Guest Services

I hate the word, "customer".

This hasn't always been a thing, I used to sling the word around at work almost as often as I dropped "fuck" and "shit" in the kitchen (Restaurants are wonderfully lenient,  vocabulary-wise). For the longest time, people who came to where I worked were just faceless annoyances that helped keep me employed.

And then I started reading about fine dining restaurants in magazines. I visited a couple, to see what the big deal was. I thought of myself as a customer. But setting foot into those establishments, heinously underdressed in some instances? I was shocked. Not by the portion to price ratio, I expected that, but by how... welcomed I felt. I fully expected to be greeted with disdain, pretentious attitudes, annoyance. It's what I would have done back then, had I been in my server's shoes. I was always dining solo, my tip certainly wasn't going to make any significant difference in their earnings. I never got that blowback. Every time, I was greeted with grace, friendliness, and dignity. They took what could have been an awkward, stiff experience, and made me feel like I had been a regular for years. The sensation stuck with me. I wondered, how did they accomplish that and I couldn't? How were our restaurants so different?

I had to know. I had knowledge, and I was sick of working shitty sports bars. I needed to know I could do better. I wound up working at a Spanish wine bar with a service manager named Sean.

Sean is a larger than life personality, with a laugh to match and more blue checked shirts than is really reasonable. And he is the modern-day Dionysus, always ensuring anyone who encountered him had a smile. He had one steadfast rule, that anyone who crossed the restaurant threshold was a guest, NOT a customer. He felt that thinking of a person as a customer was too impersonal, and we were here to curate an experience for people. We were told to treat every table as if they were, in fact, guests in our home.

It brings a whole new aspect to people-watching thinking that way. And it turns what could be a very rote experience and makes it far more enjoyable. Guests become more accessible, more approachable from the server's perspective. And they pick up on that sentiment, and respond in kind. It creates a more jovial atmosphere all around, and it is the entire reason I have yet to get bored with my current job. I no longer work with Sean, but he did me a huge favor helping me adjust my mindset.

Study Hard!

Clarity is one of the greatest gifts a person can be given. It's such a fluid notion, that when you can actually get a handle on it, it feels magical. It took me years, but within the past few years I knew I wanted a career in the restaurant industry. It definitely wasn't my life goal as a child, but a passion I grew into. And even more recently, I managed to narrow it down even further. That is big for me- after 25 years of putzing around, I finally have a direction to truly pursue. While I have been saying I want to own a brewpub, I always assumed it would be in a chef/owner role. Something recently occurred to me.

I am a solid cook. I'm not the best chef, nor do I have any desire to be a top chef. The time and sheer energy required behind the line is not something I honestly want to pursue. I love reading my cookbooks, learning about foods and technique, but at the end the day? I am way more interested in creating and running a successful establishment. I won't be Top Chef, but I can damn sure be a Top Restauranteur!

To accomplish that, I'm devoting my next few months earning certifications to improve my job chances in the restaurant field. I'm going for my Cicerone (for beer), WSET (for wine and spirits), and CSW (for wine exclusively). Hopefully I can parlay that into a bar position, and if not, I'll go to school for business management classes. It'll be strange, decreasing my hours working, and spending time studying. I haven't done that since... Hell, I didn't even actually study in high school.

Beyond the pursuit of knowledge, I will admit I am seriously motivated by a hefty dose of spite. It's not healthy, but I'm definitely still harboring a lot of anger over what happened on my trip out here last year. But is it really so bad, when I'm finally finding a healthy way to focus that anger? I just want to be more successful than I originally thought I could be. And if that means hella nerding out for a year or two? I'll do it. I'm pretty certain I can get my level one CSW months sooner than I anticipated originally. I've already got a much better understanding of the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions of France than I thought.

Spite. God it makes me happy.

A Tribute

Charlie Trotter died yesterday.  It's a strange thing for me to process. For those that don't live restaurants like I do, Charlie Trotter was one of the first to be considered a famous chef. His restaurant in Chicago helped define the new standards of dining,  and his books are a testament to his passion for the craft.
I never ate at his restaurant.  I never spoke with the man. But his influences helped define the restaurants that in turn, defined me. He was a polarizing figure, no doubt,  but nobody can say he had a bad effect on the industry.  He was only 54 when he passed. Gone too soon. His legacy of standards and achievements will not be forgotten,  though. Cheers, Mr. Trotter.  Hope your last meal was a good one.