Ten Ideas to Remember While Working in a Fine Dining Restaurant
Working in a fine-dining restaurant as with any restaurant is not always easy. Fine dining service isn’t for everyone either. There is an art and hustle to working in these restaurants (tips from sales pay the bills afterall).
Exploring some of the ideas behind luxury dining service can enhance the guest experience. Also
Theses of Fine-Dining Service
Jump into a time machine and set the date to October 31, 1517 (yes Halloween). Set the GPS to Wittenburg, Germany where a Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther published his famous 95 Theses.
Martin Luther was a total renegade and ended up founding the Lutheran sect of Christianity and the larger Protestant movement. He was eccentric and some historians have referred to him as an Adolf Hitler of 16th century Germany. Pretty crazy, without the genocide…
His great contribution to history was the 95 Theses. 95 Theses were his points of pain with the Roman Catholic Church. This was his statement to the Vatican on how he feels they lost their way on religion and church and became greedy.
These were negative and caused outrage amongst the Vatican elite at the time. The 10 theses of fine dining service are not negative. They are informative and focused on the goal of making the world a better place for anyone working in luxury dining.
What is Important to Know about Fine Dining Restaurants and Fine Dining Service?
Luxury dining focuses on the experience guests have. Memorable dining experiences is a great way to create new business and create regulars. A professor once said that people decide with their feet in hospitality, meaning they go where they want to be and feel comfortable.
If the front-line service team can make guests happy, a return visit is more likely. Also, keep in mind that repeat visits generally result in more guest spend. In the experience-driven world of fine dining regulars, advocates or NPS (net promoter scores, for the corporate people out there) are the kings. Regulars are the cashcows of the luxury dining business. Fine dining or any restaurant would not exist without repeat guests.
Onto The 10 Theses Of Fine Dining Restaurants
The ten theses or ideas here are a start and will see additions and updates. Do not forget the restaurant industry is dynamic and constantly changing so do expectations and trends. Fine-dining has quite a few segments and niches to it, this is by no means a one size fits all list.
Knowing this information, be cognizant that some restaurants have room for modifications while others do not. Typically fine dining restaurants will deconstruct dishes for guests due to allergies or dietary constraints. For the picky eaters, chefs would rather get creative and make a dish on the fly, than mod it oblivion.
The reason is quite interesting as to why, creativity enhances the experience and shows flexibility.’ Luxury dining is flexible contrary to popular belief. Theses #9 explains below. The recent spike in food allergies and trend in lifestyle diets have changed the dining landscape. Allowing let the kitchen to get creative in these instances can be very positive. These are unwritten rules and theories on how to execute service for finding dining. Applying these will be beneficial to work moving forward.
With this in mind, do not lose sight of the overall goal. Owning the experience and ensure a great (and profitable) visit by every guest. Will every guest have the same experience? Not at all, the theses are guidelines to ensure each guest has the right experience through excellent fine dining service.
NO More Sidework’s 10 Theses Of Fine Dining Service
- Have the best 20 words to describe the restaurant “elevator pitch”. This is one the most important skills that will be needed throughout life. Being able to sell and present effectively, efficiently and quickly is invaluable in a fine dining restaurant.
- Be professional, not snooty. It is possible your guest is wearing jeans, Chuck Taylors and a t-shirt, but will be spending hundreds of dollars. Old school snootiness in luxury dining is so 1980’s. Be open and do not judge based on what a guest is wearing.
- Adjectives are a dishes’ (not diamonds) best friend. Have those words ready when someone asks about a dish. Make sure they make thier mouths water, even if YOU are a vegetarian talking about steaks.
- The kitchen produces consumable art, it may take time. Sometimes food cannot be rushed. For example, rushing can ruin the experience and diminish quality. Unless it is part of the brand, warn guests when it might be a while and offer them a drink in the meantime.
- Opening a soda can should be louder than opening a bottle of bubbles. Why do many diners avoid ordering bubbles at restaurants? This is from the fear of having the bottle opened. This fear is from their own inability to properly open a bottle of bubbles. Feel free to show them how to properly open a bottle through a demonstration.
- For the best experience, a menu isn’t required: A Fine dining captain/server acts as an experts in the dining room. Do not be afraid to “take the menu” out of diners hands and create a tasting/tour on the fly. Create a luxury dining menu for them based on their tastes.
- This is not about you or your name, only the guest. Fine dining is different than working at a large casual chain. Name tags shouldn’t be seen and for a good reason in high end restaurants. Guests dining there is about them and THEIR experience; keep it that way. So, unless they ask, there is no need to share your name until they have at least had appetizers.
- Each guest is the only one in the restaurant, regardless of the 73 others. The aim of fine dining service is to make each guest feel they are the only person in the dining room. Guests to go restaurants to be taken care of and not have to cook/clean. All diners are VIP’s in luxury dining.
- Telling a guest “NO” on certain modifiers ruins the chef’s vision is quite ok: The chef has a vision, guests should respect it. NO ranch will not be subbed on the Caesar Salad. If the guest doesn’t like it, don’t eat it. In the chef-driven luxury dining culture of today modifications are a thorn in the spine of the experience. Modifiers can be what causes the kitchen to collapse. If there are dietary needs that the menu does not fill, let us know and the chef will use creativity to make an extra special dish for the guest!
- First time spending this much on dinner, what is the occasion?: It happens, people come in for that anniversary or dreaded Valentines Day dinner. Guests might be way out of their league in a fine dining restaurant and it shows. These guests need extra love to ensure they are satisfied. As a result, there is no point in upsetting them, they go out and tell the most amount of people about a negative experience.
The Purpose of 10 Theses of Fine Dining Restaurants
Luxury dining is not only for snooty people with too much money to spend, it is for special occasions and celebrations as well. On that note, be mindful of these guidelines and utilize them to help drive a better guest experience or get comfortable with fine dining service. Creating these memorable experiences is the cornerstone of high-end dining.
Cheers Friends
Make Money