The best days were definitely the ones where the whole team was all on the same page.
From the beginning till the end.
Only 1 way to make that possible: BE PREPARED!
Besides being prepared, communication was another important part of the equation.
That’s why we had somebody ‘running the passe’.
This person was in charge of conducting the service, communicating specialties to every department in the kitchen, checking in with Lotte, the sommelier if guests had their wines and instructing the servers to deliver the right plates to the right guests.
It was a very stressful position but having somebody capable in charge of the flow made it so much easier for everybody.
I learned running the passe from LJ, he was incredibly good at it, knew what was going every single minute of the day and could intervene when he saw a glitch in the system.
Some days were more fun then others, some days I wished I didn’t have to do it, somedays I felt defeated when I had made a wrong decision and guests had to wait 25 more minutes for their food.
But those times made me stronger and I grew to love this position.
Running the passe became my drug, my addiction. Everyday I tried to improve something. I pushed the team to their limits, in return they allowed me to make calculated risks in asking out the next course without all plates being cleared.
We were on a constant race, had death lines to beat.
One of the reasons my nick name became The Iron Lady.
I was ruthless but knew the team was on my side. I’m telling you, the pressure is high when there is an amazing DJ playing at La Rocca on Sunday night! All main courses had to out by 10:15pm!
We created series of tables that came in together, would get their starter together, main course, desserts and eventually coffee and sweets.
I communicated the series in numbers with their exceptions, if there were special requests or VIP’s to the kitchen.
I translated those numbers to tables for the servers and seat number per guest.
That was our little system, how the ants would run in the kitchen, how we brought Sergio’s vision to live in the restaurant.
Thinking about those days makes me realize how much I love the hospitality industry.
It makes me happy to make other people happy.
To make their day a little brighter, a little bit easier or relaxed.
Both guests and teams alike.
Xo – Ann