Whatever It Takes

A few years ago in the hockey playoffs there was a very competitive series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche and the winner was going on to the Stanley Cup final.

Colorado had some great players as well as the Red Wings. The Red Wings had tied the series up at 3 games a piece and the deciding game was about to take place. Detroit had their great coach Scotty Bowman who ended up winning the most games and Stanley Cups ever of anyone behind the bench.

Scotty was a master at motivating his players and he knew he had to say very little to get his players up for the deciding contest that lay ahead. But what he did do was make a sign on the door to the dressing room that each player saw upon entering the room.

It simply said , "Whatever It Takes."

To finish the story Detroit won that game 7 and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

When we are serving a table , making a sale , fixing a car , or carrying through on a promise we made , we have to do whatever it takes to do it right.

If it is not right then we should do whatever it takes to make it so. You know when I heard about the sign in front of the door and what it said that stuck with me.

In service you have to have that attitude. Despite what kind of person you are serving and the measly tip you may be about to receive we have to do whatever it takes so that we have held up our side of the bargain.

It is not really about who tips how much because in a lot of cases we have no control over that but what we do have control over is our approach to each and every table.

Just do whatever it takes and everything else should take care of itself.

Why I Cannot Be a Dining Room Manager

An opening has just come up for a dining room manager just 8 minutes from our place. It has an extensive wine list , nice white tablecloths , people with some money eat there etc..

But I wouldn't even apply for it now whereas one time I might have. You see the hours I would work will double what I am working now. I would be away from seeing my kids , it would interfere with my wife's schedule and the family take home pay would actually drop.

All good reasons I remain a waiter. More time , more money , no headaches.

What other profession pays a person more to remain exactly where they are as a waiter in comparison to a move up to management where the pay should be better? At least where I come from.

Now here is a question. Would you , assuming you make decent money at what you do , consider moving up to a management position at this time if you were offered a position? Even if it meant a cut in pay at the beginning?

I Don't Want to Get Chummy With a Regular

If you sit in my section you will be treated like everyone else and I will only be as cordial as I have to be. Don't expect me to make idle chat past the customary 15-20 seconds because I have other guests to attend to and food to run or anything else that needs doing rather than I just stand here and listen to you.

You only interest me when I am at work enough so I can give you what you ordered and ensure your entire meal is as enjoyable as possible. Enjoy the person or people's company you brought with you. They are worth talking to and enjoying your experience with. Not me!

I am only here to facilitate your dining experience by being prompt , courteous , and efficient. That is after all what I should get tipped on and not whether I gave lousy service to the rest of my section because I spent time listening to you.

My goal and do not take offense friend but I want you to leave quickly after you have finished eating. I have side jobs I have to do. I don't want to be rude but when you are done don't stick around.

Besides I know of one thing, the friendlier I am with you the less you think you have to tip what I am due! That is why I am what I am. Never get too chummy with a guest. You will get screwed in the end.

Now here is my question to you. Do you have friendly regulars that come in and because they know you so well they don't feel as obligated to leave you as much as you would otherwise get from a total stranger?

The only way I can tolerate being a waiter after all this time is I don't want to know people I serve , I just want to serve them.

The Big Difference Between Serving Average Joes to High Falutin' Fine Dining Stuffy People

Tonight I am back to work after a couple days off. If I was going back to an ultra fine dining place I would have to make sure that I was ready to deal with high classy friends of the owner , special requests out of the kitchen , the owner reiterating the fact that I must really take good care of these people then he later would turn around comp everything anyway. Tables will come in and sit for 2 1/2 hours then sometimes in some places the owner sits down and chats with them and buys a round while you just stand around waiting to go home. You are tired cause you had to get up early this morning early to get the kids to school and you just want to get out of there.

But what is nice where I work is I could go 10 days without sleep and my first table will be Joe Schmoe with his wife and two kids who has just had as tiring a day and just wants to eat and get out. Or a kid and his girlfriend. You can crack a joke like the other night two guys order a Bud so I bring it to their table and I say you guys must be real buddies. They go what do you mean and I say well you ordered two Buds! I know that the only thing that will be on anyone's mind tonight is who won the football pool this week and what will we pick next week. It will be the jokes being bandied about amongst the staff. No pressure , just take the order make sure everything is okay and collect your money and go home. That is it! Really what waitering should be about , pure and simple without all the frills. Like the place in the Rockies where I worked where there was nothing but tourists. You could have thrown their eggs at them and they wouldn't have cared.

After all these years I can just simply wait on tables again without all the other baloney. The way it was meant to be. Sauce on the side is about as big a request I get from anyone. Simple stuff.

An Unwelcome Visitor

Last night was a strange night with that table I mentioned in the last post but another silly thing happened. I am serving somebody in my section when I notice this guy in a jacket talking to my table 2. As it turned out , just as I was about to catch on what he was doing the GM threw him out.

He came in off the street and started asking for money. The thing was he couldn't have been more than 19 years of age. No handicaps or anything that I could see. Healthy and mobile.

Hey buddy how about finding a job???

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!

Have Fun and Test Your Knowledge

This is the new Thursday quiz or the old Tuesday quiz moved to a new day however you want to look at it. Here we go!

1. In Ontario where I am we are reknown for our ice wine when our grapes have to be picked by hand in the middle of the cold winter night at -8C. What Bordeaux red grape variety makes a good ice wine from these parts?

2. What is the name of the major wine producing area in Lebanon where a lot of fine wines are produced?

3. For you cooks out there the other day I was beating some egg yolks and superfine sugar and I was whisking until the mixture was sufficiently smooth and homogenous so that it reached this stage when it flowed from the whisk into the mixing bowl. What is this stage called?

4. When you see a bottle of wine from France saying VDQS on it , what do the letters stand for?

5. When you see Consommé Célestine on the menu what would you think of as being in this clear soup?

There you have it. How did you do?

Tuesday Quiz Answers

No one gave a response today so here they are. It was not an easy quiz I admit. The first one probably everyone looked at and decided that was enough. But here it goes.

1. The fish that no one has heard of that is similar to a sea bream but has less flavor is called pandora or in French pageot.

2. Sablé is a round crumbly biscuit often with a fluted edge.

3. Ecailler is the french culinary term meaning to open shellfish. Also the name of someone in charge of opening oysters.

4. Grapes for wine making need good drainage so that the grapes have to fight for the water making the roots grow deep for it. Thomas Jefferson who was a wine lover once said the best place to grow grapes for wine is where food crops will not grow.

5. Pouilly Fuissé is the one with the Chardonnay grape and Pouilly Fumé is the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety.

Till next week. Have a good one!

You Control Your Section

Okay you have been triple sat and a table needs to be cleared and your drinks for another table are just being prepared.

Quickly say hello to your 3 tables and say you will be right back so they are acknowledged. Go get your drinks if they are ready and drop them off at the table waiting and tell them you will be back in a couple of minutes to take their order. Then try to clear the other table entirely and hustle to the dishwash area and drop the dirty dishes off.

Go back and drop the dessert menus off to the cleared table and head back and make a round to the 3 tables that just were sat. Try to get the entire drink and dinner order if they are ready. But at least get the drink order. Then when you have done all 3 new tables head to the table with the drinks and take their food order too and go to the point of sale computer and punch everything in. People from the other table that have drinks in front of them can always wait a little longer than a table which doesn't have anything.

After you have done punching in the new orders go back to the table with the dessert menus and get their order. Punch that order in.

Go back get the drinks that should be ready for the 3 new tables and take remaining food orders from those who did not yet order their meal and punch them in. Now run like hell and move the meal along so they can be out quickly.

All this may have only taken a few minutes.

The point I want to make here is to avoid getting stuck. By telling every table what I am doing and when I will be back allows me to continue the flow without it being broken. If someone wants me now and wants to ask me a question I say I will be right back. Screw em. I do not want my other tables to wait. I will be back.

I gotta move along so that everyone is attended too quickly. Then when all the meals come out and everyone finishes just about the same time then we can do another flip in my section and I can make more money.

Easy peasy!

Of course this is subject to change. A table of 8 will be in less a hurry than a table of 2.

Any questions?

Here Is My Top Ten For Answering This Stupid Question

Tonight I was back at work running some food for a waitress in the bar. I put down the last plate and the lady says she was missing the lobster. I catch the waitress and mention the lady is missing the lobster when she replies back that she did punch it up.

No problem I say to myself and I head back to the kitchen to find out the expeditor forgot it so I grab the lobster and bring it out while the waitress is at the same table with the one she is training.

All is well and I drop off the lobster and I am on my way.

A few minutes pass and I see her with her trainee at the POS terminal and she sees me and says , " Are You Busy?"

Now I just delivered the lobster that was forgotten back in the kitchen for her and she has someone working with her when just after a short time she ask me that question. Now it was far from busy and she has someone working with her for heaven's sake.

A lot of the times I find I am asked this a lot , "Are you busy?" I just looked at her and that said everything. I don't mind helping but c'mon it is not even busy and most times anyway when someone ask that question by the time they get someone , if they had just started what they needed help with they would probably finish the job sooner.

So my top 10 answers that go through my mind when someone asks me "Are You Busy?" are;

Answer Number

10. Absolutely I will , right after I tell my guest that they have to wait a few minutes longer before I take their drink order.

9. For sure , what else do you think is missing in the last food order that I can deliver for you?

8. Yes! In fact could I have your schedule for next week to make sure I am on the same shifts as you so I can be here to help you out.

7. No question! In fact tell the person you are training to head home so I can work with you rather than take care of my section.

6. Yes I will be right with you as soon as I can so I can get the bread that has been sitting at the hub for the last 5 minutes while you have been waiting for me to get the lobster.

5. Anything you would like me to do will be my pleasure as I have been waiting since the last time I worked on Saturday honing my intuitive skills so I would exactly know when you would need my help tonight.

4. No worries , forget me I just want to help you make as much gratuities as possible while my section suffers.

3. Absolutely! Anyone who has worked here for a few years and is training someone definitely can use a third hand.

2. Holy cow for sure I see you were single sat!

and last of all the number 1 reply is

I know you are just asking me that so you can see what my 50 year old face looks like all scrunched up!!!

Actually most of the time I still help........

My Train Of Thought Before I Start A Shift

Here is what I have been doing for a long time before I start a shift in order that I get an edge in my mind and psyched up.

I think everyday I show up at my job my performance this evening is going to be my last. I know it is crazy but last night is history. It is what I do tonight that counts. No one I am serving tonight was here last night so whom I serve tonight and how well I do it will determine what money I make and my future employment.

I think as well that it might be that guest's first time in our restaurant. Maybe they had some bad news today and need to take their minds off things and enjoy a meal. Honestly , I have no idea. Maybe that guest was abused , a recovering alcoholic , was robbed , bankrupt , on drug rehab , or anything else like that. It is amazing when you talk to anyone , they know someone who is , or knows someone who knows someone else who is having some difficulties.

Another thing I think about doing when serving others is no matter what they ask me to get them I get it as quick as I can. It is all about the service. I am a freakin' robot. I just get it. On the ship I got a lot of practice waiting on tables for 6 plus months in a row everyday. One hundred per cent of the guests filled out comment cards. No room for error. If someone wanted something I got it. That was the golden rule of service.

I worked for a guy one time who asked everyone how they defined luxury. His correct answer was "service."That is what we do as servers and bartenders , supervisors and managers , we give as good service as possible.

Not every night will be perfect but leave your thoughts at the door and when you start your shift just think this is your chance to make someone's night and work like you need the job. Our job is only as secure as the night we have this evening. If it is not our best then there is tomorrow. A new beginning to improve on the previous night.

We owe it to ourselves and our guests to try to work and serve even better than the night before. Just work with that thought in mind before your shift and you will have focus and that edge you need to have a great night.

I Don't Know How You Do It?

This morning my wife comes home after working 5 1/2 hours with $18 in tips as there was only 2 rooms in the inn where she works. Tonight the restaurant was dead and I served 12 people and took home after tip out $52.

I said to some people there that when it is slow for a waiter and both of the money earners in the family are working as waiters money can be tight. When it is busy it's great but when it is slow it is tough.

That is when the supervisor said I don't know how you do it meaning income wise. When I think about it I really don't know either. We manage but that is about it. When it is good it is very good and when it is slow you have to work more to make the same amount.

So next week my wife picks up some lunches and I picked up another shift so that will make 7 days in a row with my next day off Wednesday the 13th.

One thing we are definitely doing when our kids come of age is to discourage them from doing the hospitality business. Do anything else but this. This industry is way too uncertain , inconsistent , doesn't really offer any benefits , and where you work basically owns you with respect to working on holidays and long hours for not so great pay.

Who out there can remember the same money they make now is what they used to make 20 years ago?

Our deal is with 2 young kids we can work our schedule around them. That is the big perk.

So as the summer comes it slows down and then we re-energize for September. But for the meantime we wonder how we get by on such slow days...

Don't Try To Change The Guest's Eating Habits

This table comes in tonight and they were at the bar and had their drinks delivered to their table in my section. They obviously have been waiting so when I greet them they are ready to order their appetizers.

The lady wants 2 escargots without the mushroom caps and the guy wants a shrimp cocktail with the daughter wanting a garlic cheese bread. While they are waiting for their appetizers I ask them if they want to order their entrees.

No they reply they are not in a hurry. They get their appetizers and then they are now ready to order. Fine.

She orders a teryiaki sirloin cooked medium butterflied. Yes you heard correctly medium butterfly. He orders the thai chicken without the peppers , only the garlic mash and side of thai sauce and mayo. Just give him the snap peas. He says they always get it wrong when he orders this.

I put it in the squirrel with all the modifiers. I see the food coming up and I say just butterfly the steak. The cook says he thinks it is stupid it is a medium butterfly and I agree but I ask him to make the butterfly to keep them happy. The food comes out and the side of mayo and teri sauce is missing. I go back and get it. Everything is fine. He leaves a tip and comes back and on top gives me $5 extra cash cause he didn't think he left enough.

Okay they were a bit finicky and I ran a bit for them when the kitchen wanted to do their way and forget things or skip the butterfly. In the end they were happy.

But here is my point just because these people wanted butterfly on the medium and sauces on the side why was it so difficult for the kitchen just to give them what they wanted.

I remember one local restaurant I worked a regular came in and wanted his lamb MW but the stupid arshole chef thought why would anyone want to order this beautiful lamb more than medium so he thought he should teach him how to order his meat. So he cooked it mr-m and the guy complained. A real good regular. Didn't see him much afterwards.

So here is my beef , if the customer wants his whatever cooked and butterflied or sauces on the side just do it the way they want it. Don't ???!!!! argue. Don't try to change people and the way they eat! Don't try to educate people on how they should order their food! Just give them what they want!

I am not playing games when I put an order in just to give the kitchen headaches. Truthfully what the guest ask for I ring in.

You know why I take the order the way the guest wants it? Because I make my living on making sure the guests gets what they want! That's all. Just do as I say. Because I am doing what the customer tells me.

They tell me and I write it down and I tell the kitchen. If it's my mistake I will say it is my mistake. But the customer gets what he or she wants all the time.

You know why I have developed a patience for this business. Because I don't question anything the guest wants. If they want their ice cream in a microwave I will give it to them. Some may think that is idiotic just to suggest that but truthfully I don't give a hoot how they want their food as long as they get it the way they want it! Then I collect their money and say have a nice evening. See you again!

That is waitering in a nutshell. Don't try to change people on the way they eat their food cause they do not care what you think , just they want their food the way they want it , no other way. We take the order and punch it in.

All we have to do is mention the features. That is all. Very simple.....

Don't try to change the guest's eating habits. At least that is my thought. A tiny one perhaps?

So Where Does All The Money Go?

This month has been different to say the least and I am actually enjoying it. You see I only work evenings and no lunches. Now you may think I am losing money on the deal and I have to admit I am but the one big thing that is different is I get a chance to actually see what it is like leading up to Christmas from an normal prospective.

In previous years right up till the 23rd or 24th I would work lunch and dinner with maybe a day off a week trying to make as much money as I could satisfying the owner's request that there be absolutely no time off granted because all hands were needed on deck. You would then work till you couldn't stand anymore then come Christmas collapse into bed with more aches and pains than you could imagine probably taking years off your life in the process all to make the almighty buck while other people were all being festive.

The truth is we only live once and when you are gone you will be replaced by some other moron.

Tell me why should waiters or bartenders this time of year not get a chance to enjoy the time of year outside of work as well? Where does it say it is mandatory that service personnel have to work 80 hours a week when you know that when things slow down and you need the money the owner is all set to cut your hours down to nothing to save their skin.

Fortunately I have found a place to work where they actually do care about if you have a life outside of work or not. Yes I am off till Thursday and then they gave me Saturday off as well. Maybe it is a stretch and I will try to pick up the shift on Saturday but I will say this that with the time off I have , I am really not missing going in and working 12-14 hour shifts straight through.

Far from being old but long enough to realize , I have found that no matter how much money you make in December after a while it just becomes a little pointless because a year from now you will find you will have the same amount of money at the beginning of December as you did the year before.

So what the hell happened to all the great money! I will guarantee one thing that next December I will have the same amount as I did this month at the beginning. Nothing ! Unless we as waiters do something else differently it will always be the same.

I love waitering and I love teaching and I love spending time with my family and to do all that I needed to get the month of December balanced out.

So here is my thought on December that unless you love working 80 hours a week during this month and love every moment of it , which I know most don't because they are held at gunpoint to work every hour , try to make a change for next year. See about finding just a one shift waiter job. Not only will you start to see a more positive outlook on the December business but your personal life will reach dizzying new heights. It may open up other avenues that you hadn't had the time to investigate before.

Then you can look forward to next December as just another month and not something that has the sole purpose of depriving us of some of life's great experiences. Really , less is more!

As Manuel in his Well Done Fillet Blog says , Choose Life!

The Case of Did She Eat Here Before Or Didn't She?

There was something strange that happened last night at work. I get this table of 2 and they are coming to it with their drinks when the woman pipes up that her Long Island Ice Tea tastes too tart and that maybe the bartender has put too much lemon in it. Well , I said to her that no one has ever complained about this drink before , especially since we use the Long Island Ice Tea pre-mix and just add the splash of coke and bit of lemon bar mix.

So she asks me for some more coke to put in to take away the tartness she is tasting from the drink. I go get it and she says no it is still not right so I tell her that I will get her a new one and she can compare the two side by side. She tries the new one and asks again for more coke as it is still not right.

Now here is what happens , she tells me that she only drinks Long Island Ice Tea and this has never happened before when she has ate here and even the drink is being served in a different glass this time around. My reply was simply to say I have never had a complaint about this drink before and I will take one off the bill for her troubles.

So they eat their dinner and everything was fine but they questioned me on the bill saying why were they charged this amount when in fact the actual price was less on the menu. I bring the menu over to show what it was they ordered. Obviously thinking that we were overcharging everyone and the place I was working was a scam , I pointed out to them what it was they ordered and how I actually saved them money than if they ordered each item separately.

Here is what she said , "Oh I didn't know that as we have never ate here before."Now unless I was hearing things it is doubtful this person has only drank at our restaurant before as they seemed quite sure as to what they wanted to order.

Needless to say when the bill came to $86 and they gave me a $100 and still wanted change you knew it was going to be the worst tip of the night.

It was just a bit bizarre how she had ate at the restaurant before and then at the end had never been here.

All I could think of was NEXT..............

Funny How Things Work Out

Here it is Saturday morning and outside it is -8 C and the snow is covering everything. I am fighting a cold especially in my throat but I have a feeling it has moved up to my nose. So this is good as I am back to work tonight so at least I will be able to talk.

When I was eating my toast and coffee I was thinking about a job I never got but if I did I might not be looking out at snow right now. It was November 1991 and the restaurant I was working at in Jasper closed for 4 months. It was family run so they decided when it was slow just to fly back to Greece for the winter and reopen in the Spring.

A few contacts I met were talking of going to the Cayman Islands to work and one of them I met was returning there. He said why don't you come on down and look for work they are always hiring. As it turned out the Caymans only let you through if you already have a job so he gave me some numbers to call and voila I had a job offer right over the phone to start December 1st.

I had to get a police clearance and a test for HIV and was waiting further instructions from this employer in the Cayman. The last week in November arrived and I had not heard from him so I called and expected him to say yes buy your ticket and come on down , we are getting busy.

But the opposite happened and he said , don't bother our bookings are way down as the Recession that was going on at the time was hurting business and in fact he was thinking of closing it up for a few months. Apparently in these destination resorts if a slowdown in business occurs they just shut her down till it gets better again.

Anyway after that I decided to forego the Cayman Islands and go onto something else. If the job had worked out who knows where I would be now. Maybe not looking out at snow.

It was a fluke but not being able to take that job changed my life and things did turn out for the better. I wouldn't be as happy as I am now that is for sure.

So I guess the morale of the story is things that do not happen are sometimes the best things that could happen. If you get my drift.....

Still though with me battling a cold and looking out at snow it would be real cool to be serving a Mai Tai on a beach somewhere wouldn't it?

Any stories out there about a job that didn't come to pass you would have liked at the time?