Rate the Mate... Maitre d' that is...

[Paula Jonvik]

Greetings fellow eGulleteers- Happy Holidays to you all!

Having followed with much interest the countless topic forums these past months, I have decided to take the plunge and ask you a question...

What are your thoughts and opinions on Maitre d's and how important do you consider them to be to your dining experiences?

Do you have a favourite, or one to avoid at all costs?

Please keep in mind the a proper Maitre d', imho, is responsible for far more than meets the eye in the establishment, for better or for worse.

If you could share your thoughts, it would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regard,

Paula

Post script:

These questions are regarding UK Maitre d's. No, I am not one, but hold a powerful respect & admiration for the position.

Reasearch for an article? Maybe. Depends upon what views and feelings are shared?

Thanks again!

Edited December 15, 2004 by Paula Jonvik (log)

[alexw]

And happy holidays to you.

Firstly I have to ask are you a maitre d', one feels the need to tread carefully here.

My answer is they are very important. Over the years economic measures have ensured that only neccesary staff are employed within restaurants, so each single member of staff recruited is vital in their own way.

Two good ones spring to mind, Didier from the Fat Duck who is a perfect host, knowlegable and friendly, who when dining as a table of two if you vacate the table for a WC break will approach, tidy your setting and partake in polite thoughtful converstion with the remaining, generally bored party until your return, I find this trait invaluable at the FD, as I have a habit of getting nearly to the end of the meal and then popping to the kitchen to see Ashley and catch up on old times (which can take a while), my wife and Didier are now quite good friends because of this.

The other, and I apologise for forgetting his name, is the Maitre D' of the Savoy grill, who ran a seamless service during a packed luch not long after Marcus Wearing took over. just Faultless.

Rough ones I don't know any, only invisible ones in other restaurants not worthy of mention, good or bad.

Alex.

[Gifted Gourmet]

a bit more discussion on maitre d's ...

The thread includes some hilarious, yet "on target" comments, by Abbe who wrote a book recently about her experiences as a Maitre d' ... The book, PX This

and then this I particularly enjoyed:

the Maitre d' or host or hostess can "make or break" your place. Of course it depends on the restaurant......but I know of a certain place where the host has upped their profits phenomenally just by 'seating' the room better, allowing tables to be turned.....it's hard work for both FOH and BOH, but there's more money for everyone. And *that* makes the world go round!   

[Paula Jonvik]

Wow!

165 hits and 2 replies?

I guess no one wants to talk about this?

Thanks to the 2 people who did reply. I appreciate your input.

[Suzi Edwards]

Wow!

165 hits and 2 replies?

I guess no one wants to talk about this?

Thanks to the 2 people who did reply. I appreciate your input.

←

Don't worry Paula, give people a couple of days.

I must admit though, I read your post, thought about it and then decided that I didn't have any favourite Maitre D's in the UK so went back to watching "Murder She Wrote" repeats on BBC1.

Maybe Maitre D's are less important in UK restaurants? Maybe if we widened the net to include favourite waiters we might get more of a response? I can't name (m)any by name. I thought the guy at RHR was great, but I think I would need to go back to see if he remembers me in any way shape or form (quite important for a Maitre D' I reckon) I also like the guy at Moro, as my most often visited restaurant he always manages to squeeze me in, but Moro isn't really a Maitre D' place and he feel like more of a restaurant manager to me.

It gets easier for me in the US; Jared Slipp at Nectar in DC and Chris Gerber (sp?) formerly at Trio in Chicago are perfect examples of people who really make a restaurant experience very, very special.

I can think of one "famous" Maitre D' in the UK, Elena at Elena's Etoile on Charlotte Street. Haven't eaten there though.

[Gus]

You only need a maitre d' if there's something wrong with the meal, or if it's at a poncey restaurant where you can't get a reservation in reasonable time unless you know the maitre d'.

Or if you're the kind of diner who enjoys making some complaints while having the meal (always makes my heart sink to dine with people like this; a sour self-consciousness descends over me til i leave the restaurant).

[Bapi]

Wow!

165 hits and 2 replies?

I guess no one wants to talk about this?

Thanks to the 2 people who did reply. I appreciate your input.

←

Don't worry Paula, give people a couple of days.

I must admit though, I read your post, thought about it and then decided that I didn't have any favourite Maitre D's in the UK so went back to watching "Murder She Wrote" repeats on BBC1.

Maybe Maitre D's are less important in UK restaurants? Maybe if we widened the net to include favourite waiters we might get more of a response? I can't name (m)any by name. I thought the guy at RHR was great, but I think I would need to go back to see if he remembers me in any way shape or form (quite important for a Maitre D' I reckon) I also like the guy at Moro, as my most often visited restaurant he always manages to squeeze me in, but Moro isn't really a Maitre D' place and he feel like more of a restaurant manager to me.

It gets easier for me in the US; Jared Slipp at Nectar in DC and Chris Gerber (sp?) formerly at Trio in Chicago are perfect examples of people who really make a restaurant experience very, very special.

I can think of one "famous" Maitre D' in the UK, Elena at Elena's Etoile on Charlotte Street. Haven't eaten there though.

←

Paula,

I have only just seen this thread. I would have to say the ebullient Diego Masciaga as The Waterside Inn is without a doubt top of his game of all the Maitre D's I have come across, although his strict title is Restaurant Manager. Entertaining, highly effusive about his craft and very knowledgeable in equal measures. It is very evident how much his team respect him and we have often noted how he quietly reassures and guides newer members of his team during service. This is borne out by they fact that they are not a bunch of po-faced automatons, but rather a team who actually immensely enjoy and are proud of what they are doing.

A measure of his attention to detail is that he always responds to my frankly "pain in the derriere" requests to try different dishes which are off menu and swap things around that are on the menu with a prompt and gracious response. One such request for a specific dish (the knockout Chilled poached lobster flavoured with tomato and served with a crab ballotine) at lunch last year was met magnanimously and my wife and I had a truly wonderful day and dinner there. A further measure of his quality was shown when I neglected ( or rather forgot) to write and thank them for looking after us so well on that summer day, due to the untimely passing of my father. When I eventually e-mailed him, he wrote a rather charming letter back to us which I am not ashamed to say, the content of which, rather brought a tear to my eye. Duty above and beyond in my book.

[Suzi Edwards]

Wow. I'd never thought of writing to a restaurant after I had eaten there. Does anyone else do this?

[Andy Lynes]

I have in the past, but not so much recently as I suppose my relationship with the industry has changed a bit. I wrote a fawning letter to Marcus Wareing when he was at the original Petrus a while back and got a personal response from him which I very much appreciated at the time.

Another chef has told me that very, very few people write to say how much they have enjoyed a meal, mostly its people with a complaint that put pen to paper, so when they do get a complimentary note, they really appreciate it. I would definately encourage the practice, its a nice, considerate thing to do.

[Bapi]

Wow. I'd never thought of writing to a restaurant after I had eaten there. Does anyone else do this?

←

I don't see why not to be honest. I for one will happily complain in writing about things that don't go well or poor service received when buying things; although in restaurants it is obviously much more sensible to complain at the time. I am sure a lot of places receive complaint letters all the time, but how often do we actually take the time, when things go above and beyond expectations, to write to them and say - " Thanks, we had a great time and our friends/ family had a fantastic experience with you" ? Doesn't hurt and I am sure they would rather receive one such letter for every 100 or so complaints. Don't get me wrong, I don't send off fawning letters every time we dine out, but hells teeth did they look after the quite pregnant Rosie and me at the Waterside Inn on that occasion. When we also went for lunch with friends who loved it back in April last year I sent them the EG review I did - which again, they thanked me for and passed on to the chef patron to read.

Edited January 12, 2005 by Bapi (log)

[Basildog]

It's always very nice to recieve a note of thanks.Just before Christmas i was wading through the post, the first one being notification of an Income Tax Inspection .The last one was a note of thanks for a 60th Birthday Party we did.It lifted my spirits no end , i can tell you.

[Paula Jonvik]

Thanks for your input...

We have all had bad experiences, too many bad experiences in restaurant dining. Examples of how not to properly run an establishment is all around us.

In my humble opinion, I think that when a person dines out, and they experience something that elevates them personally, (I'm talking Maslow's Hierarchy here), a self actualization due not only to the cuisine, but to the service, that puts the restauarant and the diner on a totally different level.

It opens the door to another more personal level that can grow into a friendship of sorts. Let alone the opportunity to look more closely at HOW a proper establishment is operated, I'm talking details here.

As one who is a lifelong student of the culinary arts, I feel that you can read all the books you like about things... or have a professor try to explain it to you... but nothing takes the place of experiencing it, then studying the real person and the hows, whys et cetera. It brings the study home in a manner that is not possible otherwise. Not as an employee, but as a person on the outside looking in.

Details that are not listed in any book, for example. Experience is the greatest teacher, and a Maitre d'/Restaurant Manager/Managing Director who is truly successful is worth his or her weight in... you choose the ingredient!

That said, I don't just dine for the simple pleasure of dining, although I receive great pleasure from dining, I am looking for an interaction between myself and the staff that most diners are simply not interested in. I respect those who have chosen service as a career and look to learn from them. There is a lot of talk these days about cooking and chefs, but little to nothing about the important link between the chef and the diner... the Maitre d'.

Folk talk about Escoffier and Ritz and other historic culinary figures... While all around them are the new historic culinary figures that will be studied in the future. Why not live history? Get to really know these people beyond a level of just dining, paying, leaving.

True, unadulterated hospitality, and the warmth and comfort that comes with it is a beautiful thing.

Diego Masciaga of the Waterside Inn, Michel Lang of Alian Ducasse Louis XV in Monaco and Thierry Tomasin of Aubergine (who incidentally, is regarded as a world class sommelier) was trained by Silvano Giraldin of Le Gavroche, who was trained by... and on it goes. What motivates these gentlemen? What is their philosophy? These are the points I am interested in. How do they complete the circle that begins in a kitchen with raw ingredients and a talented chef, a cave full of wine, and ends up as one of the best dining experiences a person has ever had?

There is more here then meets the eye.

Thanks again for listening, and responding!