Top Of The Table

Christopher De Voss

Aug. 19, 2001

Black and White

Recently a manager that I work with got angry with the wait staff, as managers tend to do. In his tirade he exclaimed that from now on, everything was going to have a "Black and White" policy.

Meaning what?

Well, meaning that there is only one correct way to do everything, and any deviation from this is wrong. You can never, ever, in the restaurant business, think like that…it does not matter whether you're the owner or the dish washer, that thinking will sink you like tempura battered sausage in a fryer. (I don't know what that means either…don't worry it's not just you.)

Think of the restaurant business like a giant, very complicated geometry problem. What's the key element of geometry, besides erasers? Variables.

A restaurant is full of variables, not every problem can be solved with the same answer. You have to remain flexible sometimes, look at the situation, and make a judgment based on the situation at hand. Now, this does not mean throw away the restaurant's policy book, tear off your clothes, and run hilly-nilly through the kitchen. No, this means, don't be afraid to make judgment calls. It will not always be black and white. If it was, your policy manual would be bigger than War And Peace, and The Bible put together. Maybe even bigger than Stephen King's The Stand…have you seen the size of that tome?

Let's break it down this way. In your restaurant you will have:

Concerns-These are the little things. Should I serve Iced Tea with a spoon and lemon in it, or should that stay on the side? Should we offer forty different types of hot tea? Should I get paper or plastic at the grocery store?

Issues-These are bigger variable that need addressed immediately. Is our seating staff efficiently seating the dinning room? Does our tuna dish need changed because we get a ton of complaints? Is our liquor leaving when our bartenders do?

Red Tape-These are things you can not change, usually found in corporate restaurants…usually caused by people whom seldom dine out themselves. Why do they do that, you ask? Well, for the same reason God needs a devil. (You can use that one to look smart, but make sure you walk away fast after saying it, so you don't have to go into any deeper meanings or discussions on the topic. It makes you look all the smarter. Wink. Wink.)

Black Tape- These are things you cannot seem to control, but you can temporarily put out the fire as it happens. Your tea machine springs a leak over and over. You get a late hit with only five servers left on the floor. You run out of salad dressing.

It's not rocket science. We all get upset. Do the best you can, that's all you can do. Trust me, I've made every mistake in the book.