chef Carlson himself returned my call offering available options. Since a particular time/date was unimportant, I was able to secure a reservation quite easily.

In Chef Carlson's defense, I don't think the aforementioned voicemail issues are motivated by any kind of malice. Keep in mind this guy (and his restaurant) have experienced a roller coaster ride in the past few years. I can't even imagine the type of demand for reservations he is experiencing lately with all of the recent press (TOC, NY Times, etc.). For what it's worth, the food IS absolutely worth the challenge of obtaining a reservation.

Disclosure: I don't know Chef Carlson personally. I've simply been a fan of his cooking for a few years and have enjoyed dining at Schwa on two occasions.

I think Schwa is currently experiencing a demand that FAR exceeds the supply - similar to what Kuma's has been going through also. What are the options? Expand the restaurant? (Not likely.) Wait out the demand for things to return to a more manageable level? (More likely). Hire someone more adept at managing some of the extraneous restaurant operation activities? (Possibly)

My three cents.

Mike G wrote:Thank you, John, I am glad to hear that it was satisfactorily resolved and, I must say, not surprised to read your first-hand impressions of Michael Carlson.

Perhaps the moderators should consider starting a board called Non-Food Restaurant Talk.

If the direction of this thread was understood early on, then it would have nested better in Other Culinary Chat. It certainly wasn't a restaurant review.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Mike G wrote:Thank you, John, I am glad to hear that it was satisfactorily resolved and, I must say, not surprised to read your first-hand impressions of Michael Carlson.

Perhaps the moderators should consider starting a board called Non-Food Restaurant Talk.

If the direction of this thread was understood early on, then it would have nested better in Other Culinary Chat. It certainly wasn't a restaurant review.

Regards,

C2,
Is that an official LTH position on behalf of the Moderators, or just your opinion? I disagree with it completely, but will abide by it in the future if this is what the folks behind the site have decided, as I respect you and all of the Moderators greatly. It seems to me that Eating Out in Chicago should be the place for information about a specific restaurant that might help people decide whether or not to go to that particular restaurant. That's largely what this thread is, imo.
Kennyz

Perhaps so, if there were much actual information in the thread. Personally, there were a number of occasions when it reminded me of this:

Rufus T. Firefly: I'd be unworthy of the high trust that's been placed in me if I didn't do everything in my power to keep our beloved Freedonia in peace with the world. I'd be only too happy to meet with Ambassador Trentino, and offer him on behalf of my country the right hand of good fellowship. And I feel sure he will accept this gesture in the spirit of which it is offered. But suppose he doesn't. A fine thing that'll be. I hold out my hand and he refuses to accept. That'll add a lot to my prestige, won't it? Me, the head of a country, snubbed by a foreign ambassador. Who does he think he is, that he can come here, and make a sap of me in front of all my people? Think of it - I hold out my hand and that hyena refuses to accept. Why, the cheap ball-pushing swine, he'll never get away with it I tell you, he'll never get away with it.

[Trentino enters]

Rufus T. Firefly: So, you refuse to shake hands with me, eh?

[slaps Trentino with his glove]

Mike G wrote:Perhaps so, if there were much actual information in the thread. Personally, there were a number of occasions when it reminded me of this:

Rufus T. Firefly: I'd be unworthy of the high trust that's been placed in me if I didn't do everything in my power to keep our beloved Freedonia in peace with the world. I'd be only too happy to meet with Ambassador Trentino, and offer him on behalf of my country the right hand of good fellowship. And I feel sure he will accept this gesture in the spirit of which it is offered. But suppose he doesn't. A fine thing that'll be. I hold out my hand and he refuses to accept. That'll add a lot to my prestige, won't it? Me, the head of a country, snubbed by a foreign ambassador. Who does he think he is, that he can come here, and make a sap of me in front of all my people? Think of it - I hold out my hand and that hyena refuses to accept. Why, the cheap ball-pushing swine, he'll never get away with it I tell you, he'll never get away with it.

[Trentino enters]

Rufus T. Firefly: So, you refuse to shake hands with me, eh?

[slaps Trentino with his glove]

Duck Soup was a flop when it came out, and later came to be seen as a masterpiece. Perhaps you'll think the same of this thread over time.

If we're talking absurdist masterpieces, you could be right.

FWIW, I think there is a lot of actual information in this thread that would inform someone about whether they wanted to eat at Schwa or not.

I learned that:

1) Getting a reservation can be a real odyssey. You should be ready to have patience and persistence.

2) Some people attribute this to supply/demand. (Personally, I think that's a separate issue - usually, when demand exceeds supply, the business accommodates that, in this case, by paying someone's sister $7/hr to answer the phone and clean out the inbox.) Some people attribute this to indifference on the part of the chef/owner and take it personally.

3) Sometimes, even though you're driven to drink by the phone tag and lack of communication leading up to the dining experience, the chef's pleasantness during the experience will make up for it. (It wouldn't for me -- there's some type of psychological diagnosis for those kinds of mind games -- torture? abuse?)

4) Michael Carlson has this innate, telepathic ability to know when people are unavailable when he returns calls (i.e., on planes, in a client meeting, etc.)

To sum, I think this is a very informative thread for someone who has either attempted, or is thinking of attempting to reserve at Schwa. And, yes, it does belong in "Eating in Chicagoland," because it is about eating at a restaurant in Chicagoland. (As opposed to being some discreet, esoteric subject about culinaria, as most threads in "Other Culinary Chat.")

this is a great site that is run well, but i can't fathom how this wouldn't be considered relevant to "eating out in chicagoland". i don't understand the notion that service is somehow not an important aspect of a restaraunt experience. perhaps less important than the food per se, but important none the less. just my opinion

riddlemay wrote:A different (and to my mind, more apt) analogy would be if [a restaurant's] door were locked, even though he was open for business, and when you showed up to ring the bell, sometimes someone would let you in, and sometimes someone wouldn't.

This happened at Café Salamera. I was on the inside, eating, but at one point the staff locked the doors because it was so busy, and some customers came by and tried the doors, seeing people eating inside. They, of course, couldn't get in, and no one from Salamera ever acknowledged them.

Of course, this was not a long-term survival strategy for Salamera.

John Danza wrote:I was already downtown for other stuff last night, so I stopped in to the restaurant at about 4:30. I immediately was met by Chef Carlson, who I could tell was a bit apprehensive about an early walk in. When I told him who I was, reminding him of the phone call and the letters I had sent, he immediately gave me a warm reception.

This was the first time I had met him and he was an extremely nice guy. I could tell they were rushing around to get the night's service ready, so I made it short. My impression however is that he is not an egotist or any of the other negative personality traits attributed to him in earlier posts. I think he's just concentrating on the food and just hasn't gotten the front office stuff together.

His response to me about the allergy issue was "Brother, we'll do whatever we have to. It's not a problem". Then he apologized for not getting back to me sooner...

To my mind, actions, not demeanor, determine whether someone is a "nice guy" or not. And then, within the realm of action, it's possible for someone to be a nice guy in one department and not such a nice guy in another. Chef Carlson's demeanor, in person, is nice-guy, and so is the respect he shows his customers by preparing superb food for them; but his actions in creating the reservation/response "system" he employs are not nice-guy at all, by any objective standard. (I add that last qualifier to signify that I am not a mind-reader, only someone who draws conclusions from behavior exhibited and choices made.)

A nice guy wouldn't have made it as difficult to get an answer to a very important question as he made it for you. Now, he may be in complete denial about his behavior in that department, believing himself to be a nice guy in all respects, but the evidence in front of him--that you had to make a trip to stop by the restaurant just to get an answer--should be all the evidence he needs to realize that something is not quite right with that picture.

FWIW, I think there is a lot of actual information in this thread that would inform someone about whether they wanted to eat at Schwa or not.

I don't know about "a lot," Aschie, but I'll grant you there's some. That said, the thread is some information and a whole lot of piling on. As has been observed here before on more than one or even two occasions, it's very easy for people on the internet discussing hypotheticals which they themselves have not experienced to ratchet up indignation step by step until a basically good place can find itself being excoriated in way overblown terms for some rather minor quirks reflective of the real person, not the corporate training manual, running the show. The consequences of such competitive bashing can, at least elsewhere, turn quite ugly.

All of which leads, not to the place changing its ways (as noted, Schwa scarcely needs to for business reasons), but just to people in the business thinking people who talk about food on the internet are nuts.

Mike G wrote:All of which leads, not to the place changing its ways (as noted, Schwa scarcely needs to for business reasons), but just to people in the business thinking people who talk about food on the internet are nuts.

They probably already think that.

Although I agree that there's a lot to wade through here (but isn't that the LTH way?), I think this thread displays, if inarticulately at times, a genuine frustration on the part of some regarding the reservations system -- something I wouldn't classify as a "minor" quirk on the part of the owner. From where I stand, my time is as valuable as Carlson's so if I can meet my end of the bargain by calling for, and later confirming, a reservation in a timely manner, I expect him to do me the courtesy of answering the phone or returning my messages in a timely fashion. It is unprofessional, at best, and inconsiderate, at worst, IMHO, but there's no need to belabor this point anymore.

Frankly, if Schwa's owner were to read this thread and glean from it only that we're nuts, and doesn't take the constructive criticism and apply it to its business, then I wouldn't be surprised if Schwa suffered a slow demise, but it won't be because of anything LTH did. I understand your concerns that the internet can be a weapon. But here, there seems to be enough people who have personally accounted similar issues with the reservations system that I don't think the internet can be fairly blamed if some people read these accounts and think, "this is not for me."* That's an outcome that, I think, Schwa has to live with if they are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo.

If Schwa does change the way it operates as a result of complaints made here or elsewhere, it could always publicize those changes.


*FWIW, I just tried to call for a reservation, and the mailbox was full.

**Post edited to make points more coherent.

With the exception of a very small number of posts that attack Carlson the person, this thread is a discussion about an issue that whole lot of people find much more than trivial. Call it piling on if you want, but I think the horrendously frustrating reservation process Schwa uses merits at least as much comment as - say - a description of a great burger from a place that has always served great burgers and about which hundreds of comments have already been made about their great burgers. Replace great hot dogs with great burgers if you like.

Frankly, what is a complete waste of space is when posters comment on nothing more than the merits of other people's posts. (now guilty as charged)

I will share one personal experience that disappointed me re. the whole Schwa reservation process.

A friend and I wanted to go to Schwa. He called, left a message requesting a reservation for two people, and told them our available dates. After about a week, he'd received no response, so I called and left a similar message, instead providing my name and phone number. Within a few days, I got a call back and we were able to confirm a reservation. Several days later, he got a call back regarding his reservation request.

You'd like to think that even the most frustrating reservation system would still be a fair reservation system, and that reservation requests would be handled in a first-come, first-served manner. Unfortunately, that wasn't my experience...it seems to be something more akin to a lottery system. You wonder if some of the messages that are overloading their voicemail system are simply duplicates left by several people in the same party hoping that one of them hits the jackpot and actually gets a returned phone call.

the horrendously frustrating reservation process Schwa uses merits at least as much comment as - say - a description of a great burger

I fear this is an accurate description.

Kennyz wrote:reservation process Schwa uses merits at least as much comment as - say - a description of a great burger

Kenny,

In general people describing the great burger have actually experianced the burger, many (most) of the posts in this thread are comments about comments about comments including, and I find this astounding, a psych 101 profile of M Carlson.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Kennyz wrote:reservation process Schwa uses merits at least as much comment as - say - a description of a great burger

... many (most) of the posts in this thread are comments about comments about comments...

100% agreed. Interestingly, the people complaining most about the content of this thread are among the most guilty of what you describe.

The reservation process at Schwa annoys some people, and not others.

Some people think it must be fixed, others don't.

The food rocks. Michael is a nice guy when you meet him in person.

Can we be done now?

But, wait - what color are the napkins?

jesteinf wrote:The reservation process at Schwa annoys some people, and not others.

Some people think it must be fixed, others don't.

The food rocks. Michael is a nice guy when you meet him in person.

Can we be done now?

Hallelujah and pass the foie!

Personally, I'm tired of everyone griping about Michael's reservation skills, or lack thereof. His food is great, the ambiance is minimal but pleasant (I do applaud his music choices tho), and for those wanting to dine at his restaurant we will do what it takes to get there. It's a tiny restaurant with a minuscule staff...so for those bitching about not getting call-backs or finding their full voice mail, just keep trying and GET OVER YOURSELVES ALREADY! If you aren't having a happy experience prior to going, then just go somewhere else...there are a gazillion great restaurants in our fair city that deserve your business just as much as Schwa does.

Just venting, sorry if this rubs any of you the wrong way...well, not super sorry.

wino66 wrote:Personally, I'm tired of everyone griping ...

wino66 wrote:so for those bitching...

wino66 wrote:If you aren't having a happy experience... then just go somewhere else

Amen!

G Wiv wrote:...many (most) of the posts in this thread are comments about comments about comments including, and I find this astounding, a psych 101 profile of M Carlson.

I bet I would have found that post as outrageous as you did, Gary, but I missed it. There may have been one, but I don't recall any posts that tried to get inside Carlson's head; rather, I've read posts that characterize his actions and inactions, and evaluate these in terms of our expectations of the behavior of others.

riddlemay wrote:

G Wiv wrote:...many (most) of the posts in this thread are comments about comments about comments including, and I find this astounding, a psych 101 profile of M Carlson.

I bet I would have found that post as outrageous as you did, Gary, but I missed it. There may have been one, but I don't recall any posts that tried to get inside Carlson's head; rather, I've read posts that characterize his actions and inactions, and evaluate these in terms of our expectations of the behavior of others.

fusionfan wrote:Carlson and the Schwa crew cook for THEMSELVES and their humungous EGOs.

I believe that's the post Gary is referring to.