Whew! We made it! Kevin and his crew worked very, very hard, especially yesterday, to be ready by 6PM New Year's Eve. Danae was particularly powerful, all day and all night - if she had not been able to do the garde manger last night, I really don't know what we would have done. Her first night on salads was quite a success. And she pulled in 13 hours of pretty much nonstop work - not too shabby for an 18 year old. Kevin did make Todd and Danae take a ten minute break...gee, thanks Chef!
Anyway, what a relief for Kevin that it's over. He has been pretty stressed for the past couple days, and service was just an intensification of that. A barrage of orders, coming in from 6:00 right through 9:00...Kevin G. and Todd battled on the line right beside him, putting up with the short patience and brisk commands of their leader as they put out plate after plate of their work. Sounds romantic doesn't it? I'm surprised everyone doesn't want to run a restaurant, especially on New Year's Eve...
So, how did it go? Better than last year, actually, since we had no major goof-ups. Joy was the tray runner and she did very well - she was another excellent choice for that job, because she is very organized. She had some extra duties on the trays last night, what with setting up canapes and taking out at least three courses for each table. Ashley, Erin and Ann worked the floor, with each of them having at least one large party at some point of the evening. Pete and Ali bussed and Val was at her post on the bar. Everyone managed to hold their own, despite the entirely new menu, with some entirely new menu items for them to describe to the guests. We had given them a print out of the menu and all of it's garnishes the day before, which was a useful aid in their ability to guide the guests through their evening.
Once again, the lamb was the number one choice, with the steak a close second. The roasted half duck was third - better than the duck breast we served last year - followed by salmon and then the seafood. I was surprised more people didn't order the seafood, with those U-7 shrimp and seared scallops, but what do I know? And the rhubarb mousse in the meringue shell was very tasty, another excellent choice. The biggest disappointment of the night was that I only got the two pictures - but at least one was of the lamb, which I thought was the nicest presentation of the five entrees. The other is of the seafood plate.
The best part of the evening though, besides how fabulous the food looked, was how fabulous the guests looked! Just about every man had on a coat and tie and pretty much all the ladies were dressed in holiday finery. It made the dining room really sparkle, really special. It made us feel special too, serving that wonderful food to our terrific guests. Overall, I would judge it to be a successful evening and I hope our customers felt so too.
Happy New Year everyone!
Anyway, what a relief for Kevin that it's over. He has been pretty stressed for the past couple days, and service was just an intensification of that. A barrage of orders, coming in from 6:00 right through 9:00...Kevin G. and Todd battled on the line right beside him, putting up with the short patience and brisk commands of their leader as they put out plate after plate of their work. Sounds romantic doesn't it? I'm surprised everyone doesn't want to run a restaurant, especially on New Year's Eve...
So, how did it go? Better than last year, actually, since we had no major goof-ups. Joy was the tray runner and she did very well - she was another excellent choice for that job, because she is very organized. She had some extra duties on the trays last night, what with setting up canapes and taking out at least three courses for each table. Ashley, Erin and Ann worked the floor, with each of them having at least one large party at some point of the evening. Pete and Ali bussed and Val was at her post on the bar. Everyone managed to hold their own, despite the entirely new menu, with some entirely new menu items for them to describe to the guests. We had given them a print out of the menu and all of it's garnishes the day before, which was a useful aid in their ability to guide the guests through their evening.
Once again, the lamb was the number one choice, with the steak a close second. The roasted half duck was third - better than the duck breast we served last year - followed by salmon and then the seafood. I was surprised more people didn't order the seafood, with those U-7 shrimp and seared scallops, but what do I know? And the rhubarb mousse in the meringue shell was very tasty, another excellent choice. The biggest disappointment of the night was that I only got the two pictures - but at least one was of the lamb, which I thought was the nicest presentation of the five entrees. The other is of the seafood plate.
The best part of the evening though, besides how fabulous the food looked, was how fabulous the guests looked! Just about every man had on a coat and tie and pretty much all the ladies were dressed in holiday finery. It made the dining room really sparkle, really special. It made us feel special too, serving that wonderful food to our terrific guests. Overall, I would judge it to be a successful evening and I hope our customers felt so too.
Happy New Year everyone!
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