Reservations are funny things.

You’ve told a business that they have to hold a table for you. That you will come and spend money at 7:15 if they seat you at a table exactly at this time.

My favorite is the comments/requests/demands that are added to the reservation.

Most are awesome.

Birthday. Anniversary. Retirement. Promotion.

Some however are demanding.

I insist you move me to to this specific table. Or provide this specific item. Or do this insane thing.

However.

Sometimes they are funny.

Not on purpose.

This week someone requested a window seat with a water view. (We are in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not near the water.).

Someone else requested we have mussels brought to the table as it was their favorite. (We haven’t served mussels since I worked there!).

Someone else insisted we call them to arrange payment before they arrived.

The thing no one realizes is that when we are busy we don’t often look at these requests until day of.

We will accommodate them with in reason.

But we don’t have window seats. And we are a mile and a half from the water.

We can’t provide you a menu item we don’t serve.

I also seriously, seriously, seriously mean it it that if you need something something specific call the restaurant. Sometimes it’s a 17 year old kid who reads this first. And they won’t be able to help you.

And I’ll finish by saying that allergy info is great. But remind your server. We pay attention but if it’s life and death say it to everyone you come in contact with.

I wanted to put a bowl of water on the table for the water view guy and say here you go!

Phone rang today around 2:00.

Older man on the phone.

Wanted to know if we were open because the weather was bad. (It was only raining).

I assured him we were. He hung up.

Phone rang again around 2:10. I know from caller ID that it’s the same man. 

Wants to know if he needs a reservation to come in for dinner. I advise him that it’s always best to have one, because we don’t save room from walkins.

He thanks me and hangs up.

The phone rang again around 2:20.

Guess who?

He wants to know if he can make a reservation. I get the important information. 2 people at 5:00 for tonight. I get to the last step. I’m about to hit confirm. He stops me. Says he needs to confirm this with his wife. He’ll call back. I cancel the reservation and hang up.

Phone rings around 2:30.

It’s him again. He wants to make a reservation but he wants the the room to the left of the bar with the doors that shut. I explain that those rooms are for 6 to 8 people. I say I can’t reserve the room for just two people. He says he’ll check with his wife. And call back.

Phone rings at 2:40.

Guess who.

He wants to know if he makes the reservation for a later time can he have the room. I explain that unfortunately no. It’s only for larger parties. He says okay. Hangs up.

Phone rings at 2:50.

He wants to know if he can get one of the booths that are separate in the dining room. I say yes. We have one open. He makes the reservation. 2 people. Table 11. 5:00. I confirm everything and we hang up.

Phone rings. It’s 3:00.

He apologizes but says he’d like to cancel.

I cancel the reservation.

We hang up.

So I just posted what’s a good server do!

So a different question.

Lots of my friends are in the restaurant industry.

What do good customers do to make your life better?

There is a local Facebook page dedicated to seacoast restaurants.

Yesterday they ask: What’s something a server does that makes you happy.

The answers were appalling. Do this. Do that. Gives me and my kids free stuff. Don’t do this. Don’t do that!

So I ask you: What’s something a server does what makes you happy?

Sometimes the guests they amaze you. In their awfulness.

On Friday night around 7:15 a couple walked in. They had reservations for the bar.

They immediately started asking if they could sit somewhere else. The chef’s table. The dining room.

Unfortunately I couldn’t seat them elsewhere.

I take them to the bar and on the way there they ask if the chef is in tonight. I say of course. He’s always here.

I seat them.

Two seconds later the bartender comes to ask if they can move to two different seats.

We get them situated.

They order.

About 5 minutes later I see the man at the kitchen window taking photos. I have no idea what he’s doing.

Ten minutes later the bartender appears to let me know that the man wants to have a meeting with chef. He insists that he put a note in the res but his reservation had no notes.

I ask the bartender to find out what he wants so I can let the chef know.

The bartender comes back to let me know he’s a chef who bought the same grill we have and wants to chat with chef about it.

I tell the bartender to let chef know what’s going on

The couple eats, they drink a lot I find out later.

Around 8:30 I’m at the door when they leave.

Neither of them acknowledged me when they left.

Turns out they were tipsy got angry that the chef was taking too long and stormed out.

The chef was waiting for things to quieten down and was on his way out when they left.

End of story.

Or it should have been.

We use Resy for reservations and the person who makes the reservation gets an email for a survey.

We got these people’s response today.

Out of a possible 100 he gave us a 25%.

His comments:

“Food was mediocre at best! It was not a busy night, asked to speak with the Chef/Owner who never even once came out. Drove up from New York to experience this restaurant which turned out to be a total disappointment!”

So here’s the deal.

If you are in the industry you never shit on someone like this.

Period.

He knew he was driving four hours to come here. He never once reached out. He could have called and let us know he was coming. Trust me chef loves to talk about his grill.

Our chef/owner does not sit in the office all night processing invoices. If you come to my restaurant and order a ribeye the chef/owner cooks it. He’s missed maybe ten days in 3.5 years. He’s cooked 99% of the steaks we’ve served in the time we’ve been open.

On Friday night, no we were not super busy, but the kitchen was staffed for the business we did. And part of that staff was the chef cooking. If he’d walked off the line we would have been short staffed. He was waiting for things to slow down before he came out.

We very rarely. I repeat. Very rarely get a complaint about our food. And 99% of the time we can trace it back to another issue.

The same is true from last night.

He was pissed that chef took too long.

And who shits on a fellow chef. Even if the food was mediocre you’d never share that.

So today I did some sleuthing.

With Resy there is a button to Google your guest.

So I did.

First what he does is a real job.

But.

He is a chef at a country club. He creates menus for weddings. Fish or chicken? Caesar or soup.

The photos of his food online is seriously stuck in 1995. He’s had the job since 1995.

He makes a ton of money as the country club is a non profit and his salary was online.

I’d bet he processes invoices during service. He definitely isn’t on sauté or grill during service.

Here’s the thing. If he’d waited two minutes he’d have been happy. But impatience is not a virtue. The chef was on his way out when they left.

Next time make an appointment! Bet he doesn’t like when people come by without an appointment.

But for the love of god don’t be a dick.

I’ve requested to chef to let me reach out to him on Monday.

I’ll keep you posted.

News Update.

We had a winter storm today. It snowed a fair amount. It took me an hour and half to get to work.

So imagine my surprise, when I had not one but two calls today asking if our patio was open tonight.

It took everything in me to answer without sarcasm.

I just replied by saying not till the spring.

Seriously.

Who’s patio is open in a snowstorm.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out: In NYC every restaurant has a side walk outdoor seating scenario.

Little outdoor enclosures.

And they were all packed, with people who are afraid to eat indoors.

But the catch is, they are still indoors. One big room. No ventilation. Four walls. Two doors. No open windows.

Meanwhile.

Our patio will open in April.

If you need a reservation let me know.

Normally during my shift I take notes. I write down all sorts of things. Tonight my notepad was not in my pocket but at the host stand.

I’m my rounds tonight I destermined my thought for my post tonight. It was going to be brilliant.

I did not write it down.

Now that idea exists somewhere in the universe, but it does not exist in my head. For the life of me I can’t remember what I was going to say.

An update from yesterday.

We got a very sweet message today, from the wife of the man from last night.

She thanked us for the staff’s quick action. For our concern after the fact. And that ultimately our staff saved her husband’s life.

She confirmed my suspicion that he was worried about creating a scene and being embarrassed.

My advice to all of you is that make the scene. Embarrass yourself if you are choking.

A couple of more minutes and the outcome might have been different.

We are greatly relieved he was doing well after he left.

Ya never ever ever know what a day at the restaurant will bring.

Got to work very early today. It was my first day back. I had lots and lots and lots to do.

Staff started rolling in around 2:30. A few of them had been asked to come in early as we were setting up from scratch today.

It was great seeing them. I like the people on my team and I had really missed them.

Rest of the afternoon went great. The day goes by quickly. It was 5:00 in a blink.

We were not super busy tonight. Rain/freezing rain made the roads treacherous and coupled with the rest of the issues at hand it was quiet.

I took the opportunity to chat with guests. My staff. And after the last of the reservations were sat, I pulled out my laptop to work on some projects.

Around 8:15 I was chatting with a regular who had a question about a reservation when a food runner appeared and said I was needed in the kitchen.

I took two steps toward the kitchen, she stopped me to let me know that the gentleman seated at seat 15 at the bar was choking.

So let’s backup.

About 2.5 minutes before I was alerted:

One of our bartenders was starting to shut down the bar, let’s call her Lexie, as the night was winding down.

While she was cleaning, a woman seated at the bar, caught her attention, and indicated that she needed something. Lexie thought she needed a water and started filling a glass when she realized what was actually happening.

The man with the woman was clearly struggling to get a breath. Lexie was pretty sure it had been 45 seconds to a full minute before he alerted his companion that there was a problem.

Lexie dropped the glass she was filling. I remember hearing the glass break. She yelled for the other bartender, Garrett who was helping a table.

Garrett immediately went to then man and performed the Heimlich. They’re pretty sure the steak he was choking on was dislodged at this point but he was still having trouble breathing.

At this time a member of the kitchen team came out to help. He was performing the Heimlich again when I arrived.

I instructed the food runner to call 911.

The man still couldn’t breathe and couldn’t talk.

The Heimlich was performed again and at this point he threw up onto the floor.

He was finally breathing. And was able to speak.

He was clearly shaken.

He insisted we cancel the paramedics. And that he was fine.

He got cleaned up. Packaged up his dinner and asked for the check.

I checked in with them before they left and he assured me he was fine

They left.

Everyone was shook.

Thankfully my teamed acted wonderfully.

It’s the first time I’ve ever had this happen.

It was a crazy way to end the night.

What a first day back!

My vacation is officially over.

16 days that took about 72 hours to pass.

Where did the time go.

In truth it was a great 16 days.

3 full days in NYC. 6 shows. Three of them the shows that sparked the trip in the first place.

Lots of amazing dinners at home. Adam’s cooking. Awesome drinks. Fire in the fireplace. Cats on our lap. Pretty perfect.

We go back to work with lots of New Years goals. How to improve the business. How to improve revenue. How to improve service. Physical improvements to enhance the experience for both staff and guests. We are off to a good start.

So keep your fingers crossed the current pandemic issues don’t slow us down. That we can find the staff we need. That everyone currently on the staff stays happy and healthy. That the guests keep coming.

I’m seriously looking forward to the new year.