Art Chowder July | August 2017, Issue 10 | Page 45

Why feared and dreaded? In a nutshell, many of our students
chose the back of the house (meaning anything in the kitchen)
for a reason. That choice may not have been isolated to just their
love of cooking. Serving, bartending, working as busboy or
maître d’ all require direct contact and interaction with the guest.
Some people have a very real and valid fear of public speaking,
approaching strangers, talking to restaurant guests, and serving
people in general. Forget the sheer terror of dropping, tripping,
stuttering or swearing at inopportune moments! While these are
valid concerns (and all of them happen on rare occasions), they
are little more than imagined fright and with a little education,
information and confidence, can be cured.
I would like to share with you the fundamentals of excellent
restaurant service that are taught to the INCA students during
the dreaded “dining room quarter”, and issue a challenge. As I
briefly explain each component that makes up the whole of the
enormous concept, I challenge you to:
Isolate a recent service experience
where all (or even most) of
these concepts were applied as
you dined in a restaurant.
Giving excellent service is a combination of knowledge, skill,
competency, and common sense. Standards of excellent service
have changed over the years, and from experience can be a bit
of a moving target depending on the location, restaurant style,
price range, atmosphere and available talent pool. However, the
standards I will outline do not depend on any such factors. These
standards should apply across the board—from fast food to
8-course meals; from fast food to sit-down service; from paper
placemats to white tablecloths —and everywhere in between.
These standards are non-negotiable. These standards have no
price tag, uniform requirements, valet parking or drive-through
designations. In my opinion, this is the least you should expect
when dining out, no matter what.
Etiquette: There are two concepts here.
1. Properly Set Table— (polished and spot-free) Flatware
should be in the proper place, along with proper and consistent
placement of dining implements (water goblets, wine glasses by
courses, bread & butter plates/knives, coffee cups and table con-
diments.)
2. Proper Behavior— The
staff should carry themselves
properly while in view of the public.
July | August 2017 45