RE: Miss. Delicious #83 : Chamonix Teppanyaki in Taipei!
Hi john, thank you for the lovely reply again.
I'm still at odds as to why degree education seems to dictate employ ability in this sector. I think it might also have something to do cultural expectations and attitudes towards education. Certainly, the norm of most Asian countries is to obtain a degree and than get the best job you possibly can given your certificate. I some how doubt working in a restaurant was what they envisioned when they graduated. Still, the fact that there is only 25% turn over rate of employees means that they're doing something right.. or, Taiwan is just not doing very well economically such that it is an employers job market.
I'm fairly indfferent to the 'class' of food, so the efforts to make the place seem high-end was mostly wasted on me. The most important thing remains the overall experience, from the customer service, presentation, atmosphere, price, all the way to the most important of all - food! I can honestly say, i've never walked out of a Teppanyaki feeling quite as full. That usually means the food was really good. In the case of Chamonix, they've done so well to disguise the amount of food by spreading it out across many courses and in small digestible portions. I noticed this is something that quite a lot of Japanese restaurants tend to do, and also happens to go along with their 'miniaturization' of everything.
University educated personnel? It is interesting though because the Japanese have a long tradition especially involving geishas and are partial to the idea of a well -educated host who could converse with customers on a variety of topics. That may have something, or nothing to do with this desire to hire people with degrees, lol.
That's a perceptive comment about smaller digestible portions of food and the 'miniaturization' of everything - no doubt facilitated by your university training, my friend :)