One winter evening, you meet a friend for dinner in the restaurant of a downtown hotel. You arrive at the restaurant and before checking in with the host, you check your coat with the restaurant employee in the coat check room. The employee provides you with a small, pre-printed card containing the number 23. There is nothing else written on the card. You put it in your purse and head off to enjoy dinner with a friend. After dinner, you stop by the coat check room and provide the attendant with your pre-printed number 23 card. The attendant, who is not the same person on duty when you entered the restaurant and left your coat, searches the room. He is unable to find the coat. Despite a further and thorough search by a number of restaurant employees, the coat is missing.

The coat was designed wool coat that cost you $495.00. But, inside the coat pocket was an expensive watch, worth $2000.00. You had placed the watch in the coat pocket on the way to the restaurant when you realized it was not keeping time and the battery was probably dead.

If you file a claim against the restaurant, what legal principles would apply? Would you be able to successfully recover? If yes, how much would the restaurant be liable to pay?