If I were asked to give advice to The Bee's next restaurant critic, I'd say: Report as much as review.

From the start, my intent in writing restaurant criticism has been to play the role of a diner at the sort of place usually reserved for an anniversary, a birthday or some other more or less special occasion.

I've wanted to let that person know what to expect about the style of food, the design and comfort of the setting, the attitude and technique of the service, and the value returned for what generally is a substantial investment.

I've been an observer, registering my impressions, complaining about shortcomings, complimenting well-conceived and well-executed artistry.

But I'm not sure that's enough for today's audience, which I sense wants to know more about how restaurants operate – the sources of ingredients, the execution of unusual dishes, why restaurateurs do this and don't do that.

I'm not sure why I feel this way, but it could be because of a seeming increase in the number of incisive questions I'm getting from readers. Possibly motivated by more concern about where their endangered disposable income should go, diners seem much more curious than they were two decades ago. As well as more suspicious and challenging.

All of which leads up to this: Why haven't I ever asked Kerry Kassis how he hires and trains servers for his Slocum House restaurant?

After all, we've been frequenting Slocum House for 20 years, and over that time the servers have been as consistently professional as at any place in the region.

No, they haven't been perfect. They can be obtrusive, bursting into conversations; almost without exception, however, the appropriateness or humor of their remarks overcomes any annoyance about the intrusion. And they can be affected – the hand they lock behind their back, firm against their spine, is eccentric and quaint.

But aside from those quibbles, they've long possessed an unusual earnestness and pride.

So, Kerry Kassis, how do you do it? In a follow-up phone conversation after our most recent visits to Slocum House, he said he looks first for experienced servers, especially from restaurants of similar caliber.

During job interviews, he quizzes them about food, wine and other culinary matters. The tests don't stop when they're hired. Chefs are to print out information about esoteric ingredients and methods, and servers are expected to study them; they're periodically tested to assure they grasp concepts and particulars.

"I'm big on product knowledge," says Kassis.

Servers also are trained in two other elements Kassis believes crucial for the Slocum House brand of service – teamwork and consistency. They start out bussing tables, then shadow experienced servers and eventually get their own station.

And Kassis uses as his textbook one of the more demanding manuals in the trade, Chicago restaurateur Charlie Trotter's "Lessons in Service."

By the solicitude and warmth of servers who tended our tables lately, his program looks to be effective. Even the server responsible for replenishing our water glasses was making sure no one would suffer from dehydration on his watch.

Turnover among servers at Slocum House over the years has been more frequent than among cooks, but this summer the restaurant got a new executive chef, Eric Sunquist, who succeeded Charles Knight after a couple of years as Knight's sous chef.

Stylistically, Slocum House food remains a busy and intense interpretation of New American cooking. Whether on the set menu or the daily fresh sheet, dishes are as likely to be as classically French as bouillabaisse and escargot or as modern and global as sautéed chicken seasoned with Moroccan spices and a kalamata tapenade.

One appealing attribute of Sunquist's cooking is how he sets off brightly colored and sharply flavored ingredients against rather plain backgrounds.

A bright and rich salad of heirloom cherry tomatoes tossed with bacon, coupled with a spicy vinaigrette of curry and citrus, jolted alive pan-seared wild Alaskan halibut surrounded by a flotilla of fingerling potatoes ($27.95).