Labor Day weekend is drawing to a close, and I’m enjoying a brief respite from the craziness that has surrounded us all weekend. Don’t get me wrong, craziness can be a good thing. I would almost always rather be busy than be twiddling my thumbs, wondering what to do next. We have been very lucky in that even the guests who arrived cranky and with chips on their shoulders about prices, fanciness, and decor, left contented and smiling, wooed by good food, service, and smiling faces. Most of our current wait staff is extremely personable, so even if there are small snafus in the dining room, they are able to carry them off with aplomb or at least a dose of good humor that does much to smooth away the rough edges.
I firmly believe that hiring front-of-the-house staff (actually any staff at all if I’m honest) is more about personality than experience. We bunted on one hire because we were desperate for a body, and now we’re paying the price. She is a lovely woman, sweet and well-meaning, but not good in situations where there is more than one table in the room. Since the goal is never to have just one table occupied in the dining room, this can create some challenging situations.
We had a new trainee come in last week, and although she is doing well, in the process of her training she managed to undo some of the training of the original wait person. When the server in question saw the trainee doing something that did not follow our standard procedures—in this case, removing the chargers from the table after dessert and before coffee—instead of correcting the trainee and explaining the right order of service, which is to serve coffee on the charger and then clear everything away when the guests are finished, she decided to follow the lead of the trainee because it made sense to her at the time.
I only discovered this last night when I realized she was clearing the chargers before coffee was served during dinner service. When I questioned her (nicely, I swear) about why she was suddenly clearing the chargers early, she gave me the preceding explanation. She admitted that she knew it was a departure from the way that everyone else was doing things, but she thought it would give people more room to enjoy their coffee. When I gently pointed out that if she served the coffee on the charger, people would have plenty of room, she smiled and said that made perfect sense.
So apparently she went back to her partially cleared table and explained that coffee goes on top of the charger, not beside it, to the guests. She happily informed me afterwards that the rest of the guests at the table appreciated her explanation and moved their coffee cups to their chargers at her suggestion. I was struck dumb for a moment, which was a good thing, and then took a deep breath and let it go. There was really nothing to be said. Everyone was happy, and now she understands the correct procedure. But I must admit that my blood pressure soared for brief instances several different times last night.
On a lighter note, we seem to be coming out of a cooking rut. The food has been coming together nicely, and we’ve been quite happy with the way that our dishes have been coming together. The last few menus have been a lot of fun, and I’m finally working with a butterscotch pudding recipe that I like. Our version is not quite ready yet; I still think it’s a bit too sweet and intense, but once we get the kinks worked out, we’ll post the recipe here. I will mention this: the secret ingredient is Macallan, because what is butterscotch pudding without a healthy dose of real Scotch to pull things together?
We’ve been revisiting old favorites, like the MouCo ColoRouge, filet mignon, mussels, brisket, mashed potato cakes, and white cabbage. It is hunting season, after all. We’ve put together a cinnamon mascarpone sorbet that just screams cannolis. Unfortunately, we haven’t figured out what to serve it with yet, but I’m sure you’ll be seeing it soon.
The technique for vacuum sealing fruit and vegetables is all-consuming. Recently, there seems to be nothing that Alex won’t put in the FoodSaver to “cook.” Some days, there are more things in our pantry than there are dishes to serve in the dining room. Abundance, especially an abundance of ideas, can be a very good thing.
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