I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Large parties are the a pain right now.  

Seriously.  

Why you ask?  Because everyone, and I mean everyone pushes back when they are given the parameters we use.  

To book a party over 8 you have to email me.  

I’m getting 2 or 3 requests on a slow day, sometime upwards of 10 emails a day.  

I cut and paste a form letter, that I customize based on the request they are making.  

The one thing that is consistent for everyone is that they must use a pre-set pre-fixe menu.  

It is served family style. 

It’s sort of like a Medieval feast that comes out on big boards meant to feed a small army.  It is super impressive as the boards come out of the kitchen and are taken to the table.  

I’ve experienced this as a guest, and it is so much fun.  

I’ve never had anyone who has booked a large party with us, with the pre-fixe menu, not be impressed at the end of the meal.  

It’s spectacular.

That being said, it is not inexpensive.  We are an upscale restaurant.  Serving Prime Beef.  It’s not inexpensive to have dinner with us off the menu.  

We also do not take advantage, and have priced out the meal so it’s the actual cost of ordering each thing off the menu, ala carte.

Another fun fact, is that there are NOT a lot of restaurants in town that can handle a large party  that is not a hotel space.  This is the reason for the large number of requests.  Not even 30 minutes north in Portland can you find a lot of places that can take 20 people seated together.  Especially if you want quality food.  

Without it truly becoming an event situation, that requires a planner, and lots of back and forth, I can do 1 person or I can do 40 people.  With little to no planning.  And with only four emails.  

However, there are a lot of people who balk at the need for a pre-fixe menu.  The person, who is causing this post today, cursed at me on the phone, explaining that she’d spend a lot of money, and that it was ridiculous that I couldn’t just book the reservation, without the menu.  

I’m pretty sure she said it was fucking stupid.  

Now.  

If you are still reading. 

I had a guest in tonight, who comes often that I absolutely love, love, love.  

He and his girlfriend come in throughout the year.  

Make no mistake about age though, as he just retired and she is a few years behind him.  

They are fun, a little gregarious, and make all of us laugh.  

They too, had careers in a different service industry, so we often trade stories.  

At the end of the night, he came over to say good night and asked about tables in the summer.  I don’t know how it came up, but I explained we could accommodate anything from a single person to 40 people without it being an event.  

We continued to chat, and I explained that for parties over 8 we use a pre-fixe menu.  He was being curious and asked what was on the menu, and why we did that.  

And thus, the second half of my story.  

When I started at the restaurant, we said NO to any party over 10.  

A hard no.  It was non-negotiable.  Party of 11.  No can do. 

And the reason:

If a party of 10 comes in and happens, just happens to order 10 steaks, it’s going to bury the chef for a bit as he cooks for just one table.  This isn’t a rarity.  I’ve seen it happen.  And it’s not a big deal.  It’s what we do.  Except that at the same time, he’s cooking steaks for 20 other tables.  And it starts to bog down the kitchen.  

So.  When a menu is planned.  Whether a pre-fixe menu or your favorite menu at your favorite restaurant. Great care is taken to make sure that food items come from different stations in the kitchen.

If there are 25 things on the menu.  

5 things will come from sauté.

5 things will come from fry.

5 things will come from the oven.

5 things will come from the grill.  

5 things will come from the salad station.  

Now, when guests order, most of the time, their orders will be spread out over the kitchen, allowing it to function smoothly, without burying one area.  

Thus, the reason for our pre-fixe menu.

If we host a 40 top reservation, and even 15 of them order individual steaks at different temperatures it’s going to slow down the food coming out of the kitchen for everyone else.    

But if we use the pre-fix menu, there are only 8 large format steaks cooked for a 40 top.  2 for a 10 top.  The rest of the menu comes from the other stations.  Ovens left, ovens right, fry, salad, etc.  

We can actually feed 40 people on a busy August night, without ever slowing down the rest of the service.  We don’t even really pay attention to the times.  It gets put in just like all the other orders and like magic 15 minutes later, it lands on the table.  

It is truly a feat to watch.  And Chef has perfected it, since last summer, and it’s like clockwork now to do a 10, 20, 30, 40 top.  

So.

We are not being mean when we say you have to use a pre-fixe menu.

We are not price gouging when we say you have to use a pre-fixe menu.  

We are not turning away business, when we say you have to use a pre-fixe menu.  

In truth, we hope you book.  We hope you have a great time.  We know you’ll the food.  We know you’ll love the experience.  

PS.  If you booked our dining room for 40 people at 90% of the other places in a 45 mile radius, there would be a food and beverage minimum, there would be a room charge, there would be rentals, there would be a 100% non-refundable deposit due long before you sit down to eat.   

PSS.  It’s for the same reason, that we won’t separate your table and seat you at a 6 and an 8 top for 14.  You won’t all sit down. You’ll bounce back and forth from table to table.  You’ll put all the kids at one table, which is not fun for the server.  You won’t leave until you are all done.  And if you come at the same time, you’ll order at the same time and we might as well have booked a 14 top.  So, no.  We won’t make two reservations for you. 

We really do just want you to trust us and just come have a delicious meal and a great time.