We were busy tonight. The busiest we’ve been since last October. We were also down a host. So I had to spend more time at the door than usual.

At around 7:10 I’m at the host stand trying to get our reservations sat. The host is seating. I’m at the door.

A man walks up and asks if we have a sommelier.

The following is just my opinion:

The people who ask if we have a sommelier are not REAL wine people. If they were they’d look at our wine list, see that we only have a handful of wines over $100 and know that we don’t have a sommelier. They’d also know, that a restaurant our size, couldn’t afford a sommelier with our volume and prices.

Don’t get me wrong. We have a perfectly respectable wine list. But it’s meant to be approachable. It’s also meant to be affordable. We do have a few things on our list for the more adventurous or wealthy diner.

So I’m approached and asked if we have a sommelier. I explain we do not. And I ask if I can help.

He say’s, well what do you recommend?

Remember, I’m at the host stand. Trying to get people seated.

And I’ve just been asked what I recommend.

No questions about varietals. No mention of what they are eating. No mention of anything.

I recommend the Sutter Home White Zinfandel if your having the rib basket at Applebees. I’d recommend a sparkling rose if you’re sitting by the pool in August. I recommend a big bold Cabernet if you’re having a well done Wagyu tomahawk ribeye. I recommend a Sauvignon Blanc if your date stood you up. I recommend a bourbon neat if you’ve been at work 4 hours and you’re being asked crazy questions.

I ask him where he’s seated explaining that I’ll send someone to answer his questions.

He says, his servers already been there. Could I get someone to help him here.

Here’s standing in front of wine storage.

I say give me a second and I’ll see what I can do.

I now have a line at the door.

I go back to hosting. 10 minutes pass. He’s still there.

More hosting.

10 more minutes. He’s still there.

The truth is. My bartenders are buried. I’m buried. His server is his best hope but he’s not going back to his table.

I finally look up and he’s going outside.

I have no idea why.

A couple of minutes later he’s back.

Still waiting.

I ask the host to cover the door.

A round the corner to try and help him.

I apologize for the delay. Explain we are busy.

And he exhales and begins to ask questions.

The exhale has covered me in cigarette smoke. It’s in my eyes. My mouth. My nose. I can’t breathe. I can’t talk. I’m distracted.

He’s concerned that we don’t list vintages on the menu.

I explain we’ve had supply issues and we have to accept what’s available.

He asks about the reserve list. I explain they are on the menu.

He then asks about the not on the menu list?

I tell him I have no idea what he’s talking about.

He points to some masking tape on the wine cooler and says what’s what? The tape says off menu….

Seriously. We don’t have a secret menu. It’s marked so the servers can find what they need.

He asks about an Argentine wine I’ve never heard of.

I say as much.

THEN.

He asks if I know anything about wine.

It’s taken as the insult he meant it as.

I look at him and say just enough to be dangerous.

He’s annoyed.

I’m still tasting cigarettes.

And he’s now been away from his table for 30 minutes trying to impress someone.

He leaves.

I’m still tasting the lovely aromatic tastes of Marlboro Reds.

They ended up ordering a moderately priced wine.

That paired perfectly with Camel Lights.

On Thursday night, around 8:45 a car pulled into the parking lot. This is very late for us during the winter especially during the week.

A woman comes in and asks if we are still serving. I apologize and explain we are not. She then asks who might be serving at 9:00 on a Thursday, in February in a coastal New England town.

I list off a few places having no idea who is even still serving at all, let alone at 9:00. She asks a few other questions and I tell her to hold on a second. I pull up a restaurant on the iPad. I call them. Nope. They’ve closed for the night. I call another. And another.

I finally found a restaurant that was open till 10:00. I tell the woman the name, address, and how to get there.

She’s so grateful. As she leaves I tell her to make sure to come back and see us over the weekend.

At 8:00 tonight she walked in with her husband. They had seats at the bar. She is super excited to be back.

She’s also very grateful for us finding them food on Thursday. When they’d gotten to the restaurant they were well taken care of.

She and her husband couldn’t express enough how grateful they were that we’d gone out of our way to help them.

I assure them, that we love our jobs, and helping people is what we do.

They were sat at 8:00. They stayed till after 11:00. They were the last to leave. But they made friends with everyone. Their neighbors at the bar. David the bartender said they were some of the nicest people he’d ever waited on.

They also had a big dinner. They ordered a Wagyu tomahawk ribeye for dinner. The steak is $165. They got it well done. Approved by the chef. They loved it. And took some home to their daughter.

As they were leaving they asked about coming back in the summer with a large party to sit in one of our private rooms.

I gave them my card and told them to call me and I’d take care of them. I asked them their names again.

They told me. Their last name happens to be the same last name of a drug kingpin on a show I love. I made that comment and they laughed. I told them when they called to just tell me the were the drug lords from the show and I’d know exactly who they were.

The point of the story is that I love when amazingly wonderful people come in. People so nice that you’ll remember them 6 months from now. It makes all the ugly people disappear off the map.

So thank you.

Every day our numbers continue to tick up.

And every day our guests continue to amaze me.

Tonight of all the reservations we sat between 5:00 and 5:15 five of them were incomplete parties.

Table 25 didn’t order for30 minutes while waiting for their fifth guest who never showed.

B13 was 30 minutes late.

Table 23’s last guest 60 minutes after their initial seating.

Table 13’s guest was also 30 minutes late.

And B15 was an hour late joining her friend at the bar. The first guest was sat at 5:10. They were the last guests to leave at 9:25 tonight.

Somehow reservations have become a suggestion rather than a contract.

Hmmm.

PS. It’s impossible for me to know if we are going to be closed tomorrow as it has yet to start snowing. You’ll have to call back tomorrow.

Today was impressively warm. According to the thermometer on my car it was 68 degrees when I got to work at 1:00.

The wind was also insane again. I’m going to repeat that we are going to be blown away before we sink in to the ocean.

Warm weather is amazingly good for business. Mainers love to get out and about when it’s warm. Even though it was already getting cold by 5:00.

Do you know what else is great for business?

When most of town doesn’t have electricity.

Yes, the wind knocked power out for a lot of Kennebunk/Kennebunkport today. So around 5:00 the calls started asking if we had room for people who couldn’t cook.

Overall it was a great night. Lots of very nice folks.

Hopefully their power is on soon.

My husband and I brought my son and his girlfriend here on Friday 2/18 for dinner to celebrate my sons “30th”. I couldn’t have been more disappointed, after all of the rave reviews I heard about this restaurant and was so excited to try. My husband and son had steaks that were $56 and $42, BOTH of which had to be sent back to be cooked because they were so raw that they couldn’t even be cut. They were also very thin and visually unimpressive. They were very good the “second” time around which shouldn’t have happened. I had the pork chop which was over cooked and dry 😕. The mashed potatoes had a nice flavor but arrived room temp and quickly firmed up into hardened lumps. To be gentle…what the heck?!!! Everything else was pretty good as well as our waiter. But this is supposed to be a prime steakhouse and at the price point should come out nothing less than AMAZING! We had a good time and made the best of it because it because we didn’t want the occasion to be completely spoiled. The worst part of it all was when I decided to call and speak with the manager. When I explained about the steaks, his reply was, “But they ate them, right?” I said that wasn’t the point. They shouldn’t have been sent back in the first place. They should know what they’re doing. He said they do and that they “cook 800-900 steaks per week and that there are bound to be a couple that don’t come out right.” I said that they just happen to be both at our table? He said, “I guess so.” Somehow, this manager tried to me feel like this was our fault and that this was acceptable. It is NOT! I am very upset about the way he handled my legitimate complaints. His “I’m sorry’s we’re empty. He didn’t care. A great manager would have said, “ I am so sorry about your experience. We don’t want to lose you as a customer. We’d like to offer you a gift certificate so that you will return and give us another try”( or something to that affect). The fact is that our dinner cost us $344 and was very upsetting when it could have been resolved with a mere gift card to make your customer feel like you care but you don’t. Nothing…how sad.

Hmmm.

I’m the manager she speaks of.

So. My side of the story.

Yes they sent two of their steaks back. Both bone in steaks. A ribeye. A porterhouse.

Fun fact.

Meat near the bone is always rarer than the rest. It impossible to get the meat near the bone cooked as well done as they like it. Until. They cut into the steak and let us cook it in pieces.

I delivered both steaks back to the table. They were not thin. They were normal steaks. I apologized. Then moved on.

I also checked back in and they said they were perfect now.

I also checked in when the left. I was standing at the door.

I also fielded the phone call two days later.

I did say we cook a lot of steaks.

I did say, but they ate them.

This woman called looking for a refund.

This is not ot going to happen.

Or a gift card.

Not going to happen.

Also our pork chops are cooked using a sous vide method. They are not dry. They can’t be dry. They are on the grill long enough to seer the outside. I’ve had three or four. The are never dry.

The steaks were cooked perfectly after. Not worthy of free stuff.

It really is about the cost. She mentioned the cost over and over when talking to me. I’m sorry she spent so much. But if you keep the jeans at Macy’s you still have to pay for them.

I’m not giving you free stuff. Or gift cards. Or rewarding your behavior.

Thoughts?

Last week I answered the phone.

It was a man asking about a reservation later that night. I tell him we have availability and to call back when he knows what time.

I go back to work.

45 minutes later the phone rings it’s him he proceeds to tell me that he called 45 minutes earlier and a young lady had told me we had availability.

Seriously.

A young lady? I’m the only person to answer the phone in days.

He insists he spoke to a young lady.

I don’t take it personally. There’s far worse I could have been called.

But is my voice that high?

We open at 5:00. Every day we are open.

Every. Day. We. Are. Open.

By 4:30 we have cars in our lot.

So.

We have learned that if we open at 4:45 we can seat half of our 4:00 reservations early.

Therefore we seat double the amount of people we’d normally seat at 5:00 because we know that 50% of them will be in their chairs by 4:55.

By 5:00, most of our 5:00’s are sat.

The night continues.

At this time of the year we seat our last resy’s during the week at 7:30. On the weekend’s 8:30.

What I’ve learned????

Early reservations are always early.

Late reservations are always VERY late. And I do mean very.

The kitchen is shutting down. Servers have checked out. Bartenders tell me we only have water.

Seriously.

Late reservations are always 15, 20, 30 minutes late.

Don’t do that.

No one likes it.

That is all.

I got to work at 1:00 today.

I gathered up my computer and papers. Got them set up in the dining room. Made my three cappuccinos, in one cup, that gets me started.

And clicked play on the voicemail.

The first message was from last night.

A gentleman who wants a reservation next Sunday.

The next message is from the same gentleman.

The next message is from the SAME GENTLEMAN.

I write down all the calls.

I return the calls in order.

617.555.5555

A man answers.

Hi this is Jeff from the _.

He says finally. I’ve left several messages.

Hmmmm. I’m annoyed now.

I explain we didn’t call at 10:00 last night. And I just got in today.

He says great. And tells me he needs a reservation next Sunday.

I ask for his number starting with the area code.

He gives it to me.

Ahhhhhhh.

It’s Dave.

I know him.

He has been in every Saturday since late November.

Except this past week when he and his wife hosted family for dinner.

This is a guy you’d never know could afford to eat at our restaurant. He and his wife are unassuming. Plain folks. I’d actually expect to see them on a porch in Eastern Kentucky before having dinner at my restaurant.

They come in at 5:00. On the nose. The order well. They eat about half their food. They always order dessert. They eat one or two bites. They are in their truck on their way home by 6:05.

They are very sweet. I’ve learned where they like to sit. Who they like as their server.

They have only complained once. When we sat them in our Gallery. I know not to do that again.

I will let you know how next Sunday goes.

Meanwhile.

Don’t judge.

They may look regular. They may not be.

I may have payed about this before.

Forgive me if I repeat myself.

We were booked solid tonight. No room for walk ins. The only tables open were at 7:45 for 2 tops.

This included the bar.

Around 5:45 a woman walks in looking for a a table for 2.

She is told we are booked. Even at the bar.

At this point she walks toward the entrance to the bar/restaurant. She looks back and says what about the empty chairs at the bar.

I repeat we are full.

She then goes into the restaurant and looks around.

She comes back and says she doesn’t understand why she can’t be say if we have empty tables and empty barstools.

Ugh.

I want to say.

I can seat you. I can get you water and some bread but you’ll need to be up in 6 minutes when the reservations for those chairs and tables show up.

Ahhhhh.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

WE ARE AN UPSCALE RESTAURANT.

I repeat.

WE ARE A NICE RESTAURANT.

We are not a brew pub. We are not Chili’s. We are not your local Mexican restaurant.

We are not those things.

This is made abundantly clear when you realize that the typical table for 2 spends more than $150 before tip.

So imagine my surprise when we had a table of women who thought we were Sam’s Truckstop.

At 7:00 four women were sat at table 21. Turns out they knew the foursome at table 22.

They huck it up while they are being seated.

Finally they sit down.

About six minutes later table 22 gets up to leave. They were seated at 5:00.

I let the host know they are up because their replacements are waiting.

But wait. They stand up. But don’t go anywhere.

One of the women from table 22 is now talking to table 21. Meanwhile the rest of table 22 is standing at the table. All three of them on their phones.

And this continues.

And continues.

And continues.

Finally the other woman from 22 also steps up to table 21.

It’s a high top. With two women blocking the aisles. Bucking it up.

The men are still standing at table 22.

And this continues.

And continues.

Finally the men leave.

The women stay.

And stay.

And stay.

They are getting louse and louder.

It’s now approaching 8:00. They are still standing there. Blocking the aisle. In everyone’s way.

And then before my eyes 6 shots of tequila have appeared on the table.

Fuck.

We are not that restaurant. You want a tequila neat? Okay. The table wants it? Not okay.

They are still whooping it up.

Finally they leave.

At this point the table has been there for an hour and haven’t ordered any food.

Finally they begin to act like normal people.

But seriously for an hour they were in everyone’s way and were loud and annoying. To everyone but mostly the staff.

Ugh.