Log In | Register
3 Votes
6 Comments
100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)
News Type: Other — Seeded on Wed Nov 4, 2009 4:02 PM EST
Article Source: The New York Timesadvertisement
By Bruce Buschel/ New York Times
"Herewith is a modest list of dos and don'ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?...
1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.
2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, "Are you waiting for someone?" Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.
3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.
4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.
5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.
6. Do not lead the witness with, "Bottled water or just tap?" Both are fine. Remain neutral.
7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.
8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.
9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition.
10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials."
(Continued, see article.)
Published to:
- David @ San Jose, CA's Column, All of Newsvine
- Groups: Anthropology, Culinaria Italiana, Foodies!, Slow Food Living, Sociology, The Food Professional's Page, Wine, Wine club
- Regions: New York
- Public Discussion (6)
- Anthropology
- Culinaria Italiana
- Foodies!
- Slow Food Living
- Sociology
- The Food Professional's Page
- Wine
- Wine club
What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user
has on the current conversation.
The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd
row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera).
Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group
is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the
left, in their corresponding group.
Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the
number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative
one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their
relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
4.6
{"commentId":10477806,"authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
Above are just 10 of the 100 peeves within the food service world. As you read through them, you become conscious of not only of that which servers have to adhere, but very much our value system and how sensitive people can be in a given environment and with the substance that gives them life. Eating is a very sensual experience, but these rules are also perhaps symbolic of our greater orientation and/ or worldview.
Just this week, anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss died, who was author of the well known work "L'Origine des manières de table (aka, The Origin of Table Manners), among other titles. These and other considerations show just how profound -- if not symbolic-- manners etiquette, presentation, technique, etc. are to our culture, daily life and expression.
{"commentId":10477806,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
- 1 vote
#1 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 4:14 PM EST{"commentId":10479160,"authorDomain":"douglasq"}
Mine would be (and this goes for the kitchen staff as well):
Do not take a smoke break ANYWHERE the customer can see it. This also applies to between lunch and dinner hours and applies to the alley behind the restaurant if it is visible from the street.
{"commentId":10479160,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"douglasq"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":10484058,"authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
I agree with you, but...
I am a chef myself, actually, and I do frown on chronic smokers, namely of cigarettes. It's not my business to tell people what to do with their life and liberties, but I do have somewhat of a problem with cooks who light a cigarette in a backroom, thinking that nobdody will notice. I also don't like to see my peers standing outside along a wall or sitting on the curb with their aprons and jackets while smoking a cigarette. Then, they come back inside and work on the line with the overwhelming smell of smoke on their uniform and on their breath... which is rather distracting for someone like me who rather prefers to smell the natural aroma of the food that I'm cooking.
Indeed, in a recent interview, I was stunned to find that an owner just hired such an individual... and this was an organic type restaurant where the standards were suppose to be more particular. This guy went outside the back parking lot and came back in with a stinking jacket, horrible breath and not only that, but his jacket was actually wrinkled, dirty and YELLOW! I was not only surprised, but disgusted to say the least. And this guy was actually bragging about the restuarants where he worked. Oh well, I guess it is best that I've taken a job elsewhere. It's a sad day when such is the accepted norm in a kitchen. I'm not too uptight, but certainly a stinking, wrinkled and yellow jacket will NEVER be acceptable in my domain. That's just me... call me old fashioned, if need be.
In my studies of business planning in restaurants, I have found that many customers are in fact like yourself. They are indeed curious to know what is happening in the back of the house, site unseen. Not only that, so will the inspector. So, customers and investors, if smart, will eventually find out.
{"commentId":10484058,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
{"commentId":10479765,"authorDomain":"knik"}
Oh how long will we have to wait for the day when robots fill all the positions in a restaurant? As a long time restaurant employee, I deeply regret everyday that our saintly customers have to suffer a mere human being to be their server or cook. It must make them sick to their stomachs to observe the messy effects individuality and quirkiness wreak upon an otherwise perfectly orderly dining experience. It is especially sad that many servers go so far as to actually look different from one another! This distressing lack of sameness and homogeneity in restaurant staff makes me despair that anyone in their right mind would ever even want to eat out. I know when I go out to eat, if my server makes jokes or imposes their favorites on me I just want to get up and leave, or possibly dash them in the face with the glass of tap water they just brought me. I mean, is it too much to ask that every dining experience be exactly the same as every other dining experience?
{"commentId":10479765,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"knik"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Wed Nov 4, 2009 5:45 PM EST{"commentId":10480291,"authorDomain":"douglasq"}
I"ve worked in restaurants and my wife has been a chef in several restaurants. I am of the opinion that everyone should work in one at least once in their life so they know what hard work it truly is.
However, a lot of t hings on the list are what seperate the professionals from fast food. But I guess it depends on what kind of restaurant you want to open (didn't the author of the article say these were rules for the restaurant HE is opening?).
{"commentId":10480291,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"douglasq"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":10484250,"authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
I agree with you both, in a way.
What I saw in the article is very much the standard of how many fine restaurants work today. But, indeed, many aspects of it are quite annoying. I mean all 100 POINTS of it. How do you think the writer came up with such a number? Could he count onward and beyond that? Certainly, it doesn't seem like most of the orientation is going the other way, for people who subscribe to such standards and lifestyle.
I do think it shows how uptight we can be. It also reminds me of another story I read about the guy who worked at Home Depot and was terminated for wearing a pin on his apron that expressed some sort of individuality.
It does get to a point where I question, where's the humanity? Are people that insecure?
{"commentId":10484250,"threadId":"716735","contentId":"3461583","authorDomain":"zapman9103"}
{"canLink":false,"threadId":"716735","isPrivate":false}
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
Start Tracking
Stop TrackingCOMPANY STUFF:
LEGAL STUFF:
- © 2005-2009 Newsvine, Inc. |
- Newsvine® is a registered trademark of Newsvine, Inc. |
- Newsvine is a property of
