Profiling of Guests - LImit seating in Main dining room based on stereotypes

I have lived in the Troy/Birmingham area of Detroit for 8 years but
have recently been transfered out of state with my company. I think
it's important for you to understand that this area has many, many
successful minorities of all racial and religious backgrounds. Based
on the wide variety of cultures in the Detroit area, I am extremely
doubtful that what you encountered was racism. If you do frequent the
Sommerset Collection again, I think you'll find out that the hostess
at that restaurant (or any other in the area) probably just sees you
as any other customer - as the area is full of young, successful
people of every type. It's just not uncommon for people of all race
and creed to visit this area. By the way, you might want to consider
buying an American car when you move there. It isn't called the
"Motor City" for nothing!

Quite frankly this part of what you said disturbs me:
"I am also a Director in a prestigious firm, with a healthy
compensation model and a luxury european car in my driveway. Needless
to say, I think I would be the clientele your establishment seeks..."
What make you think that because you are/have all of those qualities,
you are any better than a poor black person who comes to dine there?
Any person that eats at that establishment deserves respect. Even a
lower class person. The restaurant is in the business to sell food to
patrons who are willing to pay for it. It does not matter if you are
rich or are poor and you saved a whole year to eat there. So get over
flashing your money and thinking that everyone should bow down to you
because you have more than others.

I like how you mentioned your attire and your import automobile. I am
just bored at work reading people's sad stories.I am non bias to this
issue. Who cares how you are dressed or what you pull up in. Could you
direct your discussion as, "I am a person and I feel I was treated
badly or inhumane. Because based upon your writing it looks like you
are saying," I DRESS NICE AND DRIVE AN EXPENSIVE CAR, BUT I AM STILL A
MINORITY....AND THE RESTAURANT STILL SAW MY SKIN COLOR THROUGH MY
VERSACE SHIRT." Thats all.
CP

So basically this person likes to complain. He made three complaints
so far.

you must be correct because you are a black man if you do not think
everything is going your way it is racism. how about the sexual
harrasment statement for the Attractive hostess. could it be possible
that she was trying to figure out where to seat you because she wanted
you to get the best service? no that could not be true because you are
a victim of racism. the hostess has to sit people and spread out the
tables to make it even and fair to the wait staff. perhaps they could
have seated you in the main area and you not get as high quality
service that you received in the other area. I am guessing that you
would be claiming racism there too. I have had this same thing happen
to me at cap grille and other eating establishments. I guess that they
should put all the black people in the main room and everyone else in
the other rooms oh wait, that would be racism because they are
seperated. hmmm, i don't see how the restraunt could win so i vote
stay in so. cal and out of birmingham. oh wait, that is racist toward
you isn't it. is it racism if it is one black man to another?

ok, so just because the lady asked a simple question, u assume that
its profiling?

Look, Pernell. I suspect that the way you told this story (and the
other one to which someone provided a link) IS how it happened in your
head. But we all put "meaning" into what others do and say to and for
us, whether that meaning exists or not.

Say a waitress slams your plate down on the table. PErhaps you
immediately think, "She did that because she has a problem with black
people." More likely, she's in a hurry, or misjudged the distance, or
it got heavy and she has a big tray balanced on her hand and
shoulder.

What I'm saying is, it seems you're going about life expecting too
much of people. You're no dummy -- I'm guessing from the material
things you've acquired that you do a good job at work and earn a great
salary. Good for you. Truly.

Other people don't work so hard, or are unlucky, or get a crappy start
to life, or any combination of the above. They typically end up in
the lowest paying jobs around -- one of them is the service industry.
That guy in Circuit City you complained about in your other post? He
did NOT want to be there working that night, and he probably hates his
job. Is it fair to you and other shoppers that he has this attitude?
Nope. But aren't you glad you aren't in that situation yourself?

But... here's the kicker. Who's the happiest? You, with all your
"stuff," pissed off at perceived slights, taking poor service
personally, etc.? Or Joe Blow making $8.50 an hour working at Circuit
City, who isn't thrilled with his career choice (or how it chose him),
but doesn't let other people's failings get to him and make him so
angry and insulted?

I'm not saying you're a bad person. But it's like you think IT'S ALL
ABOUT YOU. And really? It never is. Honest. When you think someone
is doing something just to make you mad, or to purposely treat you
like crap, most of the time they're just preoccupied with their own
stuff and they don't intend to poop all over your day.

I suggest a variety of avenues that would give you the tools to
recognize this pattern of behavior in yourself, such as education
programs such as Landmark Education, or therapy, or talking with a
trusted friend you can count on for honesty. Something like that.
Because life is way too short to be miserable every time you don't get
100% perfect service.

Copy and paste this baby into your browser!
http://www.planetfeedback.com/index.php?level2=blog_viewpost&topic_id=
284918&reply_id=16081#anchor16081
This is a letter written by Pernell which makes me feel the need to
retract my earlier reply. The tone of the older letter is even more
supercilious than that of the one at hand, and I think demonstrates
that while people may in fact "discriminate," against Pernell, I don't
in fact think it is due to his race.

first - what is a "healthy compensation model "? Forgive me for being
ignorant, but I am a simple receptionist. Second, it is people like
you that make it hard for minorities in this county to get the respect
they deserve. I have worked in the food industry before, and believe
me, the ONLY color they care about the the green of your money. BTW -
a tip for you - spell check - it comes with the computer program.

Pernell,

No disrespect here, but I see no connection between your so-called
"poor experience" and your race. Also, why do you have to capitalize
on your occupation and material possessions? You mentioned you
received "impeccable" service. If this were racial as you claimed,
then why would the staff provide you with such service if that were
indeed the case? I can't stand people who LOOK for things to be
offended about when such things are non-existent.

As one poster eloquently mentioned, this appears to be a
self-entitlement issue, and not a racial one. I am a black male who
dines out frequently alone and with my GF, and while I have received
less than stellar service at some places (lets be honest, who hasn't,
regardles of race?), I get treated extremely well for the most part,
and don't cry racism because I wasn't seated right away or the server
did not refill my glass or screwed up my order. I have seen this
happen a few times, and it's EMBARASSING to say the least.

Too many people walk around with an overly inflated sense of self and
an air of entitlement, then flip out at the smallest perceived slight
when none was intended. The world does not revolve around you. Just
enjoy life and get the chip off of your shoulder, please!

Boy, if you thought you were being discriminated against there I hate
to think what you'll be going through in Alabama.

I don't think you were being discriminated against. There could be
many reasons for the hostess and waitress to discuss where to seat
you. Perhaps there were not enough servers to take care of everyone
in the main dining area. I find it troubling that you immediately
became offended and assumed that you were being treated differently
when there was no evidence to indicate that. I'm interested to know
why this was the first thing to come to your mind.

Although you may not agree, you should have just stuck to the facts.
If you were that bothered by the exchange between the hostess and the
waitress, then surely you could have asked what they meant.
Belaboring the point that you are successful (and you did belabor it)
was unnecessary and made you sound pompous. I have a feeling the
restaurant doesn't really care whether you drive a BMW or a Volkswagen
Beetle.

Whether it's fair or not, you won't be taken seriously if you use
incorrect capitalization and spelling--regardless of how successful
you are. Proofreading *is* important because it shows the recipient
that you care enough to pay attention to details.

Anita's comments about your capitalization and spelling were
constructive criticism, nothing more and nothing less. They weren't
an attack on you or on black people, and you shouldn't have assumed
so. Further, calling her "white big shot" was uncalled for. You owe
her an apology...

I'm mulatto, so I've dealt with my share of ignorance and prejudice.
For your own sake, I hope you eventually understand that not every
unpleasant thing that comes your way is a racial issue.

For the OP to start calling anyone that disagreed with him a racist,
or a bigot.

The OP can't distinguish his perception and reality. Unfortunately he
thinks that his perception IS our reality. If he stepped in dog poop
and someone said his shoes stunk I have no doubt that he would accuse
them of saying all blacks smell. Just like when someone pointed out
that he had some words spelled wrong and he accused the poster of say
all blacks spell poorly.

I wasn't sure about the original complaint until I read his "race
card" comments to the other posters. Now, I'm convinced that this man
has deep self image issues. His big money job and his fine European
car didn't impress anyone enough to get noticed, so he switched to
being the guy being held down by the man. At least that way people
will pay attention to him.

The prestigious firm you work for needs a "service recovery effort"
for hiring a "Director" who can't spell. P.S. White people also have
bad experiences at restaurants. Your experience sounds like paradise
compared to some of them I've had.

So did you end up sitting in the main dining room? If so, what is the
problem? There could have been any number of reasons why the hostess
wasn't sure about where to seat you - how do you KNOW that it was due
to your race? Do you assume that every bad/strange event that happens
to you is due to your race? If I go to a restaurant and I have a
problem, should I automatically assume that it's because the
restaurant is prejudiced against green-eyed brunettes?

I am a 38-year old Caucasian single mother of two beautiful, loving
Caucasian boys. I live in a middle-class neighborhood that I must
work my tail off to afford. I drive a 2000 Toyota Camry that has seen
every bodily fluid a child can deliver. My children's clothing comes
from the local thrift store (HA! I got my son's practically new Tommy
shirt for a quarter, what did you pay for yours?). When not dealing
with work, school, homework, or my children's extracurricular
activities, we work together as a family to make lunch boxes for our
local soup kitchen which we deliver 3 4 times every week.

My experience is this. I needed to get my sons' hair cut. They wear
their hair in the "flat-top" style. I wasn't in the neighborhood of
their regular barber so I decided to go to a shop that was right there
but I had never been there. When I walked through the door one would
have thought a ghost walked through the door with me from the looks on
all of the barber's faces. You see, they were all black. I asked for
flat-tops for my sons and the response I received was "we don't cut
white hair". My immediate response was not to scream "that's
discrimination" (although we all know that white people can't be
discriminated against, we can only be reverse discriminated against.
What the heck does that mean anyway?), instead I responded with these
exact words "That's all well and good sir, but you should have no
problem cutting my sons' hair as neither of them have "white" hair,
one is dirty blonde and the other is red, so the issue of "white" hair
is mute". The barber giggled, I giggled and told the gentleman that I
would go elsewhere, turned around and walked out. No feelings hurt,
nothing lost. My day went on as normal.

The first moral of the story is that not everything stems from hatred.
This barber didn't feel he could do a good job on my sons' hair and I
appreciate his honesty. Perhaps if the hostess informed you of what
was going on you wouldn't have been so quick to determine that you
were being profiled but your assuming that was what was happening is
unfair.

The second moral of the story is that my first paragraph lends
absolutely no value to the specific experience I was describing.
Sometimes a lot of information is good, IF that information is
relevant. However, sometimes too much information is a bad thing and
it takes away the credibility of the actual complaint. It shadows it,
if you will.

Your assumptions are unfounded, you did not investigate to see why the
hostess was making a determination as to where you should be seated,
and you simply jumped on the "profiling" band wagon without so much as
giving the hostess the benefit of the doubt. This, in my opinion, is
you doing the same thing to the hostess that you feel she did to you,
a sort of "profiling" in that you wouldn't have made the same
assumption that the hostess was profiling if the hostess were black.

Good luck in your future endeavors, whatever they may be, but take a
moment, step back and evaluate situations before you attempt to take
away someone's livelihood. Oh, and if you would be so kind, stop
bragging so much, it's very unbecoming of you.

"I am young and black, however, I am also a Director in a prestigious
firm, with a healthy compensation model and a luxury european car in
my driveway..." I'm sorry, but who gives a...... Your attitude is
appalling, and your words sadly pathetic. Perhaps we should all bow
down and sing the praise "We're not worthy, we're not worthy..." No
one cares whether you are "black of Hispanic descent". In fact it is
your elitist attitude that embarrasses both blacks and hispanics
countrywide. Too sad.....

There are any number of reasons why the hostess may have asked the
waitress where to seat you. Certain areas are assigned to specific
wait-staff. If one particular area has more people in it than another
area, it is best to seat you in the lesser filled area. Even if there
are only, say, two tables full in the main dining area, and only one
filled in another area, to balance out the number of clients in the
various areas, they may want to seat you where there are less people.
This ensures that no one wait-person is loaded with all of the clients
while another has little to do.

There may have been an issue in the main dining area that they wanted
to be discreet about--someone having vomitted, or a huge spill, or
another client making a scene--and didn't want to seat you in that
area until the situation was cleared up.

In this day and age, I find it hard to believe that a staff member
would ask if they should seat you elsewhere simply because you are
black. It may be best to look at this sort of thing from a more
objective perspective.

By the way, listing off all of your luxuries doesn't garner much
sympathy from anyone. In all likelihood, the person who receives this
letter is going to be put off by your showboating. This person will
likely be less well-off than you and their gut reaction to your letter
may be along the lines of a sarcastic "boo hoo". People are well aware
that any nationality or race can be pretty well off. You are making
the assumption that the individual reading your letter is going to
assume that "black" equals "ghetto". That's not fair to the recipient,
and even kind of shows your own prejudice.

You can talk about all of your fine things, but you won't be very
successful in life until you knock that gigantic chip on your
shoulder. Are you so pampered you've never worked in restaurant
service and thus don't realize the multitude of reasons why the lady
may have been asking that question? PLEASE, we're talking about Troy,
Michigan, not Hooterville, Kentucky. It's not like they've never seen
a *gasp* black person before!

And by the way, prestigious, successful businesswomen should know the
difference between "lose" and "loose", that "director" should not be
capitalized in the instance that you are using it, and that "European"
should always be capitalized. Just trying to help. Actually, I'm
trying to save your "prestigious firm" some money, because GOD KNOWS
that if they fire you, you'll cry discrimination for that too instead
of coming to grips with your potential incompetence.

Maybe they have a "No Arrogant, Full of themselves, Tries to Impress
using multi-syllabic words but can't spell "lose", people will be
seated in the Main Dining Room Policy. If so, they profiled you to a
t.
Get over yourself.

Why are you making this a race issue??? Unless the waiter or hostess
said something about the color of your skin, you have no right to
assume that they were being discriminatory. You are making
assumptions and jumping to conclusions. Get the chip off your
shoulder and stop trying to get innocent employees in trouble.

Being a hostess is a thankless job, i know I did it for awhile. Funny
thing is I never quite caught on to the table numbers and all those
mundane details (lol) so I was constantly asking servers where I
should sit people and when it was ok to give them another table. I'll
never forget one busy night my manager left me alone to seat people
and it just so happened that a black couple were the next to be seated
I take them to their table and we pass a booth and the woman wants
that one not knowing if I could seat that table yet I explained that I
couldnt seat them there then but if they wanted to wait they could.
Having already waited a half hour they chose to take the table. About
15 minutes later my manager seats the table and the couple freak out!
They insist that I am racist and a liar and that I wouldnt give them
the booth because they were black-never mind that they could have had
it they just had to wait a minute-they wanted me fired. My manager who
was no dummy calmly told them they could have a booth as soon as one
came up that it was a simple mistake and he was sorry they were upset
but we were absolutely not racists. The couple didnt like the answer
and continued to loudly carry on until he had to ask them to leave.

The moral of my story is that just because suspicious things happen
around you it doesnt mean its about you-could just be a "stupid"
hostess. The time to address the problem would have been right then
and there. Of course this can only happen if you truely percieved it
to be a problem seems to me it only became an issue after the fact.
Why do I say this? Because there is no way in hell I would pay to eat
somewhere where I thought I was getting discriminated against.

What a braggart you are!

I doubt they were trying to decide where to seat you based on race -
but from the tone of your letter I'd be willing to bet you just LOVE
playing the race card.

Your position, salary, vehicle of choice, etc. have no place in this
letter. Further, you were NOT denied seating in the main dining room.
It could have been something as simple as "well the waitperson in the
main dining room has a lot of tables but the waitperson in the other
dining room doesn't, so maybe we should seat them there." You are
presuming an awful lot, here.

Disciplinary action indeed - for an imagined slight?

Did you ask them what was going on? Or did you just ASSume that they
were referring to your race? If so, then you are 'profiled' them,
making assumptions based on their skin color and/or race.

I feel your pain...I weigh 440.25 pounds and every time I go to an all
you can eat buffet, they call the owner who sticks me in a corner
furthest from the food. After six or seven trips to the buffet bar, I
am usually limping from the long treks. To add insult to injury, the
wait staff begins snickering and making animal noises. After this
Saturday nights "Meatloaf Bonanza", I am probably not going back to
that dump again.

" but I am young and black, however, I am also a Director in a
prestigious firm, with a healthy compensation model and a luxury
european car in my driveway. ".. so your saying that if a couple were
to come in.. say doesnt matter what race but looked like hillbillies
and/or "trailor trash"... it would be ok if they had discriminated
against them?.. just like this customer in my store one time... about
mid 20's black man... the alarm went off when he walked out the door..
if a manager is near by.. they'll come up and look in the bag and see
what it could have been that set off the alarm... well.. this guy
thought they were discriminating.. so he came back with a camera and
said he was gonna take pics of every person working and talk to his
lawyer.. looking for a pathetic fight and some money that doesn't
belong to you? i think so

Let me shed a little light for posters not familiar with the area of
Troy MI where this restaurant is located. I live just a stone's throw
away.

First, The Capital Grille is in a SHOPPING MALL, for Pete's sakes.
Upscale, yes, but a shopping mall nonetheless. Perhaps some of you
may have heard of the Somerset Collection? That's it.

Second, Troy is rated Michigan's second most diverse city. (Don't
know which is first, unless it's Detroit.) On April 4th, one of the
Middle schools held a 'Festival of Cultures,' which represented the
different nationalities residing in our city. There were EIGHTEEN
countries represented. Does that tell you a bit of the diversity of
this area? (I'm glad I have a copy of a local throw-away newspaper
that didn't make it to the dumpster yet so I could state these facts
as printed.)

Troy is a city where on weekends and week days from 5p until 9a the
next day, the population is 81,000. From 9a until 5p week days, our
population expands to 125,000 due to the influx of employees from the
surrounding suburbs and Detroit.

Mr. (snob) Pernell C., if you don't frequent the Capital Grille, it
will be your loss, not theirs. If your 'luxury european car' is
anything less than a Ferrari or Rolls Royce, it will be considered a
'second car' in Troy. Relocating to Birmingham? Understandable since
a 'starter home' in Troy would be in the mid-to-high six figure
bracket. I'm not in that category because I choose to live in an
apartment.

I chuckled when one of the responders said the waitress wouldn't
remember what color a person was, unless maybe green. I doubt if
she'd even recall a green one. :)

This is an outright attempt to impress us with your affluence(?). But
it doesn't fly. A freebie is a freebie is a freebie! For your future
dining pleasure you may try some of our other restaurants, e.g.,
Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Don Shula Steakhouse, etc. After you receive
your 'service recovery' from Capital Grille, I wish I'd know exactly
when you go there to cash it in because I want to be sure I don't have
to share my breathing air with you.

Profiling? My Aunt Fanny!

I have to agree with the rest who say this was probably not profiling
simply a question of logistics as to where a customer should be
seated. Actually I have had that happen to me and I am not
African-American but a single middle-aged white woman. Believe it or
not, people, especially women, dining alone are often given the worst
seats in the house so if there is some controversy such as the
situation in which you found yourself I always politely ask "Is there
a problem?" That way you can be given a reason for the murmurings
about where they want to seat you.
The fact that you believe that you should have special treatment
because you have a professional job and drive an expensive car shows
you have an entitlement issue based on economics, not race.

Are you sure that's what she meant by the question?
Perhaps she was unsure of how busy the servers were, or if it was even
the main room's turn. (Servers are generally seated by rotation) I
know that at one restaurant I hostessed at, they would periodically
shut down one room and seat in the other, in order to clean the
carpet. So at some point, we would have to stop seating in the front
room, and start seating in the side room, so they could use the
shampooer. I sincerely hope that this is all a misunderstanding. I
hope that the company in question does at least look into it, and may
it be resolved to your satisfaction.

The individual who asked several times about seating you in the main
dining room should be the only one reprimanded IMO since it sounds as
though the other person kept saying yes to her question.

Its sad really, that people are like that.

And, I really don't think the reactions of one individual should
reflect on the whole restaurant. If you had an excellent experience
(with that exception), then I think you should give it another try.

I am not going to say that you are wrong here, you could be right. If
you are it's kind of sad that in 2006 people still profile by race.
However you should look at other possibilities as well. Maybe there
was a good reason as to why the waitress asked that question. Were
you around when the other people were seated, maybe they asked the
same question for the Caucasian couples. I am guessing people must
have treated you badly because of your race, and if this is the case,
I am sorry that those past experiences would make you feel that way.
However for you to say you were dressed better than the Caucasian's
and talking about your car like that will make Captail Grill think
that you think you deserve special treatment because of your
lifestyle.

I don't think they said this because you were black, she was just
asking a question.

I am not convinced any profiling had taken place, it seems this was
more of a look at me letter, I have a big fancy car, important job
where I am well paid, and I can use spell check. I say this because of
using the word "loose" instead of the proper word "lose". I would hate
my life if I went around wondering what people were saying about me,
if I feel uncomfortable somewhere I usually will not go back, and
never ask for the freebie's. Remember a good meal and great service is
fantastic, seat me next to the kitchen door if you want, but let me
eat in peace. I just don't have time for the nonsense, but I had to
reply to this letter. I guess what I am trying to say,it is easy jump
to conclusions without knowing the reason. Sounds as if you may be a
little insecure, chill out and enjoy life.

Honestly, as I was reading this, I was thinking "someone is being a
bit oversensitive". There could have been any number of reasons the
hostess was asking whether you should be seated in the main dining
room. Maybe there were a large party expected shortly, maybe there
were a lot of reservations due. Then I thought, well, I have never
been a target of racial profiling, so maybe I'm wrong.

Then you asked them to make a "service recovery effort" (i.e.
"gimmee") and you lost all credibility.

I'm sorry if you've been discriminated against in the past, but making
unjustified accusations in the hope of getting freebies is NOT the way
to fight it.

I think you can relax. As someone who has worked in the restaurant
industry for many years, this doesn't sound like a descision they were
trying to make because of your race. There are so many other reasons
for this question, as others have mentioned, such as server rotations,
reservations, etc. That being said, I'm sorry if you have suffered
descrimination in the past, and that it has caused you to be so
suspicious. I do hope that the Capital Grille talks to the hostess to
get to the bottom of this, so you can find out why she asked that
question and to put your mind at ease. I am afraid, however, that
since the question was most likely benign, that she won't even
remember the incident. She probably won't remember if the people who
came in were white, black, yellow or green (well, I'd hope she'd
remeber green people coming in, LOL).
Now, I don't think it appropriate or meaningful in anyway for you to
bring up your job, or what car you drive, or any of that. Does that
mean it's OK to descriminate for other reasons? Does that mean that if
you were a young black man with a blue collar job and a Chevy that it
would be OK? Of course not. EVERYONE deserves to be treated equally. I
think it looks bad to put that in your letter. You don't need to
impress them, please don't feel like you have to.

I wish you luck, I'm sure you'll end up finding out this was really
nothing.

but you may be right. Those lucky folks that have not experienced
discrimination do not realize that after a lifetime of experiences
those of us that fall into one or more minority categories develop a
"radar" of sorts. In either case, I support your right to express your
assumptions and to ask someone from the establishment to discuss it
with you (though I doubt they would confirm profiling even if it is
true). I found your letter to be well written and did not, as others,
perceive your use of the term "service recovery effort" to mean that
you were fishing for freebies. Please update us as to whether or not
you receive a response.

I once had a hostess that was confused over where to seat me and asked
several employees what she should do ... turned out it was her first
day on the job and wasn't sure if we should go in a certain section or
not...Kinda curious...will you check with a relator when you move your
business there? If so, will you be offended if they consult others in
trying to find the best location for you? In a way that would be
somewhat similar to this situation...best of luck to you but it sounds
like you're already very healthy.

am also a Director in a prestigious firm, with a healthy compensation
model and a luxury european car in my driveway.

He's just trying to show off what he has.

"I look forward to hearing from a representative from your
establishment to discuss, and with all honesty, I hope you make a
service recovery effort."

What do you think a "service recovery effort" is???

This is a great letter - well written, sensible, and reasonable. While
there is a small chance that there was some nonracial reason for the
events during your seating, it's pretty unlikely. Anyone who has dined
as a member of a visible minority has developed pretty good radar for
this kind of behavior.

A fantastic read on this topic is the chapter called "My Dinner with
Mister Charlie" in the book "Member of the Club" by Lawrence Otis
Graham. I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks the OP may be
blowing smoke with this complaint.

It is always possible that the waitress was asking about where to seat
you for any number of other reasons, but bottom line, if you felt
uncomfortable or at all unwelcome at the Capital Grille for whatever
reason, whether due to your race or not, you are perfectly justified
in making that feeling known to them.
This letter is well written and makes your point in a clear way. I
hope you hear back from them!

You have absolutely zero evidence or proof that this dining
establishment was practicing what you precieved to be profiling. The
statement "should I seat them in the main dining room" could have many
meanings, including availability of wait staff, pending reservations
for larger parties, wanting to hold larger tables/booths for parties
of more than two, etc. Yes - - profiling could have been going on,
but you have no evidence to support it. You instantly assumed that
there was a question of wheher you would be allowed in the main dining
room because of your race, despite, of course, your upscale attire
which you claim was better than other Caucasions seated in the main
dining room. You stated that the food was delicious and the service
was impeccable, so your complaint boils down to a serious accusation
based on a question asked by the hostess to the waitress.

You may be a "Director in a prestigious firm" with a "healthy
compensation model" and a "luxury european car in your driveway", but
you don't have any proof that profiling took place and unless you have
further evidence to support your claim, I don't feel you are entitled
to "a service recovery effort" (aka compensation) for this experience.