Table Service Etiquette

I work at a busy 3-star restaurant in NYC. Our pastry chef is being pressured by the managers (who want to turn tables faster) to send out desserts for a whole table even if some of the diners have left their seats. Does anybody know what the appropriate service procedure is on bringing desserts to the table? We generally do not send out apps or entrees if someone has left the table. Also, is there an authoritative published guide to modern service procedures?

I think I have to agree with the manager here. I am a chef and manager. You can look at etiquette books all you like, but the realities of today are that a restaurant is MUCH less profitable than the times when these books were written. How can a finely prepared meal be held in the kitchen because somebody has left the table? It can't. Timing is so importnat in most fine cuisine and leaving it under heat lamps or whatever is worse than it sitting at the table, which is where the patron shpould be if they ordered a meal. Customers will behave as poorly as you let them. My experience,particularly in fine dining, is they will rise to a level of expectation if there is one. Throwing out food is nowdays cost prohibitive. If they are valued customers they will understand the reataurant experience and want you to be in business, thereby not acting unreasonably.Just my opinion.

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DaleR

[Pete]

Dale, I totally disagree. We are not here to dictate to our customers. We are here to facilitate a dining experience. If a customer wants to leave the table to smoke or, God forbid, use the restroom it is up to us to respond. First of all, the server should beware enough of his/her station to let the kitchen know that someone has left the table. We then may have a chance to slow the pick-up. If they are smoking, I don't find anything wrong with the server letting the guest know that their food is almost ready, but food should never be placed at an empty setting, nor should the rest of the table be served unless they ask to be (such as times where one guest had to make a call). Guests are especially sensitive to this around dessert time where rushed service makes them feel as if the restaurants attitude is "You have spent about all the money you are going to spend so it's time for you to leave."

I have to agree with Pete. Let the customer decide the flow of the meal. NOT the kitchen or the wait staff. Sure if the waiter has gone back and started running food and the customer has gone to the bathroom you place the food down and let it sit at the table. Thats life and rarely happens. Don't rush people. Let them enjoy their food as a family or as friends. That's why they went out sit down restaurant. If they wanted Fast food they would have gone that route. If you let them eat slow they will spend more, more wine, coffee, after dinner drink! You might turn more table with an avalanch service but is it worth it if people can't remember what they ate?

i guess we're going to split hairs on terms here. if you have 40 seats and all reservations and 3 people in the kitchen serving entrees that are 20 min in the making and once the ball is rolling, i.e. the soups or apps are well on their way to being done, to stop 2 min before plating because someone is smoking a cigarette somewhere and the flow of everthing is stopped or compromised,not to mention the quality of the product .i hold to my position.we give tables a 2 1/2 hr window when they make reservations. MANY tables will take all that time. i certainly will not encourage my business to limit itself to one turnover a night of its tables.sorry.

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DaleR

[Pete]

So you would rather send the food out, let it sit at the table and then have it sent back because it is cold? Sorry, I, as a chef, would rather hold up on the pick up than have that happen. Once again, you are in the service industry, you are not there to dictate how your guests must enjoy their evening. I think you are going a little to far saying that because you wait on a guest you are limiting yourself to one turn. Are guests allowed to use the restroom at your place? Are they allowed to make a call? Obviously, they are not allowed to take a smoke away from the table even if someone in their party doesn't smoke. Yes profitability is very important, but look at thelong term, servicing your guest properly will ensure long term success. Dictating how they should spend their evening will lose you many guests. That doesn't seem to be in your best interests. I have worked in many long-run restaurants. Their success was driven by their desire to give the guest what he/she wanted. Yes, it drove me nuts in the kitchen sometimes. And yes I have lost a couple of items, but not many over the years. It's a small price to pay to make sure all my guests left happy.

I'm toasting to Pete, here. I promise you, if the diner has an unpleasant experience (ie:feeling rushed or cold food or whatever) he won't return and he'll tell everyone he knows. As the owner of a restaurant that is not huge and we take reservations... well sometimes you run a little behind. Oh well. It's much better to please the customer.. I believe in the long term, it'll be to your benefit.