The ability to not say NO!

As I was dining recently at The French Laundry, the only three Michelin starred restaurant on the west coast and the restaurant that can proudly say it was voted the best restaurant in America, I learned one of Chef Thomas Keller's personal philosophies. He said, "Never say no!" So many times when we find ourselves at our most busy moments we forget that other people are in need as well. So many times the word 'NO' is used in a restaurant and in order to become truly successful at a restaurant that word needs to be eliminated from your vocabulary.

Today we will discuss two different aspects of NO and how it affects the dining experience. The first is telling the customer "No". Many diners are not foodies, they are the inexperienced amateurs who make up the majority of the population. Many of these diners have walls/guards up when they walk into an expensive restaurant and are looking for that one mistake/nuance to hate it, and most likely write about it. Also, with any diner there tends to be a lot of special requests, whether it be a dietary restriction/allergy or just a dislike for what is on the menu. They, in order to have the dining experience they are looking for need us to always responded with "Yes, I can do that for you." I know this might sound difficult, but it is imperative that we succeed in always saying yes, even if it means getting reamed the Boss/Chef/Manager. As a professional I have experienced first hand what happens when you tell someone they can't have what they want. People write about it, every flaw becomes a major problem, and you then get yelled at. It's better in the long term for your guests and for yourself if you suck it up and just say yes!

Another aspect of NO is telling your peers NO. You cannot ever tell someone who needs your help no. You are never that busy, ever. There are many obvious reasons why you must always help someone in need, even at your most busy. First off, they are going to remember that you refuse to help them and they are less likely to help you in return. Their service will suffer, which will make the guests experience suffer, with an end result of both of you getting yelled at (again I speak from personal experience) and honestly, you don't want that reputation. No owner/manager is going to want someone on their staff that says NO, that won't take the necessary steps to guarantee the overall experience of the restaurant.

So that's it, NO doesn't exist, only YES, your guests will be happy that you accommodated them, your reviews are more likely to be positive and imagine this. What if one of the guests you review is a food critic for a national publication and it gets written, that you refused accommodate their special request? How are you going to explain that? Exactly...Just say YES! and with that I say good night!

Take Care,
Shaundon