Dax Ewbank - Mexican Food Consultant

I'm thinking about starting a new career as a consultant to Mexican restaurants. I think I have some pretty good insight into how exactly a Mexican Restaurant ought to be run. Years of experience eating Mexican food and yearning for all the perfect aspects of good service to be present in one place have driven me to consider what it would take to make the perfect Mexican restaurant.

First some general observations:

1. All Mexican food is basically the same - beans, rice, chicken or beef, and cheese in some variation or combination. Maybe some veggies here or there to give it some color.

2. People expect free stuff when they eat Mexican food, minimally chips and salsa, ideally chips, salsa, queso, pico, tortillas and relish.

3. Most people view the quality of service at a Mexican restaurant by whether or not their iced tea remained full and whether or not they ever ran out of whatever free stuff the restaurant offers. They also view the quality of the restaurant by the amenities provided to accentuate certain products. For instance, tea should be served in very large plastic cups with lots of ice. Beer should always be served in large frozen glass (never plastic) goblets with lime and salt on the rim. The only beers offered should be Corona, Tecate, and Dos Equis. You can offer weanie American beer but just serve it in the bottle.




Now some cognitive processing based on these observations:

1. Since all Mexican food is basically the same, the quality of the recipe is not the number one thing that brings people to a Mexcian restaurant. People go to Mexican restaurants because they already know what the food is going to taste like, kind of like McDonald's, most people are cowardly lemmings and are afraid of any kind of change. So advertising that your Mexican restaurant is different or even better (which implies different) is a sure way to keep people away. You should call it "Traditional Tex-Mex", which implies that the food is simply rice, beans, chicken or beef, and cheese, all arranged in the usual combinations and that won't freak people out.

2. Provide all the free stuff and keep it coming. People think they're getting a deal when you provide the free stuff, and they like that feeling. They will never put the fact together that the fajitas that cost $21.95 have the exact same ingredients as the quesadillas that cost $12.95 and require less work. It's a beautiful bit of marketing the in the history of Mexican food that makes the food that is not all the way prepared cost more than the food that requires more preparation, almost as clever as sushi, but it would be a little gross and possibly dangerous not to cook the chicken.

3. Training of the wait staff is vital in order properly provide the illusion of quality. I will get into this next, but the basics are pretty simple, make sure that the customer never runs out of tea, or any of the free stuff. Make sure that if the customer wants another beer, that he or she gets a new freshly frozen goblet, NEVER put another beer into an unfrozen goblet. For people who prefer "American" beer like Coor's Light or something you can just set a "sixer" next to the table, if you didn't already run them out of the restaurant for not wearing a shirt.

Service Considerations:



Being a Mexican Restaurant waiter or waitress is respectable and hard work, and one can make a good living at it if it is done right. As a member of the wait staff what you need to remember is one of the primary reason people are paying for food that they could very simply make at home is that they want to be served. Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Shut up. People didn't go out to eat in order to talk to you so don't try to be overly friendly. If the customer engages you in conversation realize that he is either a) just being friendly but doesn't really want to talk or b) he is fantasizing about dating you because the only interaction he has with the opposite sex is when they are being paid to service him. Keep your conversations short, and very surface. If a customer asks how you are doing, don't tell them that your kid is sick or you've been on duty for 12 hours or anything like that, just say "Great, how are you guys". Notice you always address the entire table, never a single person in the table. This is very good wait staff etiquette as it helps the table to feel as a group and aids in their camaraderie.

2. Shut up. If you see an empty tea glass it is not necessary to ask "Would you like more tea?". It's free, just put the tea in the glass. This also goes for chips, salsa, tortillas, relish or any other complementary item. I think many waiters and waitresses think they are doing their boss some kind of favor by limiting the number of freebies they give a customer, as if they are saving their boss money by denying the customer a tortilla or an extra cup of watered down salsa. In reality what they are doing is ticking off the customer and their tip is rapidly decreasing every second the customer goes without any complementary item, not to mention they are creating a reason for the customer not come back the restaurant the next time they go out.

3. Take off the blinders. I've noticed that many waiters and waitresses walk around the restaurant and exhibit a very well developed but useless skill. They are able to peruse the entire restaurant without ever making eye contact with anyone at any of the tables they are in charge of. They do this on purpose in order to get out of doing their job. What they don't realize is that this ticks the customer off. ALWAYS MAKE EYE CONTACT with your tables anytime you are within eyesight of them. If you have been enough of a louse that they have to ask you for a refill, then you've already screwed up, don't make it worse by ignoring them.



4. Don't Freak Out. I find this often, I go to restaurants around 1:30 or 2:00 long after the lunch hour rush. It's just me and maybe one or two other tables, but the wait staff acts as if the place is full and there's a line around the block. This is because they are not good at being waiters or waitresses. They suffer from what I call "poor me waitress syndrome" where they are basically trying to shift the blame for their inability to do their job onto the fact that the restaurant is busy. The give away for this disease is that once the busy rush passes, these kind of waiters or waitresses never get out of "freaked out" mode, even if you're the only customer in the building. These kind of wait staff should be fired. A good waiter or waitress should never have to increase or decrease the speed of their service depending on how busy the restaurant is. If they do have to change the effort they put into the service of each table when the place is busy, it means they are slacking when the place is slow, and ticking off customers in the process. As a member of the wait staff, you should find the speed that you are able to properly serve your table, remembering orders and keeping the chips and tea full, and always work at that speed no matter how busy the place is. You will find that you will be much more relaxed at work, you will be able to take care of your customers better and they will give you much bigger tips. Like I said, people are mainly cowardly lemmings, and when they see someone who is calm and in control even in the midst of apparent chaos, they will feel loved and protected and they will reward you accordingly. However, when they see a freaked out waitress it triggers in them the "flight" response and causes them to associate your restaurant with fear and death.

5. Sell the freebies. Here's how I look at it. Your greedy capitalist boss is paying you $3.00 an hour and raking in the cash selling nearly rotten meat on a rusted pan for $30.00. However in the excess of his bounty your boss has given you something in addition to your $3.00 an hour, and that is the complementary items of the restaurant. In the eyes of the customer, your tip is directly tied to your generosity with your boss's complementary items. You will not get a raise if at the end of the month you boss saves $10.00 because you were overly stingy with the tortillas, because your boss will have lost several customers in the saving of that $10.00. However you will get a raise if the customer feels so well treated by the showering of tortillas you provided that he or she leaves an extra $5.00 tip. I actually calculate the tip I am going to give based on the number of tortillas I receive. When my family is out there is 6 of us, and I feel like it would be ideal if we all received at least 3 tortillas if we are having fajitas. So I just pay $.33 - $.50 per tortilla and then I deduct $.50 for every time I have to ask for more of any complementary items. Do you now see how you as a member of the wait staff, you are essential getting 100% of the revenue you generate in the form of tips by "selling" the free items to the customer? Your boss isn't so bad after all now is he? If you work at a Mexican restaurant that makes people pay for the freebies, then quit. This is a bad restaurant, and you as the hard working waiter or waitress will end up paying for your customers tortillas and chips because they will deduct the cost of them from your tip.



Imagine with me if you will a world where all the Mexican restaurants had this level of service. I know in heaven this is how it will be, because there won't be any cowardly lemmings or freaked out people in heaven, only people doing exactly what it is God made them to do and doing it with all their might as an act of worship. Whether they are thankfully eating a fajita to the Glory of their creator, or diligently serving their customer as if they were serving God Himself, in heaven the Mexican food will be the perfect combination of beans, rice, chicken or beef and cheese, the beer will be served in perfectly frozen glass goblets, and the tortillas will be as perfectly satisfying as manna from heaven, all served in perfect execution by a heavenly wait staff determined to do their best.

Until then however I hope that we can make some disciples that can give people a little taste of heaven in the flawless execution of their duties as a member of a Mexican restaurant wait staff.

The Gospel According to an Atheist -- Ayn Rand

There is no escape from justice, nothing can be unearned and unpaid for in the universe, neither in mater nor in spirit -- and if the guilty do not pay, then the innocent have to pay it.

-- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Pretty profound for an atheist who believed that man is an end unto himself. It's weird and sad that someone could have this kind of a grasp on justice and reject the work of Christ on the cross.

Here is Ayn Rand's philosophy in a nutshell (this is taken from www.aynrand.org):

My [Ayn Rand's] philosophy, Objectivism, holds that:

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.

2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.

3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.

4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

Translated simply:

1. "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed" or "Wishing won't make it so."
2. "You can't eat your cake and have it, too."
3. "Man is an end in himself."
4. "Give me liberty or give me death."

Rand states,

"If you held these concepts with total consistency, as the base of your convictions, you would have a full philosophical system to guide the course of your life."

Let's look at this from a Biblical worldview:

Look at point one:

"Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears."

As Christians we know that reality is the revealed will of God, and that in Christ our very existence is maintained by His power.

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of His power." - Hebrews 1:3

Despite our feelings, wishes, hopes and fears that God not exist, or that Christ not be Lord, or that some other arrangement be made between God and humans, the facts are facts, independent of our feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. God is who He says He is in the Bible, we must deal with that.


Consider point two:

"Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival."

For the man without Christ this reasoning is limited to his own cognitive ability. He is trapped inside His own mind and left to grapple with the heavy issues of life with ultimately only his own spirit to counsel him.

"For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:11

The company of many friends and advisers can offer little solace as he is left alone with his thoughts, unable to fully communicate them given the faculties naturally available to us.

So if our only means of perceiving reality is through reason, and reason is limited to our own cognitive ability, then we truly are each an island, and possibly and end unto ourself, but the Bible goes on to reveal to us something peculiar about our cognitive abilities within the body of Christ:

"12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ." -- 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

So we can affirm Rand's premise that reason is the means by which we perceive reality, however we must realize that as a Christian our ability to reason is supernaturally expanded by the work of the Holy Spirit enabling us to accept and understand the truths of God. And we can also see how a great mind like Ayn Rand could cognitively develop a very solid philosophy based on reason and yet totally miss the importance of the Cross and regard it as foolishness.

In her own words:

"Philosophy is the goal toward which religion was only a helplessly blind groping." -- Ayn Rand

Look at point three:

"Man is an end in himself."

From the viewpoint that reality is objectively determined solely based on your ability to cognitively interpret it (which is actually pretty subjective), then it only makes sense that this cognitive interpretation in its purest sense would and must seek to preserve and enjoy the self.

The Westminster Catechism says that the chief end of man is to "glorify God and to enjoy Him forever". John Piper in the book Desiring God would only change this to say that the chief end of man is to "glorify God BY enjoying Him forever". Both see man experiencing joy forever. Rand states:

"The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."

The key phrase being "rational self-interest". If we remember that the Christian has the cognitive ability of the Holy Spirit, it is not hard to see then that the rational self-interest of the Christian would be to pursue joy through the method that we have discovered to provide an infinite supply of it, the Glorification of God. It is what we were created and are commanded by our creator to do, there is no more reasonable rational self-interest than this.

"You make known to me the path of life;in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." -- Psalms 16:11

Finally, to the politics:

"The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism."

This should be simple enough to understand, it's simply the Golden Rule,

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." -- Mathew 7:12

I still like reading Ayn Rand, and it is sad to me that she was not a Christian. I suppose that the comfort and logical soundness of her philosophical system can become a sort of trap because it seems to work so well, however it collapses on itself with the simple realization that the Bible is true.

[below added 03/30/2010]
I can perfectly relate to John Piper's reminiscing as he marked the 50th anniversary of Atlas Shrugged:

I was attracted and repulsed. I admired and cried. I was blown away with powerful statements of what I believed, and angered that she shut herself up in what Jonathan Edwards called the infinite provincialism of atheism. Her brand of hedonism was so close to my Christian Hedonism and yet so far—like a satellite that comes close to the gravitational pull of truth and then flings off into the darkness of outer space.

Rand particularly impressed upon me the reality of Justice in the universe, yet she rejected God. Ultimately her definition of Justice was subjectively based, although she didn't see it that way because her premise for reality was wrong. Ayn Rand said in Atlas Shrugged:

Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.

I wish she would have taken her own advise and checked her premises on her description of reality and realized that without a Holy God to stand apart and the standard for Justice and righteousness then objective truth is ultimately not attainable. The ultimate stumbling stone in coming to this conclusion is that the only way for the justice of a sovereign God to be satisfied would be through the execution of an infinite punishment for sin. Since it would be impossible for us to bear this punishment and live, most simply reject the idea of a just God, or the idea of human beings short of God's glory, instead of embracing the truth of the work of Christ on the Cross.

Jebb Stewart -- Time Machine

If you've come here to find where to get beer steins from the event click here. If you're wanting a T-shirt from the event click here.

I had a great time Saturday night. My friends put on one heck of a show. It was almost like a religious experience for me. It's funny how music can really just take you back in time. Most people have music that when they hear it just takes them back to a place in their past. In our case it's the music of Jebb Stewart, a little band that not many people have even heard, but to those that have it might as well be Aerosmith (the old Aerosmith).

I sat in the old padded flip down seats in the Royal Theatre and soaked in all the music and my mind just drifted back to the great times we had. Many friends showed up that I have not seen in a long time and it really made for an evening to remember. All in all I'd say that a couple hundred people showed up, I really wasn't paying attention to that. Jebb Stewart played until little after midnight and Jigawatt Box played till about 2:30 or 3:00. Both bands were excellent.

I wonder sometimes if the little town of Fairview really knows the kind of talented people that are floating in and out of their community. Many of them can't really get past the fact that people were consuming beer while enjoying the music, some people were even seen dancing (gasp!). Oh well, it's their loss, I'd hate to go through life and miss out on good friends, good music and good beer, all things I thank God for big time!!

For those of you who don't know Jebb Stewart consists of Rick Hudson (lead and vocals), Jeff Woods (drums), and Willie Adamson (bass). Rick and his wife and son are getting ready to move to Kentucky where his wife is going get her Phd, and where Rick is going to see what he can make of the music scene there. Jeff lives in OKC and is an electrician, he also plays in a really good band in OKC called Lemma, check them out if you are ever in OKC. Willie lives in Fairview and does oil field mineral leasing. He plays in the other band that played that night called Jiggawatt Box. They were excellent! These guys are so talented, it's really fun listen to and watch them play.

Here's some video I took so you can get a little taste of the evening. They recorded the show from the soundboard so as soon as I get a hold of that I'll point you to it. I think there were some other videos made, and I'll post them when I get them.

Postmodern Theology and Spurgeon on faith

I have been commenting on a blog call "The Parish" over at typepad. I enjoy the conversations that happen there and the people there seem to be pretty open to argument without to much vitriol, they're actually all very thoughtful and seemingly considerate as far as I can tell from the virtual reality in which I have met most of them. The ongoing issues always seems to revolve around epistemology or how one comes to know what is true. I, being of the reformed persuasion, believe in the whole Bible as the standard for truth, but many of the people commenting there don't accept that premise. It makes for interesting debate. The other interesting thing about these debates is that they are pretty high stakes from a theological standpoint because in order for one "side" to win the argument the other side must abandon it's premise. Needless to say it can get pretty wordy.

I have found that engaging in these kinds of conversation really challenges me to know what I believe and it challenges me to attempt to see how the person on the other side of the argument are coming to their conclusions. It helps me to practice listening to what someone else is saying versus simply trying to come up with clever arguments to refute their points. I think this is helpful because I don't want to be one of those people that use the Bible as a club and arrogantly lord my position in Christ over all those "sinners" who haven't got it yet.

I've found some very very intelligent people who are sincerely trying to work out what they believe and I'm doing my best to not come off as condescending when I present my viewpoint. I think that a lot of the time we Christians do come off a little high on our horses and forget the part of our own theology that says that there must be a work of the Holy Spirit within the individual before they will be able to understand and accept the Bible as truth. And because it is only by God's grace and by Christs work on the cross do we have the privilege of understanding anyway, it leaves us with no grounds in which to boast in our position in Christ.

The subject of faith came up as it is essential in being able to accept the Bible as truth, here is some good CH Spurgeon on the issue of faith:

"What is faith? It is made up of three things — knowledge, belief, and trust. Knowledge comes first. "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" I want to be informed of a fact before I can possibly believe it. "Faith cometh by hearing"; we must first hear, in order that we may know what is to be believed. "They that know thy name shall put their trust in thee." A measure of knowledge is essential to faith; hence the importance of getting knowledge. "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." Such was the word of the ancient prophet, and it is the word of the gospel still. Search the Scriptures and learn what the Holy Spirit teacheth concerning Christ and His salvation. Seek to know God: "For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." May the Holy Spirit give you the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord! Know the gospel: know what the good news is, how it talks of free forgiveness, and of change of heart, of adoption into the family of God, and of countless other blessings. Know especially Christ Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour of men, united to us by His human nature, and yet one with God; and thus able to act as Mediator between God and man, able to lay His hand upon both, and to be the connecting link between the sinner and the Judge of all the earth. Endeavour to know more and more of Christ Jesus. Endeavour especially to know the doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ; for the point upon which saving faith mainly fixes itself is this— "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Know that Jesus was "made a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Drink deep of the doctrine of the substitutionary work of Christ; for therein lies the sweetest possible comfort to the guilty sons of men, since the Lord "made him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Faith begins with knowledge.

The mind goes on to believe that these things are true. The soul believes that God is, and that He hears the cries of sincere hearts; that the gospel is from God; that justification by faith is the grand truth which God hath revealed in these last days by His Spirit more clearly than before. Then the heart believes that Jesus is verily and in truth our God and Saviour, the Redeemer of men, the Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. All this is accepted as sure truth, not to be called in question. I pray that you may at once come to this. Get firmly to believe that "the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin"; that His sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man's behalf, so that he that believeth on Jesus is not condemned. Believe these truths as you believe any other statements; for the difference between common faith and saving faith lies mainly in the subjects upon which it is exercised. Believe the witness of God just as you believe the testimony of your own father or friend. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."

So far you have made an advance toward faith; only one more ingredient is needed to complete it, which is trust. Commit yourself to the merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious gospel; trust your soul on the dying and living Saviour; wash away your sins in the atoning blood; accept His perfect righteousness, and all is well. Trust is the lifeblood of faith; there is no saving faith without it. The Puritans were accustomed to explain faith by the word "recumbency." It meant leaning upon a thing. Lean with all your weight upon Christ. It would be a better illustration still if I said, fall at full length, and lie on the Rock of Ages. Cast yourself upon Jesus; rest in Him; commit yourself to Him. That done, you have exercised saving faith. Faith is not a blind thing; for faith begins with knowledge. It is not a speculative thing; for faith believes facts of which it is sure. It is not an unpractical, dreamy thing; for faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of revelation. That is one way of describing what faith is."

Team Chip Tae Kwon Do

Triston and I are now both orange belts in Tae Kwon Do (it goes white, yellow, orange, green, high green, blue, high blue, red, red white, high red, recommended black, black, and then degrees of black). Both of us really enjoy it and we are learning alot and working hard too. The school we go to here in Elk City is called "Team Chip", our instructor is Steve Fischer. Here is a video of Chip Townsend, the "Chip" of "Team Chip", doing a demo for Century Martial Arts.

All of the black belts are fun to watch because they can do some amazing stuff. Chip is particularly good:

I'm working on a video for Steve (our instructor) now, I will put it up when I am done with it.

4th of July in Elk City

Julie and the kids and I spent the 4th right here in Elk City yesterday. I heard that on the 4th it was OK to take some fireworks to the city park and set them off. I guess I really didn't properly envision the ramifications of that statement, because apparently in Elk City EVERYBODY goes to the city park with their fireworks, and it is pretty cool. Here are some videos I took with my cell phone while I was there. Notice the smoke, and all the firework sounds too:

Pretty cool huh? This was just the collective fireworks display of all the probably 2 or 3000 people that showed up to the park with their own fireworks, the city put on a $10,000 fireworks show as well.

Then to top it all off, right after the city's firework show, God put on a show with a thunderstorm to the east of us, and a spattering of rain that sent all the people at the park scattering for home.

I thought the fireworks were cool, my kids really loved it (however it did take about 30 minutes to get Evan to come out of the car, because it kind of freaked him out), it was like a 2 or 3 hour fireworks show. It struck me though that fireworks are like alot of things we become enamored with, up close they look beautiful and powerful, but in comparison to the simple little thunderstorm that provided the backdrop for the evening, they were nothing but smoke and sparks. I don't know that many people even noticed the awesome display of lightning, until the rain came and they were forced to deal with it.

Anyway, it was fun, and if you're ever around Elk City on the 4th of July, I would recommend checking this out, because it's cool, in a chaotic, communal sort of way, and I'm sure that they can't keep doing it for too long, some whiner is bound to put and end to it at some point.