Posts Tagged Hospitality

Farewell the Customer

Saying goodnight is just as important,  if not more important, than greeting them when they arrived.  It is the last thing they remember about your restaurant.

At lunch you can use a more relaxed tone such as, ‘thanks for coming” but at night a more formal approach like, ‘thankyou, and good night’ will work well.

Don’t forget to return any items such as coats or bags.  It is also a good opportunity to hand them any information regarding menu changes or upcoming events.

It is important to remember that the customer must always feel well looked after by you.  Saying goodnight has the same [read more...]

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Tomato Day at Moorooduc Estate

Not that one really needs an excuse to visit the Mornington Peninsula but if you’re heading that way in the latter part of the week, we recommend you make a stop at Moorooduc Estate. 

The McIntyre family are synonymous with great food and wine and Jill is set to focus on some enchanting food workshops, the first of which will be Tomato Day  - see below for details.  Although Jill’s Restaurant is now closed, the wood oven will be churning out fabulous wood fired pizzas at the weekend so over a glass or two and a slice or two we’ll still [read more...]

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Dealing With Customer Complaints

Complaints are an every day occurrence across our industry.  Some are justified and others not.  The one thing we must accept is that they occur.  Dealing with complaints is no different than having good food knowledge or knowing your wine list.  It is just another skill all good waiters & managers should have.  Once you have knowledge of how to deal with complaints you can take control of them and not take them personally.

When a customer complains, ensure that you listen very carefully, not just with your ears but also with your body language.  It is much better to have [read more...]

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Blowing off Steam

The end of any day signals great relief.  You’ve survived another one.  Get to the end of the week and the elation is even greater.  For most of us, this time of year is the end or close to the end of the crazy season.  As we reach each of these milestones and the relief sets in then the calling for some form of release begins.

There should probably be some sort of sliding scale for milestone versus appropriate release, but there’s no way in hell any kind of formula would fit the parameters for blowing off steam.  I know I have [read more...]

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Sommelier

We had an incredibly talented sommelier at the last restaurant I was working at.  He was one of the select few in Australia with official recognition as a Sommelier, and he definitely knew his stuff. 

He had a thorough knowledge of any wine from pretty much any region around the world and his ability to dissect the wine and match it perfectly to any dish was astounding.  Add this to his ability to sell obscure wines from places like Spain and Portugal to the discerning Aussie public (who can be religiously patriotic to their own product), and you can understand why he was a recognised [read more...]

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My Story - Part 3

I didn’t have a sign made up but it was certainly the sentiment of the trip.  If I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere, Sydney….. Sydney.  I was now totally obsessed with getting a bar job.  As much as I disliked being an upholsterer in New Zealand, continuing along this path in Australia seemed totally absurd.  So with backpack packed I was off again.

Apart from the money equals beer, equals bars, equals girls, equation, the furniture factory had turned up one other gem.  A lot of the furniture we made headed to New South Wales in large semi [read more...]

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Improving Professionalism

Here at Waitersfriend we perceive good service as paramount to a good dining experience.  Good service doesn’t necessarily mean fine dining standards.  It just means that the waiter or waitress or manager is constantly alert to the needs of the customer.  Good service involves taking pride in your job and knowing that the way in which a customer perceives you as a waiter, will almost certainly affect their perception of the establishment you work in or own.  This, in turn, affects bums on seats and word of mouth advertising.

There are two necessary ingredients in the making of a good waiter.  [read more...]

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My Hospitality Philosophy

My name is Mark Wilson. I have worked in some of the most exclusive hotels in the world. I have worked as a professional barista in flourishing artistic communities. I have worked on yachts and secluded islands. I have set-up award winning restaurants and street-side cafes. I have also done almost everything in between as far as food and beverage venues go. I am a hospitality slut.

I, with my friends at Waitersfriend feel that I want to share my experiences.

So here goes;

If I were to try to find a pillar of belief in my philosophy on hospitality, as in one principle [read more...]

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First Steps to a Successful Restaurant

What is a successful restaurant? Is it the coolest or sharpest looking one? Is it the most popular one? Is it the one with the most awards? Is it the one in the latest edition of Gourmet?If you were to open your own restaurant, what would it be? Cheap? Fine dining? Big? Small? In the CBD?  In the suburbs?

In my experience there is no one formula that works. I have seen spectacular restaurants with great chefs fall flat on their bum. I have seen tacky restaurants with very average chefs do very well. You must consider many things, like [read more...]

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Nu Nu - Palm Cove

I always knew I was going to Nu Nu.  Even before I knew I was going to Palm Cove I was going to Nu Nu. So as soon as I was checked into the resort, I checked out Nu Nu.  My partner was convinced I was way over excited.  But I’d read the reviews and checked out the website and I knew my eagerness wasn’t unwarranted. 

It had been around 9 years since I’d lived in the resort town and I was keen to take a stroll along memory lane, aka Williams Esplanade.  Some things had changed while some remained the [read more...]

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