Food for thought for our current food community

Jason B.'s recent posted got me to thinking about some of our recent disappointing experiences at both favorites and new places. Has Louisville reached a tipping point in available employees, from hosts to servers to bartenders to managers to chefs? It seems to me we've had more mediocre to poor service in the past 6 months than at any other time. Like any profession, I would assume there are just so many good (or at least interested in being good) restaurant workers in town.

As a restauranteur, no matter how much you love your business, you can only go so far if you can't get or keep good people. If you're a good server, you can't be faulted for jumping to somewhere hot if that's where the money is going (ditto for all positions).

Thoughts?

We've had some very good service lately as well with a special shout out to Justin at DiFabios and Matt at Silver Dollar.

I can attest that good restaurant help, both front and back of the house, IS very hard to find.
There are a lot more people out there that are more interested in contributing to drama, supporting whatever chemical habit they are dependant on and just simply collecting a paycheck with out putting any effort into it than there are true foodservice professionals.

I can attest that good restaurant help, both front and back of the house, IS very hard to find.
There are a lot more people out there that are more interested in contributing to drama, supporting whatever chemical habit they are dependant on and just simply collecting a paycheck with out putting any effort into it than there are true foodservice professionals.

That's true of any profession. It just seems the attitude in the states is to demean this kind of work, to marginalize the food service profession as a whole. In Europe more credence is given the profession by the rest of the population. Here it's looked at as a stepping stone to a "real" job. Servers have no interest in investing time and effort into the craft. The rest of the dining public WANTS a professional to wait on them but then demeans the profession as being of no value and not giving them their due. Lately we have seen this attitude adjust dramatically for bartenders but I don't think (unfortunately) that it has changed for servers . At least, not yet.

[Robin Garr]

My point of view may be warped by the fact that reviewing duties take me to a lot of the newer, high-end places, but I wonder if there's some truth in the idea that the rush of fancy new spots is attracting the harder-working servers who understand that quality service pays off in tips, at least in luxury dining.

Thinking back, I've had excellent service at Harvest, Decca, La Coop, Silver Dollar, Wiltshire, Louis le Francais and Henry's Place recently, just to name a few that come to mind, with the only nit being that the bussers at Henry's didn't seem well trained. I didn't care for the smarmy service style at Mozz or St. Charles Exchange, but a lot of people like that. But I can't think of any newer spot where the service has been spectacularly bad.

La Peep? La Coop?

[Robin Garr]

La Peep? La Coop?

Yeah, brain flatulence. Le Peep was a forgettable breakfast chain, briefly represented locally in the building that later house Nik's. I'll edit the original.

This is a disturbing situation. If restaurants are losing staff to the competition, they better figure out why. Money is always an issue, but I have to believe there is more to it than that. We've had our share of mediocre service in restaurants of all levels. But we've also experienced consistently very good to excellent service in some local 'value' level places. How do they keep their staff when others can't?

My point of view may be warped by the fact that reviewing duties take me to a lot of the newer, high-end places, but I wonder if there's some truth in the idea that the rush of fancy new spots is attracting the harder-working servers who understand that quality service pays off in tips, at least in luxury dining.

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You're exactly right. I have friends who have made careers out of jumping to the next big thing. At any new store opening it's amazing how many people you know from previous jobs. So yeah... career servers go where the money is. That is unless they find that one spot where they are so happy that the declining business after the initial opening isn't a factor.

from an owners perspective... i have now totally revamped my thinking on rehires... i used to welcome anyone back, if they gave proper notice and worked it out... they could come back an unlimited amount of times... but when i sat down and put pencil to paper... i realized it cost me a minimum of $500.00 to train any new employee... especially front of house... no matter how long you have been in the game....and how well you are trained... mistakes will be made that result in comped meal / drinks... wrong orders, wasted product etc. i now allow people to leave once and come back once... i am laid back, probably to a fault... but the people who always chase the greener grass almost always come back, hat in hand...

from an owners perspective... i have now totally revamped my thinking on rehires... i used to welcome anyone back, if they gave proper notice and worked it out... they could come back an unlimited amount of times... but when i sat down and put pencil to paper... i realized it cost me a minimum of $500.00 to train any new employee... especially front of house... no matter how long you have been in the game....and how well you are trained... mistakes will be made that result in comped meal / drinks... wrong orders, wasted product etc. i now allow people to leave once and come back once... i am laid back, probably to a fault... but the people who always chase the greener grass almost always come back, hat in hand...

I think that's fair. I am guilty of crawling back to a job when greener pastures turned out to be not so green. And I was so appreciative that I was taken back that I gave that restaurant my best for the next three and a half years. Loyalty does actually mean something in this industry, but you can't really blame anyone for wanting to make more money.