måndag 25 februari 2013

Waiterrant

This blogg (restauranghyfs) is not going to change the world.

It would be lovely if it did, as it would reduce the number of hours per week we spend trying to explain to patrons why we can't serve pasta bolognese.

But it's not going to change the world.

The reason for that is that I'm reading it and laughing. Our customers (if they ever get so far as clicking the link) will read it and fume at the perceived rudeness of restaurant personnel. I'm old bones in this game, so I'll try to explain.
No matter how "educated" a waiter you are, what title you have or what responsibilities you shoulder, the majority of the work you do on a daily basis is repetitive donkey work. So the only way to deal with that for as long as you're in the business, someone is going to have booked a table for 5 and show up with 12 new guests, whereof 7 are vegan and one is allergic to gluten, is by being cynical and laughing about it.
Otherwise the suicide rate of waiters would be much higher than it is.

So, it's not going to educate a single patron. But laughter and recognition might just save some waiter lives.

torsdag 21 februari 2013

Where the world turns on the stile of a dinner

So, Chateau D'Yquem is not making a 2012 vintage. After the wine failed a post-harvest taste test, it was decided to pull the plug.

A brand like D'Yquem can't afford to bottle sub-par wines, and although I'm sure that in the short term, scrapping a year's harvest will smart, I can see that it is definitely the right call to make.

I'm taking a number of business courses along with several wine and catering expansion classes, and something that is woefully lacking in the curriculum is the concept of quality control. Obviously, as a sommelier it's a far cry from what's considered comme il faut to serve, say, corked wine - but as far as cash flow goes, red numbers don't care if you're serving moonshine. Before you all cry horse-lasagna, I'd like to share my checklist for a genuine, quality food/wine-product:
1. Not industrially produced
2. Minimally addled
3. The word "cheap" is not part of the marketing strategy (almost regardless of the actual price)
4. Easily tracked to source

...oh, and obviously it tastes nice. But mostly, the fourth point is the one I find I focus the most on. Can one easily trace the product origins? Does the producing company actually know how it's made, without reading from their own brochure? Does the production company care about their product enough to ask for feedback, or correct any issues we may have had?

See, running a business isn't always synonymous with providing a quality product. I don't know how many times I've been told in various classes that fudging it for the sake of short-term cash flow is a must. I disagree completely. Apparently, Chateau D'Yquem do too. Obviously, if I was planning a bulk order of D'Yquem 2012 I'd possibly be a bit pissed as I'd have to find something to replace it with, but at least I'd not be pissed over receiving a bad product. Ten times out of ten I'd rather apologize for not being able to deliver than to deliver something sub-standard. Even if it means cutting back, rethinking and regrouping. Those are company and brand values.

So, with Chateau D'Yquem, you know what you get. In fact, we have quite a collection of nice vintages, so if you ever want to know what I'm on about.... book a table with a bottle.