After thinking and thinking and thinking about it, we have concluded that the main problem with service in this town is a blind-man-and-the-elephant one. Follow along: Servers are raised in TV rooms in various suburbs and small towns, going out once in a great while to restaurants they don't pay much attention to. Then they come to the big city, get the big tips cash job they've always wanted, and just make it up as they go along, cobbling together their ideas of what might be done with silverware, whatever little glimmers they know about wine are pieced together into a universal worldview and then...that's it. Ten years later, these people have either become great servers or insufferable nightmares. Which is why Cosmos is such a joy; from doorkeeper to bartender to server's assistant, each and every person has training to fall back on. They all exude confidence and competence, reliability and helpfulness. They all seem to carry around in their heads a vision of what the heck they're trying to accomplish in their interactions with you, and it is just a fantastic relief. Hosts are able to get a visual ID on you and--miracle!--bring the rest of your party to you in the bar when they show up to the dinner. Servers are able to understand the price of wine you're looking at, and suggest something more appropriate than the wine you were considering. Servers' assistants understand when, how, and under which circumstances to remove plates or replace tableware. There's no blind-man-and-elephant problem, because it seems that when they showed up everyone got a weeklong seminar on the behavior and characteristics of elephants, and can thus get on with it. Training! This hotel restaurant is a miracle of training and service.