I had a La Madeleine breakfast for lunch today - was in Dallas for a Dr. appt. and was in the area. The next step of degradation was there and I'm beginning to wonder how low they can go.
If you go back to the founder who's name was Patrick Esquerré, was French, who supported the local community, and wanted to create a French dining experience you'd find it quite different than it is now. The "American Breakfast" is what we ate there every Friday morning. The meal included a big, flaky croissant, two big and tasty sausages, and scrambled eggs. The table had a little vase with a fresh flower. Jam was served in a little white china dish. The paper napkins were big and fluffy and were printed with a nice logo picture. Coffee was made by the pot and was fresh and hot. the food was brought to your table by a friendly wait person and for many years, where we went, it was a guy named Gerber that became a friend. The manager and other staff became friends too. It cost $4.99.
Then the business was sold and became a business - the kind where profit was the driver. You could tell from the beginning that middle managers were looking for little ways to pull a few more pennies into the profit column by cutting down on what was being provided. The cut flowers were the first to go. Then the napkins became tiny little things that made you pick up 3-4 to take the place of the one (false economy there). And they were plain - no more pictures on them. We noticed each of these as they came along and joked/cryed about them to the manager. Prices started going up too. Then the little china dishes of jam went away in favor of a little plastic container with its snap-on top and they were half full. Again we found it necessary to take 2-3 to make up for the one that was taken away. The sausages became smaller and then smaller again. Now they're crusty little half-dollar size things. Then, after a bit, they started using the blinking-vibrating things that told you when you were suppose to pickup your own food. No more Gerber bringing it to your table he buses tables. Today I experienced two more cost cutting devices. The croissants that were once so excellent are now little more then crescent shaped bread - not worth the name croissant! And the final (the restaurant we visited was one of the last to make this change) the coffee is now served in a very large thermos - and was barely warm! The eggs? They are about the only thing that I haven't noticed changing for the worse. I paid $6.39 for my breakfast today.
Of course we're retired and living in the country now and only make the breakfast trip a few times a year. But there's really no longer any reason to go back. Nothing special there any more. We've got a couple friends that we have lunch with every Wednesday at a local east Texas coffee shop. We discovered a short while back that during the time we were having our Friday breakfasts at La Madeleine, they were having Saturday breakfasts there. As we compared notes we found that we were all noticing the same changes as they took place. So it comes under the category of nostalgia now. But it was once very nice!
