Service and Hospitality in Japnese restaurants

[_john]

One of my cooking mentors in Japan says that the ultimate chef is someone who can adapt the food to the customer. For example making a dish stronger in flavor for a man in his 30s and lighter for a man in his 60s. Or focusing on beautiful presentation for a group of young women.

In his mind making food delicious is natural, any chef should be capable of this. What is difficult is adapting to the customer and providing the perfect experience. There are a few keywords he uses a lot when describing this. 持てなし motenashi hospitality, お客様 okyakusama the honorable customer, 見てないサービス mitenaisaabisu unseen service.

I have seen many comments on this forum and elsewhere about the amazing service people have received when visiting Japan or eating in Japanese restaurants. Perfect service seems to be almost a stereotype.

I asked my mentor what the best way to study service is. He said simply eat at as many restaurants as possible, high class, low class, and everything in between, and pay careful attention to what leaves a good impression and what leaves a bad impression.

I would love to hear about any service experiences you have had in Japan, good or bad. What impressed you? What was unexpected? Did you get a glimpse of any unseen service? Bad experiences?

side note for Japanese speakers: I am looking for a book in Japanese on this subject. If you know of a book, or can help me search for a book, about 持てなし in Japanese dining establishments (restaurants, hotels, ryokan, ryotei, etc) I would be grateful.

[JasonTrue]

While I've generally had good service experiences in Japan, I'd actually say that restaurant service tends to be less professional than in urban US restaurants. Waitstaff tend to be young and poorly paid in Japan, and without tipping, there's perhaps not as much motivation to be remarkably good.

Unless you go to particularly high-end places, waitstaff often don't know much about what's in the food, how it's prepared, or other precise details.

Also, neither the front-of-house or back-of-house are typically accommodating of special requests, from allergies to vegetarianism to special diets. (I've elected to just be as flexible as I can, though their are religious or dogmatic vegetarians who would suffer quite a bit).

On the other hand, at more expensive places, personal eccentricities are accommodated in reasonable ways and other service tends to be much more subtly and deftly handled. Even so, it's often necessary to let the staff know that one would like to place an order, for example, which is generally less necessary in the US. Service is generally efficient and formal, but not particularly anticipatory.

In Seattle, sometimes places with particularly obsessive chefs may be less accommodating to special requests, for example, but they otherwise have spectacular anticipation of customer needs. At Lampreia, for example, our every little behavior was quietly scrutinized from a safe distance, and the waitstaff instantly recognized when they should approach to pour water or wine, ask us for our order, or when to get our coats. When I stood up in the middle of the meal, without missing a beat, every single person just temporarily adjusted themselves to guide me to the restroom, with only the last person in that chain needing to speak to give directions down the hall. In the first five or ten minutes at the restaurant we felt a bit intimidated, partially because the space feels a bit austere and cold, but every little thing the staff did was meant to make us comfortable. At the same time, they were very good at being invisible when it was the most appropriate thing.

The closest experience I had in Japan to that level of service was at a very high end tempura place, but even there, there was quite a different approach to such things.

I'm not sure I've been able to observe slight alterations to dishes to assumptions of personal preferences by chefs, but it's certainly possible. I would be surprised if the waitstaff even communicated much information about the dining party to the kitchen in most places that I've been to. In some places where the chef can see their customers, it's possible that this is the case. However, I suspect that many chefs use their intuition based on what a table orders to judge what's important to them, and may make small adjustments based on that.

Most of my incredible service experiences in Japan have been at places other than restaurants, although good ryokan tend to have fairly flawless service. Department stores, ceramics shops and specialty stores are where I've tended to have the best everyday service, with far more attention to detail than I'd ever experience in the equivalent in the US.

[Hiroyuki]

I think it's too optimistic to think that books can provide answers to your questions. You can, however, find some answers in books. I found one book for you by googling "おもてなしの心".

He said simply eat at as many restaurants as possible, high class, low class, and everything in between, and pay careful attention to what leaves a good impression and what leaves a bad impression.

Your mentor was absolutely right when he said so. Don't look for answers in books; just go out and interact with as many people as possible. Right?

[Hiroyuki]

One of my cooking  mentors in Japan says that the ultimate chef is someone who can adapt the food to the customer. For example making a dish stronger in flavor for a man in his 30s and lighter for a man in his 60s. Or focusing on beautiful presentation for a group of young women.

In his mind making food delicious is natural, any chef should be capable of this. What is difficult is adapting to the customer and providing the perfect experience. There are a few keywords he uses a lot when describing this. 持てなし motenashi hospitality, お客様 okyakusama the honorable customer, 見てないサービス mitenaisaabisu unseen service.

←

It's easy to see that such high levels of service can only be achieved at some very limited types of restaurant like "counter kappou" カウンター割烹, where the chef can interact with his customers easily.

[_john]

I think it's too optimistic to think that books can provide answers to your questions.  You can, however, find some answers in books.  I found one book for you by googling "おもてなしの心".

He said simply eat at as many restaurants as possible, high class, low class, and everything in between, and pay careful attention to what leaves a good impression and what leaves a bad impression.

Your mentor was absolutely right when he said so. Don't look for answers in books; just go out and interact with as many people as possible. Right?

←

Books can be useful for ideas that you just didn't think of because they are just to simple or unseen. For example my mentor's restaurant employs an oshibori hand towel service. The hand towels come from the company individually sealed in plastic sterilized and cleaned. He individually unwraps each one and cleans it under running water because he found that small pieces of the towel degrade during the cleaning process. He then rolls them up again and stores them. His is restaurant is a counter kappou restaurant so there is a lot of direct interaction with the customers.

Jason is right about the level of service staff at most restaurants. "professional" waitstaff can are only found in high class places. Everywhere else seems to use baito type waitstaff, young 16~25 year old part time workers.

here are a few things off the top of my head that I think create a good service atmosphere in Japanese restaurants:

bottle keep service

oshibori

free tea

waitstaff call buttons (although the best places don't need them, I swear they have hidden cameras in the zashiki at kaiseki places)

keigo polite Japanese language