A server just told me that it is awkward when a whole table gets served entrees and one person's food drags for a couple minutes. This server has worked here for a long time. She knows our standards, when there is a problem with a plate we will not sell it, even if the rest of the food already left the kitchen. After all these years she doesn't understand that I will make those two minutes the most stressful minutes of my cook's whole night.
May I add that this server reeked horribly of stale cigarette smoke while she was telling me this. Clearly she was out smoking while her entrees were being delivered. She smelled like an ashtray and doesn't seem to think it is awkward to stink so bad while she is reaching over her guests pouring wine and dropping plates. It is pointless trying to explain this to her. I've tried to do so kindly and have gotten nothing but attitude about it. They make far more money than my cooks and have too big of egos to pay attention to how they can become better at service. I have a hard time hearing someone tell me what good service is while they serve their guests smelling like a stale ashtray and refusing to listen to me when I tell her that non-smokers find her odor to be offensive and gross. I smoked for 12 years so I understand the habit. We are however the finest dining around and if a server can't go a 4 hour service without a cigarette for the sake of our guests (and her $300 in tips + $8.50/hour) then we need to rethink our standards. I blame her managers, both of whom are smokers.
Thank you Mr. Minor
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1 comments:
After reading this post this morning I feel like I was a bit harsh. This comment goes out to all you managers out there:
We bust our asses for our restaurants. We are there when we open for the day and we are there when we close. We deal with operational stuff that goes far beyond day to day service.
When it comes to our employees we have to understand that they only have a very narrow perspective of what goes on around the restaurant. But that is okay. That is great if that narrow perspective is focused on doing the best job they can do. This goes for both cooks and servers.
We have to accept their ignorance and forgive them for speaking out of line and sounding dumb when they have a critical thought. We must forgive their ignorance. However, we must continue to train them to uphold our standards. We do this not just for the restaurant, but so the employee will be more skilled when they leave than they were before they got this job. If they aren't more skilled then we as managers have failed.
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