I would like to tell two stories and let you decide for yourself. Scenario one: A friend of mine stops to get a latte at a local coffee house. She doesn’t see the cash only sign and proceeds to order from the barista. She receives her coffee and attempts to hand her credit/debit card to the…
My Wife’s Dining Experience
Or as I like to call it, the two lady treatment. It is a dirty shame when my wife, (who by the way is adorable, knows food, and is a big tipper), dines out without me, or with other women, and gets less than she deserves when it comes to service. Really? Some servers still do…
I Provide a Service
I stopped by to see a former co-worker of mine, and to see how his world was going. He now has two nice, upscale places in town, and I wanted to know if things were working out for him. He said two things that stuck with me, that I had to share the next day…
Take Charge
Customers like to think that they are in charge when it comes to their dining experience, but we all know better. Or at least we should. Since we do know better, it makes sense that we should be using that to our advantage. What’s good here? Recommend those dishes that you know are terrific. You…
Who’s Watching the Door?
I recently had the chance to visit the great state of Hawai’i for my darling wife’s birthday (I did bring my wife this time). We had a fabulous time and managed to eat out at a few ‘fancy’ restaurants. It can be a challenge mentally going from no-sales tax Portland, to over-priced resort world, but…
That One Guy–the Cancer
Every restaurant has at least one. In fact, all businesses seem to. The thing that I have never understood is why restaurants keep them. We are in the hospitality business, and we should always be 100% about hospitality, so I could never figure out why those employees who do nothing but spread ill-will throughout the staff,…
Front vs. Back?
I visited a new place in town the other night with my dear wife. I like going to new places (who doesn’t), seeing what’s happening in town, watching the different approaches to the same old business. I love this most of all My favorite part of going into a new restaurant has to be the…
Teamwork
Unfortunately, there are many restaurant servers who forget that there is no ‘I’ in team. So often they are focused only on their own section, apparently unable to see anything else. Almost like a horse with blinders, they just plow ahead. I don’t mean to pick on just servers, I was one for many years…
Preset
I have talked before about the importance of mise en place for the front of the house. This definitely falls under that category. Whether you own a fine dining establishment, or just a local neighborhood joint, pre-setting of silverware and other things is still very important. It actually makes the whole experience better for the…
The Greeting
We have all had that experience where you walk into a place and no one greets you. They are all too busy. It feels like you entered a saloon in the old west. Everyone looks at you, but no one says hello. The waiters are running around frantically tracking down appropriate glassware for the wine…
Make it Nice Every Time
Why not? I never really understood anything but. Is it really so much more important to be cool than to be nice? I understand that some customers can be quite difficult, but shouldn’t we at least start out under the assumption that everyone is decent, and therefore deserve the very best we have to offer?…
Work Ethic
Because of my resposibilities here at the culinary school, I am often asked to speak to students who are about to leave the nest and go out into the real world. I find myself returning to this same theme over and over again. I see this all the time in this business: Those who work…
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