The Gift of Service
Brian Cronin, MS
“Service not Servitude.” – Charlie Trotter. These are words that resonate with me to this day. They describe the act of truly wanting to take care of people – on all levels. Service also conveys that the guest does have the assumption you are their servant, for that is servitude. That was also how Charlie would describe that the guest was not always right. To serve, as we do, is to get into a mutual business relationship with the guest. We are here to have an experience together.
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. “ – Kahlil Gibran
To try and deliver the best experience possible is a gift that you can give everyday – to others and to yourself. This is a gift that can also be given in all aspects of your life. As service professionals we all have stories to tell about different experiences. Some of these are good and some of them are bad. Nonetheless, these are experiences that need to be told. For a while I found myself complaining, internally and externally, about service. I finally realized that it really is about training. Instead of complaining, I realized it was time to try and change what can be changed.
Brian Cronin, MS Decanting
The act of wanting to serve does not mean that we necessarily know how to do it right. It is through the experiences that I have had and heard about that I will try and teach how to improve all of our experiences. I remember being told how to anticipate what a guest wants one night at Trotter’s – it was my second night at work and I had never even served a plate. How could I anticipate someone’s needs if I hadn’t even been in or heard about the situation they are experiencing?
This blog will be about the situations and how we can learn through them, both the good and the bad.
1. What words of advice do you have or have you been taught, in regards to service?
2. What experience have you had that changed your views of how to take care of guests?
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Special Guest Sommelier: Lindsey Young
