Since I was the main hiring manager at one of my restaurant jobs and a member of three new store opening teams, I figure that I have interviewed well over 1,000 people in my life. During those interviews, I have always asked the following question-
"On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why."
I love this question for many reasons. First, I want the person I am interviewing to be decisive. Thus, the only incorrect answer is 5. I want you to be either a people oriented person or a task oriented person. An answer of "5" tells me you are indecisive and are looking to please me by saying you are both.
Second, I love the question because, other than an answer of "5", there really isn't a wrong answer. I don't care if you are people or task oriented, my main concern is why you consider yourself the way you do. Do you like talking to people and getting to know them or do you do better with managing a to do list? Explain to me why you chose the way you did.
Finally, I love this question because it gives me a way to balance my staff. A successful staff must have a mix of people oriented and task oriented staff members. The people oriented staff members are going to be the ones who chat with tables, make friends with guests and are very social around the restaurant. The task oriented staff members are going to be the ones who are good at pre-busing, running food/drink, and complete side-work in a very timely manner. If you had a staff full of people oriented people, you would have servers lolly-gagging at tables talking to guests when there is food/drink to run and tables to pre-bus. If you had a staff full of task oriented people, you would have servers doing nothing but side-work and food running and forgetting about the hospitality aspect of running a restaurant.
Next time you have to conduct an interview consider asking the applicant "On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why." See what they say. Ask your current staff, too. Do you have a good mix of people and task oriented staff? If not, consider hiring the opposite of what you have the most of. It will make a difference in the service you provide.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
129 Cardinal Sins of Service- Part Three
More thoughts on the the 129 Cardinal Sins of Service that was originally published by Eric Ripert. I have already covered the first 9 here and here.
9. Chipped glassware.
What bothers me most about chipped glassware is not that it is poor service to serve someone a glass with a chip in it, but rather it is a safety issue. A guest could cut his/her lip by drinking from a glass with a chip in it. If a guest cuts a lip, there are much bigger issues than poor service- try lawsuit.
10. Tables not completely set when guests are seated.
This has more to do with impatience and lack of communication than anything else. As most hosts can attribute, it can get very difficult to manage guests when there is a wait for a table. The guest can see there are open tables and are wondering why he has not been seated. He can be demanding and rude. To appease him, the host may take the guest to the table regardless of the state it is in. In this case, the host needs to manage the situation as best as possible so as not to take the guest to the table before it is properly set.
The other issue here is lack of communication. Many times someone will tell the host that "table XX is ready to be sat" when that certainly is not the case. The host, going off the information and trusting that information, seats the guest when the table is not quite ready. The remedy here is for the host to visually ensure the table is ready to go and ensure the communication lines are accurate.
11. Dead or wilted flowers on the tables.
If you have enough money to put fresh flowers on every table as the centerpiece, you have enough money to replace flowers when they are wilted and dying. Dead or wilted flowers look tacky and gives a poor impression to the guest.
12. Tables not leveled.
This annoys me as both an employee and as a guest. There are few things worse than setting your drink down on a table that wobbles. A wobbly table is annoying because every time I put weight on the table, I think it is going to tip. Oh yeah, don't fix it with coasters either, it looks tacky- fix the table.
13. Salt and pepper shakers that are half empty.
This looks like the job being done is "half-assed." Makes the guest think "what else are they scrimping on if they cannot refill the salt and pepper shakers?" Taking care of this shows you have attention to the small details.
9. Chipped glassware.
What bothers me most about chipped glassware is not that it is poor service to serve someone a glass with a chip in it, but rather it is a safety issue. A guest could cut his/her lip by drinking from a glass with a chip in it. If a guest cuts a lip, there are much bigger issues than poor service- try lawsuit.
10. Tables not completely set when guests are seated.
This has more to do with impatience and lack of communication than anything else. As most hosts can attribute, it can get very difficult to manage guests when there is a wait for a table. The guest can see there are open tables and are wondering why he has not been seated. He can be demanding and rude. To appease him, the host may take the guest to the table regardless of the state it is in. In this case, the host needs to manage the situation as best as possible so as not to take the guest to the table before it is properly set.
The other issue here is lack of communication. Many times someone will tell the host that "table XX is ready to be sat" when that certainly is not the case. The host, going off the information and trusting that information, seats the guest when the table is not quite ready. The remedy here is for the host to visually ensure the table is ready to go and ensure the communication lines are accurate.
11. Dead or wilted flowers on the tables.
If you have enough money to put fresh flowers on every table as the centerpiece, you have enough money to replace flowers when they are wilted and dying. Dead or wilted flowers look tacky and gives a poor impression to the guest.
12. Tables not leveled.
This annoys me as both an employee and as a guest. There are few things worse than setting your drink down on a table that wobbles. A wobbly table is annoying because every time I put weight on the table, I think it is going to tip. Oh yeah, don't fix it with coasters either, it looks tacky- fix the table.
13. Salt and pepper shakers that are half empty.
This looks like the job being done is "half-assed." Makes the guest think "what else are they scrimping on if they cannot refill the salt and pepper shakers?" Taking care of this shows you have attention to the small details.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dear Management Staff- An Open Letter to Restaurant Managers
Dear Management Staff,
First off, I want to thank you for employing me. I need a job, you had one available, we chatted and you hired me. Now that I have been working for you for a while, there are some things we need to discuss. This is kind of my pet peeve list of things that are going on in the restaurant. Please feel free to address them as soon as possible.
You expect me to do many things in the restaurant- you want me to refill drinks a certain way, carry said drinks on a tray, greet the table within a certain time frame, show guests the dessert tray to entice them to purchase, etc. If you want me to do all of these things, you need to give me the tools to do so. If you want me to tray all of the drinks, please make sure there are enough trays for me to do that. Because there are so many other things you need me to do for my table (I'll get to that in a bit), I don't want to have to look for a tray to bring a guest a water. Same thing goes for glassware. If you want me to bring the guest a new glass for each refill, make sure there are plenty of glasses. Same goes for coffee cups and silverware. Oh, and the dessert tray needs to be changed more often, after day four, they start looking unappetizing.
As far as my job, in general, it is pretty easy. However, you always seem to make things harder than it should. You always seem to be adding small things for me to do saying "If you do it like this, it only takes 30 seconds..." Well, this is on top of the 30 seconds you added to my to do list last week and the 30 seconds from 2 weeks ago. Now you are wondering why I am not getting to my tables quicker. It's because all of those 30 seconds are adding up. How will you solve it when it becomes a storewide issue? By giving me a smaller section so I can handle things better. Now, instead of a 4 table section, I get three. Instead of 4 tables getting turned 3 times for a total of 12 tables, my three tables get turned 3 times for a total of 9. I am missing out on 3 tables. That's probably $25. Over the course of a week, that's $125, and so on.
Be consistent when dealing with servers. If you let one do something, let everyone do it. Yell at me? Yell at him for doing the same thing. Write he up because she is late? You'd better do the same for me otherwise people will start taking advantage. There is an old adage- "Treat me good and I'll treat you better. Treat me bad and I'll treat you worse." If you treat me well, I'll bend over backwards for you and the store. Treat me bad and I'll make life bad. I'll steal stuff, I won't show for work and I'll make the restaurant look bad in front of guests. Want to fire me? Go ahead. I'll just go across the street or down the road and find something else.
Bottom line is- give me the tools (silverware, glasses, trays, etc.) to do my job the way you want me to, don't over extended me and then punish me for it, and treat me well. Simple things. Do these and we will have a good relationship. Don't and I'll be across the street.
Thanks.
First off, I want to thank you for employing me. I need a job, you had one available, we chatted and you hired me. Now that I have been working for you for a while, there are some things we need to discuss. This is kind of my pet peeve list of things that are going on in the restaurant. Please feel free to address them as soon as possible.
You expect me to do many things in the restaurant- you want me to refill drinks a certain way, carry said drinks on a tray, greet the table within a certain time frame, show guests the dessert tray to entice them to purchase, etc. If you want me to do all of these things, you need to give me the tools to do so. If you want me to tray all of the drinks, please make sure there are enough trays for me to do that. Because there are so many other things you need me to do for my table (I'll get to that in a bit), I don't want to have to look for a tray to bring a guest a water. Same thing goes for glassware. If you want me to bring the guest a new glass for each refill, make sure there are plenty of glasses. Same goes for coffee cups and silverware. Oh, and the dessert tray needs to be changed more often, after day four, they start looking unappetizing.
As far as my job, in general, it is pretty easy. However, you always seem to make things harder than it should. You always seem to be adding small things for me to do saying "If you do it like this, it only takes 30 seconds..." Well, this is on top of the 30 seconds you added to my to do list last week and the 30 seconds from 2 weeks ago. Now you are wondering why I am not getting to my tables quicker. It's because all of those 30 seconds are adding up. How will you solve it when it becomes a storewide issue? By giving me a smaller section so I can handle things better. Now, instead of a 4 table section, I get three. Instead of 4 tables getting turned 3 times for a total of 12 tables, my three tables get turned 3 times for a total of 9. I am missing out on 3 tables. That's probably $25. Over the course of a week, that's $125, and so on.
Be consistent when dealing with servers. If you let one do something, let everyone do it. Yell at me? Yell at him for doing the same thing. Write he up because she is late? You'd better do the same for me otherwise people will start taking advantage. There is an old adage- "Treat me good and I'll treat you better. Treat me bad and I'll treat you worse." If you treat me well, I'll bend over backwards for you and the store. Treat me bad and I'll make life bad. I'll steal stuff, I won't show for work and I'll make the restaurant look bad in front of guests. Want to fire me? Go ahead. I'll just go across the street or down the road and find something else.
Bottom line is- give me the tools (silverware, glasses, trays, etc.) to do my job the way you want me to, don't over extended me and then punish me for it, and treat me well. Simple things. Do these and we will have a good relationship. Don't and I'll be across the street.
Thanks.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Hiring the Assistant Manager
One thing that annoys me about the phrase "We promote from within..." is that it does not always make sense. Sure, when there is a need for a bartender, it makes sense to promote a server because the skills are very similar- drink knowledge, customer service, menu knowledge, etc. The skill that may be lacking is the physical activity of making drinks. This is an easy enough skill to learn if the server can follow and memorize recipes.
When it does not always make sense is when there is a need for an assistant manager at a restaurant and management/ownership decides to "promote from within" and hire a server and/or bartender to do the job. There are times when this is appropriate- the employee slated for the promotion has the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job and to do the job well and when the learning curve for this new position is low. When it is not appropriate is in most situations when the employee is promoted because "she/he has been here for a while, knows our systems ans processes and would (probably) be good at the job (plus we need someone to work nights and weekends for less money than she/he would make waiting tables)." What management/ownership fail to realize in this situation is that the server that is being promoted was hired to do one job, serve, but is being promoted to do another with a different skill set.
Below are some things to think about when promoting a server to the assistant manager position:
- Does the server have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job or is the promotion just because the employee has been there for a while and it's the natural progression?
Servers are usually hired just to serve, not to manage. Though some have the skills to be a manager, many do not. Many think that being a manager is just like being a server except you get to do discounts and talk to tables. I'm not trying to make restaurant management a job where only the best of the best of the best can do it, I am trying to make the point that management/ownership needs to really look at the candidate before the promotion and not just promote because that's the natural progression of things. Ask yourself if you would hire this person if he/she walked in off the street and answered a job ad. Hold your employee to the same standards as you would someone from outside the organization.
- There are growing pains when you hire from within.
One of the main issues when hiring from within is the way other servers see the newly promoted employee. There are issues of jealousy, lack of respect and boundary testing. Some servers, especially those who feel they should have been promoted instead, may feel jealous and create issues for the new manager when they are working together. Some servers may feel that the newly promoted employee is not worthy of the position and not respect the manager's new authority. They may refuse to do what is asked, may purposely create issues during a shift or, worst case, simply refuse to work with that person. Management/ownership needs to nip this in the bud instantly by always supporting the new manager. If not, credibility is lost instantly and you might as well start looking for a new manager.
- Customer service may suffer.
It takes a while for a new manager to get the hang of dealing with customer issues, plus it is never easy dealing with an irate guest who just wants to scream and yell. Intimidation is always a factor when a guest is upset and, most times, the only way to get used to it is practice. The advice here is to set-up some practice sessions for the new manager to deal with customer service issues. Practice makes perfect.
- Set boundaries.
What do you want you new manager doing? Should they perform interviews and do hiring? Are they to work with inventory and check-in food/alcohol? What is their role going to be with employee discipline? Ensure the entire management staff is on the same page with this so no one is stepping on anyone's toes. One of the worst things that can happen is for the new assistant manager to make a decision and for another, more seasoned manager, to revoke it. This creates credibility issues with the new manager, who may already have credibility issues.
When it does not always make sense is when there is a need for an assistant manager at a restaurant and management/ownership decides to "promote from within" and hire a server and/or bartender to do the job. There are times when this is appropriate- the employee slated for the promotion has the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job and to do the job well and when the learning curve for this new position is low. When it is not appropriate is in most situations when the employee is promoted because "she/he has been here for a while, knows our systems ans processes and would (probably) be good at the job (plus we need someone to work nights and weekends for less money than she/he would make waiting tables)." What management/ownership fail to realize in this situation is that the server that is being promoted was hired to do one job, serve, but is being promoted to do another with a different skill set.
Below are some things to think about when promoting a server to the assistant manager position:
- Does the server have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job or is the promotion just because the employee has been there for a while and it's the natural progression?
Servers are usually hired just to serve, not to manage. Though some have the skills to be a manager, many do not. Many think that being a manager is just like being a server except you get to do discounts and talk to tables. I'm not trying to make restaurant management a job where only the best of the best of the best can do it, I am trying to make the point that management/ownership needs to really look at the candidate before the promotion and not just promote because that's the natural progression of things. Ask yourself if you would hire this person if he/she walked in off the street and answered a job ad. Hold your employee to the same standards as you would someone from outside the organization.
- There are growing pains when you hire from within.
One of the main issues when hiring from within is the way other servers see the newly promoted employee. There are issues of jealousy, lack of respect and boundary testing. Some servers, especially those who feel they should have been promoted instead, may feel jealous and create issues for the new manager when they are working together. Some servers may feel that the newly promoted employee is not worthy of the position and not respect the manager's new authority. They may refuse to do what is asked, may purposely create issues during a shift or, worst case, simply refuse to work with that person. Management/ownership needs to nip this in the bud instantly by always supporting the new manager. If not, credibility is lost instantly and you might as well start looking for a new manager.
- Customer service may suffer.
It takes a while for a new manager to get the hang of dealing with customer issues, plus it is never easy dealing with an irate guest who just wants to scream and yell. Intimidation is always a factor when a guest is upset and, most times, the only way to get used to it is practice. The advice here is to set-up some practice sessions for the new manager to deal with customer service issues. Practice makes perfect.
- Set boundaries.
What do you want you new manager doing? Should they perform interviews and do hiring? Are they to work with inventory and check-in food/alcohol? What is their role going to be with employee discipline? Ensure the entire management staff is on the same page with this so no one is stepping on anyone's toes. One of the worst things that can happen is for the new assistant manager to make a decision and for another, more seasoned manager, to revoke it. This creates credibility issues with the new manager, who may already have credibility issues.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pet Peeve- FOH Food Discounts
Servers will eat almost anything, anywhere at anytime. They are always hungry. If a dish gets sent back to the kitchen without being eaten and management allows servers to eat it, the food will be gone in minutes. If there isn't time to eat it, it can sit around and, as long as its free, a server will finish it. Servers are like a pack a wild dogs around free food, barely chewing before swallowing. If it is free, they will eat it.
The reason behind this is servers are notoriously cheap when it comes to food (not when it comes to drink, mind you, but that is another post for another day). Why spend hard earned money on something that can be eaten for free, even if it is cold, old or made incorrectly? Even when a server does not have free food to eat, a server will, more times than not, eat the cheapest thing he can get his hands on. He will wait a long time to order food until it is discounted (happy hour, late night, "on special," etc) before ordering. As a server for a long time, I was the same way. I'd wait until 10pm until happy hour kicked in before ordering my meal, even if I was really hungry. That way, I'd get a $10 meal for the $5 Happy Hour price and a 50% discount off that.
Most servers get a discount of 50% on food items. Most items are discounted, though some restaurants limit what servers can get a discount on, how much the total discount can be and some even limit what a server can order, even if she is going to pay full price. This is something I never understood. Part of the servers job is to know the food- know what goes into preparation, know what it tastes like and know what ingredients go into the dish. Why would a restaurant limit what a server can order and why would a restaurant limit the discount for the server? These are hard working employees whose job it is to know the food and management limits the opportunity to know the food. These are the people who are taking care of the customer and you are being nitpicky about their ordering?
Below are some pet peeves of mine when it comes to employee discounts:
Discounting only certain items on the menu.
Some restaurants limit what can and cannot be discounted. Usually, it is items like steaks and lobster are not discounted. However, how often would servers even order a $22 steak even at 50% off? Probably not very often. Throw the server a bone and let him order the steak if he wants it. Plus, the more items a server is able to order and taste, the more he knows about the taste of the food.
Not discounting on already discounted items.
I understand the thinking behind this- if an item is already 50% off, why should management give a server another 50% off? The reason is the server works hard for you and this is a way to show appreciation to your server. Like I said above, servers are cheap, throw them a bone and let them get some cheap food.
Not giving the server the same discount guests get.
I worked at a restaurant where happy hour meant $5 appetizers. There were a couple appetizers that were priced above $10, so making them $5 was a pretty good deal. However, servers could only get 50% off the original price and were not allowed to order anything during happy hour. Thus the nachos that my guest was ordering for $5 actually cost me $5.75. Another place would sell $17 fajitas for $10 on Wednesdays. The discount policy for this restaurant stipulated that servers could only get up to $5 off any non-discounted food. Thus, to have fajitas on Wednesdays, it would cost me more ($12) to eat than a guest ($10). This same restaurant gave 50% off to all employees who worked at the nearby mall. This meant steaks, burgers, fajitas, salmon, fires, etc. It didn't matter what the mall employee ordered, she would get 50% off. I, the hard-working longtime employee, got less than that- $5 off. How did this restaurant survive by treating the mall employees better than it's own employees? It didn't- they shut the doors and went out of business.
Different discounts for working servers and off the clock servers.
Many restaurants I have worked for have a policy where a server who comes into the restaurant when not working gets 50% off of his and his party's meal, sans alcohol. Anything the server wants is 50% off. However, this same restaurant will limit what a server can and cannot order while working. What this tells a server is that he is more welcome in the restaurant off the clock than on it. To me, not a very good message to send. The employees on the clock should be the most important employees because they are actively taking care of customers, not taking up space a customer might be.
There is an old saying in customer service- take care of the people who take care of the customers. By setting a discount policy for FOH staff that makes servers feel taken advantage of, you are not taking care of the people who take care of the customer. My advice to restaurant owners is to set a fair employee discount policy where no server should felt taken advantage of. Think like a server when creating the policy- would you feel taken advantage of if you were the server? Does the policy make sense when it comes to food that is already discounted? Better yet, ask your servers for help in creating the policy- they will know what is fair and what makes sense.
The reason behind this is servers are notoriously cheap when it comes to food (not when it comes to drink, mind you, but that is another post for another day). Why spend hard earned money on something that can be eaten for free, even if it is cold, old or made incorrectly? Even when a server does not have free food to eat, a server will, more times than not, eat the cheapest thing he can get his hands on. He will wait a long time to order food until it is discounted (happy hour, late night, "on special," etc) before ordering. As a server for a long time, I was the same way. I'd wait until 10pm until happy hour kicked in before ordering my meal, even if I was really hungry. That way, I'd get a $10 meal for the $5 Happy Hour price and a 50% discount off that.
Most servers get a discount of 50% on food items. Most items are discounted, though some restaurants limit what servers can get a discount on, how much the total discount can be and some even limit what a server can order, even if she is going to pay full price. This is something I never understood. Part of the servers job is to know the food- know what goes into preparation, know what it tastes like and know what ingredients go into the dish. Why would a restaurant limit what a server can order and why would a restaurant limit the discount for the server? These are hard working employees whose job it is to know the food and management limits the opportunity to know the food. These are the people who are taking care of the customer and you are being nitpicky about their ordering?
Below are some pet peeves of mine when it comes to employee discounts:
Discounting only certain items on the menu.
Some restaurants limit what can and cannot be discounted. Usually, it is items like steaks and lobster are not discounted. However, how often would servers even order a $22 steak even at 50% off? Probably not very often. Throw the server a bone and let him order the steak if he wants it. Plus, the more items a server is able to order and taste, the more he knows about the taste of the food.
Not discounting on already discounted items.
I understand the thinking behind this- if an item is already 50% off, why should management give a server another 50% off? The reason is the server works hard for you and this is a way to show appreciation to your server. Like I said above, servers are cheap, throw them a bone and let them get some cheap food.
Not giving the server the same discount guests get.
I worked at a restaurant where happy hour meant $5 appetizers. There were a couple appetizers that were priced above $10, so making them $5 was a pretty good deal. However, servers could only get 50% off the original price and were not allowed to order anything during happy hour. Thus the nachos that my guest was ordering for $5 actually cost me $5.75. Another place would sell $17 fajitas for $10 on Wednesdays. The discount policy for this restaurant stipulated that servers could only get up to $5 off any non-discounted food. Thus, to have fajitas on Wednesdays, it would cost me more ($12) to eat than a guest ($10). This same restaurant gave 50% off to all employees who worked at the nearby mall. This meant steaks, burgers, fajitas, salmon, fires, etc. It didn't matter what the mall employee ordered, she would get 50% off. I, the hard-working longtime employee, got less than that- $5 off. How did this restaurant survive by treating the mall employees better than it's own employees? It didn't- they shut the doors and went out of business.
Different discounts for working servers and off the clock servers.
Many restaurants I have worked for have a policy where a server who comes into the restaurant when not working gets 50% off of his and his party's meal, sans alcohol. Anything the server wants is 50% off. However, this same restaurant will limit what a server can and cannot order while working. What this tells a server is that he is more welcome in the restaurant off the clock than on it. To me, not a very good message to send. The employees on the clock should be the most important employees because they are actively taking care of customers, not taking up space a customer might be.
There is an old saying in customer service- take care of the people who take care of the customers. By setting a discount policy for FOH staff that makes servers feel taken advantage of, you are not taking care of the people who take care of the customer. My advice to restaurant owners is to set a fair employee discount policy where no server should felt taken advantage of. Think like a server when creating the policy- would you feel taken advantage of if you were the server? Does the policy make sense when it comes to food that is already discounted? Better yet, ask your servers for help in creating the policy- they will know what is fair and what makes sense.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Amazing Meals I've Eaten
I saw this article in Saveur Magazine- 25 Greatest Meals Ever, and thought about what some of my greatest meals ever have been. Some have been great food and wine alone, but some have been great food accompanied by an amazing situation.
Horseradish Crusted Atlantic Salmon- Pilot Pete's Restaurant, Schaumburg, Illinois
I don't remember the exact situation when I ate this for the first time, but I do remember making it many, many times. I did an internship at Pilot Pete's in college. Part of the internship was to work at each station in the kitchen. This dish came from the Saute station. The salmon would marinate in horseradish until ready to use. Then, I would cover the salmon in panko and saute until I got a nice crust on either side. Then, into the oven to finish. While it was in the oven, I would saute some spinach, artichokes and tomato in a little olive oil and put onto the plate. I'd top this mixture with the 2 salmon pieces and top everything with a beurre blanc. I am salivating just thinking about this meal. Though I served it many times for others, I do replicate it at home for guests.
Azteca Calamar- Tamayo, Denver, CO
I love this dish. I go to Tamayo (when I can afford it) and just order this dish to myself. It is an ancho chile crusted calamari dish that is finished with a chipotle blood orange reduction. Man is this good. My wife and I went to Tamayo the first time while we were engaged and we were celebrating her birthday. We shared the Azteca Calamar and then each of us had a dinner entree. I have long since forgotten what my entree was because the appetizer was that good.
Breakfast Tostada- Don Emiliano Restaurant at the Riu Jalisco, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
Part of the reason this dish is so amazing was that it was my first adult vacation out of the country. My wife and I took a delayed honeymoon to the Riu Jalisco resort outside of Puerto Vallarta. It was all inclusive, we were there for 8 days and relaxed so much that I actually took 2 naps in one day. My favorite meal of each day was breakfast. They made these wonderful breakfast tostadas each morning- I must have had at least three a day. It started with a warm corn tostada covered with refried beans, pico de gallo and guacamole On top of that was an over-easy egg (my favorite kind) and queso fresco. The combination of flavors and the fact that I could see the ocean from the restaurant made this an amazing meal.
Look at your history. Where did you eat an amazing meal? What are some of the foods that give you comfort and make you smile when you think about them? Please share some of your amazing meals.
Horseradish Crusted Atlantic Salmon- Pilot Pete's Restaurant, Schaumburg, Illinois
I don't remember the exact situation when I ate this for the first time, but I do remember making it many, many times. I did an internship at Pilot Pete's in college. Part of the internship was to work at each station in the kitchen. This dish came from the Saute station. The salmon would marinate in horseradish until ready to use. Then, I would cover the salmon in panko and saute until I got a nice crust on either side. Then, into the oven to finish. While it was in the oven, I would saute some spinach, artichokes and tomato in a little olive oil and put onto the plate. I'd top this mixture with the 2 salmon pieces and top everything with a beurre blanc. I am salivating just thinking about this meal. Though I served it many times for others, I do replicate it at home for guests.
Azteca Calamar- Tamayo, Denver, CO
I love this dish. I go to Tamayo (when I can afford it) and just order this dish to myself. It is an ancho chile crusted calamari dish that is finished with a chipotle blood orange reduction. Man is this good. My wife and I went to Tamayo the first time while we were engaged and we were celebrating her birthday. We shared the Azteca Calamar and then each of us had a dinner entree. I have long since forgotten what my entree was because the appetizer was that good.
Breakfast Tostada- Don Emiliano Restaurant at the Riu Jalisco, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
Part of the reason this dish is so amazing was that it was my first adult vacation out of the country. My wife and I took a delayed honeymoon to the Riu Jalisco resort outside of Puerto Vallarta. It was all inclusive, we were there for 8 days and relaxed so much that I actually took 2 naps in one day. My favorite meal of each day was breakfast. They made these wonderful breakfast tostadas each morning- I must have had at least three a day. It started with a warm corn tostada covered with refried beans, pico de gallo and guacamole On top of that was an over-easy egg (my favorite kind) and queso fresco. The combination of flavors and the fact that I could see the ocean from the restaurant made this an amazing meal.
Look at your history. Where did you eat an amazing meal? What are some of the foods that give you comfort and make you smile when you think about them? Please share some of your amazing meals.
Monday, October 4, 2010
How to Improve Server Training
While trying to get Mise en Place Solutions off the ground and running, I have started a new job as a server. I won't name the restaurant, but it is a higher end chain Italian restaurant. Being a server, right now, works well for me and my family. It affords me the opportunity to work part-time so I am able to do things like take my daughter to swimming lessons, take my nephew to soccer practice and take my niece to gymnastics. Plus, because shifts run from 10:45am until about 2:00pm, I can take the extra time to work on starting my business (business plan, competitive analysis, website, etc.).
Anyway, the restaurant is corporate, with about 60 or so restaurants around the nation. Because it is "corporate," the training is very corporate. There are certain things that need to be covered at each training shift and certain things that need to be covered at each server follow shift. There are quizzes each day and there is a final at the end of training. A server needs to pass the final in order to work shifts alone. Don't pass the final and you have to take it again until you do pass.
Overall, the training at this restaurant is good. They understand that the menu is large, difficult to understand and hard to grasp. There are many different items that go into each dish and there are many dishes on the menu, plus the menu changes dramatically from lunch to dinner. Another difficult aspect is that there are a lot of items that can cause allergic reactions and servers need to know each and every one of them. I liken trying to understand and retain all of this information to having a Dixie cup's worth of retention and a waterfall's full of information.
That said, here are some general ideas as to how restaurants can improve their corporate training:
• Understand there is a lot of information to retain so do not expect a new server to know everything. Focus on what is important.
Menus have expanded and there a re a lot of ingredients that go into each dish. Do not expect each new server to know each and every ingredient in each and every dish. Rather, expect that servers know what goes into the dishes you sell the most. Do you serve a ton of BBQ chicken pizzas? If so, make sure the servers know everything about it. Is the foie gras served only once or twice a week? This is an item that can be discusses at training, but not imperative that new servers know everything about it.
• Let new employees try the food. For that matter, let everyone try the food.
New servers, make that all servers, need to know what the food tastes like so they can recommend specific items to each guest. Most times during training, a new server is offered tastes of popular menu items. This is good because it gets them familiar with what is on the menu. However, once training is over, these servers may never get a chance to try the food again. There are many reasons for this, but the two that stand out are that they are too expensive for the server to order (the item is not discounted enough to encourage them to order it) or the item is not allowed to be ordered by a server (i.e. servers can't order steaks). Thus, a server has to draw from distant memory how a menu items tastes. My advice is for restaurants to have a discount policy that encourages employees to try all of the menu items, not just ones they can afford. Also, do periodic re-tasting for employees. Ensure that everyone, not just the new servers, know what all of the dishes taste like.
• Make sure servers get plenty of practice time on the POS system.
It does not matter what system you use, make sure that the servers get plenty of practice time ringing in food and drink on the POS terminal. Make your training "real world." If many guests like to have the salad dressing on the side, make sure new servers know how to ring it in properly. Make them spend good quality time in training using the POS system so they do not have to spend good quality time becoming familiar with the system on a Friday night. The sooner they are comfortable using the POS the faster they will be on the floor.
• Make training constant.
Even though they have worked in your restaurant for a while, do your servers really know what goes into each dish? Make it a regular practice to go over your menu with your staff. They may not have seen or sold a certain menu item in a while and may not remember what sauce goes on it or what veggies accompany it. Show them the food and let them taste it. Not only will they be happy that they got to eat, but you have reinforced their food knowledge.
Anyway, the restaurant is corporate, with about 60 or so restaurants around the nation. Because it is "corporate," the training is very corporate. There are certain things that need to be covered at each training shift and certain things that need to be covered at each server follow shift. There are quizzes each day and there is a final at the end of training. A server needs to pass the final in order to work shifts alone. Don't pass the final and you have to take it again until you do pass.
Overall, the training at this restaurant is good. They understand that the menu is large, difficult to understand and hard to grasp. There are many different items that go into each dish and there are many dishes on the menu, plus the menu changes dramatically from lunch to dinner. Another difficult aspect is that there are a lot of items that can cause allergic reactions and servers need to know each and every one of them. I liken trying to understand and retain all of this information to having a Dixie cup's worth of retention and a waterfall's full of information.
That said, here are some general ideas as to how restaurants can improve their corporate training:
• Understand there is a lot of information to retain so do not expect a new server to know everything. Focus on what is important.
Menus have expanded and there a re a lot of ingredients that go into each dish. Do not expect each new server to know each and every ingredient in each and every dish. Rather, expect that servers know what goes into the dishes you sell the most. Do you serve a ton of BBQ chicken pizzas? If so, make sure the servers know everything about it. Is the foie gras served only once or twice a week? This is an item that can be discusses at training, but not imperative that new servers know everything about it.
• Let new employees try the food. For that matter, let everyone try the food.
New servers, make that all servers, need to know what the food tastes like so they can recommend specific items to each guest. Most times during training, a new server is offered tastes of popular menu items. This is good because it gets them familiar with what is on the menu. However, once training is over, these servers may never get a chance to try the food again. There are many reasons for this, but the two that stand out are that they are too expensive for the server to order (the item is not discounted enough to encourage them to order it) or the item is not allowed to be ordered by a server (i.e. servers can't order steaks). Thus, a server has to draw from distant memory how a menu items tastes. My advice is for restaurants to have a discount policy that encourages employees to try all of the menu items, not just ones they can afford. Also, do periodic re-tasting for employees. Ensure that everyone, not just the new servers, know what all of the dishes taste like.
• Make sure servers get plenty of practice time on the POS system.
It does not matter what system you use, make sure that the servers get plenty of practice time ringing in food and drink on the POS terminal. Make your training "real world." If many guests like to have the salad dressing on the side, make sure new servers know how to ring it in properly. Make them spend good quality time in training using the POS system so they do not have to spend good quality time becoming familiar with the system on a Friday night. The sooner they are comfortable using the POS the faster they will be on the floor.
• Make training constant.
Even though they have worked in your restaurant for a while, do your servers really know what goes into each dish? Make it a regular practice to go over your menu with your staff. They may not have seen or sold a certain menu item in a while and may not remember what sauce goes on it or what veggies accompany it. Show them the food and let them taste it. Not only will they be happy that they got to eat, but you have reinforced their food knowledge.
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