Feeding Large Groups

Leftovers from a barbecue function

This morning I mentally prepared for a typical Sunday service in the starter section of the bar. I was actually feeling like I was in pretty good shape for today – we had plenty of back-up of everything ready, and would probably still have enough to not be left with absolutely nothing for Monday. As I prepared my station for orders, I was told to give any last-minute prep jobs to another cook. The thing is, I really didn’t have any except for slicing lemons and picking herbs, two jobs I could easily do myself between orders.

Placed in the staff canteen

Service was going quite well, not crazy busy, but not slow at all either. We had a few packages right between 12:00 and 1:00p.m. – certain packages staying on the estate, such as the girls’ getaway, includes a three course meal in the bar. So we had a group of six, eight, and eight come in for three courses, which are big orders along with other orders coming in. At least we knew they were coming though. The issue was, we had two more huge groups come in without warning – a group of twelve and a group of sixteen. In these cases, these big groups are supposed to be offered a reduced menu from the server, offering a few options from each course that make it a bit easier on the kitchen staff, instead of running around with seafood platters and sides and substitutions and whatnot. Otherwise, they are usually offered only mains and not apps and desserts as well. But the servers did not do this, and the order came in, and there were also a bunch of requests to go with it. And more (smaller) orders were coming in on top of that, as it was a busy time of day. But I am proud to say, we pulled all those orders off without a hitch, and boy did I feel good after that! Of course I did have help on the starter line again today, it is completely necessary on Sundays!

And staff go crazy for it!

At 9:30p.m., after closing at 9:00 and thinking all the orders were done, I got an order for three sandwiches. Usually if any orders are requested past nine, the server comes in to ask the cook if that is alright, and usually we offer something simple, such as sandwiches. But the order came in, and the cook on mains asked me if anyone had asked me about the order, and I said no. He told the server, sorry, kitchen is closed. Then the head server came back and reported that this order was for room service, and room service is open until 9:30p.m. So I made the three sandwiches, even though most of my stuff had been put away. Then no one came to take them. Finally someone did, but they ended up going out to the bar – not room service like had been said. I didn’t think it was a huge deal, I mean, it should not happen every night as it is not fair to the cooks, if we close at 9:00, we close at 9:00, but three sandwiches didn’t bother me too much. However, the other cook made a big deal out of it, speaking to the head chefs and the maitre d’hotel.