Good Days and Bad Days

Every restaurant will have good days and will have bad days too.

How do you recover from a bad one? Do you turn to social media? Do you talk to your loyal followers through Facebook?

We've all seen bad decisions go viral. Like the Applebee's situation where a server published a guest's note regarding a tip.

Is your company prepared with a social media response? What would you do if it happened to you?

Mondays

I think Mondays are a fresh start. They are another chance to have a great week. Whatever happened yesterday is... yesterday. It's in the past. You can only move forward.

In the restaurant biz, Monday is typically a pretty slow, if not the slowest day of the week. I see it as a good chance to clean and re-set and whip the place back into shape. Sometimes weekends can be pretty rough on a restaurant. (Like my "yesterday" blog.)

One of the restaurants in town has a steak and lobster special every Monday night. They pack the joint most Mondays. It's the 4th day in their "weekend." I applaud them. I think that's great! Frankly... I'd like to have Monday nights off just so I could go eat at their place. It would be a nice change of pace from my own Retro Diner. But alas... not everyone sees Mondays like me.

Sometimes my staff need an extra day off or feel it's better to get sick on a Monday than a Friday. I see their point and I generally appreciate it. However, sometimes that leaves me holding the bag and trying to re-right the restaurant myself on a Monday... thus leaving me working "Friday hard", on a Monday.

I guess you might only get what I mean if you're in the restaurant biz. And if you are... God Bless you and give you slow Mondays!

Crazy walking through the door

You can analyze the moon cycles by what walks through the door of the Diner. This weekend you could surely see a full moon on the horizon.

The first customers pounding on the door Sunday morning were a couple raging alcoholics still completely drunk and reeking of  Saturday night's swill. This was 11AM.

Shortly thereafter, the hungover twenty-somethings stroll in wearing their baggy sweatpants and telling obnoxious tales of their previous night's escapades. Lapping up the gatorade and picking at their poutine.

A little later in the afternoon an unruly, ill mannered family of tazmanian devils proceed to encourage their 3 kids to literally destroy our table... kicking the metal legs of the table until the screws pop out and it nearly collapses. They found this utterly, obnoxiously hilarious. And in my polite discussions with them (though I wanted to scream) I recognized their voices and words. They had done this before!! A couple years earlier we had the same scenario.  The only 2 times something like this has happened in my 7 years of restaurant ownership.... and it's the same people. OMG.

The night before, a couple of unsupervised pre-teens start discussing blow job techniques as I am clearing plates from the table next to them. WTF??? Not in my family Diner you don't!  They took their fries to go and got a few words from me regarding appropriate language and behaviour in public.

I tell ya.... ANY GIVEN SUNDAY! This was not what I was expecting to deal with. But it certainly signals the full moon. People lose their minds and their manners. And for whatever reason, converge en mass in my public space.

Now of course this is rare. Very rare. Typically Sundays are for ice cream and families, and celebrations, birthdays and friends getting together in happy times.  Sundays are the days I'm supposed to be able to coast....  It's my chance to recover, and restock after a busy Friday and Saturday. It's also typically a day of rest from telemarketers, salespeople and walk-in solicitations. But not this Sunday. I had to have my game-face on. And what a wild 'game' it was.

Get a real job

Restaurant life is a unique thing. You either get it, or you don't.

You can either hustle, multi-task and thrive, or you can stumble, be disorganized and fail. I live, and breath multi-tasking. I was pretty much born ready.

In my restaurant, as the owner and chef, I juggle customer orders, suppliers, sales people, staff, the phone and whatever else comes up. This is a daily juggle.  It's quite the balancing act at times. But I'm good at it.

This is not something my family, or some friends understand. Should I, even for a moment explain or share my strife, their answer instantly becomes "sell the place and get a real job."

Get a "real job?" What.... are you kidding? This IS a real job x5. I manage HR, Customer Service, the Kitchen, Marketing and so much more. I really don't think I could sit at a desk. I don't think I could possibly type all day, or fake work while spending hours on facebook. Isn't that what people do at their "real jobs?" No thanks.

I may leave the kitchen smelling like bacon, feeling greasy and tired. But I know, without a doubt, I fed and served hundreds of happy people. I contributed to their day. I also contributed to the 10 families whose loved ones I employ. I give them real pay cheques and offer real support.

I have a real job. And I love it.

Trip Food

Back a while ago, I suggested that January was a great time to travel and explore other restaurants. I considered this productive use of down time.

I visited Southern California and had a chance to dine at SHOR. It's in the Newport Beach area and recently opened in the renovated Hyatt Regency Newport Beach.

This was my favourite breakfast. (pictured) It was fresh lox and bagel. It was perfect. From the plating, to the service and the VERY fresh taste and flavours. I really enjoyed it.

We had a number of menu items from SHOR during our 3 meals there. The staff were very knowledgeable and willing to modify meals and accommodate special requests. The only request we made, was for a small dish of strawberries and ice cream for dessert. However, it was clear that tables around us had requests relating to their diets and allergies.

One lady was particularly loud and demanding with her lunch requests. The wait staff and manager took it all in stride and were ever so gracious in their service.

I was impressed and inspired by their food and their hospitality. I would definitely recommend SHOR and I would also, once again, recommend dining out during your slow season.

Plate presentation

So your food is divine? What will it look like on-line?

It's a fact of life now.... everyone has a camera phone in their hand. Are your patrons pausing for a photo before the dig in? Quite likely.  Whether they are foodies or not, on facebook or not, they are sharing their meals on-line. You're not feeding just one person. You might be feeding the eyes of thousands.

Makes you think twice about your presentation, or it should.

Travel Gem - Surdyk's

I was recently travelling through MSP (Minneapolis- Saint Paul Airport) and with a two hour wait between connections, I had the privilege of dining at Surdyk's.

Surdyk's is a boutique-diner with limited eat-in seating, but they do have airport lobby seating and a great selection of grab and go take-out items.

Their "thing" is great wine, paired with gourmet sandwiches and unique salads. The menu has a trendy feel. Their selection is completely out of the ordinary, especially considering its location.

I had a mixed plate of salami and cheese. It was served with a glass tumbler (think big water glass) of fresh crisp toasts, and breadsticks. It was served also with assorted nuts, dried fruit, olives, pickles and mustard. I took their suggested pairing of a full bodied red wine, and really enjoyed it.

My son, who was still feeling "dull" from a cold, chose a bowl of fresh fruit and chocolate milk.

I loved the ambience. We dined in the store. There were multiple screens featuring the Food Network, which was an obvious and perfect combination in this gourmet eatery setting.

Since you are already through security, you can pick up a bottle of wine (vast selection, and half size bottles too) to take on to your destination. I chose a California red to take with me.

What a great spot! With fantastic service to match. If you are passing through MSP, I would recommend you seek out Surdyk's. www.surdyks.com