![]() ![]() As the questions roll, can they present stories that show they are really guest-centric? We truly believe our trainers can take someone who may not have 20 years' experience and train them on the wine and food aspects. 1 reason to hire a server is, during the interview, they show and express a real commitment to hospitality. "We assess an individual team member's assets from the earliest stages of recruitment. "From the get-go, the key issue is identifying talent," Soike said. Great energy, great personality and a great sense of hospitality are essential. Nick Soike, managing partner of Capital Grille in Lyndhurst, said the difference between a professional server and an "order taker" becomes evident during the well-managed hiring process. Yet legions earn healthy wages in top restaurants - a station achieved through practice and polish. Time and again, I've heard some voice resentment over a role perceived as servile and demeaning. Having grown up working in local restaurants, then observing them as a food journalist and critic, I have seen that it's no secret many servers aren't particularly keen to serve. More than that: Is warm and chummy good enough to compete with the big guys - namely the corps of professional front-of-house staff that populates major travel destinations - when the goal is vying for tourism dollars? Or, for that matter, is "good enough" sufficient to keep ahead in an increasingly competitive climate where literally hundreds of restaurants, taverns and fast-casual eateries are vying for local dining dollars? Apparently our self-perception differs markedly from that of an arbiter who observes the comings-and-goings in the nation's capital - an international crossroads. This of a city that prides itself in its hometown heartland friendliness. (A local cab driver had no idea where one of the city's oldest and most beloved institutions, Sokolowski's University Inn, dished out Polish fare.) Suffice it to say, Cleveland hospitality polls 'low energy.' " ![]() One foot into an otherwise genial Nate's Deli, I was hit with "Can I help you?" - from a woman shouting from a booth in the back. At Alley Cat Oyster Bar, I was asked three times by three waiters if I was ready to order. At the trendy Butcher and the Brewer, I sat for several long minutes before any of the five faces behind the epic but unbusy bar bothered to make eye contact. "With a handful of exceptions - the upscale Edwins, the happy-go-lucky Mabel's BBQ - most of the places I tried treated this anonymous diner as if I were invisible. "One missing ingredient: good service," Sietsema wrote in the July 12, 2016, issue of The Washington Post. While he heaped praise on 10 Northeast Ohio restaurants, his assessment of the treatment he received was less than glittering: Just prior to the 2016 Republican National Convention in the city, Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema visited our fair burg. Pie in the sky? Some highfalutin', pinkies-up pretensions?Ĭonsider how, not long ago, one of the nation's foremost restaurant critics took Cleveland's service sector to task for its lack of polish. He claims more than a million students who've learned everything from table manners to personal grooming, proper attire and even "car etiquette." And he's taught the fine points of intercultural deportment to business leaders who routinely deal with international clients. During the 1960s, he was a regular on "The Upbeat Show" and "Big 5" for WEWS-TV. In recent weeks, Blake has expressed his message - a more mannerly Cleveland, what he calls "Polite City, USA" - to staff at such prominent destinations as the Capital Grille at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst and Dante in Cleveland's Tremont district.įor more than 50 years, Blake has been carrying the banner for social niceties and norms, while shifting with the times. Now, there's a notion that strikes a chord with this group. "And if you 'professionalize' yourself, develop the kind of polish that enables you to communicate comfortably with any kind of guest, your earnings can easily double." "A waiter today is actor, model, entertainer and participant in the dining equation," says the city's most respected etiquette professional. All are on hand to hear what Cleveland's grand man of manners has to say about the art of the fine dining experience. Waiters and waitresses, hosts and managers fill the room. ![]() Dick Blake stands before a crowd of restaurant servers. ![]()
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