SERVES YOU RIGHT - Times of india - 24-10-2009

There is no dirty napkin on his shoulder or pencil behind his ear. Sandeep Bhonsle now has a shiny steel pen tucked into the pocket of his laundered shirt which he whisks out with a flourish to take an order. He pours out mineral water like it was wine. He’s available when he’s wanted and invisible when he’s not. When people are done with the meal, he leaves them with a sincere ‘‘Thank You. Please come again’’.


This five-star service would do any upmarket restaurant proud but here’s the icing on the cake — stylish service has gone budget. With many small eateries, including the ubiquitous Udupis, putting a premium on hospitality training, waiters are learning that there’s more to waiting tables than reeling off the menu full speed.

Bhonsle, who waits tables at a vegetarian restaurant called Bhagat Tarachand at Mumbai’s Zaveri bazaar, says the hospitality training a few weeks ago has changed the way he works. ‘‘I used to shout orders into the kitchen and my only connection with customers was the tip. It’s only now that I realise what good service is all about.’’ Bhonsle, a Class IX dropout, has since received job offers from two impressed guests who were hoteliers. Though he declined politely, he did tell them about the man behind his makeover, Domnic Costabir

Costabir, a hospitality trainer who grooms everyone from "dishwashers to brainwashers (managers)", says small restaurants which earlier ignored service have woken up to its importance. So much so that he is currently conducting weekly sessions for staff at around six restaurants.

Prakash Chawla, owner of Bhagat Tarachand restaurant, which is a favourite haunt of gold traders, says the training sessions have made quite a difference. Earlier, the waiters, usually school dropouts from humble backgrounds, had no idea how to deal with diners.

At Nisarg, a restaurant and bar in Mulund, where Costabir’s sessions are on, owner Jayasheela Shetty is brushing up on the mantras of good service. Shetty, who calls the book Customer Mania his bible, personally greets his regular customers, sees them and even cooks for diners.


The bespectacled Shetty, who has worked in the hospitality section of Ambassador hotel, says,‘‘I don’t care how big or small the bill is. My only concern is how to make the customer comfortable because only that will make him come back.”


So, in his sessions, where Costabir stands in front of a table laden with cutlery and napkins, servers are taught the niceties of waiting. ‘‘The customer is always right, even when he’s wrong,’’ the bearded trainer tells waiters, while warning them against showing anger. Costabir’s tips include gems like ‘If the customer says the food is spicy, don’t open the menu condescendingly and show them that it’s mentioned there. Simply apologise’ and ‘If the credit card is not accepted, blame your machine, not the customer’.


Waiters need some brand-building too, so he insists on the use of name tags so that guests don’t have to whistle or gesture. And showing a bit of personality, he believes, is a good thing. The trainer cites the example of an entertaining waiter he met at a restaurant who bears a resemblance to actor Paresh Rawal and now introduces himself as Paresh.


Costabir also has some fashion rules for his students: A nice pen, well-ironed clothes and a tie that reaches just above the pants.

The groomer says his main challenge is getting waiters to overcome the inferiority complex that results from their poor educational background. Many of them don’t make eye contact with seniors, show a fear of computers and hesitate to smile at women in case they take it the wrong way. ‘‘They complain that their job is really difficult during peak hours when they have to attend to many tables at once,’’ says Costabir, who replies with a rhetorical question, ‘‘Do you ever forget your pants in a hurry?’’ All the while though, he keeps reminding them that their job is to serve and not be servile. So they are warned against bending too much or being obsequious.

The training seems to be working for the owners too. Nisarg’s Jayasheela Shetty says he has never seen such confident waiters in his hotel since 1993, when it started. Says Prakash Chawla, "The boys are more confident, subdued and don’t get agitated with the guests." Even if they’re as demanding as the mother-in-law.


Serve but don’t be servile: That’s one of the lessons Dominic Costabir (extreme left) gives waiters