Arica ChanSaint Pierre

Beppe de Vitoil Lido

Roxan VillarealSan Marco At The Lighthouse

Edith LaiLe Saint Julien

What makes a good maitre d?

Flexibility and firmness.

His appearance should be stylishand understated. He should makepeople feel comfortable.

Flexibility—because not everyonecan be treated in the same way.

Your inner qualities—you need tobe devoted to food and services.Secondly, your memory—rememberwhat aperitifs guests like.

What do you take care of?

Running the operations and stafftraining.

A maitre d is like a teacher—someone who can teach everybodysomething. You have to be ableto give things and make promiseswithout having to check withanybody.

Ordering, taking reservations, thewine and staffing.

I handle the phone calls, assign thetables, lay out the restaurant planproperly and go through the guestlist thoroughly.

How do you remember everyone’s names?

We have a pool of regular customers.After six years I can definitelyremember them. We also refer to thereservation book.

It’s a myth when people think themaitre d remembers all the names.It’s not really about rememberingnames so much as remembering theperson.

If you know their name perfectly it’sfine. If not, sometimes it’s better tocall them sir.

We look at the way they dress andremember specific incidents.

How do you remember the guests’ likes and dislikes?

By instinct—it’s hard to explain. Wedon’t keep a formal file, but we shareinformation amongst the floor staff.

We always try to know what peopledon’t like. Once we find out, then weask them to let us impress them.

If they are repeat guests we allocatetheir favorite table automatically.If there are dietary requirements,we make notes and make sure weremember.

Learn the ethnic preferences of theguests. For example, Indian guestslove lamb rack. But they will seldomwant it rare or medium rare. So youhave to ask what they want.

How do you recommend dishes?

I basically recommend our famousdishes—the foie gras and chocolatecake.

Most people just want to be lookedafter. We’re selling an experience.We try to do it without asking toomany questions.

About 80 percent of the guests knowwhat they want. If they are a littlelost, I describe the dishes.

Recommend something with yourheart. Facial expressions anddescriptions are also very important.

How do you word up your wait staff?

There’s classroom teaching and theyapply what they learn. We also runthrough what they’ve been taughtduring their shift breaks.

We talk about the customers, tablearrangement and the food andwines.

No meal is the same, so be openand listen to what customers want.

We go through all the guests’information and role play. I even callback and see how fast the phone ispicked up and how the staff handlereservations.

What was your most difficult customer like?

The ones that are just unhappy withthe table allocation. But I anticipatetheir questions even before they askby reading their body language.

To me, a difficult customer is not aspecific person—it’s someone whochooses to remain arrogant andrude.

We had a guest with a specialreligion, and we had to get plasticcutlery and utensils. We didn’t pullout a banana leaf, but almost.

Guests who have had a high level ofalcohol consumption can becomevery difficult. When that happens weseat them in the lounge area untilthey’ve calmed down.

Biggest perks of the job?

Seeing your customers happy andhearing them say the meal wasgreat.

Seeing happy people every day.When the staff turnover is low, whenthe customers come back.

When you receive an email thankingyou for a satisfying meal—becauseyou managed to touch themsomewhere.

When the guests recommend newguests, keep coming back and tellus we’re the top restaurant.

Will a bigger tip ensure the best table?

No, it’s first-come, first-served. If it’sa birthday, we will try to give you aromantic corner and dress up thetable.

There’s no bribe. Just make yourselfclear and you can get it.

It’s first-come, first-served. Once thetables are given away, we say no. It’sintegrity.

Well, no. If a new guest wants aprime table, we will give it to them ifit’s available and decorate the tablenicely.