I love visiting a restaurant on it’s first day of being open. I know it’s not fair to say “the server didn’t know how to use the debit machine” but there is something about service that is more important that numbers and knowing which wines have oxidized, and that’s attitude. It comes with you wherever you go and it isn’t necessarily a reflection of how much you know about your place of work or the menu. But it does affect service, a lot.
I work with someone who is completely jaded. She brings that attitude with her wherever she goes and it affects not only her service but her life. I actually had to say once “can you drop off this desert and smile when you do it” SERIOUSLY, this is a fundamental part of service.
So I won’t rag on the Shore club for not showing their bartender how to use the card machine, or for having a bottle of wine on hand that was completely oxidized (how is that possible on the FIRST day of being open? I assume they used it for the media opening on Friday). What they have done is created a beautiful space, and conveyed the excitement of restaurant openings to their staff. Ten for attitude, Shore club!
It was early in the afternoon and we sat at the bar. It being pre-dinner hour and the first day of opening there were lots of staff around, particularly a group of lady lounge-servers chatting at the end of the bar. They looked like kids talking about the cute boy in class (maybe they were) and though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, it was obvious they were excited/happy. These are the servers the bring the right attitude to service.
We had a great little snack at the Shore club, and it’s clear that although not all the t’s are crossed at the moment (They featured a Featherstone Twenty Twenty Seven riesling on their wine list…look it up you won’t find it, because that is two separate winery names) it’s clear that they have started with their right foot forward, with servers who possess positive attitudes, and bring that with them regardless of how much knowledge they have of the actual resto.
Service is Central 