[Dispatch from Philly] For the privilege of dining at Eric Rippert's (Le Bernardin, NYC) new 10 Arts restaurant in Philadelphia's Ritz-Carlton, you'll pay $18 to valet your car during dinner. Then, to add insult to injury, you'll be forced to stand in the Ritz's lobby guest check-in line to pay your valet bill before retrieving your wheels. No way to deal directly with the valets.
This is the type of high-class customer service the Ritz Carlton chain is known for? Waiting 20+ minutes for the car after dinner lends an unpleasant post-meal aftertaste to an otherwise pleasant dining experience. Surely the geniuses at Ritz-Carlton could devise a better valet system. (Ted Scheffler)
