Campers – How to take down their tent poles without them knowing.

By Pete Fasanelli of InsideDish.com

Every time I had a closing shift in the restaurant and was trying to get out at a decent time, seems like Murphy and his law got hungry and decided to pay me a visit. Either I’d get a table that walked in about 5 minutes before the kitchen closed when I hadn’t had one in an hour, or one of my existing tables decided they were going to hang out and tell campfire stories until the wee hours. Yes… those dreaded campers were the worst.

Every other table has left. Every other server has left. All the busboys and runners, it seems, are sitting at table 40 in their street clothes staring at me because they want to get “tipped out”. Even the manager seems like he has a date with Jessica Simpson in fifteen minutes because he keeps poking his head out of the office to see if everyone’s gone.

My lone table sits there, a young couple in their late twenties, done sharing their creme brulee over 45 minutes ago, now holding hands across the table caught up in a perpetual gaze. So… what should I do?

First off, I don’t want to be rude and get a bad tip from my last table: A) It’s a bad finish to a long night to get a horrible tip and maybe piss them off enough to call up and complain to a manager tomorrow (that would start tomorrow off bad) B) The check is big enough for me not to want to lose any of it. The only important thing in the world right now is that universal sky scribble meaning they want the check.

Here is what you can do:

I would start with eye contact first. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to create an audible diversion (crashing silverware, perhaps) you might be able to break their love gaze and get them looking at you who is now giving them the stare-down of a lifetime (and trust me nothing short of Doc Holliday’s steely stare at the OK Corral will work).

Then there’s, “Is there anything else I can get you?” You say this because you know that there’s nothing these fools could still possibly want except the check.

If that doesn’t work, move on to “disassembling their tent”. That means: clear off everything from their table not nailed down. Take away the dishes, coffee cups, spoons, sugar, creamer, candles and yes… even the decorative little vase with the flowers. Everything. This should get the point across.

If not… we move on to something a little less subtle. I call it, “Dousing the flames”. You can’t camp without a fire. If you have access to the sound system and it won’t get you in trouble, KILL THE MUSIC. Music is a mood setter. Once the music is gone, so is the mood. Nothing makes campers more uncomfortable than a silent empty room. Except… and this one is tricky, Kill some of the lights, if possible. Now, I’m not talking about the main floor lights, I’m talking about something within one of their peripherals or over the others shoulder. Maybe in a party room or unused service station. “Dousing the flames” is effective. try it.

My very last suggestion, and you can only use it if you’ve already dropped the check but they won’t put money in it or sign their credit card receipt. It’s called “Kill em with kindness”. No more games. Even though you know they haven’t signed/payed you keep making trips to the table and picking up the check as if you assume there’s money in there. Then you say, “Thank you so much! Let me get this out of the way for you!” Then they should finally sign the credit card receipt or give you some form of payment. If not, repeat this one every 3 minutes until they do.

Now you know how to successfully send a camper packing and headed for their next destination.

Pete Fasanelli as admin of insidedish.com and 18 year industry professional developed the site because he wanted servers in the industry to have more control over their workplace environment. They could visit the site and submit an anonymous, honest review of any previous or current job by visiting http://insidedish.com/?page_id=25. Servers could now use this shared information as a launching point in a job search eventually forcing employers to adopt a new standard from within each restaurant.

Owning Your Section
A Tip20! Original Article by J.D. Marshall, Tip20! contributor.

Originally the title of this article was going to be “Owning” your section – as in running it as if it were your own little restaurant. Like you I thought it might be to long and may not grab your attention. But I’m sure “Give yourself a raise” did the trick and got you here.

What do the titles have in common you ask? We all want to make more money and we know the boss isn’t going to give us a raise over the measly $2.13 we already earn. So how do we give ourselves a raise?

Simply by taking over ownership of the section/station we work in. That’s right taking over ownership. That doesn’t mean we have to purchase anything or put a huge capital investment on the table for the owners. What we do have to invest is some time and effort and the pride of ownership.

We walk into work everyday saying “If I owned this place, things would be different.” “I would make so much more money” “I would make sure all the guests were receiving great service.” On and on we go. Well now you can “Own your own restaurant.” At the very least your own section, it’s very easy to do.

Before you leave home, check yourself in the mirror, are you groomed and dressed for success. Is your hair nice and neat, is your uniform pressed and cleaned? If you want to be a success, you must look like one. You do want to look like you own the restaurant right?

Then let’s start from when we first clock in, take pride and responsibility in doing your side work and setting up your station. Make sure that everything you need is ready by the time you get your first table. Do you have all the condiments set up, tea, coffee made? You don’t want to waste time looking or restocking something when you need it in a hurry. Next go to your tables. Are they nice and clean, no crumbs or sticky areas, would you sit at that table? Make sure any condiments you have on the table are stocked and clean. Salt/pepper shakers full, sugar caddie full and clean? The first impression your guest will receive of there dining experience, comes from what they see at the table. A nice neat table will increase your tip average by 1 to 3%.

Do you have the menu memorized? Do you know what is offered with each entrée? If not, you need to learn it right away. You should be able to answer all of your guests’ questions.  Take time to review and memorize the day’s specials. Just by knowing the menu and being able to recite the specials, shows that you are a bright and knowledgeable server. Yes this can increase your tip average also.

Now your first guest walks in, your happy to see them, you smile at them and greet them by name. You thank them for coming in. You ask them if they are having their regular cocktail or glass of wine if you know it. Never ask what they want to drink, always recommend something, such as glass of our special house wine or margarita perhaps a nice cold ice tea. If you don’t recommend something, they may just tell you water. There is no extra income in serving water. Before you leave, recite the specials to them, let you know you will answer any questions they may have when you return with the drinks. As you go to get their drinks touch them lightly on the shoulder, ensuring them that you will be right back. Get their drinks and bread to them as quickly as possible. Remember your manners when you get back, set the drink down for the ladies first.

Recommend at this time two special appetizers. Would you folks like to start with the shrimp cocktail or the crab cakes? They may not have been thinking of one, but now you gave them two choices, odds are that they will order one. (This again increases your income.) Be sure also that they enjoy the drinks they have.

Now it’s time to order the entrée’s, recite the specials again and answer any questions they may have. Repeat the order to them and suggest a nice wine that would compliment the ordered entrees or offer to freshen up the drinks they have. While waiting for the entrée be sure to check back and let them know that the meal will be ready shortly.  Clear off any unneeded dishes at this time also.

Returning with the entrees (you again serve the ladies first), making mention of what a great choice they made (the salmon looks delicious etc.) Ask if there is anything that you may get them at that time. Thank them and tell them to enjoy their meal. Check back on them to be sure everything is to their liking.  You should do this in the first two minutes (2 bites equal 2 minutes).

Keep an eye on the table and remove any empty plates as soon as possible. Crumb the table if needed. (Wipe it off if dirty). Return with the desert tray, being sure to never set the tray on the table. Don’t ask if they want desert. Say something similar to, folks let me tell you about our wonderful deserts. Then describe them in a way that makes them irresistible. Ask then if they would like the devilish chocolate cake or the soufflé. Yes you will sell more deserts this way and increase your income. Don’t forget to offer coffee or perhaps a nice cappuccino.

Have the check ready for presentation, but never lay it down until you have written a nice thank and signed your name (you may want to draw something also, but if you’re a male, never draw a smiley face). Clear the desert dishes from the table and offer to refill the after dinner drinks. Then and only then should you present them the check. Thanking them once again for dining with you and what a great pleasure you had in serving them.

When they look at you and say what a great server you are and that you should own the place. You can smile and say “I do, I do”.
(J.D. is a long time veteran of the restaurant wars. He is always willing to share his wit and wisdom about the restaurant industry. You can find many of his thoughts and comments at Tip20.com.)

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal – by Mary Duan

Paolo’s Reza Samavarchian wants to talk. Really, he does.

But he’s got a large party awaiting his recommendations on after-dinner cognacs and brandies. He’s also got a party of nine, a party of five, two deuces and a single — all waiting to be recipients of the high-beam charm and consummate professionalism that has made Mr. Samavarchian one of the most wanted waiters in San Jose.

Twenty minutes later, a call. The Fairmont Hotel has sent over a party of four women. Go to Paolo’s and see Reza, they were told. He will take care of you.

And take care of you he does.

That’s why, despite the fact that it’s late on a Monday night — a night in the restaurant trade traditionally so slow that many places are closed that day — Reza Samavarchian is hopping. Looking at Tuesday night’s bookings, it’s not going to get any better as the week progresses.

“I wish you could see this book. It’s `Reza, Reza, Reza,’ everywhere,” Mr. Samavarchian says. “I love it so much. I love to see people smiling. I love to pamper them.”

And who doesn’t love to be pampered? For some, it’s getting a manicure. For others, it’s sitting in the section of a 21-year veteran waiter so trusted that many of his clients don’t even ask for a menu. Rather, they walk in and ask Mr. Samavarchian to select their food that evening.

A few streets down, at the Grill on the Alley in San Jose, veteran server Helmut Hassy acknowledges that he makes more money than the younger waiters. With 31 years of experience, the former certified public accountant has been waiting tables longer than some of his co-workers have been alive.

“There is no, `You work here for 20 years and you get the best tables,’” the Austrian-born Mr. Hassy says. “It used to be … that if you were here a long time you got good stations and the new people coming in got the worst. Now, we rotate each station.

“I do make more money than younger waiters, but I talk to people. I spend time on them,” he says. “The guests probably think, `Poor guy, he’s still hustling,’ but I think it’s because the young people are maybe not as charming.”

Back in the day, waiters were courtly. They set things on fire tableside, flambéing a little bananas Foster or some crepes Suzette for the amusement of guests. They whipped raw eggs into olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, poured it over hearts of romaine lettuce as diners watched, and presented them with a fresh Caesar salad.

Now, insurance agencies don’t like restaurants setting things on fire. The state health department frowns on salad dressings whipped up with raw eggs. If you want courtly, you almost have to leave the country — they still have courtly all over Europe — or you have to seek out the waiters who have longevity.

Longevity gets the tables.

Nobody will go on the record and refer to them as the “best tables” — that would imply that hierarchy exists for customers as well as for servers. But it only makes sense that a server who is able to develop a rapport with clients, over the long term, will make more money than the college kid who waits tables nights and weekends in order to pay for his education.

One restaurateur, who refused to be identified by name for fear that colleagues would smack him around with wet bar towels, says hierarchy among waiters and waitresses still exists.

“There are good stations, and there are some stations that aren’t as profitable,” he says. “We rotate them between the staff, (but) some restaurants work on a very strict seniority status. You have some waiters easily making more than the managers, and some are making close to six figures.”

In sales, it’s about relationships. At a restaurant, the waiter is a salesperson. Servers like Mr. Samavarchian and Mr. Hassy happen to be extremely good salesmen.

“If you get a couple that comes into your restaurant once a week like clockwork for 20 years, and they want John as their waiter every time, they’re going to get John as their waiter every time, because John has been there as long as they have,” says Armand Tiano, co-owner of 71 Saint Peter and Stratta, both in San Jose.

“You get these old-time waiters who have been there 15 years, 20 years, and then some new server comes in. Will he get the same stations and same treatment as a senior server? No.

“It’s the amount of time and the relationships with the customers that gets them the better tables.”

And it’s the server who has a grasp of the restaurant’s image and mission that gets the customers and, consequently, the bigger tips.

“Generally there are waiters who can make more money, but it doesn’t have to be because they’ve been there [at the restaurant] longer,” says Pat Burke, who’s waited on customers at the Grill on the Alley for two years.

Although new at the Grill, Mr. Burke, 34, has been working in the restaurant business since he was 16, flipping burgers at his father’s restaurant.

Those longtime servers who are regarded as successful tend to be very detail-oriented, adds Jalil Samavarchian Paolo’s maitre’ d, Reza’s brother, and husband of restaurant owner Caroline Allen.

“There’s a saying that a good server can make a bad meal taste great,” Jalil Samavarchian says. “A server with personality and charm can make a very grumpy and unhappy person very pleased.”

There isn’t a lot of that type left, Grill on the Alley manager Phillipe Azoulay says. At the Grill, waiters are graded by degree of performance, rather than how long they’ve been working. But longtime servers bring a lot of the experience you can’t teach anyone on paper, and they have seen a lot of things a new server can’t see yet.

“They are proactive and they know how to read people,” Mr. Azoulay says.

“They don’t make mistakes that cost you a lot of money. They don’t drop a glass of wine, they don’t lose balance on a loaded tray,” he adds.

“If you have six guys like that out on the floor during a busy dinner service, it’s a manager’s dream.”

MARY DUAN is a freelance writer based in Salinas.