The Restaurant Manager

 

 

In any professional restaurant the manager is an integral part of the smooth running of the establishment, and in many cases he/she should be a leader, full of support for the staff, a smiling face to the customers and the arbitrator in any disputes over the table, the bill or the temperature of the wine. If you have a good one it can add a fair percentage to the revenue, a poor one can cost the owner customers, and thousands in lost revenue.

It can therefore be viewed as integral to the success of the restaurant, the enthusiasm, manner and operational style of the manager is the key, the essence and the heart of the success, or in some cases the reason for failure!

One of the greatest success stories in this key role is a young man running one of the busiest restaurants in London. Sarastro in the heart of Covent Garden and my Restaurant of the Year for 2003, is the very restaurant where the art of the successful manager can be viewed and appreciated. Mehmet Doldur is a vibrant, enthusiastic and professional manager who deals with every visitor to this very popular establishment on Drury Lane with care, respect and a totally unflappable manner, a lesson for many others in the industry who can only dream of such regular volumes of dining customers.

I have had the opportunity to see Mehmet in action on a few occasions recently, and it left me literally breathless. The energy expended, the ability to multi-task, the memory for faces and names among the many regular diners, and the responses to the unknown and irregular requests from the guests, all are dealt with by the manager with diplomacy, consideration and, above all, professionalism.

That very word, professionalism, reflects the very platform upon which this manager, and many others across the length and breadth of the country, build their reputation, one that can and does enhance the attraction of the restaurant.

Sitting in Sarastro on a bustling Saturday evening allowed me to see, first hand, how the job is done, and done well. Sarastro is at the very heart of