Yet while chefs may be masters of the menu, restaurant managers are the ones who really keep the whole operation from turning into a food fight. So what makes a great restaurant manager?
Smile, serve, repeat
Great restaurant managers realise one fundamental fact – running a great restaurant is all about repeating yourself. They create a system of service and they adhere to it robotically. While that might sound horrendously mundane, there is no other way. Restaurants can't wing it; they can't make it up as they go along. A great manager will create a rigid foundation and structure; effectively a code of conduct, the performance platform upon which your restaurant is staged. A fully rehearsed performance repeated day in, day out. A performance that does allow for improvisation so long as it doesn't veer wildly from the script.
Pirouette your way to politeness
Great managers rarely show their back to a customer, well certainly not for long. Even surrounded by dinner guests, a great manager will be a spinning, twinkle-toed picture of face-on politeness. If a great manager has to turn his back on a customer to talk to staff or another guest, it won't be for long. And while the casual observer may view this as slightly hyperactive, backs are backs and the less your customers see of them the better.
Maximise your pit stops
A great restaurant manager is running an endurance race every day and night. But they're human and energy levels don't care about the party of twelve who arrived ten minutes before closing; they're going to fade. So the best managers refuel often with water and snacks. They do it on the run even in peak times, downing glasses of water in a single flick of the wrist or extracting and eating pocketed snacks in the time it takes to power walk from table ten to the kitchen. It's not perfect, but it beats fainting.
Grin and bear it
Restaurant customers often feel some sort of entitlement to complain, criticise or just be plain rude. While there are limits and the worst cases must be handled with appropriate firmness, great managers have a thick skin and ever-present smile. They understand the concept of 'service' and they accept their role of dignified subservience.
Service the next shift
No, that doesn't mean literally working on through the next manager's shift. However a great manager will leave the restaurant in a great state for the next shift to pick up and run with. Not only will everything be where it should be, they will leave detailed notes of any issues and observations to ensure the new crew are prepped and up to speed before they fire up a single hot plate.
