SERVICE MASTERS

by Jo Lynne Lockly

Once upon a time, there was an abundance of gliding and elegant tableside magicians. Today that pool is certainly diminished in the East and nearly absent in the West. What's an industry to do? Service Masters on both coasts have converted the current economic, staffing, and cultural currencies into a new brand of service. American service. So what does that mean exactly? Personality, technology and as always, money.

It was a quiet revolution. Somehow, before anyone knew what hit them, New York leap-frogged (we don't tippy toe) over Paris as the world's culinary epicenter. NYC led the US, and then the world, in a culinary-diversity Asia-to-Cuba fusion-tango. The US democratized everyman food into great haute cuisine, enshrined the "Diner" and elevated s'mores to white tablecloth fare. We have Todd English on MTV and a couple of channels away on The Food Network. So what kind of service goes with all of that? American buddy. That's right.   As personal Capra and as new, new thing as that wiz-bang I-hear-it's-your-birthday-this guy-spends-a lot-eats-out-often online/POS technology...And, of course, as ridden with money issues as Scarface.

In the show-time paradigm of modern dining, successful restaurateurs identify the importance of service not only as the efficient delivery of food, but as the lynch pin to the experience. Thought leaders have redefined "service" by both working within the whims of their public and the natural charms and faults of their raw material--a casual generation of young people raised on Driving in Cars with Dinner. Today's preferred style of service is relaxed and congenial. Even Thomas Keller's French Laundry, whose precise service model received the Beard Award, defines its approach as "comfortable." "We do not," explained one manager, "expect the sophisticated diner." And they in turn do not expect, or desire, an over-zealous server.

So here it is...the whys and wherefores of the new American standard of service.

The East-Meets-West Thing
Bicoastal restaurateurs are unanimous that meeting service standards are easier in New York than in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Napa Valley's Thomas Keller, who is currently opening restaurants in both New York and Las Vegas, identifies the New York model as more European by virtue of proximity. In California, he says, "We allow more personality to show through."

Although the idea of relaxed, personable service was born in California, New York restaurateurs have embraced it heartily. Charlie Palmer, whose New York-based group includes ten restaurants, subscribes to a service philosophy that aspires to "a comfortable, friendly service as opposed to what we call 'New York Highbrow.'"

On the opposite coast, Quinn McKenna, director of operations for the Lark Creek Restaurant Group, which includes Bradley Ogden's fabled Lark Creek Inn and now Bradley Ogden in Las Vegas, agrees on the importance of personality over skill. Unlike New York, notes McKenna, San Francisco suffers from a paucity of committed service professionals. Whether this is due to the free Western spirit, or whether the San Francisco service pool has a leak which dribbles into the far more lucrative Las Vegas dining rooms, San Francisco restaurants, he believes, are server-challenged.

5-star San Francisco restaurateur Gary Danko readily admits to looking first for professionalism--which he finds more in those with New York experience. That gets the interview, after that, its all about impression. "Part of our mission here," says Danko GM Patrick Skovran, "is to make people laugh and have fun. The whole idea is to have a good time." Because the positive first impression is necessary to meet the restaurant's goal of providing a welcoming environment, Danko chooses recruits based on the scant first impression, and minutes, of a transactional interview. ("They don't get that much time to win over the guest.") In a New York minute, they either charm or fail.

 Richard Corrain, Partner in the Danny Meyer Group, looks for "what we call a 'natural caregiver.' Our brand is hospitality. We just happen to sell food and beverage with it. There's a difference between service and hospitality. Hospitality is a technical skill set; service is emotional. Empathy is the cornerstone of the service personality... A person who is not empathetic cannot be a great server."

Refilling the Pool
So what happened to a once overflowing pool of servers? Without hesitation Rick Laakkonen, owner of New York's Ilo, targets the root of all service evil as Money, or lack thereof. While the servers he encountered in his early years easily walked home with six pre-inflation figures, today's plate porters can reckon on only a portion of that sum. He traces the decline in dedication directly back to the IRS tax crackdowns and the triumph of credit cards over cash. The profession is now much less lucrative, and therefore attractive, to young people seeking a future.

Compounding the above are tighter immigration controls curtailing the number of professionally-trained Europeans; as well as the impact of AIDS and fast-lane living in the eighties and nineties.   Too many of the dining room greats are now gone. With fewer career recruits and fewer good examples on the floor especially with rapid restaurant expansion, "the crisp attention to detail" that marks great dining rooms is becoming ever rarer.

Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group enjoys a selective applicant pool--thanks to high Zagat ratings--but hiring right is not enough. Once hired, says Corrain, the staff is provided with the tools needed to excel. Problems are recognized early and addressed head on with absolute honesty. The group presents problem servers with agreements: "Either it's going to change, or you are going to change." Meyer's legendary service, based on personality augmented by training, is carried forward by managers trained in-house and perpetuated by a tightly-held restaurant culture--mandatory family meals and attention to employees' personal concerns.

McKenna's managers are expected to be on the floor and vigilant at all times during service to catch and deal with any small problems before they develop into large issues. "They can't do it from the periphery, " he says. "They have to be there." They deal actively with guests if necessary and intercede immediately to correct the erring server as soon a situation becomes visible. This policy of on-the-spot intervention involves the waiter more effectively, prevents issues from getting lost in end-of-service fatigue and keeps minor events from ripening into major customer discontent.

Charlie Palmer anchors the culture of his dining rooms in continuous staff development. While he, too, seeks warmth and personality in hiring, the efficiency, mechanics and the precision that signifies New York dining are a priority. "I haven't met a customer yet who doesn't like a friendly person," he explains, "but that doesn't mean he can forget the soup spoon." Everyone entering one of Palmer's restaurants is subject to initiation by a team of two captains and a Maitre D' and continuing educational opportunities. And if they slip?   Palmer's trump card is the "The Call Out." Errant servers, no matter how many years they have worked, are assigned to work with the Maitre D' in refresher courses. "Just because they did it right 50 times," says Palmer, "doesn't mean they will get it right the fifty-first time around."

Laying It Out
Thomas Bunker, vice president of restaurant development of the Left Bank Restaurants, a group of popular Northern California French bistros co-owned by Roland Passot and Ed Levine, supports the "Guest First Attitude" with fixed logistics. Each new restaurant changes it's layout to solve problems observed in other properties. The most recently opened Menlo Park location, for instance, has waiter stations and POS stations positioned so as to force servers to look into the room at all times. Optional placement of cocktail trays and flatware for mise en place, and scientific pick-up-line design promote good flow and prevent congregation and conflict.

With a mostly suburban staff draw, the Left Bank relies even more on training. The watchword for the group is "anticipation," reading the guests, followed by interaction and vocalization. "We need to ensure precise communication," says Bunker. "Each sale is repeated to confirm the order - double check and clarify."

More and more restaurants are using cold, hard technology to help provide warm, friendly service. Umberto Gibin, director of operations for the Kimpton Group's Grand Café in San Francisco, insists on personalized service as its service cornerstone. The Grand Café employs the online reservation software system Open Table to signal birthdays, preferences or to award repeat guests with amuse buches.

There isn't a successful restaurateur who fails to place retention in his top service strategies. Richard Corrain remarks on his organization's strides to offer staff hours and quality of life relief, which have taken on great importance since the World Trade Center events. "We care about the person, not just the employee." Palmer best sums up the relationship between owner and front of the house staff very simply: "His interest is my interest." And so it is.

In defining, enacting and maintaining the new sensibilities in service, American restaurateurs have had to adapt to the monumental shifts in both consumer and employee expectations.   As a result, an all-American style of service has come into being and is pervading the entire dining experience in a very personal way.