The War Between the FOH & BOH

There are two countries/management teams in restaurants- the FOH or Front of House- waitstaff, bartenders & other dining room staff- and BOH or Back of House- chefs; cooks; dish staff. Most restaurants are in a perpetual state of war. I, having waited tables as well as doing a small stint years ago as a bartender, have always insisted on a truce between the two sides in every restaurant I've owned or managed. Actually, more than a truce, but a coming together and a forging into one family. This is often a rarity in my business. I create situations for them to socialize and build friendships. I have rules of behavior of what is and isn't acceptable. But the one thing several cooks and chefs who have worked for me couldn't handle was the fact that I give the long term waitstaff in my restaurant the right to refuse to bring a plate to a guest if they deem it as wrong in any way. The waitstaff is not only the "interface" between the kitchen and the guest, but they are trained to spot potential mistakes by tasting and watching how each dish is made. People, including myself, make mistakes; and having another pair of eyes looking at the food that is ready to deliver keeps those mistakes from happening. Too many chefs/cooks egos cannot handle a mere waitperson overriding their "Talent". Several have quit working for me because I allow this. I've never had that type of ego and its unacceptable in my restaurant.

P.S.: On my Waiting post- Please, especially in a restaurant like ours where we write tickets by hand and don't have a sophisticated computer system, ask for split tickets up front if you don't want a resentful waitperson. It speeds up their work as opposed to trying to go back and figure out who has what after the fact and then needing to add each new ticket up separately. It can take awhile- time away from their other tables and so tips can suffer. Also, on busy nights, most restaurants have small print in their menu, as does mine, allowing waitstaff to refuse such a request. Finally, most restaurants allow the waitstaff to add a gratuity onto split tickets (also in the small print). This is because they too often get lousy tips when this happens. The extra time and trouble of doing split tickets needs to be taken into account when tipping. I leave whether or not to add the gratuity on to split tickets up to the discretion of the waitperson.