This man runs one of the most successful restaurants in Petone. Probably even broader afield.
You might think it's the quality of his outstanding Indian cuisine that makes his restaurant so popular, and often full to the brim, even on an early week night.
And you'd be right. It is.
But no doubt there are other restaurants in the vicinity that serve pretty good tucker, too. Yet, on the same night, you'd often be hard-pressed to find two tables with diners at them.
So . . . what's he got that they don't?
Who Doesn't Like to Feel Special? Especially When It Comes Naturally.
He - proprietor Sherry Antony - has the innate, natural ability to make each and every one of his customers feel really bloody special. Like,
really special.
You only have to be on your second-ever visit to his Ruchi restaurant in Jackson Street, Petone, and as far as he's concerned, you get the right royal red carpet treatment. If he's not in the middle of serving someone, he will sprint out from behind his host's counter, and either shake your hand or hug you, whichever is more appropriate (I get the hug version of the welcome). And you get the same upon leaving.
And Sherry has an elephantine memory. Really. There are various ingredients I prefer not to eat, and some of them are pretty core to the average Indian dish. But it's no problem to Sherry and his team of chefs to come up with something outstanding that doesn't require them. And here's the thing: I'll go there, and I'll be in the middle of asking for the dish (sans said ingredients) that his chefs came up with the last time (which, BTW, could have been months earlier), and he'll say:
"No, no. You had that last time. Let me get you something new this time. You'll love it." And I always do.
None of the Above Is the Real Reason I'm Writing this Story
Anyway . . . . it's easy to get sidetracked on a review I was going to write at some point anyway . . . BUT, it's NOT actually the reason I'm writing this story right now.
I'm writing it because -
when the "Police" joyously left me in the most woeful, vulnerable situation last Tuesday night, as a victim of crime that they had no interest in attending or assisting with - it was Sherry who stepped in and, quite literally, rescued me.
In reality, although he treats me and his other even semi-regulars like his best friends when they set foot in Ruchi, he doesn't actually know me from the proverbial bar of soap. Sometimes, there are months-long gaps in my patronage,, and I'm not exactly a big spender. It doesn't seem to matter to him at all. He genuinely doesn't meter out his "hostly" affections in accordance with level of "customer spend".
'Come In, My Friend. I'm Here for You'
But he only had to lock eyes with me when I appeared at the door of Ruchi last Tuesday night in the midst of my ordeal, and he ran to the door, hugged me, listened to my situation, then pulled out his personal mobile phone, cleared a private setting for me, and "was there" for me, as I worked my way through a list of lengthy and often frustrating essential communications with after-hours call centres to cancel credit cards, organise insurance, road service, window replacements and so on.
I was on his phone for maybe approaching two hours. And he refused to take a red cent for any of it (not that I actually had any means to pay him at that time, since I'd been relieved of my handbag, wallet and other possessions by the criminals in which the police had absolutely nil interest).
So, I guess the point I really want to make is this: You really find out who your friends are in a moment of dire need. And sometimes someone
becomes your friend,
because of that moment, and
because they stepped up to the plate,
when the very parties that are meant to, didn't.
