I had to choose a restaurant in the general Sliema/St. Julians area for a business luncheon. However luckily my client suggested a venue herself, which always eases up some of the pressure in case they don’t perform so well. So she proposed that we dine at Electro Lobster, which was more than fine with me.

We went for a table outside which proved to be simply a wonderful location. You are seated more than half way up Balutta Square, under the trees which give a lovely relaxing garden feel, and therefore quite set off from the main road. However you can perfectly enjoy the view of the bay and the sea and the bustling activity of everyday life on the front.

We were greeted and served throughout by a miraculous, smart and suave Neapolitan man named Luca. I use the word miraculous because it has become unfortunately exceedingly rare to encounter such obviously well trained and knowledgeable professionals in the service side of catering today. We are somehow producing more and more talent in the kitchen and less and less of it in front of house.

Restaurant owners must really start to realise that in the same way they would not trust semi-trained individuals, or worse still temporary worker ignoramuses, to run their kitchens, then by throwing these in as servers haphazardly they are only undoing their efforts in back of house.

Luca is a professional sommelier by professional and there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. I got there a few minutes later than my client, not because I was late but because she was early. She was already on the prosecco when I got there, which gave me great pleasure. Nothing better than getting your client drunk to eventually get your own devious way.

When I asked for the wine list Luca immediately made his very valid suggestions and convinced us to try something different, based on his infinite knowledge. So first we went for a lovely pure, light, fresh and ever so subtly white peppery riesling, which we both enjoyed. We were so engrossed both in Luca’s skills, as well as in conversation, that we even had a second bottle of wine, asking Luca to suggest something different this time just for fun. He proposed an Austrian gruner veltliner which was even more interesting and complex, presenting a vast array of flavours – what a delight.

These are not wines I would normally order. I used to be quite a fan of riesling until on a couple of occasions I was served rather sweetish varieties, as the staff were totally uninformed, and I really dislike even slightly sweetish wines unless accompanied by sweet food. So unless I know the specific wine itself I now tend to avoid it. There are certain grapes which are normally associated with dry wines which can at times turn out slightly sweet, chenin blanc is another one of these. As for gruner veltliner I have often drunk this when traveling in Austria and remembering also stocking some for a while when we had our own restaurant but doubt having ever drunk it since.

But Luca’s skills did not end there. He served us throughout with perfection and with detail which did not go unnoticed. His served and cleared our table exclusively from the right hand side, an important factor of service which is all but being forgotten. This is in no way snobbery or symbolic etiquette. As most servers are right handed like anyone else on earth, serving you from the left tends to stick their arms and elbows right into your face, unless they are terrible double jointed at the elbow – not a pleasant thing at all. In fact if a server is left handed or for whatever reason must serve you with their left hand, in that case alone I would prefer that they serve me from the left. But proper service teaches you when you have a plate in each hand, first to place the one in the right hand always from the right, then passing the other plate from left hand to right and serving yet again from the right.

This is about as basic information and knowledge as it could ever get in restaurant service. However something tells me that for the vast majority of servers today this would sound as far fetched as asking them to perform cartwheels and juggle with your plates without dropping them.

Luca rightfully used a tray to bring to us even the smallest of items such as a fork or toothpicks. Another one of the basics of service. You never carry anything in your hands without a tray except bottles. He went as far as coming regularly to our table simply to turn the dishes in the centre of our table whenever the food on them on our side became scarce, simply to make it easier for us to reach and to help ourselves. Now that is what I call service!

Besides Luca, there was another young creature who also assisted in an extremely pleasant way, especially proving to be a feast to the eyes, well to mine at least. Much more of a feast than the food itself I must add.

We went for the day’s specials, consisting of lobster tempera and scallops on rice. The tempura was lovely and tasty and light and was served with an enjoyable tangy sauce. The scallops on the other hand were very poor and barely edible. I actually informed Luca to advise the chef to undercook them when placing our order. This is not actually the right term, as scallops should be ever so lightly seared and always served in this manner, virtually raw, when they are lovely. But through experience I know that many chefs tend to overcook them, so I thought it best to specifically point this out. In spite of this they turned up terribly overcooked and hardly even edible. Furthermore, the rice they were laid on was largely tasteless and uninteresting. I just about sent them back and in all fairness Luca even offered to do this, but we couldn’t be bothered waiting, especially as by then we were focused entirely on hard business.

These dishes were accompanied by a salad which was actually salty, visibly by the pre-addition of salt within it, which is a big no-no in my book. Also steamed vegetables which were nothing to write home about which is why I am writing about them here.

We finished off with a tiramisu to share, as yes, I always share my desserts at business lunches, it gives me that much more intimacy and leverage with my clients to get my own way. The tiramisu on the other hand was stupendous, which at least ended a mediocre meal on a much higher note.

So to sum up this meal, the ambiance was lovely, the service simply perfection with a sommelier-cum-server who knew his stuff to a tee and who served both in style and in cordiality. The food however left much to be desired, although admittedly we only had very few items, so we could have been unlucky.

The most important of all however, was that after all I got my way and got everything I wanted with my client. She was happily tipsy and with a bit of a push here, a shared dessert there, some charm and a dimpled smile, I got her to sign on all the dotted lines.