SEVERNMAGAZINE.CO.UK
Perfect Host
At the end of our dinner, Dr Haider left the kitchen and walked to our table and greeted us and other diners and asked how we’d enjoyed our supper. He made us – and other guests – feel very welcome and we were grateful for his kind hospitality. His restaurant, food and service are thoroughly recommended. Edited Review by the Gourmandiser. For a full review & more from around the Heart of England www.gourmet-lifestyle.co.uk Follow them on twitter @gourmet_life
A great meal can be spoilt by bad service. But great service can compensate for a bad meal.
J
ames Day is a keen keen food-O-Phile, and Director of a Hospitality Marketing Consultancy specialising in supporting top Chefs and venues across the Heart of England, and has recently relocated to Shrewsbury from Bridgnorth to help support the forthcoming Shrewsbury Food Festival on 29th and 30th June. Shrewsbury has long been a draw for me, largely due to the wide range of wonderful places to eat, drink and shop in the town, and I am becoming a bit of a regular in many who offer good customer services. I am also a regular customer of many hostelries across the region, UK, and beyond and the one thing that really gets to my marrow is poor customer service. Hospitality is easy. If someone comes to your house, you greet them with a smile, if appropriate offer them refreshments of a drink of their choice, a comfortable place to sit, and possibly enquire if everything is OK, and check they are comfortable. You may even offer them something to eat if the situation arises, and likewise suggest a range of available choices ie tea, coffee, cold drink, sandwich etc , maybe even enquire how long they are gracing you with their presence for. No doubt if all these simple elements of human courtesy are adhered to, then they will leave fully satisfied and will no doubt return and possibly even tell all their friends about how hospitable you are, a great host, and cook, and return - even
James Day with 2 star Michelin chef Marcus Waring.
invite you to their place for a return favour. So, why is it so hard to do the same if you run a hospitality business, and the fact that you are taking hard earned money off those who choose to frequent your establishment over and above the 200 or so others we are assured available in the Shrewsbury area? Now, I don’t have any gripe with any particular venues in town, yet, far from it, but on a general basis the customer service in this country is way below par. With the increasing prices that venues need to charge due to escalating raw material costs of food, wages and insurance, alongside the need for employees of waiters/esses to maintain their jobs and possibly substitute low wages with tips, one thing that doesn’t cost anyone a penny, and makes everyone’s experience so much better is a GENUINE smile, warm welcome and attentive service ownership of the customer is key. Establish what the customer is there for, be it pleasure, business or a special occasion. This can be done very quickly often before you talk with the customer from the way they dress, hold themselves and act. Is their visit time conscious or are they there to relax? Whatever the occasion, one thing is for sure, they have chosen to share it with you and your venue, and will be paying for it with their hard earned cash, often handsomely, so look after them and they may tip and even return! James can be followed on twitter @ leisuremarkLTD and offers support for restaurants and Chefs at www. leisuremarektingltd.co.uk More great places to eat and restaurant savings at www.gourmetlifestyle.co.uk
Severnmagazine
IMAGES AND REVIEW BY THE GOURMANDISER
pomegranate molasses was served too the side and while I found it too acidic, it did not detract from the plain brilliance of the main. Dessert was a Javahir Pullao, an elaborate jewelled rice dish that is usually prepared for celebrations like weddings. Almonds, pistachios, green sultanas, cinnamon bark, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods, sugar, rose water and orange were among the multiplicity of ingredients that ramped the flavour up to the max. It was stunning.
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