The dining room staff you weren’t expecting
“Just a couple of days ago we reopened Restaurant Ciccio Sultano, ready for a new season. In these past few weeks of closure we continued to work, tweaking dishes and assets of the kitchen and dining room. Always and constantly holding tight to the fact that a good kitchen means nothing without the right dialogue and attention from the service team in the dining room; it wouldn’t have the guts to climb the wall of separation between the two different atmospheres, and arrive with clear direction at the attention of our waiting guests. So every season I conduct a similar evaluation, but this time I’m not keeping it to myself: I’m sharing it with you, dear readers. I ask myself, where are they in this moment and what are they doing, all of these young people that have a good degree in their hands, like Language, Marketing, or Nutritional Science, and don’t know how to spend it? Are they waiting for an empty offer to fall into their hands? But do you honestly think that today these degrees can be reinvested exclusively in professional studies or in an international context? Dear readers, look at the reality around you. It’s more apparent than you think. Allow me to explain. The world of hospitality needs fresh graduates that have a sensible, smart competence.
To be part of the kitchen brigade or part of the dining room staff is not a “trade,” as some say, at least it can’t be in restaurants that lure forces and energies to offer their guests an experience that has emotion at its foundation. Thus is the reason for which the personnel that we hire must have clear intentions in respect to the responsibilities they will assume. Let’s get one thing straight: for me, a waiter isn’t a person who brings a plate out of the kitchen and on to a table, repeating a mechanical action – this is an abused and static assumption. The individual occurrences and roads taken within the restaurant create elevated standards that impose a responsibility and duty on the dining room staff. They must know exactly which plate must be served and when, have the aplomb to receive inquiries and comments, know how to advise a perfect pairing, resolve any issues of communication, and be timely in accommodating requests and needs of the guest. He or she must be able to speak English (if not other languages) as well as have knowledge of dietary restrictions and allergies. A dining room staff member should be able and willing to answer hypothetical questions that concern not only the menu, restaurant, and cellar, but also the territory at large. In short, they should have a 360-degree cultural perspective fostered by constant studying to keep with the times. Long forgotten are the days of the “low-cost” waiter. Nowadays, standards call for a full-time professional; one with academic qualifications as well as work experience, who can become an ambassador of cooking that celebrates a territory: an emissary of taste. For me, for all of us at my restaurant and at I Banchi, this philosophy is alive and thriving. My staff embodies our identity: excellence, elegance, competence and professionalism.
Currently, my dining room staff in both restaurants is graced by degree holders in Language, Food Sciences, Economy and Commerce, Marketing and Management, Tourism Sciences… proof that, in short, everything that orbits in the world of gastronomy requires prestige, otherwise you’ll be left in the dark, waiting to change your personal approach to the world of work.”