I don't drink a lot of soda, so when I'm out for lunch, my drink of choice is more often then not, iced tea, no sweetener with a slice of lemon and a water on the side.
And, when I order iced tea, I expect it to be just plain old iced tea. I don't expect sweetened or flavored iced tea. And if it's either of those, I want you to tell me. Peach iced tea, which seems to be gaining popularity in local restaurants lately, is not plain iced tea, and it's a shock when you take a big old sip from a straw and get a mouthful of unexpected peach.
It's kind of like if you were to take a large slug of what you thought was Sprite, only to find it is actually tonic. Blech. Your body has an immediate, confused and negative reaction.
Yet, this seems to happen to me more and more frequently to the point that I now ask servers if the tea is flavored when I order. I would much prefer this information be volunteered, but maybe that makes me high-maintenance. Maybe I shouldn't be such a tea purist and I should just drink whatever they give me with a smile.
But that doesn't seem very fair since I'm paying for whatever ends up being at the other end of my straw, whether I like it or not.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
