"I'm A Chef"

That's the line that gets to me. You can bet that even though it's not apparent, I am rolling my eyes whenever I hear that comment from a complaining customer who has all sorts of offensive comments, complaints and criticisms for Bogota.

I had a "4 Star Chef" (her words, not mine) in here with a gay guy who complained to her that his exboyfriend knows how to make tamales and that our's were not authentic.

I explained to him that you can't get any more authentic than Bogota's resident Colombian cook, Sonia and that I would be more than happy to bring her upstairs to meet him.

"I wouldn't want to offend poor Sonia," he replied as he shook his head the entire time of our conversation, "but this is not authentic."

"This food is not authentic," they both crowed. I looked at their bill after they left. They only had a tamale and an arepa but felt compelled to criticize our entire menu and the restaurant based on two appetizers they had.

Noted restaurant consultant, Brian Buckley, once told me that on occasion, he has fired customers by telling them, "Please don't come back here." I'd love to be able to do that with certain people that have walked through our doors.

Thank God the majority of our customers get what we're about and love our food.