When you sit down at a restaurant, the first thing waiters do is bring a bread basket, followed immediately by the drinks, which they ask for before you even choose your meal. It’s clear that this is immediately perceived as a sign of friendliness, a way to establish the establishment’s level of hospitality and, if the baked goods are homemade, also to showcase the kitchen’s skills. These are certainly all valid reasons, but they’re not the real reason why the bread basket appears almost immediately.
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