ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - February 22, 2002

At this writing, I am in Buffalo doing a tune-up for a distributor's sales reps in preparation for programs at their spring food show next month. Then it is down to NYC for my fifth consecutive year at the New York Restaurant Show.

MORE BUSINESS THAN YOU CAN HANDLE?
Margene and I went out for a quick dinner last Saturday night at one of our local restaurants. As we walked up, I noticed that the dining room was about 2/3 empty (on a Saturday night?) Not generally a good sign, but I figured we could be seated right away and that was appealing. I was surprised to see about a dozen people in the waiting area and even more surprised when the greeter put our names on a waiting list. After five minutes of watching three hostess-types fumble around with no eye contact and no guests being seated, we gave up. I told one of the fumblers something like, "Better take us off the list. We have been waiting five minutes and the dining room is half empty. Not good." Her very defensive reply was, "Well, we're really busy!"

Busy doing what? Admittedly there was a takeout order being filled (the bag was sitting on top of the hostess stand!) but you would think with three hostesses, somebody would have figured out a way to fill the seats in the dining room even with the massive responsibility of a takeout order!

A note from the Doc:
If you don't take care of your guests, you will get your business down to a level where you can handle it!

CLUELESS IN THE KITCHEN
We went across the street to another restaurant (we only have 13 full service establishments in my little town). We had eaten there once or twice when we came to town but were underwhelmed and hadn't returned in over six years. I thought that, in fairness, we should give them another shot. Maybe they had figured it out. They were also only partially full, but in spite of that pressure, managed to seat us right away. The dining room was so dark that us "old folks" could barely read the menus, but they had some interesting wines on the wine list so perhaps there was still hope.

I should point out that earlier that day, I had interviewed Phyllis Ann "It's the food, stupid" Marshall, president of FoodPower and restaurant critic for the Orange County Register. Phyllis Ann will be the March interview in my Management Insight Series. When you spend any time at all with Phyllis Ann, you get REAL serious about food really fast . . . and I was definitely in a food mood!

Imagine the disappointment when dinner turned out to be an overcooked slab of salmon (a hanging offense in the Pacific Northwest!) tossed on an ungarnished plate with a slice of lemon and a pile of overcooked "vegetable medley." If we had been in a coffee shop paying coffee shop prices, it might have been understandable, but they were charging fully as much as we would have paid in one of the REAL restaurants in town.

What are people thinking? Where is the WOW? Where is the specialness? Where is the pride? It IS about the food, stupid! How can claim to be professionals unless there is SOMEBODY in the kitchen with some modicum of culinary consciousness? I don't mean to suggest that we need to staff the back of the house with all classically-trained chefs, but there needs to be somebody back there with an awareness of how food is supposed to be prepared and presented. With the increasing level of food awareness in the market place, we have to put out plates that are better than what somebody can do at home or there is no reason for them to dine out. Phyllis Ann will beat you up about his at the Super Summit. Be there and take your whipping!

It took over six years for us to give this place a second chance. They should not hold their breaths for a return visit. Such is the price of failure.

And finally . . .

THE SUPER SUMMIT -- BE THERE!
We finally have the Super Summit website up and running at www.hospitalitymasters.com.

As you probably know by now, the first-ever Hospitality Masters Super Summit will be held in Seattle on April 29-30. You may also know that attendance is limited. Now you can finally get the full story of what we have in mind.

The Super Summit is the first hospitality industry event ever conceived and crafted entirely by the presenters. We have assembled nine of the leading experts and innovative thinkers in the business with the promise that we will not offer any material that we have ever delivered to a general audience before. We may share some trade secrets that have previously been reserved for only our best private clients. Our intent is to bring you those things we have always wanted to say to an audience but never had a sponsor who would let us do it!

The Super Summit is a "stealth" conference. By that I mean that it will not be promoted to the general public. The only way anyone would even know about it is to be connected to one of the presenters (like through this e-letter.) It is definitely not for everybody. We have targeted the program for experienced operators with the maturity and professional curiosity to see the value in fresh ideas and unconventional thinking. With only 99 seats total and nine presenters, you can do the math. Effectively, we each have eleven spots for our constituents and I expect them to go quickly.

If you have been looking for something to get your juices flowing again and give you a renewed sense of purpose and passion, you should take action now. I guarantee there will be nothing in our industry that will even come close to this! Take a look at the site, refer your colleagues if you wish but mark your calendar for April 29-30, get your registration in and be sure to join us in Seattle!

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