Waiting Tables is a Job Just Like Yours... Only More So

Tomorrow Sous Chef George and his significant other Crystal are taking 4 year old Toby to his first dentist appointment. They will be in Las Cruses, NM most of the day and he will not return to help until just before dinner. I'll be in real early prepping so I might not get to post tomorrow morning. This post is sparked by incidents that happened at tonight's very busy service.

The folks arrived quite late for their reservation, much later than the time they called and told us they would be late. (Please, ALWAYS call to cancel or that you'll be late. We only make money when we fill a chair. Doctors, lawyers, etc. can get away with charging you for a not showing up- restaurants can not!) It was for a table of 7. The reservation was made by a local doctor and his wife- who are semi-regulars have we always liked. But the other people at the table we will never serve again. Why? The way they treated the staff.

I don't understand why some people treat the waitstaff at fine dining restaurants as either stupid or medieval servants! Waiter-host Am has an I.Q. of 145. He can program computers in several different programing languages. He taught as an adjunct professor A+ Certification classes at our local university until that program was eliminated. He got the best ratings from the students- they felt like they understood the material they needed to learn versus just knowing how to pass the test; which is how the other teachers taught.

I've known me people with Masters degrees and PhDs waiting tables than you can shake a stick at. My Busser Michelle run is Office Manager for a good size local company during the day.

People work in restaurants for several reasons. Very few work in fine dining restaurants because that is the only thing they are capable of doing. Many do the work because they, like me, love it and can't conceive of doing anything else. Almost as many because it is a great part-time way of making fantastic money (I know several waitpeople making $80K to $100K+ in places like NY, LA, SF, Chicago and even Santa Barbara,CA. They wait dinners 5 days a week.) Some do it as a way of paying for pursuing their art. They successfully support a family while waiting for that big break. Others are putting themselves through school and are doing it while being self-supporting, like I did. (I personally have often used the fact that, until recently, almost ALL the people I've met have thought of chefs as dumb- or else they would be doing something else. I majored in Biology, minored in Chemistry & English, and almost added a Philosophy minor to my 3 years in college, before I dropped out to become a chef- which was how I worked my way through college. With my taking 14- 17 credits a semester and working full time I still managed to be on the Dean's List all but my first semester.) There are more reasons, but these fit the majority of restaurant people I've known.

When your at Shevek & Co. Restaurant or any other fine establishment, even in a small town just like ours (pop. 11,500), don't immediately assume that the waitperson is stupid or incompetent. The fact that they haven't done what you wanted INSTANTLY is probably because you are not their only guest. They will bring you what you desire as soon as: its ready; they finish what they need to do first- there are some set routines we do to try to do to make your experience more enjoyable; deliver food to another table before the temperature becomes in appropriate or the food dries out ; as soon as their hands are empty of dishes- either dirty and heading to the kitchen or being the process of being delivered; as soon as they wash their hands.

When you ask for the daily features/specials, let them speak without interrupting, for they usually get to tell you what you want to know. If they have not, ask a polite question- rude questions, like rude behavior- only make them want to avoid your table, though the professionals will bitch about you in the kitchen and return to your table and treat you like the professional they are.

At Shevek & Co. we serve every dish in 3 sizes. If they tell you you probably have ordered too much food believe them. If their wrong, we'll gladly cook you more! If they make a suggestion of what you might like after some conversation with you, take it. If they are wrong and you don't like a dish after a couple of bites, we don't charge and we will gladly make you something else. (But don't leave the last bite or finish it all and then complain. We can't replace it then and we will charge for it. Its why my staff tries to ask how you like something after you've had 2- 3 bites.) And when you or someone at the table asks a question, give your waitperson the courtesy of listening, for the information might just be what your looking for.

Please, don't move the furniture. Waitpeople dance around the dinning room of a restaurant; using patterns that become second nature. We had some guests shift tables and because it wasn't where the waitperson expected it a glass of wine got spilled on the guest as the waitperson tripped on a table leg that wasn't where it usually is. If a table needs to be moved let the waitperson do so.

If you have a young child, keep them sitting at the table and be attentive to their needs. Many a waitperson has tripped over wandering/running children- hurting the kid, themselves and sometimes innocent bystanders. If you most take a child who cannot sit, make it an appropriate restaurant.

Speaking of tables, please sit at your assigned table. It was assigned according to several basic tenets: Who asked for a specific table first usually when making a reservation; which section is opened due to how many wait people are working; what section the waitperson you asked for is working: if none of these are in play, which waitperson's turn is next- after all, they each need to make money or they wouldn't be doing what they do.

Finally, don't do what in the business is called, "single tripping" your waitperson. If they ask if the table requires anything more and your pretty sure you want something say so. Don't wait for them to return with an item for one person, then someone else asks for something and they return again and then you finally ask for that thing you really wanted all along. They will resent it. The amount of time they waste when being single tripped is time they could have spent with some of their other guests. Tables that single trip will always seem to do so constantly. Time lost from other guests means tips suffer. (The ONLY time I condone waitpeople avoiding a table is when they are constantly being single tripping by them. They will give you professional service, but only after looking after all their other tables.)

The average person I hire to wait tables lasts less than 2 weeks, since many can't handle the level of detail and attentiveness I require. But those who make it are usually gems- in the midst of being polished or already set. They know their job, they know the food, wines and beers we carry. If not they say, "I don't know, but I'll find out" instead of faking an answer. Tip according to the quality of service. At Shevek & Co. a waitperson who doesn't average 20% or more after a few weeks will not last- they aren't giving the service I require. In both federal law and every state I know of, except Arizona, the minimum wage for waitstaff and other tipped employees starts as low as $2.18/hour (we pay better). They work hard for their tips or else they don't work for me.

All of this was to say,"Waiting tables is a job, just like your job. Treat your waitperson just like you expect to be treated at your place of work and they will do their best to give you a dining experience you will pleasantly remember for a long time!"