Two Saturdays ago we had a party of 13 booked at 5:30. We had a couple of other requests for bookings at that time, but we knew we could only handle one party that large at that hour, so we had to turn down the other business. The first part of the reservation showed up at the appointed hour. Now, I knew there were going to be several small children in the group, but what I didn't know is that they would only eat hot dogs and chicken fingers, neither of which are on our menu. As the Hostess perused our menu, she dismissed any of the offerings we have for kids, saying "They won't eat that". They wouldn't eat pasta with butter and cheese, they wouldn't eat a grilled cheese sandwich, they wouldn't split a large plate. These are 8 and 9 year old kids. Consequently, after a bit of debate, they left, meeting the rest of their party out in the parking lot to regroup. Meanwhile, we've got a big empty 13 top sitting there, a table I could have filled with at least one other party. To say I was steamed is understating the situation, and I am pretty sure the Hostess was aware of how I felt, as I was unable to remain totally professional in light of the loss of business. How hard would it have been for her to tell me the kids dietary restrictions, so we could have been prepared to have on hand something they would eat? Why didn't she mention this when she booked the table? She told me there were going to be a couple of children but not that they had very limited tastes in food. We could have had a hot dog ready for them (maybe not chicken tenders, but hot dogs, sure.) What kind of person does this stuff?
Then we had W.C. Graduation Saturday. Should be a really big day, right? We were booked with reservations every hour, starting at 5PM. We had calls all day long. At 4:30 I call the prime time bookings and when I reach the 7PM 6-top I say "I am calling to confirm your reservation for 6 tonight at 7PM." Imagine how I felt when the young man replies "Uh, I guess we're not going to make that." I asked "Were you going to call and let us know you were cancelling?" to which he replied "Uh, I guess not." Oh. My. God. You can once again only imagine how I dealt with this, once again not in the most professional manner. I was livid. All those calls, all those turned down. Next year I will do as I did at the Kennedyville Inn on that weekend in May - reservations must be confirmed to be held, no confirmation, no table.
This past Saturday, with a 118 pound veal carcass spread out on a bottom shelf, the walk-in starts to show signs of illness. Kevin puts in a pro-active call to our man Glenn Morton ,who stays for several hours Saturday night to get the faulty condenser back up to speed.
We've had some of the usual staff issues too lately: a dishwasher who is a no show Saturday night, not his usual mode of behavior - turns out he was in a car accident. The salad cook who has to go home Saturday due to lack of sleep the night before. The other dishwasher who is in jail during the week for a DUI and last Saturday, when he is scheduled to work at 6PM, is called at 6:15 and says he's not coming in because he doesn't have a ride. (Oh, just found that out, did we?) Plus, why are Proms, Graduations, Play-off Games and Senior Weeks so damn important to high school students? Shouldn't their jobs with us come first? (please see tongue in cheek here)
The straw was the email we got on Monday from a customer who became ill after dinner on Saturday night and blames us for food poisoning, citing the chicken dish that she did not share with her husband. This is, of course, serious stuff, an accusation we take to be the major complaint it is meant to be. Who wants to go out to dinner - maybe the first time you've been able to get away for a few months, maybe a special anniversary, maybe just a Saturday night date - only to fall terribly sick hours later. Our first reaction was "did anyone else get sick from eating the chicken?" We had also eaten some of that batch, so we were pretty hopeful the chicken was not the culprit - and no one is more aware of the need for special care when it comes to handling poultry than Kevin and his crew. But was it the sauce, the mushrooms, the popover? I got on the phone and called one customer who had the chicken - he said they were all fine. I emailed another and his response was the same. So, if not the chicken, what? I called the Health Department to tell them what was going on. They had not received any calls regarding anyone becoming ill over the weekend after eating anywhere, but got me in touch with the director who was able to reassure me that, unless there were more sufferers, it was probably a combination of things and not actual food poisoning. Still, none of this would make the sufferer feel any better - she had honestly gotten very ill after eating with us, and I can guess she would be hard pressed to eat with us again, at least probably not order the chicken. She asked for a refund - and once again I don't blame her.
And do you know why these things always have to occur on a Saturday? Because they can.
The good news? All these hassles we go through make for some good stories, eh?
Then we had W.C. Graduation Saturday. Should be a really big day, right? We were booked with reservations every hour, starting at 5PM. We had calls all day long. At 4:30 I call the prime time bookings and when I reach the 7PM 6-top I say "I am calling to confirm your reservation for 6 tonight at 7PM." Imagine how I felt when the young man replies "Uh, I guess we're not going to make that." I asked "Were you going to call and let us know you were cancelling?" to which he replied "Uh, I guess not." Oh. My. God. You can once again only imagine how I dealt with this, once again not in the most professional manner. I was livid. All those calls, all those turned down. Next year I will do as I did at the Kennedyville Inn on that weekend in May - reservations must be confirmed to be held, no confirmation, no table.
This past Saturday, with a 118 pound veal carcass spread out on a bottom shelf, the walk-in starts to show signs of illness. Kevin puts in a pro-active call to our man Glenn Morton ,who stays for several hours Saturday night to get the faulty condenser back up to speed.
We've had some of the usual staff issues too lately: a dishwasher who is a no show Saturday night, not his usual mode of behavior - turns out he was in a car accident. The salad cook who has to go home Saturday due to lack of sleep the night before. The other dishwasher who is in jail during the week for a DUI and last Saturday, when he is scheduled to work at 6PM, is called at 6:15 and says he's not coming in because he doesn't have a ride. (Oh, just found that out, did we?) Plus, why are Proms, Graduations, Play-off Games and Senior Weeks so damn important to high school students? Shouldn't their jobs with us come first? (please see tongue in cheek here)
The straw was the email we got on Monday from a customer who became ill after dinner on Saturday night and blames us for food poisoning, citing the chicken dish that she did not share with her husband. This is, of course, serious stuff, an accusation we take to be the major complaint it is meant to be. Who wants to go out to dinner - maybe the first time you've been able to get away for a few months, maybe a special anniversary, maybe just a Saturday night date - only to fall terribly sick hours later. Our first reaction was "did anyone else get sick from eating the chicken?" We had also eaten some of that batch, so we were pretty hopeful the chicken was not the culprit - and no one is more aware of the need for special care when it comes to handling poultry than Kevin and his crew. But was it the sauce, the mushrooms, the popover? I got on the phone and called one customer who had the chicken - he said they were all fine. I emailed another and his response was the same. So, if not the chicken, what? I called the Health Department to tell them what was going on. They had not received any calls regarding anyone becoming ill over the weekend after eating anywhere, but got me in touch with the director who was able to reassure me that, unless there were more sufferers, it was probably a combination of things and not actual food poisoning. Still, none of this would make the sufferer feel any better - she had honestly gotten very ill after eating with us, and I can guess she would be hard pressed to eat with us again, at least probably not order the chicken. She asked for a refund - and once again I don't blame her.
And do you know why these things always have to occur on a Saturday? Because they can.
The good news? All these hassles we go through make for some good stories, eh?
Man, after reading your blog, my issues seem so trivial!!
ReplyDeleteNo issue is trivial, when it is your issue.
ReplyDeleteI promise I will remember to tell you that graduation weekend sucks. As for the High school thing... All kids Want to expirence those events, Graduation is a GREAT achievement. Proms are something one should never miss. As for play-offs and senior week... its something they deserve.... siting in a boring class room for 8 hours every day 5 days a week, doing the same thing isnt fun or easy. and 12 years of that just makes me cringe. I still cant believe i made it. But the biggest thing is that this job they have with us at Brooks Tavern is just a job..... not a cereer, they dont want to build on what they have with us. Man... that was a bad week, lets hope our next weeks will be better!
ReplyDelete-Todd