A Subtle Aphrodisiac

There is a teeny little Italian restaurant in Austin called Andiamo. It is in a funky decaying strip center between an Asian Buffet and a Thai massage parlor. (Neither of which you would ever dream of entering.) I remember my first dinner at Andiamo. A ‘what the heck are we doing here?’ last minute event that ended up being sublime.

My experience had everything to do with the Sambuca with the three perfectly placed espresso beans floating it. Atmosphere, dreamy, very European. Fresh fragrant Posey in little glass vase on each crisp white table cloth. Dramatic plate presentation. Delicious wine suggestions. Service smooth like a subtle aphrodisiac. Transportation to another place.

After a dinner that just couldn’t get any better, they swept the crumbs and anything else we didn’t need from our crisp white table cloth and served us with a slight flourish, complementary, a beautiful cordial each of Amaretto and Sambuca with the three perfectly placed espresso beans floating in it.

Over the top. What a signature! What a great sussie! Brilliant move! What an excellent way to cap off an excellent dining experience. I became Andiamo’s biggest fan and made it a point to dine there at least a half a dozen times over the next year and tell everyone I knew that they needed to dine there also.

Then life happened and I lost a year before an opportunity presented itself to enjoy Andiamo again. I dressed carefully in anticipation of another spectacular evening. It had been much too long and I was thrilled just thinking about what would be a chart topping event and a much needed special dinner. Dinner was again delicious and dreamy. But, to my tremendous disappointment, no Amaretto and no Sambuca. None. Cutting corners, Andiamo dropped straight into normal.

Seriously disappointed, I haven’t returned and won’t. Eliminating the little inexpensive sussie that put dining at Andiamo over the top, dropped them into whatever.

What little thing do you do that puts doing business with you into the spectacular category? What little piece of unexpected fluff do you offer that your customers can’t get anywhere else? There is a shoe company called SAS that puts in your shopping bag a tiny SAS box containing a piece of Almond Roca candy. That little piece of mouth watering Almond Roca makes their customers excited about the prospect of buying shoes from them. Think about it. Signature candy in a shoe store. Excellent divergence.

Define a little unexpected thing that can be your own. In Recipes From A Life, I call this your Sussies and Fluff. Find your sussie. Find your fluff. Make it your own. And then never stop using it. Put yourself over the top of your competition by offering that little special thing that is going to make your service both unique and special.

Meantime, I am still looking for that fabulous dining experience at that special place what will recreate the feeling Andiamo once gave me. Ideas?