Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Don’t drop Apologies after the fact to Table 32. This would be the couple that had to wait a bit too long for Course No. 3 and then were still eating Course No. 3 when dessert arrived, which was unfortunate, as dessert involved ice cream.
that plate!
Leeward Community College
students have their hands full
hosting an elaborate
practice dinnerBy Betty Shimabukuro
Star-BulletinThank God waiting on tables is not my real job.
A couple of Wednesdays ago, Leeward Community College -- as a combination fund-raising, teaching tool -- hosted an elaborate, four-course, sit-down dinner in its Pearl Dining Room. Because practice makes perfect, two more of these dinners are scheduled, the next one on March 21, but more on that later.
At this dinner, the food was crafted by chefs Alan Wong and Randal Ishizu, assisted by culinary students, and it was served by more students, overseen by a team of professional restaurant managers.
Someone (could it have been me?) came up with the idea that it would be useful for someone who writes about restaurants to see what it's like behind the scenes of the fine-dining experience.
Guest Chef Dinner
and Wine SeriesOn the menu: A four-course meal featuring chefs Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's Restaurants and Hiroshi Fukui of L'Uraku, with wines paired by master sommelier Chuck Furuya
How complicated could this be? Obviously, you weren't there.
Let's take, for starters, pouring water, which is the one thing I became fairly good at. At LCC, there is an actual class in dining-room service, and one of the required skills is pouring water. The students start by filling glasses away from the table and then delivering them on a tray. They progress to carrying the pitcher to the table and lifting each glass to refill it. The ultimate skill is pouring the water as the glass sits on the table (presumably one pours without dripping, spilling or elbowing the customer).
More rules: Pour from the right of the customer. Serve food from the left. Remove dishes from the right. Present the check from the left, to the man (that seems a bit outdated, but whatever)."Manicure the table" with each visit, Mark Shishido advised us. Shishido is the manager of the Pineapple Room, Wong's restaurant in Liberty House, Ala Moana, and he's my hero.
He can stand in the back of a room and know that one table in the far right corner is ready for the next course or needs to be manicured -- cleared of crumbs or sugar packets or dirty forks. You can tell when the wait staff is swamped, he said: "The water glasses are low."
Timing is everything when the kitchen is balancing 100 or so "covers" -- or meals for a full dining room. You have to watch each table and call for the next course when your guests are halfway through the previous one. You don't want to rush them, but you don't want them to wait too long (both of which happened to Table 32). Timing is somewhat of an art, especially when, say, one person at the table is a slow eater.
We also learned to pour wine, from Chuck Furuya, a master sommelier. "When we do 100 covers like this it puts stress on the students, and that's what real restaurants are like -- stress!" (If you'd ever met Furuya, you would know he lives off stress vibes, so for him this was a good thing.)
But anyway, about the wine: Hold the bottle so the label is facing the customer. Tilt slightly and pour. Give a slight twist as you lift the bottle, so it doesn't drip. Wipe the bottle between pours. Pour the same amount into each glass. Say sophisticated things like, "This is a 1997 Domain L'Hortus Rouge 'Pic St. Loup,' from the south of France, a blend of three grape varietals: Granache, Syrah and Cinsault, a vibrant match to the anise flavors in your next course, veal short ribs."
Hah! I said something like, "this wine goes with your veal" -- never mind trying to pronounce all that French stuff -- and tried hard not to drip red wine on ladies wearing white blouses.
There is one thing I did not attempt on this night -- lifting fully loaded trays. You've seen this in restaurants: A petite waitress will arrive with a huge round tray lifted with one hand, her other hand holding a folding rack. She opens the rack, somehow, one-handed, bends her knees and lowers the tray, then serves your food (from the left). For future reference, you should always express awe when you see this happen.
I lifted one of those trays about 2 inches and decided carrying a full one was a proposition fraught with peril. Dropping it on a customer could do serious harm to the LCC's future fund-raising potential, not to mention run up food costs. And since this was not my real job -- did I mention that? -- nobody made me do it.Tomilynn Benevente is the dining room service instructor at LCC and freely admits that students only take her class because they need it to complete their two-year course of culinary study.
At the time of this dinner, the semester was just beginning, so these students were quite new to service etiquette, Benevente said. "They've just started water-at-the-table. They haven't started coffee."
Along with carrying plates and pouring water, Benevente must teach them "conviviality," or how to chat up their customers. Body language and the way they walk are important. They role-play and go through a script of service pleasantries.
This is painful for most of them, she said. They joined the culinary program because they want to be chefs, and they prefer working in anonymity back by the stoves.
"The dining room service class is the class they dread," she said happily.
This assertion was basically confirmed by Kay Nakamura, who has wanted to be chef since she was 6 years old but was serving tables for this event. The kitchen -- which was also a frantic place for this special dinner -- is far more comfortable, she said. "I like that stress better than this stress because no one can see you."
None of this should worry you if you decide to put up your $55 for the next LCC chef's dinner. It will be prepared by chefs Roy Yamaguchi and Hiroshi Fukui (of L'Uraku). Furuya will pair the wines. This pretty much guarantees the food and drink will be amazing.
As for the service -- well, I won't be there -- and the dining room pros like Shishido can't help themselves; they will chip in to ensure that things go smoothly, even if the amateurs get flustered.
Even at Table 32.
Click for online
calendars and events.
