Adventures in Hospitality

In previous articles I have mentioned on more than one occasion of the opportunity to travel while working in the Hospitality profession. Now I know that the profession is not for everyone and many people loathe the unsociable hours, but for those who take it seriously and want to build a future of security for themselves and their family while seeing the world , this is a great career choice.

Of course , it is up to the individual whether or not they want to travel at all so although the title states international the same three would apply to anyone wanting to move up the ladder.

The first item I recommend is that you enrol in a European Hospitality School. Now this may cost you a fair bit and there are different schools to enrol in but the investment will certainly be worth it. I happened to work in Switzerland for a couple of years in an exchange program where I gained a lot of Food and Beverage Management knowledge. The difference I am recommending is you attend a Hotel school there.

Graduating from a Hotel School in Switzerland will be the deciding factor when there are many applicants for a position. Work visas will be done , and expense paid moves will be provided by employers seeking your knowledge. Also upon graduation , the Hotel School will have recruiters ready to interview you.
This is how good the Swiss Hotel Schools reputation have and not to fear there are schools that teach in English.

The second recommendation I have is to learn a second language and a third and fourth if possible. Not only will this provide you with an edge but someone who can communicate in another person’s tongue is instantly liked and respected. When you go to a Hotel School in Switzerland for example there will be courses you can take to learn other languages such as French , German, and Italian. All national languages of Switzerland. It is much easier to learn these languages too in a country where they are spoken.

When I went to French School in Montreal for 6 months to learn the language it was easy to learn as my environment was totally French. When you can turn on the television or radio where you are and there is no English you learn a lot quicker. Make a deal with the other international students you will meet to help them with their English if they help you with their language of expertise.

The third and final recommendation I have is go out and get your Sommelier Diploma. This will be your icing on the cake. You may be able to do this in the Hotel School but if not enrol in the International Sommelier Guild or other recognized school and go all the way through and graduate. Someone who has been to a Hotel School from Switzerland , knows 2-3 languages and has his Sommelier Diploma will be on the top rung wherever he or she goes.

I loved the process getting my Sommelier Diploma and learning all aspects of winemaking. Traveling in my mind through the different countries , some of which I had visited and others I wish to someday made the courses all the more interesting. Is it no wonder Geography was one of my best subjects in school.

In conclusion , if someone reading this article has been enlightened to what is possible I have one other recommendation and that is do not wait long to start. My only reflection is that I should have done all this when I was younger. But I did do it and as education and self improvement is never ending it is always better to start than say you wish you did. What will your adventure be like?

Every Food and Beverage waiter relies on what a customer tips , not on their hourly wage, in order to make a decent living. So with the consumer’s eroding disposable income and more restaurants to choose from in history , it is imperative the waiter provides great service to get that person to leave a good tip. A waiter always has to be thinking ahead, highly organized, and able to prioritize quickly on the fly if they are to succeed. Most important of all is to avoid the service complaint.

Having been on the front lines since 1980 serving guests in all different kind of venues here are my top five things a waiter can do to ensure the successful outcome to a dining experience. You may be surprised at what my top five are.

The first complaint that usually surfaces is when a waiter has not acknowledged the table yet and they have been sitting there wondering if anyone will come over. This is always a bad start so the waiter always must go to the table and even if they are too busy at that moment to stay, they must tell the guest they will be right with them as soon as they can.

Even if it takes a few minutes to get back to them they are expecting you now, but be ready to take the whole order when you get back. Drinks and all. Don’t let them wait further. If they are not in a hurry they may only want to have drinks but in some restaurants where people just want to eat and run then take the whole order. You probably would want that anyway if you have a big, busy section.

The second complaint can occur if there is a delay in the food order coming out of the kitchen. A lot of waiters at this point, noticing that their guests are becoming mean looking, avoid the customer at all cost until the food is ready. Don’t ! Check with the kitchen and get the time as to when it will be ready. Go over to the table and tell them when it will be coming out and apologize for the delay.

The third complaint that takes place is usually when the food is immediately delivered and something does not come out the way the guest ordered it. To avoid this complaint make sure you take your time and listen to what the guest is ordering and write it down properly. If you do not understand something ask them to repeat it and then repeat it back to them especially if it has special instructions. I always write everything down. I never rely on my memory as what could happen is you have an order memorized and while heading to the terminal someone interrupts you and presto you are trying to remember what was just in your head.

The fourth complaint will happen if you do not do a table check that takes place approximately 3-5 minutes after they have started eating. Let’s say they received the steak they ordered which is fine but was it cooked at the required doneness? Make the eye contact and if the guest is answering in not so a positive fashion offer to get the meal correctly cooked. At this moment you have done your job correctly. You wrote the order out correctly, punched it up right, it came out fine but the kitchen did not do their part.So we have to fix the problem and get the meal redone. Get the manager to deliver the cook up as we call it in the business.The point here is do your table checks!

The fifth complaint happens when during the table checks you are not offering to replenish their drinks, remove empty glasses , and filling up their water glass. Nothing worse than a guest with an empty glass of anything in front of them.

Notice I did not mention menu knowledge,wine knowledge or any kind of education whatsoever. If a waiter does not do the above 5 the guest will not care how much a waiter knows. Remember people do not care how much you know only how much you care. That is service on a high level.

Always affirm with the guest while clearing their plates on how they appeared to enjoy their meal and get their reaction. Let the guests dictate the conversation on a topic of their choice.Be friendly and never appear to be stressed out. Always make eye contact with the guest.

During the meal service I shut up while the guests are eating. Remember they are there to enjoy their own company not myself.I believe if a waiter follows these five service rules and does their job with a smooth delivery they will make money.

To be an effective Dining Room Manager there are certain attributes you should have to run an efficient food and beverage operation each meal service. There are a lot of managers out there who are great at doing the paperwork as in making the schedules and calculating the food cost but if they do not know how to lead and build a team in the Dining Room they will soon find themselves unemployed very quickly.

First of all when you start in such a position you must know the reason you were hired in the first place. Were you told upon hiring what improvements or changes had to be made? What was going well? On one occasion in a very new restaurant I was specifically hired to train the inexperienced staff to serve
better, thereby making them more productive on the floor. This in turn positively affected labour cost. On another occasion hired as a Maitre’d on the ship the staff was experienced so my main goal was to get the different nationalities working together as a tight knit group within a system. Therefore in order to succeed know what it is you have to do. Don’t fix anything if it isn’t broke.

Now you know why you are there and what needs to be done. The next thing you have to do is work every shift. Yes you will lose some beauty rest at the beginning but I have seen a lot of managers who will only work one shift such as the evening and not have a clue what is happening during the breakfast shift until it is too late and the complaints are coming in. You have to be there every shift to watch and observe your staff , system in place , how the food comes out , teamwork , presentation , just to name a few things on the list. Of course take a day off but in the first 2 weeks work a lot. See what is going on.

During this inaugural couple of weeks help out in the dining room as well. Help with the expediting of service , table check with guests on how they are enjoying their dining experience. Never stop doing table checks. I believe in the hands on approach rather than the delegating approach. Even if it is doing something as simple as getting bread for a table or delivering some drinks to help a waiter who is in the weeds. Remember if a waiter gets swamped for a minute it is the guest who suffers. Put your ego aside and muck in and help.

Here is another gem to being a successful leader in the dining room. Understand a waiter will never admit to needing help even if they have 10 things to do , so if you step in when you see trouble before it happens and help out without being asked that waiter will be putty in your hands. Remember if you are observant and on the floor you can do this. Always be on the floor during service. This will eliminate all service problems and complaints. I know because that is the way I did it. Works like a charm.

Another downfall that occurs which causes failure is the human need to be one of the buddies. A lot of managers want to be liked rather than respected. To achieve respect do not socialize with your service personnel. If you want something done the next day and you have been socializing with that person you need to talk to , do not expect a good result. After all , last night you put yourself in a compromising position saying how great a person they are. You may get away with it once but do yourself a favour and keep your distance in a nice way. Your main concern is getting everyone to work together. Do not show favourites either or the others will see it and you are doomed to failure.

To develop teamwork you must talk to the group as a whole. Everybody has to be on the same page. Always if you want improvement explain how you want something done and why it should be done that way. People will want to know the why before they do anything different.

Heap praise on your staff. Even if you find very little at the beginning praise the good things so that they will listen to you when you ask them to do something better another way.

Assuming you are a people person , you should be sincerely interested in your staff. Find out what motivates them. Be interested in your guests. This is a people business. Work with your assistants and communicate with everyone. If you want to have people do things for you let them know what has to be done and show your appreciation. Be a people builder.

Train others by sharing your knowledge. People want to do a good job better if they could. People will beat a path to your door if you show them you care. Emphasize to your staff that it is all about the service.

In concluding , to be a leader of many in a restaurant demands your time , knowledge , and a fair dose of psychology but if you are willing to excel in all three the rewards can be great. Don’t just seek to be average , seek to be great.

There has been much debate over time about just how stressful the waiter occupation is but I am here to tell you that it isn’t that stressful at all. You just have to be able to think on your feet and make a quick decision.

I am going to explain a situation that happened to me which might have been quite stressful when it occurred but then describe how I went about making it turn into a successful outcome.

The situation took place way back in 1986 when I worked on a huge cruise ship that had two dining rooms that sat 500 people each sitting twice a night. When you do the math that is 2000 passengers. I was a sommelier / beverage waiter who was responsible for about 50-60 people in my section. The idea was as soon as the doors opened at 6PM get the wine and drink orders done as quick as you could then get ready for the 8PM sitting. Naturally with that amount of people and just one or two service bartenders whoever came in first usually got their drinks first.

Well on one particular cruise I was going along fine when the wine service manager came up to me and asked me to take over a table in the section beside me as the sommelier was having some difficulty dealing with this guest. I said yes I would but what exactly was the problem. He replied back that this table wanted their drinks served first of all the others in the dining room!

You could understand why the previous server was having so much difficulty fulfilling this difficult request. This guest was among 500 who all wanted their drinks the same time. So I went over to the table and introduced myself as their new sommelier / beverage server , then asked them if it was their wish to be served first in the whole dining room each night. They answered affirmatively and then much to their astonishment asked them what they would like to have the following night to drink. At first they laughed then I replied back that if they wanted to be served first I would need to know what they wanted before they came in.

It wasn’t much but I put it in my memory and the following night at 5:55PM just before service went to the bartender and ordered the drinks and placed them on their table. When they sauntered in at 6:20 to eat they saw their beer bottle was beginning to condensate and the ice was melting in the Shirley Temple. I took the initiative to ask what had taken them so long then when they saw their drinks they started to get a bit riled up. When they wanted to know why their drinks were already there , I reminded them they wanted to be served first and they were , even if they were not there to drink them right away. An embarrassed laugh followed and after they told me to forget about having to serve them first.

So the lesson learned here is no matter how unreasonable the guest’s request is you can get around it and overcome the obstacle. By the way , after I told others of what happened a few drink servers started lining up at the bar at 5:55PM as well.

As a waiter you should always be ready for the unexpected and be ready to adapt to any situation. The restaurant can be slow one moment and all of a sudden a bunch of people can come in and the restaurant is packed.

One of my most memorable shifts occurred to me back in the summer of 1990 when I was working in Jasper Alberta. Jasper is nestled in the beautiful Canadian Rockies and has a population of about 3,000 people but during the summer the number swells to 25,000 tourists per day that fill up the local hotels and inns. Jasper becomes a mecca for the service employee who wants to make some good money during the tourist season.

During this summer I was working breakfast at one hotel and dinner at another restaurant so I was making some good cash. Where I worked for breakfast each morning we would get what I like to call the bus people in early enabling them to grab the bus by 8AM and continue on their tour. This meant we were slammed hard right at the beginning.

There was 3 of us that worked the breakfast each morning but on this morning there was one that asked for the day off which left two of us to handle two bus loads at 7AM. That was about 90 people. Our supervisor had just quit too. It was going to be busy for sure but with a fully loaded breakfast buffet most people headed that way as it was included in the price. Some would order off the menu but not many.

That morning I arrived to work the usual time at 6:15 to set up the buffet , put the creamers and assorted jams on the table , and start making the coffee. Time was speeding by and soon I realized the other waiter was not there yet. I checked the time and it was 6:45. The chef came out and asked if I was the only one to show up. At that moment I looked at the locked entrance door where I noticed the hungry wolves licking their chops ready to attack the buffet and anything else that resembled food. The way I was feeling at this moment I probably looked a little like roast beef on a plate.

Summoning up courage I said to the chef just watch the buffet and I will take care of the rest. Having prepared up to 6 pots of coffee and a couple more of boiling water for tea I opened the doors to the throng of people awaiting.

As they hurried in to grab a seat I gave everyone a couple of minutes to enter, then made my big announcement. Using my experience in public speaking and holding two coffee pots I said , ” I am the only one on this morning so I am coming around with coffee and here is our buffet so help yourself. If you need anything off the menu I will get it for you. Be patient and you will all be served and seen to within a couple of minutes.”

All I asked of them is anyone who orders off the menu and needs to settle up their bill line up at the cash about 7:50 just before it is their departure time and pay me before leaving. This way I can give the best service possible to everyone leading up to that time.

Well it worked like a charm. I got everything everyone wanted and the kitchen helper kept the buffet replenished. Not one complaint at all , in fact the front desk did not even know of the missing waiter.

Once the crowd left and caught their busses , every table was heaped with dishes that I was unable to clear while serving. Buffet plates , coffee cups , juice glasses , and plates ordered from the kitchen all stacked on the tables. I began with a huge tray to start clearing tables but then suddenly there was more people coming that were not on any schedule and just were coming for breakfast. As they came in I cleared a table for them to sit on and wiped it down. Until 11AM when we closed for breakfast I served another 30 people.

The kitchen helper gave me a hand to clear some of the tables during this time and thank heavens we were not open for lunch. The Food and Beverage Manager came and asked why I didn’t call him. He had no idea. The one thing when you are a waiter is if you are busy you are usually too busy to call anyone!

At the end of the day I survived and I guess I made a good impression because when I went to visit two years after that summer the dishwasher did not remember my name but did recall that infamous morning when I served the entire breakfast myself to 120 people.

I realize that nearly the entire planet has been discovered and we cannot turn back the clock and be like Christopher Columbus and find a new continent just like that , but working in the Hospitality Industry you can do your own exploring when it comes time to choosing your place to work.

It almost always never turns out as you plan it but the experience helps you grow in so many ways. First it helps you understand how other people live and gives you a sense of accomplishment when overcoming challenges that most people would not be willing to go through. Sort of like Columbus would have gone through when he crossed the ocean back in 1492.

One example for me happened back in 1990. I had just returned from Switzerland having completed my two years there and was eager to return back to Europe any way I could. Finding out about a UK Grandparent Visa which allowed grandchildren of UK descent to work there , I mailed away for a photocopy birth certificate of one of them so I could apply for a visa.

It took in all quite a bit of time to obtain the visa so when I flew to London I had only about 600 British pounds on me and three suitcases. Brimming with confidence I thought I had it all figured out. There was a trade magazine I knew of that was packed with hotel and restaurant jobs. I figured as soon as the jet landed I would find a Bed and Breakfast in London , make a few phone calls and set up some interviews and by week’s end have myself a great job.

The jet landed early in the morning so when I grabbed my three heavy bags I was really in no mood to shop for the most economical place to stay nor take the Tube. A taxi would do just fine , thank you.

On the tourist board there was a list of Bed and Breakfast establishments around the Paddington station area so I jumped into a taxi and wouldn’t you know it but the taxi ride cost me about 40 pounds. The one thing I should have calculated was how expensive the UK was compared to Canada! Almost a tenth of what I had gone in a taxi ride.

I cannot remember off hand what the B and B was per night but it was not Buckingham Palace. A funny thing happened one night when the inn was robbed. Someone had managed to steal and replicate the master key to all the rooms. When the robber was making the rounds he opened up my locked door and woke me up. He excused himself and said he had the wrong room and closed the door. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. Next morning I heard the news many rooms were robbed.

The 600 pounds went like that as England was a lot more expensive than I thought it was and the jobs were not as quickly found as I first thought they would be.
I ended up working in Ashford Kent at a hotel that was opening to take advantage of the Chunnel that was being built at the time and the business it would bring. It was an exciting opportunity as an Assistant Conference and Banqueting Manager to train a new staff and help during it’s launch.

Subsequently I was able to help out in the Dining Room afterwards but the real reward was having gone through something unforgettable. I only spent up to 6 months there as I was completely broke having started at the hotel living off a credit card.

But to start with just a destination and not knowing what could really transpire was something that someone who is single , living out of a suitcase , and with a plane ticket could only experience.

I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint of heart , or for people who need everything exactly perfect before they start something. But if you are like a Columbus and want to explore new worlds , the Hospitality Industry can provide that opportunity.

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If you are an aspiring student in Food and Beverage Management and between 18 and 30 years of age there is a great opportunity for you to work in Switzerland without having to spend thousands of dollars to go to school there.

I am writing this from a Canadian perspective but I am sure the same can be said for other countries as well. The way I did it was quite simple and very cost effective and the training I received was phenomenal.

Back in my early 20’s I took a Bartending course that got me introduced to the Hospitality Industry. The money was great and as I was living on my own I passed up the opportunity to go to a university to further my education in this chosen field. I soon realized a few years later that if I wanted to move up it was imperative that I take some course. What I did was do something that would not interfere with my employment so I took a Home Study Course in Hotel Motel Restaurant Management.

I loved it and worked at it from my kitchen table for just over 2 years before finishing it and graduating with flying colors. At the time I was a Bar Manager and even though I was in a comfortable position where I was working I longed for something more exciting.

After a brief stint on a Cruise Ship I came back home to Montreal to rest a bit and figure out what I wanted to do. I took this course so I could proceed along a different path and my attempt at working on a cruise ship had failed at this point.

So to bide my time to mull things over I decided to enrol myself in a full time French Course that would run from January to June. During this time while I was meeting a lot of people at school and working on my French I spoke with a student who was much older than I. When I told him what I did he replied back and asked me why I wouldn’t go to Switzerland to work. I was taken aback at his remark and with a quizzical look mumbled how do I do that?

He then mentioned that there were exchanges between Canada and Switzerland and you had to be under 30 to take advantage of them. This was all news to me so I made some phone calls and got some information and sent my qualifications to the government agency. I was accepted for this exchange immediately thereafter.

The agency was not all that hopeful though as they mentioned that all they do is put my name in a hotel newspaper over in Switzerland and that no one really ever calls or hires anyone and that it would be better if I did my own job search.

This was the pre-internet era so what I did was go to the Swiss Travel Bureau and a travel agent and wrote down all the hotels in the French part of Switzerland and send my resume in my adequate French to those establishments.

I remember I sent fifty resumes out and received 26 refusals but I did get 1 positive response. The contract was for 11 months at this beautiful hotel in Montreux. It was great and I even returned for a second season.

During those two years I did everything as one might come to expect if one is Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. From managing the stores , inventory , Maitre’d , typing out Function sheets and then setting up the Banquet or Conference taking place.

Now the reason I say it was not expensive is I did not have to pay any college or university but instead received the on the job experience necessary to become a competent manager. Yes it was long hours but one thing to remember is you are working in the center of Europe so when you have a few days off you can visit France , Germany , Austria and Italy just next door.

So to summarize you first must have taken some course in Hospitality Food and Beverage to be able to qualify to be in the exchange in the first place. If you are doing something like I was in Bartending go and take a course. I did it with a Home Study School called Granton Institute out of Toronto.

Second learn a second language. Maybe now you will have a reason to learn French , German , or another language. Yes everyone speaks English in Switzerland and other countries but if you know a second language you will become much more marketable.

Third is with the internet now available you can have employment opportunities at your fingertips unlike when I did the job hunt by mail which seemed to take forever before I started to get answers back.

Of course while you are doing all the above check out the exchanges your country has with others. I know I could have gone to France as well if I chose. I also went to England on a Grandparent Visa. If one of your Grandparents were born in England you are eligible to work there as long as you wish. I did that after my Swiss adventure.

Switzerland’s hotel work is usually seasonal so they do hire for months in advance. The visa took me 3 months to receive from the day I was hired. Do not expect a huge salary but do expect accommodations and food and plenty of partying along with the work hours to boot.

My Swiss experience was unforgettable and I highly recommend it. It has opened many doors since both personally, professionally, and intellectually.

It’s becoming increasingly clear to me as the years pass by that I actually know more than I did let’s say twenty or thirty years ago. Now most of you may be saying right now , yes you should know more than you did twenty or thirty years ago and I would agree with you 100%. But how many of us when we say that about ourselves actually believe it.

I came to this realization when I started teaching Bartending at a local college that I actually know more than most in my chosen field. The students I was teaching were approximately the same age as I was when I was a student learning the Bartending trade. The difference was now I was responding to questions that I thought everybody should know the answer to. Then I realized I was the teacher and when I was in their shoes I probably did not know the answer 30 years ago either. That is when I realized that I truly did know more than I thought I did.

During the past 30 years I learned a lot from people who had far more experience and knowledge than I possessed and through some trial and error as well got to where I am right now in my life. But it wasn’t until I started teaching others what I had learned I came to this realization.

Now you may not feel you need to teach someone else what you know is important but if you are good at something why not teach it to others. It may not have to be a school environment , it could be any setting you choose it to be. The need for mentorship , apprenticeship training , people with your experience in your field are needed to pass on their knowledge to the next generation.

There are teachers out there who have less practical experience teaching their subject than I am sure some of you reading this article have. I do not have a university education but I do have experience so it did count for something when I obtained the Bartending teaching position. By working full time in the restaurant business , teaching Bartending 1-2 nights a week gives the student not only the practical side of learning to make a drink but I can also relate to them what it is like working as late as last night on my shift in a restaurant. How much closer to the action can you get than that!

As far as the fear of speaking in front of others , talking of what you know is easier than you would imagine. Just be organized and let the class participate in the learning process rather than feel you have to talk for 3 hours. Encourage interaction and lots of questions. You have your own story that other people need to hear. Ask the student what they want out of the course you are offering.
Tell them of the money to be made or the travel involved. Highlight the positives of it because if they see you are still doing it , it’s believable. You can inspire , and open that door for someone that was up until they met you was previously shut.

You can look for an opportunity to teach others what you have learned over the years by looking at your local newspaper for openings, colleges are always interested in ideas for continuing education classes be it a whole semester or a full day course. Even advertise yourself and what you can offer. Not only is it fun but it provides an additional income as well. Most important of all though is by sharing your expertise you can make a difference in a person’s life and fulfill your own in the process.

You truly know more than you think you do. It is just time to believe it and start sharing it with others.