We were busy tonight. Very busy.

It was also a very long day.

I got to work at noon today.

Did two hours of prep for a server/bartender meeting.

Had a difficult meeting with an employee.

Missed lunch.

Had pre shift.

And opened the doors at 4:45.

I moved tonight. I definitely got my steps in.

At the end of service I went to the chef and asked to get dinner. I sat down around 9:15 to eat which I never do. We still had several tables in the building. I usually wait till we are mostly empty to sit down.

People were lingering tonight.

Chef also has friends at the bar and he was chatting with them.

Around 10:15 table G4 came into the bar. We all thought they were leaving. Then we realized they were carrying their cocktails. They planted themselves at the bar.

Around 10:30 chefs friends got another drink.

Table G4 asked for drinks.

The bartender explained that we were closed, they were chefs friends and the bar had already cashed out for the night.

They didn’t mind. They just continued to hang out at the bar.

At 11:00 the chef and his friends say their goodbyes and they all leave.

Now it’s just me.

And the four people from G4.

I’m reading Facebook. Pretending not to notice.

Finally they stand up.

But they don’t leave. They stay and talk.

They finally left around 11:30.

They were very nice. But oblivious.

I got in my car at 11:45.

I pulled into the garage at 12:30.

As you know we cook with fire.

This means steaks cook differently than on your grill, or in your oven, or even in a skillet.

This makes cooking some of our steaks tricky.

Especially filets.

They are a thick piece of meat. The minute you start to cook past medium rare the outside starts to get charred. We highly suggest medium rare. If not we suggest butterflying, as you cut the meat in half and cook the thinner pieces. You can get to well done at this point without making it a hockey puck.

Fun fact:

When your server tells you that the chef suggests anything, believe them. They aren’t just being stubborn they know what they are doing.

Tonight a couple dined with us.

They ordered the filet. Medium.

The server suggested butterflying but they insisted it not be.

20 minutes later the filet landed on the table.

They cut into it. Immediately called the server over, said it was a hockey puck, that it was way over cooked and they wanted a new one.

The server returned to the kitchen with the offending steak, and showed the chef.

The chef immediately became annoyed.

I walked up at this exact time.

He was annoyed because the steak was a perfect medium on the inside.

Perfect.

Warm brown outside, pink center cooked through. No blood.

Like we could have snapped a photo and used it in a cookbook it was so perfect.

He told the server to tell them it was perfect. He will cook a new one medium rare, and to order it medium rare next time, or allow us to butterfly the steak.

I told the server I’d deliver this message.

So when the new steak was ready I delivered it and explained that the chef recommended either butterflying or ordering medium rare next time so that they’d get the meal they really wanted.

They were very nice, and enjoyed their new steak.

They finish their meal.

Pay.

Then they call the server over to tell her how rude I’d been. They are in the industry and didn’t need a lecture on how to order a steak. It was their first time there and found the whole experience lacking.

On their way out I could tell they were unhappy, but didn’t say a word.

I was super aware of my tone when I delivered the steak. I wanted to make sure I kept it light hearted. It is a tough message, but we want you to enjoy yourself and your food.

It’s also the the reason I did it and not the server.

As a manager, it’s my job to deliver bad news. It’s my job to say no. The employee should never be beaten up because of something out of their control.

Unfortunately, they left upset.

I am not looking forward to their survey response.

Speaking of a survey I got one tonight from a guest who said they loved me.

Finally!

After a month of relatively quiet phones, they have started to ring again.

After two weeks off at Xmas I came back to two messages.

Last week after two days off only three.

This week I came back to 17.

The phone is ringing more during the day as well.

The nice thing is that even during service I can usually answer.

I pick up the phone today

Thank you for calling. How may I help you?

Yes, are you going to be open on Valentine’s Day?

Unfortunately, no. But we are open on Sunday.

How the hell are you not going to be open? It’s a holiday?

…….

…….

Because it’s our day off.

But it’s a holiday.

…….

…….

But is our day off.

But it’s a real holiday.

…….

Then she ended the call as I was about to say, we are open on Sunday and I was promised Super Bowls off when I was hired.

Alas I did not get to say that.

Super bowl Sunday is one of the slowest days of the year.

The day after the super bowl is absolutely the slowest day of the year.

Unfortunately, it’s the day before Valentines Day this year. We are already scheduled to be busy with another week+ to go.

Meanwhile Ms phone call can drive to Portsmouth for her holiday.

5:30 comes and goes tonight.

No table 11.

5:45 comes and goes.

Still no table 11.

Finally at 5:55 two women wal through the door.

It’s table 11.

I walk them to the bar where they have reserved.

They immediately ask for a table saying they only booked the bar as it was the only thing available.

Ugh.

I take them to a table.

One woman doesn’t even sit down. She follows me to the lobby where she has a 30 minute phone call.

When she returns to the table it’s 6:30, there table has been reserved for an hour and they haven’t even started.

Meanwhile table 24 were seated for 4+ hours. Caused the server to miss a table and then tipped less than 20%.

Ugh.

Since I’ve been a GM the restaurants that I’ve run have had to be evacuated twice.

In Kennebunkport, we started smelling gas and had to evacuate. Turned out the vents were covered with snow.

In Portland, the restaurant was actually on fire, the alarm was pulled. The restaurant was evacuated.

I was present in Kennebunkport. In Portland I was giving direction on the phone.

In both instances it was a you need to evacuate as quickly and orderly as possible. Don’t finish your drink. Don’t pay your bill. Just get out.

Both times people were angry. Both times people pushed back. Both times people ignored the warnings.

In Portland the building was literally on fire and guests continued to eat and insist they be served.

For me it reminds me of growing up in Kentucky in the 70’s. In 1977 one of the worst fires in our country’s history happened at the Beverly Hill Supper Club in northern Kentucky. Even today, I remember the months and months of news coverage.

I remember a local news article that interviewed Scott County high school teachers who had been there that night who said years of fire drills had taught them to leave when the alarms are sounded.

To this day I remember these stories. 165 people died at this fire. I am always uber aware of exits. At movies. At restaurants. At theaters.

So I’m always amazed when people push back about evacuations in real emergencies. Both times people continued to eat. To drink. Wanting to order. Etc.

It’s also extremely weird to go back into the building after said emergency.

It’s fucking weird.

In KPT dinners were still uneaten on the table. Drinks full. In Portland there were to go boxes where people realized they need to leave.

So take my advice.

If someone tells you to get out of their restaurant it usually means something is up. Don’t argue. Get the fuck out.

Tonight I got a call around 5:30.

I remember the time because our only push today was at 5:30.

Almost as soon as I answered the phone two guests walked in.

The person on the phone wanted to know if we had 3 seats at the bar, and if our bar had TVs, and were we showing the game.

I said yes on all accounts.

Followed by what would time would you like to come in.

I hear her call to her friends, and then begin a conversation about what time they’d be here. They are laughing, joking, and not giving me an answer.

By this time there are three couples standing in front of me waiting to be seated.

I continue to listen to this woman huck it up with her friends.

After about 45 seconds I tried to get her attention but she was not listening to me.

So I hung up.

Sat the guests who were waiting.

And waited for her to call back.

And she did.

And I made her reservation.

Which when she did arrive she was 20 minutes late for reservation.

Last night we had a table sit around 7:00.

They wanted 2” porterhouse steaks. Unfortunately, we were out of them.

They also ordered a wine that has been out of stock for a while.

They ordered other items.

They left happy.

They then left a survey comment saying, “You should change your menu if you do not have items.,we almost left when the first 2 things we asked for were not available.”

Seriously????

They’ve never gone to a restaurant that was out of something.

They must have freaked out when they learned Hannaford was out of milk and bread tonight.

Have they ever been to McDonald’s when the ice cream machine is out of order?

What happens when CVS is out of vaccines?

Should Toyota remove blue Tacomas from their website when Lee Toyota has sold out of them.

Oh. No.

Magnolia bakery is out of cupcakes. They should change their menu.

What happens when Walmart is out of 90” TVs?

Wow. The animal shelter is out of tabby kittens.

Yes, Virginia, restaurants run out of things. If you leave every time this happens you are going to have a very interesting life.

PS. You’d have loved the Hard Rock when I worked there. We’d run out of French fries on Sundays. Sometimes we’d run out of cheeseburgers on Sundays. Occasionally we’d run out of drinking glasses.

These people live a sheltered life.

We were busy tonight. Lots of people rescheduled from Saturday. People wanting to get out before they are snowed in. We were all jumping tonight.

The bar was especially busy. Almost two complete turns.

Around 6:45 we sat a 7:00 reservation at the bar.

The couple was seated with two other couples on either side of them.

Almost immediately the female member of the party approaches me asking to be moved where it is less crowded. I explain that I can’t move them because we are full with reservations.

She becomes upset insisting that because she made her reservation way in advance we should do something.

I’m not sure what she means by way in advance.

I explain that the place they want to move to has reservations.

She asks about the empty chairs on the other side of the bar.

There are eight chairs empty. I explain they will only be empty about twenty minutes.

She insists she be allowed to move.

Especially because she made her reservation way in advance.

I once again explain that she can’t move.

She goes back to her seat.

They eat. They pay. They leave.

I’m at the door when they leave.

The wife completely ignores me.

The husband grunts at me.

Fast forward to hours and they have left a survey with no comments scoring us a 43 out of 100.

The part I don’t understand is that if I’d moved them they would have been seated next to other people for their entire visit.

I left them where they were scheduled to be seated and the guests on both sides of them were gone in 30 minutes.

PS. By way in advance she meant less than 24 hours before their scheduled reservation.

We have been quiet this week. Busier than last year at this time, but quiet all the same.

The problem with being quiet is that not much happens to write about.

So let me tell you about our first reservation of the night.

Let’s call them the Smiths.

They arrived early, which is often then case with 5:00 reservations. They’d be eating at 4:00 if we were open at 4:00.

They were seated immediately.

They ate dinner quickly.

And left around 6:15.

What I learned after they left was:

They’d been married 52 years. They still loved each other deeply.

They met in 7th grade at a school dance and have been together ever since.

They were so sweet. So cute.

Such wonderful people.

This is my good news talk for the week.

At least once a week someone will call and make a reservation that ends with, will _______be working that night?

First, I haven’t even written that schedule yet, so who the hell knows. And even if it were written do you think I remember every single employee’s schedule?

And.

More importantly.

I will never give out that information.

I’ve trained my staff not to give out that information.

There are a lot of reasons why but the most important reason is for the safety of my staff.

More than once I’ve had an abusive partner call demanding this information. I’ve had angry parents call demanding this information.

The abusive partner had been banned from the restaurant so they had no way of knowing if the employee was at work.

For the parent, I’ve made it my policy since I became a manager that the parent doesn’t work for me. I won’t discuss your child’s schedule with you, their responsibilities, their pay. I won’t give you their check, their W-2, or accept your call that they can’t come to work.

I once had a parent approach me on the floor on an August Saturday night to discuss their child’s schedule. She called the next day to let me know how rude I was.

Back to the topic.

We will not tell you if anyone is working. Even night of. So if you want to know if they are working, text them. I’m sure you have their number.