Waiter meta-commentary.

Lately at the one (Thai) restaurant where I work now, I have begun to make occasional, very gentle waiter meta-commentary.

Like, some parents are there with their young kid and they order a basic (Thai) fried rice with chicken spicy level zero, and I dutifully record that on my notepad and then am like, "Yes, chicken fried rice, spicy level zero, I've seen that one before," to their mild but appreciative amusement.

Around (Chinese) New Year's, too, we had a special pad thai where we used (Chinese) lo mein noodles instead of standard pad thai noodles, and when I'd go over our meal specials with people, at one point I started telling everyone when I indicated that dish, "It's kind of like the regular pad thai and people say it tastes the same, but it's a different kind of noodle.... When you live in a town this small, you have to make your own fun, and this is what we chose to do."

. . .

(People are really eating this [shit] up, it's like I disrupt the customary script and allow us to momentarily stand outside of our usual roles as server and client.)