Long smiled, as if something privately amused him for a moment, but he shared the joke once seated.

"It used to be worse," he says with a note of deprecating semi-apology, as if the poorness of the food and drink were something he were personally responsible for although of course that is not the case.

"When I arrived it was extremely poor. Everything had very little flavor, or odd aftertastes, or.... I believe they have been making attempts to improve, which is something."

Long gestures with one hand for the Extra waiter. He's long since given up being discomfited by them.