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Sue Doody, founder and owner of Lindey’s, recently spoke at a Columbus Metropolitan Club event about her acclaimed German Village restaurant. One of the topics she touched on was her wait staff—some of whom have worked for her for two decades.
Attention to detail, including service, is a key to whether a restaurant fails or thrives. Doody, of course, gets it. And, at least for now, so do the establishments featured in our latest edition of “Best new restaurants.”
Other places, however, could learn a few lessons, particularly when it comes to tending to customers. I refer to a list compiled by Bruce Buschel, who chronicled his efforts to open a restaurant via a blog on the New York Times website. A couple of his posts dealt with the 100 things wait staff should never do.
Some of them found me silently cheering my approval.
• “Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip. You’ll make people nervous.”
• “Do not serve an amuse-bouche without detailing the ingredients. Allergies are a serious matter.”
• “Do not call a guy a ‘dude.’ Do not call a woman ‘lady.’ ”
• “Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.”
And this one had me fist-pumping:
• “Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.”
Let me set the stage. My wife and I are at a restaurant engaged in a conversation with friends. Someone is telling a story or we’re trading news of the day and a waiter butts in to ask about taking our orders. Talking right over us as if were unruly children in a classroom.
I understand that the job isn’t easy and my table in particular is not the only one being tended to. But come on. Just wait a moment. If you stand there patiently, we’ll finish chatting soon enough.
Now, I’m also quite appreciative of waiters who perform their duties well. Perhaps the best local experience my wife and I have had was at Martini in the Short North a few years ago. The waiter was friendly, but not intrusive, and knowledgeable without being pushy. He capped off his performance (and it was one) by adding an extra portion to the leftover box and offering to supply us with bottled water for the trip home.
We also received excellent service recently at Bon Vie from a young waiter named Timothy. On two occasions, he was understated, gracious and accommodating. He enhanced the visit without dominating it.
And, in both cases, neither one interrupted our conversations.
We ship each issue to the printer about a week before it arrives in your home or hits the newsstands. During that time, it is nearly impossible to make changes. Unfortunately, we got caught in that no man’s land regarding a story in the January issue of Columbus Monthly Homes. One of the articles included photos of the house of Dan Evans, the former CEO of Bob Evans, as well as a quote from him. Evans, as you probably know, died in late December, after the issue had gone to press. We send our condolences to his family.
