Waitersfriend

a friend in waiting

Posts Tagged waiter

Milk the Customer

Sep 5

Posted by Shaun Cooper in Blog - Life as a Waiter

I was recently out and about in the lovely city of Gothenburg, Sweden.  My wife and I were showing an Aussie friend around our new town. 

Inevitably it came to the point in the day when our thoughts turned to where we can have a feed and a few drinks.  We found a place called the Avalon Hotel, which is a boutique style hotel in the heart of the city centre.  It has quite a large outside seating area, which is perfect on a warm (Swedish style) Summer’s day. So we stroll in, looking for a table, with the full intention of parking ourselves there [read more...]

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Electrolux Winners

Aug 14

Posted by Waitersfriend in Electrolux Appetite for Excellence

AUSTRALIA’S TOP YOUNG CHEF, WAITER & RESTAURATEUR ANNOUNCED

During the week the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence 2010 national winners were announced at an exclusive reception held at the Electrolux Showcase, Sydney, attended by Australia’s leading chefs, restaurateurs and food industry luminaries. 

 Waitersfriend sends out a big congrats to all who competed and the winners on the day!

The 2010 Electrolux Appetite for Excellence winners across three award categories are: 

Electrolux Young Chef

Winner:                                    Soren Lascelles, Assiette, Sydney, NSW

Runner Up:                               Danika Heslop, Quay, Sydney, NSW

Judges Acknowledgement:       Emma Shearer, The Manse, Adelaide, SA

Electrolux Young Waiter

Winner:                                    Louise Tamayo, Becasse, Sydney, NSW

Runner Up:                               Josh Smith, Black Cow Bistro, Launceston, [read more...]

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Reading Your Guest

Apr 15

Posted by Mark Wilson in Blog - Life as a Waiter

To be half capable at this job you will need to be able to read your tables. 

Customers eat out for a huge variety of reasons.  Some need to get out of the house, others are celebrating a special occasion.  Some may eat out all the time and others have guests over and want to show off their local joint.  If your table is celebrating their first anniversary then I doubt they will want a 5 minute wine explanation. On the other hand, when dining out to impress someone, the customer will expect everything to be perfect.  With each table comes a [read more...]

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Presenting the Menu

Feb 22

Posted by Mark Wilson in Blog - Life as a Waiter

There are no right or wrong ways to present a menu but it is important that you know the house rules and the kind of service that your establishment is looking for in order to have consistency.

There are a couple of ways to present a menu.  If you have a nice menu cover you may wish to present the menu closed so the customer may admire the cover.  If this is not necessary then you may wish to present an opened menu for the customer.  It is a little bit of extra service.

This can be very helpful when a dessert page [read more...]

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Ten Tips for Better Tips

Feb 19

Posted by Waitersfriend in Uncategorized

1.  If a guest is celebrating a special occasion, print out a copy of the menu and sign it on behalf of the staff & offer it as a memento.  Anniversaries are perfect.

2.  When a cocktail is ordered that no one knows how to make, or a guest says, ‘I had this amazing cocktail at………’ - call the venue they just talked about and ask them how to make it or look it up on the web.  We once called a hotel in the U.S from Australia to get a recipe.

3.  Whenever you sense that a male is taking his [read more...]

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Ten Tips for Better Tips

Feb 19

Posted by Mark Wilson in Blog - Life as a Waiter

1.  If a guest is celebrating a special occasion, print out a copy of the menu and sign it on behalf of the staff & offer it as a memento.  Anniversaries are perfect.

2.  When a cocktail is ordered that no one knows how to make, or a guest says, ‘I had this amazing cocktail at………’ - call the venue they just talked about and ask them how to make it or look it up on the web.  We once called a hotel in the U.S from Australia to get a recipe.

3.  Whenever you sense that a male is taking his [read more...]

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Dietary Requirements

Feb 17

Posted by Shaun Cooper in Blog - Life as a Waiter

As a waiter, every single night you will come across a guest that has some form of special dietary requirement.  Some of these requirements may seem a little far fetched, however it is imperitive that we listen to the guests’ needs and do our very best to accommodate them in order to avoid any unwanted health incidents.

We would like to name a few that we have come across on a regular basis, and specify the needs associated with each.  Of course there will be other requirements that I do not cover and would love to hear comments from other waiters out there in [read more...]

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17 Comments

Remember Names

Jan 29

Posted by Mark Wilson in Blog - Life as a Waiter

A good server should always remember customer names as well as likes and dislikes. 

A customer that frequents your venue should be greeted by their name and with respect.  It depends on the type of restaurant that you work in whether you call your guest Peter or Mr Jones.  The customer feels important when you remember their name and if you can remember where they like to sit or what wine they drink you are in good shape for a healthy dose of that instant gratification thing or even a nice fat tip!

Remember that remembering names is a discipline not a [read more...]

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The Pot Food and Wine - Adelaide

Jan 10

Posted by Waitersfriend in Uncategorized

The last thing Carlos, our French host said to us was, “anything is possible at The Pot” and I’m sure it is. 

For me The Pot defines the phrase - ‘romance of a restaurant’, and I’m not talking about sitting there with your loved one, staring into each others eyes, holding hands across the table and referring to one another by cutesy little nick names.  I’m talking about inspired people that are determined on delivering a great product.  I’m talking about the feeling you get as you stroll through the door that everything from that moment on is going to be about [read more...]

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Blowing off Steam

Jan 6

Posted by Waitersfriend in Blog - Life as a Waiter

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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5 Comments