What a Night

I started at 5:30 and had tables 1 through 4. They joined 1 and 2 together then 3 and 4. So I had one party of 8 and another of 7.

I waited till 7 for the 8 to arrive then another 30 minutes before the 7 top which actually turned into a five. Just over two hours later when one table left me 30 and the other 20 I asked another waiter how much he had made so far. He said nothing yet. This was at 9:15.

He was still doing his only sitting up to that point that had not yet paid.

By the end of the night I had picked up two deuces. I made a whopping $56 and my buddy with his only two tables made $51.

Geez am I glad this Christmas is around the corner. One more night on Christmas Eve and that is it. Thank heavens!!

I Want to Pay With My Credit Card Cause He Was Drinking and The Cops Are Everywhere!

I pull up in the restaurant parking lot today and it is looking pretty dead. Not many cars and I figure sure I will get my 5-6 tables and that will be it.Then I find out I am sharing a party of 40 at 8PM with two other waiters. Okay I figure maybe this could be good or bad but when I find out it is a set menu I am in a better mood.

Before that I get a table of two , then a two and a child , then a 6 with a birthday cake , another two then the party comes in. The first two leave me $20 , the next $25 , and the 6 leave me $50 and the last one leaves me $25. All very good.

The party goes good and I get $36. Then a three walk in and they are pretty cheap and finally at 9:45 I see this couple walk in and when I saw them I knew I was going to get screwed.

They sit and sit and order stupidly. They drive you around the bend. Instead of finishing nicely after the party of 40 everyone gets to go home but me cause I am closing and this couple I know is not leaving early.

To give you an idea of how she drives a waiter around the bend , he was driving so she wanted to pay for her wine with her credit card separately before actually getting the rest of the bill. That makes no fucking sense!!! I mean what does it have to do with his driving that she wants to pay for his drinks separately with her credit card. Then afterwards pay the balance with the same credit card???? If the cops pulled him over and he was not drinking then what would she say that she paid the drinks on her credit card??? It has nothing to do with her paying the drinks separately with her credit card that he is not drinking!! Do you follow me out there???

Anyway all the staff was gone , I chatted with the GM , then finally at 12:30 I got out finally after they left. The only saving grace was I walked out of there with $154 on a Tuesday night. It was worth it in the end.

This Week's Quiz Answers

1. The North American grape species is Vitis Labrusca.

2. Phylloxera was the deadly insect and the remedy was to bring American rootstocks over to Europe and graft them with the Vitis Vinifera varieties. Phylloxera cannot harm American rootstocks nor any rootstock that is in sandy soil. So we can say if it wasn't for North American vitis labrusca rootstock we wouldn't have the European Vitis Vinifera today!

3. Beerenauslese is the sweetest wine of the three. Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein are still sweeter than the Beerenauslese in Germany.

4. After the cheese course in France there is the sweet course.

5. The first Ritz Hotel was opened in Paris France of course.

I Guess I Should Be Talking About Something More Serious...

But here I am on my day off while the kid's are in school this afternoon having some Cava and smoked salmon from Denmark with my wife on a beautiful sunny day. I honestly don't have anything else to say.

What do you do on your day's off?????

Here Are the Answers

For today's quiz here are the answers. It wasn't that easy was it.

1. That Bordeaux red wine grape variety that makes such fine ice wine out here in these parts is the Cabernet Franc.

2. That great grape growing region that makes some nice wines from Lebanon is the Bekka Valley.

3. All the pastry chefs out there would know this is called the ribbon stage.

4. VDQS on a bottle of French wine stands for Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure which is a wine of lesser quality than an AC wine but more than a Vins de Pays wine. It is usually a good stepping stone for a wine that will be soon considered for classification of AC in France. As a VDQS wine there are less restrictions to follow , unlike an AC wine that must follow rigid standards.

5. When you see Consommé Célestine on the menu you know that this clear soup will have strips of pancake in it.

That is it. Hope you enjoyed this and the new day of the week it takes place!

The Host Is Right

Last night I get a small , stupid section of 3 tables. One of the tables was already started by another waiter who was in earlier than I and that table was not mine until 2 hours after my start time. Therefore I really only had two tables to work with for the longest time.

My sales were down and so were my tips because of it. The host who usually is a bus boy as well asked me how my night went and I said not so great. I mean did you see my section?

He mentioned that he noticed that I had a small section and couldn't understand why when other newbies were getting 4 table sections. Then he mentioned that I was a far better waiter than the others who had bigger sections.

You know honestly what I think. That no matter how effective you are at your job eventually it will be time to go. It is just the nature of the beast in these corporate restaurants when management just wants new fresh young blood. Someone who is not 15 years older than they are. Hiring young people who they feel they can easily manage and not feel intimidated by.

One time last night a table ordered their Prime Rib Well done. I do the table check and the Prime was cooked to medium rare to medium. There was still some red in it. I brought it back to be cooked up and so they made a new one. When the manager brought it to the table it wasn't the kitchen's fault anymore as apparently the manager said they wanted it medium well not well done so I had incorrectly typed the wrong temperature in. It didn't matter that it was still undercooked and despite my telling her they told me they wanted it well done it was like it was my fault. But what irked me was the fact that it was like I am the manager and I caught you making a mistake! Finally I caught you doing something wrong! This after she did not even see the Prime Rib I returned to the kitchen.

It seemed like she was gloating to me about it. But if she makes a mistake she will find it the most difficult thing to admit.

I will say one thing that I will put up with this as long as I possibly can only because it is so easy to work there. But once the shift is over I am out of there. No chummy chummy hanging around after for a beer. I know if I make a mistake I am a dog's breakfast where I am. Yesterday's history.

Working for someone who is giving me a lousy section on a Saturday night , giving me cheap parties to do as of late , I am not sure what to think. I thought in these places they gave you a job evaluation after a while. Since I have started I have never had one. Maybe that is good but maybe too they don't want to acknowledge either what an excellent job I am doing.

I can tell you that the Prime Rib table when they left told me that my service was outstanding. I made sure I piped up about it when I saw one of the managers , and I know the GM saw them shaking my hand when they left. I can just think perhaps how deep down she is just yearning for someone to email head office for a complaint on me. Some nights I get tables all over the place. They keep me on till they can't give me any more tables. Even when I am not closing I will get the ten top at 9:30 that will keep me there till the end.

I wish they had comment cards at these places cause I would have a treasure chest of good comments to hand in every night like the Millcroft Inn where I used to work a few years back. But that would probably piss them off.

To tell you the truth the reason why I would leave is the tips I have been making as of late. I know it should get better come the Fall but this month my wife who mainly just works breakfast has made almost the same as I have this month.

Last night I made $92 on a Saturday night watching some newbies walk out with a bunch more while my wife worked a couple of hours later till 2 to do lunch and she came home with $90.

Okay add it up it is a good day but if the trend is continuing through the next few months maybe I should save the gas and start looking to work closer to home.

Being a one car family I may have to anyway.

The Big Reason Many Managers Lose Their Jobs

Here is what happens in a lot of cases. The new manager comes in and no one knows or has seen this person before. The manager is ready to make some changes and gets the staff to do things that need to be done in the first little while.

Things appear to be going smoothly then the manager starts letting the staff get to know a little bit about their personal life. The manager seeks friendship and then the employee starts taking advantage of this weakness and things start getting a little lapse around the department. Some employees start feeling left out while others are becoming buddies.

Then things start happening and the manager needs to get the employees to pick it up but now it is a little tougher to do cause now they are all buddies going out for a beer etc. Then it is a choice between being a bad person and getting people to do things or being tossed out.

What I am saying is if you are going to manage people effectively you always have to remain at a distance between you and your subordinates. Be respectful and nice but when it is time to go home go your separate ways. When you need something done it will not be a burden as if you had gone out for a beer the night before if you get my drift.

When I was a waiter on the ship I was buddies with my fellow workers but when I became a Maitre'd my buddies and I had to change. The only time I sat down for a beer after work in the dining room was after the first dinner when I had to point out who to watch for during the cruise.

Anyway that has always been my theory. Better to be mysterious as a manager with a sense of humour and get the job done than trying to be friends with your workers and hope later on someone will listen to you.

Not that I am planning on being a manager anytime soon. What do you think?