Much has been said about the importance of a united brigade in the professional kitchen. No chef works alone; he or she relies on the trust and loyalty of the whole team to deliver cutting-edge culinary excellence.
All that can be destroyed if front of house isn’t up to scratch. A greetin’ face staring at you when you arrive for your meal can kill the evening stone dead before the amuse bouches have hit the Pass. The Greeter and his team can make or break a chef’s hard-earned reputation. So there is zero tolerance on anyone who thinks being a waiter is below them.
There’s evidence of this changing culture. Only recently a friend, dining in a top Glasgow restaurant, found a caterpillar among the exquisitely-dressed locally-grown leaves that accompanied his main (you see how the Glasgow salad has grown up?). No sooner had staff been alerted than his plate was whipped out from under him, a fresh one swiftly replaced it, and he was offered a complimentary bottle of wine. All executed discreetly with a smile and an apology. The offending dish was discounted from the bill. Now that’s what I call service.
The days of noisy confrontations are numbered, thanks in part to the power of social media, where pictures and voices can be posted online in a milli-second; but more than that, there’s a growing recognition of the importance of delivering “the whole experience”, not just fab food.
In a report prepared for McDonald’s UK, the ability to listen well, be positive, manage conflict, accept responsibility, show respect, build trust, work well with others, accept criticism, work under pressure, be likeable and demonstrate good manners define an employee as possessing the necessary “soft skills” to ensure the success of a business.
It estimates these will be worth £109 billion to the UK economy by 2020. When applied to the food service, the key word is “collaboration”. Chefs deliver daily menu briefings and tastings to front-of-house staff so they in turn can relate every detail to the customer.
It’s hard work, but such input elevates service out of subservience and into the status of a profession. McDonald’s is not alone in believing soft skills aren’t yet given the recognition they deserve.
City of Glasgow College has invited guest speaker Peter Avis, restaurant manager of Richard Branson’s prestigious Babylon Restaurant at The Kensington Roof Gardens in London, to address hospitality management students in the value of soft skills next month in a bid to enthuse them.
Avis isn’t one of the culinary elite born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He grew up dyslexic on a Liverpool council estate and left school at 16, started out as a restaurant dishwasher, promptly progressed to front of house and has not looked back. He puts his good fortune down to one thing: a positive attitude.
He reckons humility, along with hard work and perseverance, will eventually reward those who put in the effort. Here’s hoping he can inspire young Glaswegians from all backgrounds who dream of playing a part in Scotland’s burgeoning eating-out scene. Then the Scottish cringe really will be toast.
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