The Place to Network: The Business Meal

The scene: a bustling upscale restaurant in Manhattan on a cold January evening. Five lawyers share a bottle of fine wine at a corner table as a waiter delivers the entr'es. Three lawyers are Biglaw partners hoping to win some work from the other two, who are senior in-house lawyers with a major packaged goods manufacturer. One of the in-house lawyers, Ted, participated in a panel discussion with Jack, one of the partners, a few hours earlier at an industry conference. As the waiter presents Ted with his entr'e, it's clear that a mistake has been made. Instead of the crab cake special, the waiter has brought a very exclusive stone crab appetizer that costs nearly four times the price of any entr'e. Ted is embarrassed ' while experienced in the ways of business meals, it is not his style to dine extravagantly on another's expense account. The waiter is embarrassed too, but prepared to quickly make amends. However, Jack leaps in to save the day. He reaches across his partner and snatches Ted's entr'e. Jack then shoves his own entr'e at the waiter, barking at the young man to take this to the kitchen and return right away with Ted's crab cakes! Problem solved. Ted will eventually get his crab cakes, Jack eagerly devours the delicious stone crab entr'e, and everyone lives happily ever after.