Garrett Gagne
FYS: Food and Community in the American Culture
Professor McLuckie
10 May 2012
Developing Restaurant Reviews with an Educated Background
A quote from Men’s Health Magazine (26.9: 2011) puts its best, “The restaurant industry is an easy target, a slowly swaying punching bag for heavy-fisted critics.”When it comes to analyzing a certain dining experience, everyone feels a sense of entitlement. Unfortunately, society has reached the point where restaurant reviews are developed around inflated, bland ideas and have become self absorbed, popularity contests.Restaurant reviews are important to society because they help guide and educate people about a restaurant. While it is clear that restaurant reviews inform, it is important that the reviewer implements simplicity to avoid any bias opinions. The writer must review in breadth and depth, analyzing the food, service and setup to an effective extent that will allow the reader to generate their own curiosity for the restaurant.
When it comes to reviewing restaurants, it is important to begin analyzing from the restaurant’s point of view. By knowing the backstage production of a meal, it can allow for the customer to form a much more educated review.
First, we must look at the pressures of being a cook. In Gary Alan Fine’s, Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work he says,“In a restaurant, cooks must be aware of the demands placed on them standards of customer taste, constraints on time, and the economics of the restaurant industry. The features limit what is possible to create. Each constraint is tied to structural and historical dimensions of the larger world, and the complaints of cooks are a response to the structural conditions of restaurants and public taste. “ Cooks face many hardships like the pressure of time, resources, and respect. When it comes to reviewing a restaurant, many questions about the service can be answered from analyzing the behavior of cooks. Cooks need to extremely flexible becauseof the unknown amount of orders and certain demands of servers and diners. There is direct relationship between cooks and servers, but each experience different types of pressure. Fine explains, “Cooks and servers experience different pressures. Cooks hope to have the authority to prepare dishes in an unhurried manner, whereas servers need to maximize the satisfaction of the customers, who are their immediate source of income. Since servers do not share tips, cooks have little invested- in short term- in insuring that customers are optimally satisfied (Paules 1991, p.108). Aside from the demand of servers and diners, management constantly looks to limit costs while maximizing customer satisfaction. Businesses looks to hire as few cooks as possible, demanding optimal performance with limited ingredients. Restaurants have a breakdown in their meal quality when the cooks find themselves working under too many restraints and with no respect of their owners. For a restaurant to run successfully, they must have coherence between the management, cooks, severs, and diners. At any point, the constraints can bear down too hard on one aspect of the business and the entire mojo is lost. The positive environment of a restaurant is the reflection of solid relationships between the levels of workers.
Cooks have at least three audiences. Fine breaks them down as “(1) themselves and their peers, who strive for high subcultural standards as long as they can be reasonably met with appropriate effort; (2) management, which demands profits by keeping labor, material, and fixed overhead costs low, and by having customers return to the establishment; and (3) customers, who insist on what they define as high quality, but who are possibly unaware of what quality consists of, and who also demand “good value” (low profit) in the given market niche.” Successful cooks realize their place in the community and work with others to create mutual benefits. Developing a strong community and culture in a restaurant’s kitchen, will result in quality, confident dishes.
In Danny Meyer’s, Setting the Table: The Transforming power of Hospitality in Business, he discusses his personal philosophy that made him one of America’s most innovative restaurateurs. He uses the term “enlightened hospitality” to illustrate the hierarchy of the business. Restaurants are established on the long-run basis. Meyer believes a long term perspective puts employees first, guests second, community third, suppliers fourth, and investors fifth (Meyer). Meyer also preaches the idea of trust among workers. A manager needs to trust his employees in order to create a productive business environment. Danny Meyer believes character is one of the most valuable aspects of business. “For our managers to become great leaders, we identify and assess a number of crucial character traits that subset of the five coreemotional skills- optimistic warmth, intelligence, work ethic, empathy, integrity, and self awareness (Meyer pg.216).” Restaurant managers that fulfill these traits will attract people and promote good business. It is important that servers and cooks all reflect the management, so there is no disconnect. Meyer says, “ I believe that leadership is not measured just by what you’ve accomplished, but rather by how other people you depend on feel in the process of accomplishing things (Meyer pg. 217).” Creating a restaurant business that allows for all levels of workers to enjoy what they do, will promote trust with the management and establish a strong motivation towards success.
Restaurants are bound to make mistakes, but it’s important for a reviewer to not hold these mistakes against the business. Instead, customers evaluating a restaurant must analyze how the restaurant dealt with the missteps. Meyer shares the business perspective when dealing with mistakes (Meyer):
The Five A’s For Effectively Addressing Mistakes
- Awareness- Many mistakes go unaddressed because no one is even aware they have happened. If you’re not aware, you’re nowhere.
- Acknowledgement- “Our server had an accident, and we are going to prepare a new plate for you as quickly as possible.”
- Apology- “I am so sorry this happened to you.” Alibis are not one of the Five A’s. It is not appreciate or useful to make excuses (“We’re short-staffed.”)
- Action- “Please enjoys this for now. We’ll have your fresh order out in just few minutes.” Say what you are going to do make amends then follow through.
- Additional generosity- Unless the mistake had to do with slow timing, I would instruct my staff to send out something additional (a complimentary dessert or dessert wine) to thanks the guests for having been good sports. Some serious mistakes warrant a complimentary dish or meal.
If the customer can value more on how the workers dealt with certain problems, instead of the problem happening, then they will begin to realize the intentions of the restaurant. When you are able to grasp the restaurant’s intentions, then you will begin to value your interactions in a different way. You find yourself knowing how the workers feel and if they reflect the business. When you can accomplish making this connection, your view on the service will become credible.
When it comes to restaurant service, Meyers says “one fits one”. He explains, “ Our job is not to impose our own needs on our guests: it’s to be aware of their needs and to deliver the goods accordingly (Meyer pg. 92).” Restaurants depend on the concept of human relationships and it is there job to identify what the customer wants. Well, as Meyersimply explains it, everyone wears a big sign around his or her neck that reads, “Make me feel important”. As a result, employees must work to see how big the individual’s sign is, so they can gage the amount of interacting. This simple idea helps guide a wait staff. So next time you find yourself in a restaurant, ask yourself “what are they doing to acknowledge my sign?”
The restaurant’s point of view has been established, but now we must understand the customer’s viewpoint in order to produce solid restaurant reviews. Customers need to search for seamless dining experiences. They should feel an unhurried, convivial social atmosphere where guests can unwind, relax, and enjoy what’s offered. The restaurant experience begins with service. If the staff fails to meet a customer’s expectation in the first five minutes, they will not even bother to give the food a chance. According to a Design Restaurants article, service should be “discreet, unfussy and attentive to the right level. It should be friendly, but not over familiar, or ingratiating, an equal dance of respect for the guest and server”. It comes down to the simple interactions during the short period of time, and then decidingwhether the service was too much or too little.
Next on the list is the food. Design Restaurants believe “the best quality ingredients cooked simply to let the flavors sing, not too fussy or overelaborate, with bizarre combinations of flavors”. When it comes to eating a meal, it needs to be personal. You must account for personal preferences and realize that only you care about them. What you may have heard should have no impact on your review. The restaurant review should contain fresh ideas and less reiterating what someone may have already said. The more diners with you, the better the review. Order a variety of dishes, and remember that look, presentation and taste are the basic areas you want to address. Put the meal in context with the restaurant and ask yourself, does the food represent the business that is being presented? Often times, customers find themselves making critiques towards a restaurant’s menu. Menus help control work pace. Extensive menu’s either show simple preparations or a large staff (Kitchens: The culture of Restaurant Work).
When it comes to writing or talking about restaurant reviews, the majority of our population fails.Society has bought into the “highly critical and bitingly sarcastic” reviews that want to value attention more than anything else. Often times, professionals work too hard to give off a stern persona and forget that people care about the restaurant rather than the reviewer. Sam Worthington is a chef, restaurateur and publican whose have been dining around the world for over twenty years. Unlike many of his colleagues, Worthington has earned his world-renowned respect through his fairness. In his article, “How to write a restaurant review”, he explains the fundamentals of reviews using the acronym “KISS’ (Keep it simple and stupid). Part of Worthington’s insight, “bear in mind this not a popularity contest: restaurant owners will hate you and your friends may disagree”, should be reminded to professionals and reinforced to the public. Restaurant reviews need to be unique and enjoyable to read. Your goal is to encapsulate the business as whole and generate curiosity from the reader that will make them what to experience it themselves. It is important to formulate your review right after your dining experience. Remember to limit opinionated statements and implement what youfelt and tasted during your dining experience.
Restaurant reviews provide insight for everyone. Whether you are the owner or customer of a restaurant, reviews help educate and assist both sides of the industry. The restaurant industry is one of the most competitive industries in the country, and restaurant reviews are the connecting factor between the business and consumer. Reviews offer an alternative to advertisements and help guide people who are searching for a seamless restaurant experience. Understanding the restaurant’s point of view will allow you to develop an educated review. Questions about cooks, service, or atmosphere can all be answered if you understand the basics of restaurant businesses. The industry revolves around human interactions and for a restaurant to succeed, it requires both side’s participation. A good review is one that has mutual benefit to the public and the restaurant. It avoids generic, bland descriptions and informs the reader to a certain extent that will hopefully leave them wanting more.