Electronic House Call - May 16, 2003

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - May 16, 2003

Buon Giorno! For the past three days we have been wandering around the area of northeast Italy known as the Veneto which includes Verona, Padua and Venice. The countryside is pleasant but, as always, it is the people that define the country and make the difference.

THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
Some of my best openings come from EHC subscribers. Just before we left, I received this note from R.J. Fisher, owner of the Pancake Chef in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Don't jump to any conclusions based on the name of his place, however -- I'll wager that his standards of food and service would put most tablecloth restaurants to shame.

He writes ... This subject is something you think would be "common sense", but I guess that's why the term is an oxymoron. I am talking about the service staff handling every piece of flatware by the use end when setting a table. I have seen this done in all kinds of establishments from family restaurants to high end fine dining. The other night I watched a waitress set up 75 settings for a banquet and she never missed touching the use end. I can't understand how a manager could miss this uncaring, stupid, unsanitary process. This speaks to the enormous lack of training in our industry, our greatest failure. I would be interested in your take on this issue.

I replied ... The devil is always in the details. Yes it is clearly a training issue. It is hard to fault the servers if they were never trained in the proper procedure ... although you would think that their mothers would have jumped them on it before now. Maybe people don't set the table at home anymore. I have learned that you can always count on your staff to take the path of least resistance. I call it creative laziness ... but why do any more work than necessary? So the key lies in defining what "necessary" means when it comes to setting tables. That means not only must proper silver handling be addressed in training, but the supervisors must watch it, catch it and correct it -- over and over again -- until people do it instinctively. Our willingness to insist on such a basic standard is part of why we get to call ourselves foodservice professionals.

Is it a big deal? It depends on how much business you can afford to lose. Guests notice even if the managers don't. Most patrons won't say anything. They will just finish their meal and not come back. (My wife will actually get up and leave as soon as she sees it happening.) At the best, you foster a reputation as an amateur operation and you will lose your business to operators who are willing to do the work.

DO THE WORK!
You know what has to be done. Why don't you do it?

LESSONS FROM THE ROAD
We were in Venice yesterday for the first time since the summer of 2000. I don't know if it is just because it is May rather than July, but the town seemed much less populated with tourists. Certainly US travelers were few and far between. It may be the general slowdown in travel, economic uncertainties, job insecurity, terrorism concerns or any of a dozen other possibilities, but the bottom line is that any single stream of revenue can be cut off in a heartbeat.

I don't know what Venice has as a backup position ... but how dependent are you on a single source of business? If the local plant closed or conventions stopped coming to town are you covered? Everything in business has a cycle. Develop several sources of income as a hedge against the inevitable.

I am posting a daily diary of our travels -- places seen and lessons learned -- for those who may be interested in following along. I include photos and separate the travelogue material from the restaurant observations. Take a second and check it out at http://www.restaurantdoctor.com/trips.html

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