This was my first (and only!) week that I worked 75 hours! I think I am one of the more experienced food/beverage runners now since they had me on 2 ten hour shifts on top of the regular Friday closing shift at the Subi Hotel for the Mother’s Day weekend.
The restaurant was full of babies! And all of them so cute! It was a busy weekend, nothing like Fri and Sat nights though but I was still running off my feet. My feet are so sore, I become a couch potato when I get home, just so I can rest them as much as possible but you’ll be happy to know, I’ve not resorted to crawling on hands and knees in the apartment although I did think about it once. (ok, a couple of times!)
Now, I’m fully versed in opening Champaign bottles having done at least 5 of them over the weekend. I asked Duane, one of the newly minted waiters, to watch me open my first bottle but we decided I should watch once first. We got to the table of 2 and they noticed I was training. The gentleman owned restaurants in New York and took over the lesson! Got Duane (the waiter) to hand me the bottle, got up and proceeded to instruct me on the finer points. Note to you Ange, if you need a bottle opened at your reception, I have a waiter’s friend and experience! Haha
Oh, I guess that goes for Justin and Theresa and Glen and Sara as well!
This is also the weekend I was given the task of training the newest staff member. Very strange since I don’t even know everything myself; I’ve only got 3 weekends worth of experience! She supposedly has hospitality experience (granted, in a café) but didn’t even have the confidence to carry a tray full of drinks. She wanted me to supervise her if she ever needed to carry them. I told her this was my first hospitality job and she should just try and attempt everything, that’s how I learned… Hopefully, she’ll do ok.
Ange, I know will ask how do you open Champaign. Well, you need to tilt the bottle about 10 degrees while you twist the cork. And linen napkin should be placed over the cork to keep it from flying across the room. If you do it the posh, professional way, there should be no popping sound, just a quiet pfft sound. Most people can’t do it properly and end up with a loud pop. It’s just a good thing that Aussies are so relaxed about everything so that I am forgiven for the little mistakes. I’ve been told two different methods for pouring. One is leaving the glass on the table and ensuring you pour slowly enough not to get too many bubbles, the other is to pick up the glass, hold it at an angle and get the liquid to run down the side. I’ll have to check with Eveline on the proper method.
Bertha