Epitome Anatomy EDIBLE SERIES: CUSTOMER
EPISODE SUMMARY:
"The restaurants that you remember, the dining you would remember all your life, would be the ones where you walked in as an anonymous customer, and you walk out feeling good after."
In this new Edible Series, Wish explores dining from the customer’s point of view: from choosing a restaurant and dining solo to noticing the difference between a polished performance and genuine hospitality. With candid reflections and stories from meals around the world, she considers how food, atmosphere, and human connection come together to make an experience worth remembering.
Listen to the Episode
MAIN TOPICS:
00:00 — At the Customer’s Table
03:31 — Following Your Appetite
09:52 — The Pleasure of Dining Alone
13:08 — Choosing the Right Table and Company
15:31 — Hospitality Beyond the Show
20:26 — The Meal That Stayed With Me
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Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (00:00.11)
As you know, I travel to eat the world. I have a strong sense of taste and constantly following my nose to enjoy not just a mere mastication, but to fill my own joy through dishes and libations. Let me use the next few episodes to share a normal person's food experience with you. No influencer bullshit, but a typical restaurant guest wanting to savour what's on offer.
No, I'm not a critic with a notepad. I'm not an influencer staging a photo while the sauce gets cold. Just a person occupying a chair, looking at a menu, taking in the room, and looking forward to the dishes that's coming out. Today we're looking at dining from the only vantage point that truly matters: a view from the customer table.
Welcome to Human Thesaurus Presents Epitome Anatomy Edibles series. My name is Wish, a retired tech operator, indie author, cat mom, and self-aware life explorer. Epitome Anatomy is an opinion piece on the power of words and their ethos that I extracted from this life.
Ready for the epitome of customer? Let's go!
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (01:38.136)
Our keyword is customer. It means a person who purchases goods or services from another. It is also called a buyer or a patron, according to dictionary.com. Its etymology came from the late 1400s, from the word custumer, which means custom official or a toll-gatherer. Also, during that stage, it also meant
One who purchases goods or supplies, or one who customarily buys from the same tradesman or guild. It also came from Anglo-French custumer or old French coustumier from medieval Latin custumarius, which means a toll-gatherer or a tax collector. So literally they all meant pertaining to a custom or customs. To extract further, it was a contraction of Latin consuetudinarius from consuetudo, which means habit, usage, practice, or tradition. Wow, it's there's a lot here. The more generalised meaning of customer, which is a person with whom.
One has dealings emerged in 1540s, or that of a person to deal with, usually with a defining adjective tough, so tough customer, that was being used in that context by 1580s. And also in Shakespeare, the word also can mean prostitute. Customer, prostitute,eh...
So I will give you this picture of what I normally do by the time I find the restaurant. I normally do a thorough research anywhere I go, any different towns, any cities, any places that I'm even very familiar with, for example here in London or Makati or Sydney or Melbourne, you know, the places where I used to live. I always am constantly on the nose.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (04:01.886)
Smelling and sniffing around for food, for something interesting. Also trying to look for creature comforts. So now, on the way to that place, sometimes you know I don't have an appetite or I have an appetite or there's no goal but to eat. You enter any of these places, whether high-end or fast food, it doesn't matter. When you enter, there's already a sense of
Wow, I'm going to eat something. There are different psyches that that enters according to the mood. So when you sit down, you look forward to looking at the menu, or you kind of know because you Googled it. Or sometimes I sit down.
Thinking about, you know, looking forward into some dishes that you already pre-planned, but when you sit down, look at the menu, you change your mind and you're like, okay, this is my mood, this is what I'm interested at. I love physical menus because it's tactile and you read through them and sometimes they have descriptions. It's just a nice avenue, it's a nice welcome to let you know what a restaurant is like.
what their dishes are, what they offer, what theme, what is the region, or anything. Like they're just showing you a preview of who they are. But nowadays there are some restaurants for efficiency's sake, this occurred more during COVID period and we adapted it all throughout post-pandemic to scan a QR code, either just the menu or you can order and pay through that online.
And that's fine too. It's just a completely different experience. So whenever I enter a place, I don't a hundred percent expect anything from anyone. regardless of how high, how Michelin they are, or how low. It doesn't matter to me. My only expectation is that I'm going to eat and we'll see how good it would be. Because top for me why I go out and try these.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (06:15.47)
places is for the experience of good food, the experience of exploring flavours. I have a very good palate, so therefore it's always a goal for me to enjoy, enjoy going out. If I have a choice, for example, I can't afford it or I don't have a budget for it, I stay home and I'm very confident that I will cook a very good meal as well.
I cook very well, my husband cooks very well. There's no doubt that we're able to always come up with brilliant dishes at home. So when you go out, as soon as I sit down, I absorb the room, I absorb the ambience, I absorb the smells, I absorb again different setting, different expectations. There are different factors, which I'm gonna walk you through as much as I can.
Just for this entire series. I will talk about many different aspects of dining from a normal person's perspective who's lucky enough to be able to explore food from different regions, places, countries, and of different types. I'm only getting started. And then, you know, when you enter a place, sometimes I don't expect anything because, for example, you've heard or you know that it's just a fast meal.
There are ramen places in stations in Japan where you just slurp, slurp, slurp. It's so hot, but you only have what 10-15 minutes to slurp all of that because there are lots of other people who's also on the go who does this not leisurely but just for nourishment. And it's functional. I don't expect much from different places. I discern wherever I go whether what to kind of expect or how.
You do things in different manner and in different places. I think it's normal when you don't know much, when you only started exploring these things. The fear of the unknown of going solo and you don't even know what to expect or how to order, all of that can be sometimes intimidating. But at the end of the day, everybody goes to these places to eat. Just go for it.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (08:29.696)
So for me it's the warmth of the ambience really depends on where I go. I think in general, what I expect entering any food places is to be treated with respect because I've got so much respect for people who would serve me, even if it's self-service and you just go to the counter. I expect a certain decorum between the customer, which is me, and the people who are serving me.
I expect that decorum, that kind of mutual respect. After all these years going to different places, I always get surprised when a place is warm or friendly or they go extra mile. It always surprises me because like what I said, I don't expect much. even though if you say, but you're paying for it, you're paying hundreds of pounds. Yes, that's true. So
I expect a certain cleanliness, decorum, prettiness in those places. But when it comes to warmth, I love being surprised. I love appreciating because I appreciate it more when I'm surprised how warm they are or how much they know about me. So there are certain levels of discernment whenever I go. Again, it sounds complicated when you lay it out like this, but it's not really it's all in the matter of fun.
And another thing about being a customer from this vantage point is eating solo, dining solo versus the contrast of being in a group. Again, it's a certain level of experience. I don't get intimidated dining solo. Since I left university and I started working and I left my parents' house to move to the big city in Manila, I expect that I can't.
go all the time with people. I've learned earlier on to watch movies on my own, to eat on my own. And it's so funny because sometimes people look at you funny when you're dining on your own or even in a Michelin restaurant. I am amused. I'm not intimidated by those looks. I am more amused. A lot of people talk to me about this that they're jealous of people who are able to dine on their own like that.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (10:50.734)
confidence. And yeah, probably there they have a point that it's a matter of confidence, but it's by choice. I think in the past 10 years I could see more and more solo diners, especially at high-end restaurants and even these high-end luxury restaurants are also accepting solo diners nowadays, which I appreciate. And I'm still upset about some places, highbrow or even like just normal restaurants
That are popular, they can't really book a solo person. Sometimes I understand it's because it's a smaller restaurant and they needed to get as many profits as they can to survive. So I understand that, but I think in this world, there's really a massive capture market now for solo diners who are able to pay whatever dollars you wanted. Me as a solo diner, I'm gonna tell you that it strips away.
The small talk I needed to do, and that heightens my every single sense. Because I'm on my own. I'm not being rude, so I barely look at my phone during those moments. And people watch and watch the servers, watch what's happening in the restaurant, listening around. I notice my observational superpower.
Which I'm actually not. I'm not as nosy as my best friend or my husband. Being in public, I'm usually on in my own world. But also at the same time, there's a power of observation around you. You observe the cadence of the room, the choreography between the kitchen and the servers, and how the order is being called, if it's an open kitchen, or the smell of the burning.
charcoal in the background and the pacing of how they served the wine and the tiny talks around you and the people coming and going and people dating and feeling sad for a lot of people the entire time they're dining looking at their phones and not interacting with each other. You see all of that and that's part of the experience being a solo diner.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (13:08.096)
And sometimes really I really don't give a shit. I'm really just in my own world, enjoying my own food, and I don't even observe what's happening around me. So again, depends on my mood. I go with the flow and the rhythm of the experiences that I have. Now, when it comes to the group setting, the dynamics change because it's either you're dining with another person or with a big group or with just a mini group.
The dynamics change because you're interacting with several people. And from the customer's point of view, in my case, I tend to pick carefully where I meet the person or a group of people. I am more discerning on how the service is gonna look like or what we need, a noisy brasserie or a cafe that's quieter.
With an outdoor setting or a private dining, so that we're able to interact in a more focused way. From the customer's point of view, when you carefully pick the ambience, when you pick the place, you also hope that the service, the restaurant, would be capable of serving a certain group of people. So that the entire experience of interacting with people that
you have at that time and then the interaction with the service is flawless or it's smooth, then it gives the entire dining experience even a better, more elevated feeling that after you're dining when you get home, you smile. It's like that was good. There's a perfect blending of the service, the ambience, the people that you're dining with, whether there's a tea or drama or not at all.
And really that company. So it's not just the company that you keep at the dining table, but it's the company that you keep of the venue that you chose to dine at. It's quite important to me. I think it's something that's really one of the top priorities for me wherever I suggest wherever I take my friends or my family or any group that I needed to take care of. I want them to live for the experience. Also for me as well. Speaking of the venue.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (15:31.18)
So when you go to a restaurant, especially when you're in a different country, there's also a certain thing that I'm very, very particular about. There are a lot of restaurants nowadays that are pretty. Really, really pretty. Even cafes or restaurants. They're so pretty, but their food is crap. Because they're just catering to being viral with influencers. I don't go to those.
Let's just say only 0.5 out of 10 that I would go to those. It's only because I'm more curious of what they're selling. But it's not for the gram for me. I wanted to try it. It's a new concept. I wanted to try. Therefore, I'm gonna go. But I go dead hours. But I spot them from the get-go, the facade of a restaurant. I mostly, let's say 99%, I'm normally correct. That
There's a difference between a dining room designed for theatrics or tourist traps versus places that possess these unforced, genuine, or friendly or warm something raw of what they serve. And that's very, very important.
What's the difference between a restaurant that's just merely just for performance or versus genuine hospitality? There are lots of places, especially like here in London, they're here for generations because they want to serve good food. They want to serve their grandma or great-grandma's recipes every day to their customers. That's amazing. And it doesn't matter how pretty or
Raw or whatever they are, as long as they're clean, of course, as long as everything is in right order, everything is sanitary, then yes, it's a big yes. I could have at any day a three pound bagel in somewhere a little bit I can't remember, a few stations away from me, rather than going to a hipster place here in central London that's just looking pretty but everything else is shit.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (17:44.204)
And even their coffee is even bad. So no, it's not even about the price itself. Yes, of course, you have to discern how how ridiculous you can pay for a cup of coffee. But if the coffee's super good and sometimes they offer this tailored 18-pound cup of coffee, like fuck that too. Like, no. So I know good coffee and you don't need to
Spend that much as well for a good cup of coffee. But anyway, that's a different thing altogether. I digress. When it comes to this performance versus genuine hospitality, there's also how the place is respecting their diner. Sometimes I've been to places that are so I'm not intimidated, but it feels so unfriendly and it feels heavy. Like they don't want you there. What the hell am I doing here?
So it's really, really sad to experience some of those places. It just feels like they want you to be grateful being there. And also when you ask for things, the server wants you to feel embarrassed by asking about a dish or even when you're dining alone. Like they hate you. I don't like that. They don't go out for that kind of experience.
So there's also a decorum when it comes to again, going back to my first point earlier about certain mutual respect, that decorum between the venue or the service and the people that they are serving. There should be a certain point of respect there. You're all sharing the same space and life is too short. So why can't we have a good experience together?
So in in line with all of this, from a customer's point of view in a restaurant or in any place, when you experience food, there's sometimes brilliance in simplicity or in its complexity on a plate. But it doesn't matter sometimes. That sensation sometimes would fade quickly if the human interaction or the human point of the experience is feeling very
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (19:56.802)
Performative or transactional. The restaurants that you remember, the dining you would remember all your life, would be the ones where you walked in as an anonymous customer and you walk out feeling good after. It doesn't matter whether it's a fine dining restaurant or a casual restaurant or a fast food restaurant. There's this certain experience that we take away. No pun intended taking away from dining in these places.
There's always a certain experiment that nothing will always be perfect wherever you go. So that's why there are people like me who like to experiment and always hope for the best that I would have a great experience. One of my most memorable experiences was what, 19 years ago in Bangkok in the street. I don't know anything about Bangkok much at that time.
There's no smartphones at that time, not yet, at least. And I was roaming around and found this what it's just a makeshift table, chairs, and massive couple of woks. Sat there, ask for tom yam soup.
And they asked me in broken English of spicy. I said yes, spicy. It was the best tom yam soup I've ever had. That was one of the most heartening things I've ever had. I had a lot more of the stories, which I'm gonna share with you with few more episodes of the most memorable dining experience, but I'm just gonna give you this last point.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (21:38.766)
How about you? Do you prefer solo dining from group dining? What are the factors that are most important to you when you're dining out? Please comment and share your opinions with me. I'd love to hear from you. I have a direct message via text or voicemail on top of each of my episodes summary, so do reach out. Until next time, ciao.
Wish Ronquillo Peacocke (22:14.062)
Comment, like, subscribe, and share wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also visit humanthesaurus.co. Epitome Anatomy is produced by me and Jeremiah Ronquillo. Music by Ketsa UK and Pixabay. All rights reserved by Wishblizz Media. Thank you, and see you in the next episode.
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