This business is all about one thing, making people happy. That's it, very simple. It could be as straightforward as making a perfect cup of coffee for someone on an early Sunday morning or as elaborate as arranging a flawless event for someone to celebrate as special moment in their lives. While that may sound easy, the steps involved to make each person who visits the restaurant happy is numerous. Consider this, I had a guest last week who thought the food was fantastic but the sound of a servers shoes on the hard wooden floor annoyed her to no end and that little thing was a huge thing to her(note: he has new shoes now). Conversely, I recently had a guest who found the service by a particular staff to be gracious and warm, while another guest found the same person to be cold and inattentive.
The complexities of human interaction and the perception of similar circumstances and events are fascinating to me. These complexities pose a challenge to me and my staff and we constantly talk about how to "read" certain tables for clues on how they would like to be served. This of course takes experience and time as well as an innate ability to anticipate the needs of someone who you just came into contact with. What this also means is that everybody has different expectations, whether it be of the food, service or ambiance.
We are all formulating a subjective response to the situation. I strongly believe in the products, people and place that we have here at Spruce and when we fail to meet a guests expectations I am honestly very hurt. I also believe that we can't be everything to everyone. We are who we are and while some people may think we are great others may think differently and that's ok. All we can do is move forward and look at ways to become better and act accordingly. I think as a restaurateur you must be confident in your product and not be afraid to feel strongly about the services and products you provide. But, you also must be humble and admit when you were wrong and make it right. Till next time.
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About Me
- ChefTJM
- Thank you for your interest. I would like to welcome you to my blog. I am so grateful to be able to share with you my thoughts, inspirations and daily commentary. Many of you will recognize me from my time at WineGarage and now I am moving on to new and exciting projects here in Singapore. As always, please feel free to contact me, I would love to here your comments, questions and queries. Hopefully the second time around on this blog I will be able to write more frequently. All the best. Cheers!
9 comments:
i came for the first time in a desperate search for a genuine pancake this weekend. i appreciated the pancake, and everything else from the beginning to the end - staff, decor, food, drinks, coffee...
i agree you can't be "everything to everyone" and that's exactly what i like about SPRUCE. it's simple and honest.
all the best!
I agree with your last few lines. No matter how great your food is, a restaurateur should stay humble and ensure that service standards can match the food. Service and food must go hand in hand. For me personally, I am more forgiving of poor food than bad service.
I embrace the philosophy in managing your restaurant..
would you mind telling me the more popular dishes in spruce?
I would love to come down soon!
cheers
Thanks for all the comments. Some of our more popular dishes include our Spruce Burger, Ahi Tuna Tartar, Sweet onion Crepe with White Truffle Sauce and our Warm Ginger Date Pudding. I look forward to cooking for you. Cheers!
Hi JM,
thanks for your prompt replies!
I will definitely dropby soon!
cheers!
I'm in the service industry as well and yes, it's hard to manage everyone's expectations.
hi i just had dinner. Spruce burger and Spruce
burger special were excellent (meat was tasty and bun was light and just slightly crispy and buttered enough, with well fried fries) and snickers cheesecake was superbly smooth and creamy (not chunky and dry). italian coffee was robust, smooth, but not bitter. Also great that waiters automatically split dessert into two without needing to be asked. Just one thing - is there any way you can prepare the burger so that the bottom bun doesn't become soggy?
I first heard of Spruce when a friend mine said you guys did great burgers and had Asahi on tap...! I'm in! Say no more.
Asahi on tap is rare in Singapore and good burgers.. well I found that Spruce serves one of the few best burgers in town. Food was lovely and not as foo foo as you think.
Service was great, gosh the only place with smart enough waiters to know how to split the bill 4 ways.
But only 1 thing: Asahi needs to be cold. It wasnt as cold as I expected coming from a tap. Like most beer lovers, I absolutely love cold beer, more so in this hot climate.
Cold beer + great unpretentious food = a must weekly visit to Spruce. :)
I've been to Spruce twice now and tomorrow would make it the third time. The unpretentious food and simple yet inviting atmosphere makes it easy to return to.
But like you've mentioned, service can be perceived as patchy, which I've experienced during my two visits. One server was attentive on my first but was surprising brusque the next. I guess everyone has bad days, though.
Oh, you could also consider making your menu available via e-mail. I requested for the menu so I could ascertain if there would be anything suitable for my diabetic dad but was told it was only available via fax. I don't have access to a fax machine.
See you guys later!
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