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1 Brooke Adey, Bentley Restaurant & Bar. 2 The Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Young Waiter national finals.
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time and all too often jobs in front of house are regarded as a pit stop. Restaurant consultant Tony Eldred says that in the last 20 years the amount of people entering the industry has decreased. “There used to be a waiting apprenticeship and it turned out really good, well trained waiters,” says Eldred. “But it was closed down about 20 to 25 years ago and since then the industry has had to carry its own burden of training at a time when they really can’t afford to do so, so the skill levels are quite problematic now.”
years the hospitality sector will experience a growth of 13.9 per cent in employment, with almost one in four jobs for waiters and kitchenhands. Brooke Adey, from Sydney’s Bentley restaurant and bar, was the winner of this year’s Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Young Waiter award. “I now consider this industry to be part of who I am,” says Adey. “I love the buzz of service, the anticipation and nervous energy of walking onto the floor and not really knowing what to expect is unlike anything else.”
Eldred also says that the expectations of waiters have heightened. “We are making them actively sell now, whereas 10 years ago all they had to do was react to requests,” he says. “So product knowledge and selling skills and merchandising skills are now coming to the floor.”
The industry is also a “never ending education”. As a waiter, Adey is there to “bridge the gap between the kitchen and customer”. She says her role is to ensure that the guests have the best experience, act as the voice for the kitchen and an ambassador for the restaurant.
Although more is now expected, Eldred does not link that to the decreasing amount of staff but rather because of the changing economics and demographics.
“Every person that walks in the door is looking for something different and the earlier you can establish what this is, the better their experience and the easier it is for you to look after them,” she says.
“Kids are staying and living at home a lot longer than they used to,” he says. “We are seeing 25 to 27 years olds still living at home because of the high cost of real estate, so they don’t have the same need for employment as they did maybe 10 to 15 years ago. “There is a haemorrhaging of skilled, experienced people leaving the industry and we are not replacing them at anywhere near the same rate at the moment. Meanwhile, the number of restaurants and cafes is rapidly expanding.” Research indicates that over the next five
With customers becoming more knowledgeable and engaged in the overall dining experience, Adey says it elevates the expectations of the front of house staff and their breadth of knowledge. “I think it is our responsibility to embrace this trend and treat this is as just another way for us to engage with our guests.” Having tried out a number of jobs as a teenager, restaurant manager Gerald Ryan says the “energy of the industry kept dragging me back”. Ryan started working in hospitality when
30 Open House, October 2015 www.openhousemagazine.net
he was 18-years-old and says that the industry chose him. “I fell into working at a pub in England and when I returned to Australia, I needed a job, and had really enjoyed working behind a bar. So I applied at my local pub and went from there,” he says. Ryan previously worked at Brae in regional Victoria before moving to Sydney to work as a restaurant manager and sommelier at Oscillate Wildly in Newtown. “It is a very small team and it is my first foray into managing a restaurant, which I am finding challenging but rewarding as well,” he says. Working in front of house can be challenging because of the long hours, being constantly on your feet and emotionally draining. “I think the hardest thing is the emotional toll it can take on waiters, who have to put everything happening in their lives outside of work and front up smiling every day,” he says. “The hardest thing, is to appear like a duck. Effortlessly floating along, without a ripple, but working incredibly hard underneath the water.” The trend towards chef driven restaurants is putting Australian dining on the map, but it needs to be handled with caution and the industry move forward as a whole. “That is the only way that we will successfully become a greater industry, one that should continue to gather momentum on a world stage,” Ryan says. “The only thing that cannot, under any circumstance, be lost, is hospitality.” OH