[karlat]

FOH vs BOH
I've done both (abit 15-20 years ago & I found a great deal of Bourdain's book reminiscent) in well respected restaurants. The biggest difference for me was that I had to put a face on to wait tables. In the BOH I could just be me. Any thoughts on the "acting" talents that go alone with a good server? The money wasn't worth the phoney me I was creating everyday. Nearly everyone I bless with some homemade goodies says I should open a restaurant. Fat chance I cook for pleasure and would never compromise that by doing it for money. So I'll keep having my little dinner parties and I'll keep feeding my passion for the restaurant/food business by reading, watching, listening and enjoying everyones post on Cheftalk. :smiles:

 

[momoreg]

It's a special talent, being able to put that face on everyday, to be a succesful server. I guess that's why so many waiters are really actors.

 

[kuan]

You seem pretty agreeable, so why do you have to put on a phoney face? I guess some (very small) amount of butt kissing is required but I can normally tell a phoney when I see one. There were never any phonies in the last place I worked. The place was made up of their personalities. I've always found that the best way to manage people and to make them do things was not to make them do things they're not comfortable doing, or are not suited to doing.

Kuan

 

[peachcreek]

You guys talk like servers are from another planet. O.K., some are but whats the big deal? I cook AND wait tables. And on slow afternoons, the waiter also does all the cooking. There isn't a problem here. People are people. I'm not an actor, and I think that the really proficient waitstaff of the world are not actors. They are highly trained sales and service staff, not B.S. artists. I was in the restaurant alone last Saturday. Saturdays are not usually busy, so I am there by myself with call-ins for backup. I got hit with 8 tables during the lunch hour, and did everything myself. I WAS BUSY! Everything turned out excellent, the tips were outstanding. I think I do better in tips because we have an open kitchen and they could see me busting my @ss. And of course, everybody is ordering drinks, desserts, the phone is ringing off the hook, I don't have time to call someone in, I just did it all myself. I have cooked and waited tables for the last 12 years. It wasn't really THAT busy.
Let me tell you the story of the three ladies who thought they would have a quiet lunch together, with their 9 toddlers! Some people....