The Saturday of the first week of Prelude is the busiest of the two weeks.

At 3:30 today I had four reservations at the bar available at 7:45. Two large tables available. One at 5:00. One at 8:00. And one four top at 7:30. It’s the most booked I’d ever seen us.

The phone was quiet all afternoon. Surprisingly so.

Until 4:00.

Then the ringing started.

My favorite few phone calls.

Woman calls for six people. I offer the 5:00 and 8:00. She’s not sure it will work. Says she will call back. I let her know that I can’t promise anyone will answer. She says we’ll hear back from her. I probably have a message from her tomorrow afternoon.

Another gentleman calls. It’s 4:30. Wants to know when we open. He’s in the parking lot. Wants to come in now. We don’t open till 5:00. Lets me know he’s coming in as soon as open. I ask if he has a reservations. He says no. BUT. He tells me has cash. Lots of cash. Ready to spend it.

I explain that if he doesn’t have reservations we can’t seat him.

He assures me repeatedly that he has cash to spend.

I apologize but say there is nothing I can do.

He’s not happy.

Then there was the gentleman who called for a reservation at 6:30. For four people. I explain that we don’t have an opening for four at 6:30.

He then explains that he knows Jason, a server. He lives down the street. He owns a business. He’s friends with Jason. Also Jennifer. And he comes there often. And. And. And. And.

There really is nothing I can do.

Plus you can never get a 6:30 reservation for four.

Never.

Plus. I’ve never heard of this guy.

He’s not happy with me.

Plus. Just like on Valentine’s Day.

Don’t.

Don’t.

Don’t.

Wait till 5:00 on the 14th to make your reservation and then be mad at me.

A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

The first weekend of Prelude is in the books!

Whew!

Tonight went off without a hitch. For the most part.

Last night we had five ladies asked to see me on their way out. They were unhappy with their burgers. They were dry and not very flavorful.

I said all the appropriate things. Thank you for sharing. I’ll speak to the chef about it. I wish you’d let me know sooner.

I checked in with the server who assured me they’d never said anything.

I also inquired as to how they were cooked. Medium well, and well done. And I found out from the chef later that all of them were ordered with no sauce or sauce on the side.

No wonder they were dry.

Tonight we had another instance of a foursome who were angry they were seated at a high top. They insisted they be moved to one of the five short tables that were opened.

As always I explained that they’d booked a high top. I could not give a short table to them and disappoint someone who made the short table reservation.

She doubled down at this point. It was not her fault. It was our fault. She’d called dozens of times and been told several times that they’d be moved to a short table.

I asked her to be more specific.

She’d called and left messages and no one returned her calls. When she finally spoke to someone they assured her if something opened up we’d move her.

At this point I explained that every message that gets left is returned. By me. I also assured her that since I returned the calls I would have never promised to do something IF things changed.

She continued to double down.

I finally interrupted and explained that the only table we had for them was the one they’d been shown to. I told her to let us know what she decided.

They stayed. And had a wonderful time.

They couldn’t help telling their server how horrible I was.

The other thing that happened last night was that two different groups made reservations for two tables of four.

For the life of me I can’t understand why they don’t call the restaurant for help. It says on the reservation site to call the restaurant for parties of six or more. It’s not complicated.

They could have called, gotten an 8 top reservation and everyone would have been happy.

I’ll end by saying I got several compliments about how I moved around the dining room, how I helped and how I really owned the space. It’s always nice to hear.

I also got several compliments on the staff as a whole because of how they worked together. Helped each other. And seemed to be enjoying their jobs.

We have a great staff!