The blogosphere has been seemingly awash with the "pet peeves" and "rules" for diners and restaurant owners alike, making the whole dining scene seem as though it were a minefield to be waded through with severe caution, on both sides of the table. Tom Sietsema's interactive column in the WashPost, "Sietsema's Table", offers the diner's side with "Restaurant Pet Peeves". As of yesterday he had 122 complaints lodged in at his suggestion. The owner's perspective, or rather the pre-owner's perspective, since the writer is only in the planning stages of restaurant ownership, has been swirling everywhere, originating in the Business Section of the venerable New York Times, within the Blog called "You're The Boss". (That in itself is sort of funny, IMHO.) Part One of "100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do" aired on October 29, followed by Part Two this past Thursday. This set reminds me quite a lot of Eric Ripert's list of the 129 Cardinal Sins, which we have discussed in this space at an earlier time, a list which seems a little more realistic and a lot more professionally applicable to the real world we restaurant people live within than does the one by Mr. Buschel.
Still, the whole conversation leads me to the conclusion that you are never going to do anything right! Wait til everyone is finished before you clear; take my dirty plate away ASAP. Address the woman as "lady"; it's demeaning and archaic to address her as such. Bring the check as soon as the diner is finished; wait until the diner asks for the check to bring it. Even the standard of "serve from the left, clear from the right" got complaints from a handicapped server who couldn't use their left hand to follow that specific guideline! It appears that no matter what we do, we won't please everyone; there will always be someone who wanted something else and didn't get it, be it service, attitude, salt, or the waiter's name.
The comment on page 4 of Tom's discussion group, made by rwrjr, was one of the more sane and productive ones, particularly the "Look at the customer" part. Walk around the dining room with your eyes wide open. Read body language. Just doing this can solve a whole lot of the other problems before they even happen. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen one of our staff walk right by a table that has a credit card sitting there, waiting to be picked up, or watched as a guest tried to flag a passing server or busser, to no avail. This limited focus comes perhaps from trying to get to the next job that needs doing, or rushing to answer the call from the kitchen to "Pick Up!", but it is my pet peeve. I can think of nothing worse than desperately trying to make eye contact with a server and getting no where. I understand that sometimes my constant circle through the DR can be a little unnerving, but when I catch your eye and you tell me you would love another glass of Rock Rabbit, that is the explanation. The more eyes the better.
Meanwhile, if you have any pet peeves, be sure to let us know. We don't always serve left, clear right, but we try to be as unobtrusive as possible. We do drop the check at the end of the meal, but there is nothing that says you must immediately pay. We say "I'll be right back with your change." We are very guilty of serving our red wine too warm. We are adamant about the non-use of the word "guys"; we wait until the whole table is finished eating before we clear; we try to serve women first. We do wait for the whole party to arrive before seating, but only on the weekends; we do "check back", but hopefully not too often - and hopefully not when your mouth is full! Many of these "rules" are already in our employee hand book, but we are constantly striving to improve service in the dining room. Just because there are "rules" doesn't mean we stop learning and improving.
That is rule #1 - make the best better.
Still, the whole conversation leads me to the conclusion that you are never going to do anything right! Wait til everyone is finished before you clear; take my dirty plate away ASAP. Address the woman as "lady"; it's demeaning and archaic to address her as such. Bring the check as soon as the diner is finished; wait until the diner asks for the check to bring it. Even the standard of "serve from the left, clear from the right" got complaints from a handicapped server who couldn't use their left hand to follow that specific guideline! It appears that no matter what we do, we won't please everyone; there will always be someone who wanted something else and didn't get it, be it service, attitude, salt, or the waiter's name.
The comment on page 4 of Tom's discussion group, made by rwrjr, was one of the more sane and productive ones, particularly the "Look at the customer" part. Walk around the dining room with your eyes wide open. Read body language. Just doing this can solve a whole lot of the other problems before they even happen. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen one of our staff walk right by a table that has a credit card sitting there, waiting to be picked up, or watched as a guest tried to flag a passing server or busser, to no avail. This limited focus comes perhaps from trying to get to the next job that needs doing, or rushing to answer the call from the kitchen to "Pick Up!", but it is my pet peeve. I can think of nothing worse than desperately trying to make eye contact with a server and getting no where. I understand that sometimes my constant circle through the DR can be a little unnerving, but when I catch your eye and you tell me you would love another glass of Rock Rabbit, that is the explanation. The more eyes the better.
Meanwhile, if you have any pet peeves, be sure to let us know. We don't always serve left, clear right, but we try to be as unobtrusive as possible. We do drop the check at the end of the meal, but there is nothing that says you must immediately pay. We say "I'll be right back with your change." We are very guilty of serving our red wine too warm. We are adamant about the non-use of the word "guys"; we wait until the whole table is finished eating before we clear; we try to serve women first. We do wait for the whole party to arrive before seating, but only on the weekends; we do "check back", but hopefully not too often - and hopefully not when your mouth is full! Many of these "rules" are already in our employee hand book, but we are constantly striving to improve service in the dining room. Just because there are "rules" doesn't mean we stop learning and improving.
That is rule #1 - make the best better.
No comments:
Post a Comment