The thing I have noticed the most in the world outside my door, and not just the restaurant world but the whole world, is a gradual and unfortunate decline in the quality of the service industry’s attention to the people who make the whole thing run, the customers.
Not to sound all whiny and self-indulgent, but there needs to be a certain attention given to the fact that goods and services are purchased by people called customers and that they may be the great unwashed, the hoi polloi but they are still the focus of the business, the purpose of its very existence and instead of seeing them as an obstacle to a smooth-running evening, they ought to be seen as a resource, a cornucopia of potential for the future that will need some hand-holding, some education, some little bit of love and yes, some sense of deference.
Sorry. I mean that, it seems to offend the sensibilities of so many these days. I’m not talking obsequious servility, I’m simply talking about an understanding that there is a mine of money sitting there, standing there, whatever, and that you have to develop and cultivate that mine if you want to be working it for a while.
Now that I’ve offended nearly everybody let me tell you why this came to mind.
The service last night at El Coqui was stupendous. I mean, the food was all that and a bag of chips, but the service was worth going over to Tina and letting her know how impressed I was.
No meaningless sucking up, no hovering irritation, just concern for the experience we were about to embark upon, and a passion for making of it all that it could possibly be.
When it was expected, you got it, now that we expect service to be bad, there is nothing to live up to.
Demand more. Kudo’s to the staff at el Coqui and bravo to the owners for their dedication to passionate service.
