Culinary Competitors Cooperate
Dear Pamela,
My friend Col. John Bates was having dinner in Waikiki with Lou LeGarie (with whom he served in Vietnam), and Lou’s wife, Hiroko, and daughter Ann.
When I heard they were bound for Roy’s, I called general manager Diva Schroeder and asked her to look after Lou and his party.
What happened that evening was extraordinary and way above the “call of duty.”
Lou apparently was not feeling well and only wanted a baked potato.
The waitress informed him that baked potatoes were not usually on the menu. Now, you might think the story ends there, but wrong!
To satisfy their customer they went upstairs to Ruth’s Chris, a competitor restaurant, and secured a baked potato with all the dressings. This was truly one of the finest examples of “customer service” I have ever heard.
Bud Andress
Waikiki
Dear Bud,
Roy’s general manager Diva (I love that name!) Schroeder says they wanted to take care of Lou. “His waitress, who was in training that evening, was Lani Earl,” she says. “Lani relayed Lou’s request to her trainer, who said, ‘We’re good friends with the staff of Ruth’s Chris. They make killer baked potatoes!’
“Next thing you know, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse delivered a potato with everything – the bacon, the chives, the sour cream – free of charge! We could have made Lou a baked potato, but that would have taken an hour because we have no microwave ovens. This way, he got his baked potato right away!”
Diva hands off her APPLAUSE to Ruth’s Chris general manager John Kobashigawa and the restaurant’s staff.
Dear Pamela,
I wanted to give a quick mahalo to members of Kaneohe Storm Soccer Club, who quickly aided my daughter when she was injured in a recent soccer game.
My daughter’s HI Rush ’97G team was playing a hard match against the Kaneohe Storm ’95 team, when my daughter hyper-extended her knee.
She was brought to our team tent, and one of the Storm coaches quickly brought over a bag of ice for her knee, which really helped her pain.
This may seem like a small gesture to others, but for us it was so greatly appreciated because we’ve seen the competitive side of girls soccer, and there was no asking, they just spontaneously helped her. I’m grateful to them and hope they continue to have a great season.
They demonstrated such class to all of us!
Lori Kanaeholo
Waipio
Dear Lori,
Kaneohe Storm team manager Lance Tanigawa is the coach who brought the ice to your tent. “This is just a part of what we teach the girls,” he says. “Wins and losses will come, but how they carry themselves in public will define them as adults. We teach them more than soccer.” Bravo, Lance! Sign me up!
Aloha Pamela,
We celebrated my sister and brother-in-law’s 30th wedding anniversary at Tsukiji’s at Ala Moana Center. I drove my auntie, who is a youthful 97 years, there.
One of the workers, Gray, saw her walking slowly with me toward the banquet halls at the rear of the restaurant.
He found an office chair on wheels, sat her gently in it, and rolled her to the festive occasion!
He wouldn’t take a tip from me and generously allowed her to use the chair that evening.
I thanked Gray again as we wheeled her back to the entrance of the restaurant.
