Mismatch Part I
I can’t figure out why most restaurants make their waiters wear a white shirt; some even get them to wear a black bow tie to go with the black trousers.
Premium / upmarket restaurants manage to have their staff trained, well groomed and dresses, if their uniform gets slightly dirty they are asked to change, to keep up and in line with the restaurant’s premium image, but the mass market restaurants don’t & can’t afford to run like this, so why the hell do they insists their staff also dress in a similar manner?
Because white shirts get dirt easily, even the slightest of dirt shows faster on a white background, whites get stained easily and look awful if their NOT nice and WHITE.
It just brings the whole experience of eating out – at a mass market joint- down. People will start to question the quality or should I say hygiene of the food being served to them fs it’s served by a waiter who’s uniform looks old and dirty, I’m sorry but it does play on the mind, even if the whole restaurant is nice and clean, because it’s the person who’s serving it that makes the last impression.
Well all I can say is that it is a bloody let down, especially when the restaurant owners / managers spend so much time and money going over other fine details like décor, cutlery and the actual menu !
October 14, 2009 at 1420
well white, as you pointed out, has connections with purity etc…that is why hospital staff wear white as well, to tell your subcontious that is is clean.
now as for why mass markets do it, well one could easely argue me to thinking. For the most part that will be why they do what they do.
That coupled with the fact the fact that being a waiter has gone from “concierge du cuisine” to being a part time job, between jobs, or worse a dead end job, explains the physical manifestation of what is on the mind of the waiter. The pride is missing in the middle. but then again the middle is always a compromise.
Another more far fetched reason for the lack of attention to detail is the fact that the staff are middle class. Not having the pressure that high class and low class people feel when it comes to appearences. Either to uphold standards or to fight biases.
again the middle returns as a theme, but that could just be my biases.
But bottom line, staff make or break you. no amount of fluff will cover that fact up.
nice observation on your part though
October 14, 2009 at 1420
Hi Niko,
Welcome to the blog
I like your thought of the middle is always a compromise, will think about it in this context .