Breakfast problems
April 20, 2006
by Kit Cassingham
Part of staff training is making clear not only what extents and limits employees have, but how to be good at customer service. Setting good policies helps everyone do their job well, making for a great guest experience.
About Breakfast...
I am an employee of a B&B
We have this recurring breakfast problem: the "Egg Fiasco"
It occurs every weekend and I'm sick of hearing about it.
Chef cooks, I serve.
Regardless of what's on the buffet, someone will ask for another style of eggs. Chef is happy to make whatever. Owner comes in and chews me out for serving items other than on the buffet.
Our current policy is: if guests have dietary restrictions, serve them "whatever".
When the other guests see me serving "whatever", they want that too.
I cannot get a straight answer out of my boss as to what to do, or not to do, in this situation.
HELP!
(new member)
~Dragon22~
Comments
That's a tough one!
I'm with you that the gracious thing to do is to prepare what guest ask for. I wouldn't like the short-order-cook aspect of that, but if your chef doesn't mind, then it's not a big deal.
But, if the owner has other ideas, it's time for the three of you to sit down and hash (excuse the pun!) it out. Maybe it's time to end the buffet. Maybe only "cold" items go on the buffet and hot items are served separately. If you know ahead of time what food restrictions your guests have, you could determine a menu that would satisfy everyone so that you aren't cooking special items for each breakfast guest.
I hope you can get the owner to work with you on this. You are the one on the "front line", so the policy needs to work for you as well as everyone else.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
Posted by: Kit Cassingham | May 14, 2007 12:44 PM
Hi Dragon, and welcome to B&B Talk.
I think your question is an interesting one. The real question I have is, why is the owner upset about the situation? If the chef is willing to go the extra mile to make guests happy and you are willing to serve the non-buffet food without complaining, then what does the owner have to complain about, the extra $1 a day in eggs? Seems like a small price to pay for happy guests. At many B&B's the chef is the server and the owner so there may not be enough of that one person to do the custom short-order work and get the server timing and the host banter down so I can see why short orders aren't an option, but in your case I just can't see it.
Kit's right, it's time for a sit down conversation with the owner to find out the issues and lay out the outcomes of the policy decisions. There may be parts that each person isn't seeing. _________________ Steve Wirt Wine Country Cabins Bed and Breakfast in the Finger Lakes and Inngenious Bed and Breakfast Website Promotion
Posted by: Steve Wirt | May 14, 2007 12:45 PM
Forgive me...I type when I have time...which is rare... Kit - thanx for answering...I've really got to do the "hash" things out thing.
My first idea was - if the guests want something OFF the buffet - charge 'em xtra! That'll put a stop to stuff really quickly. (mgt won't go for it - I bet) Heck - we offer soooo many things on "buffet days" that there are enough choices to go around - or so I thought...Yep - gotta drag the owner out - oops - IN for a glass of wine and hash this out! Thanx ~Dragon22~
Posted by: Anonymous | May 14, 2007 12:46 PM