Top Of The Table

Caroline Barden

Jan. 15, 2002

It was a pretty mellow Christmas Eve at the restaurant where I work, a lot quieter than in past years. As I was walking through the dining room a lady that I had waited on a few weeks earlier stopped to wish me a Happy Holiday. She was finished with her dinner and on her way to go to church with her family. However, she did take the time to let me know that they chose this restaurant for their special celebration because of the good service they had received from me on their last visit. It made them feel confident that they could get in and out in a timely fashion. This lady went on to say that so many places don't offer the kind of efficient servers that they find here. Of course, I didn't have the nerve to ask why they didn't request me that evening,but I was happy to hear such a nice compliment!

Here's the point I'd like to make. Don't ever under estimate what good service does for a restaurant. Not all your customers are going to be as forthright as this lady was, but it can be the deciding factor as to whether someone you have waited on comes back to your restaurant. For years I have been harping on the fact that people go out to eat to be served, and they deserve our best efforts. A good attitude, a pleasant demeanor, and a sincere interest in pleasing your customer go a long way these days. In my last column I'm afraid that I came down a little too hard on the slackers, but you know what,some of them just don't get it. Service, both good and bad, is getting a lot of attention these days. Do you want your customers talking about you in a negative or positive way? Because they will talk and they are a lot more observant than you think.

What frustrates me is the lack of pride that so many servers have in their job. Take wine service for example. Where I work, no one wants to learn the right way to open a bottle of wine at the table. Guys that work out at the gym three times a week tell me they can't open this little tiny bottle of wine. When I try to show them how easy it is if you practice, they tell me it's not important, they'll just open it in the back and pour it at the table.This is just plain ignorance if you ask me, not that you did. I was trained in professional wine service by Kevin Zraly, who had the wine school at Windows on the World. He was one of our customers at a restaurant I worked at in New Paltz NY where he lives. He was gracious enough to share a lot of his vast knowledge with us and took away a lot of the snobbishness associated with serving wine. It's such a joy to serve a bottle of wine correctly and I can't believe people in our industry just don't want to learn. What's worse is that owners don't insist on it. Yet who is the first to complain when people don't tip properly? You guessed it, the slackers of course!

Don't ever be embarrassed by other servers putting down your best efforts. You are not working for them, you are working for your boss and your customers. These are the people you need to please as well as yourself. If you're working in a restaurant for your social life, well that's one thing, you probably don't give a hoot what your customers say, you just want to get your shift over and go party. That's okay, but it's self- serving and ultimately self -defeating. If you are going to do a job, do it right and make the money you deserve.

So where am I going with this? Well, maybe with the new year we should make some restaurant resolutions. Like getting to work on time,helping out a little more and changing our attitudes about the customers. The restaurant industry is way down and we have to put extra effort into our jobs.A lot of people are getting very picky about where they go out to eat and we can't take anything for granted. Not to be the bearer of doom and gloom, but alot of restaurants are going to be forced to close so work together with your fellow servers to make sure yours doesn't fall by the wayside. A bit of good old fashioned team spirit and a little extra effort will set you apart from the competition and help keep you in business. This year, make some resolutions you can really stick to and make the money to prove it!

So if you're tired of hearing about being more professional and doing your job well, you'll love next weeks column. Sexist attitudes in our workplace, from customers, to co-workers to management, that's my topic for next week! Sex sells, so let's learn how to use it and not abuse it! Ciao for now kids.

Are you a manager who is a little frustrated with your staff? Okay very frustrated! Why not try calling in a consultant? We are those quirky people who can focus on what needs fixing and then proceed to make you look really good to your boss. We have ways of helping your staff work better together so they make more money for themselves and for your establishment. They also tell us things they wouldn’t dare tell you! For a free consultation you can contact me at this web site, I would be happy to troubleshoot with you. Let’s all raise the standards in this industry together!

Caroline Barden Restaurant Consultant.