Ask Dave
(Or, What does Jeeves Know?)
March 2001
Please send your questions to dave@dinersoft.com

Q. Dave

I need to know:
  A wine region in France.
  A type of grape for wine making.
  A type of standard computer system in a restaurant.
  What "S.O.S." means.
  The proper place to hold a glass. 

- Lisa G.

A.  Hi Lisa,

A wine region in France - Burgundy.

A type of grape used in making a Burgundy red wine - Pinot Noir.

Type of standard computer system for restaurant - Squirrel, Micros, Aloha, Posi-Touch.

SOS means "save our ship".

And last but not least, proper place to hold a glass - generally the base or stem so germs are not carried to the rim area where it could possibly come in contact with your mouth.

If these questions are for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?",  please cut me in if you hit the big money!

Dave

Q.  Dear Dave,

Thank you so much!!!  Do you also know what these mean?

Belon, malpeque, gravlax, schramsberg, cockles and buerreblanc?

Thanks, again,
Lisa G.

A.  Hi again, Lisa,

Belon - a type of oyster
Malpeque - same
Gravlax - cured salmon (with salt, sugar, sometimes lemon or liquour)
Schramsberg - a name brand of Champagne from Northern California
Cockles - Small clam
Buerre blanc - white butter sauce

You're Welcome,

Dave

Q.  We are have been open for two weeks and we are having a hard time with the "Reservation Book".  We are new to the business and the reservation book we got from AMEX seems to complicate the process.  Is there an easy way to book reservations so that anyone can look at the book and know how to place them?

Thanks,
Pete

A.  It seems difficult to "idiot-proof" the reservation book, as it requires knowledge of table turn times, number of tables, balancing reservations with walk-in crowd, etc., etc... In case you missed it at Dinersoft, there is a pretty nifty little windows-based reservation system reviewed at: http://www.dinersoft.com/reservation_pro.htm.  
Check it out. I believe they still offer a free download for evaluation purposes.

Also, here are some "tricks" I have tried: 
- Use sheets in your reservation book with limited lines per half hour. E.g., 5:00 pm has 8 lines for reservations, 5:30 pm has 8 lines, and so on. Do take any more reservations per half hour than you have lines. To calculate the number of lines per half hour, take total number of tables, divide by half (2), then divide by four. In other words, each half hour seats about 1/8th of your tables, so half is still available for a walk in crowd. This of course depends on how many tables you want to leave open for walk-ins. Some restaurants are "reservations only". 

- I have seen some managers not take reservations at certain times. For example, 7 and 7:30. They do not communicate, "We don't take reservations at 7:00..."; rather, they say "We don't have any openings at 7:00...". This gives you some "breathing room" to get caught up (if you have "campers" or your wait list is long/behind. 

- If a reservation is for a large party, structure your book so the number of tables you need corresponds to a line on your sheet. E.g., if it is a party of 20, and needs three tables, it uses three lines. 

- Establish a number that only a manager, or well-trained staff member, can deal with. Print it in your book: "Parties over 12 (e.g.) only with manager approval." -Column headings for reservation sheets should include: Time, Confirmation#, Name, # in party, Phone #, Table #, Notes/Comments. 

- Use a 3-ring binder, with numbered tabs (1 - 31). Have a binder for each month of the year. Each night, you can take out the pages for that night and put on a clipboard or on your front desk (books can get cumbersome at the host lobby).

Hope this helps,

Todd (guest appearance at "Ask Dave")