Wednesday Recap 5/14/14

LY Lunch Sales: $2288
Projected Sales: $2461 (-$711)
TY Lunch Sales: $1576.55
+/- : -31%

LY Dinner Sales: $3929
Projected Sales: $4110 (+$768.45)
TY Dinner Sales: $4878.45
+/- :  +24%

Weather: Sunny, cool, and pretty

Any Special events going on?: Wednesday before graduation weekend

Who worked?:
Lunch: Stephanie, Joel, Alex, Lynn CL, Junk, Krystin, Joel
Dinner: Clair, Jason, Naoto, Miho, Stephanie CL, Ruthy H, Krysten FR, Joaquin SA
Ruthy did well with the busy shift. I was happy that she took my advice, and asked for help. She repeatedly asked questions when she was unsure of things. She seemed very comfortable with Cameron at the host stand as well.
Cameron was pretty exhausted at the end of her second double today. I think at a certain point it was difficult for her to retain what she was learning. The main focus for her last two trains has been watching and learning the food. I think this will be her biggest challenge, and often the biggest challenge for anyone unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine. I have had her spend a lot of  time at the host stand learning the system, running food when the kitchen is busy, and watching items as they leave the sushi bar. She has also done all the checkouts with guidance. She has not had much time learning manager functions on the floor. I suggested she start making flash cards, and bring a notepad to make notes for the rest of her trains. 

Flow of Business, Cuts and Ticket Times:
Lunch was pretty mellow most of the day. I thought we'd be a little busier because it was a bit chilly today, but no luck. Went 3 on at 1230 because it was pretty dead. I was going to cut again at 1, but we got a small pop. It was short lived so I went 1 on at 135. It stayed slow, and then we had 8 tables walk in the last ten minutes of service. Lynn handled it great with a little support. Ticket times were good.

Dinner was slammed. It was a slow first hour. It kinda picked up around 630. At 7 we filled up, and went on a wait. A lot of out-of-towners in for graduation. We were on a solid 30-45 wait until about 845. I was about to cut at 9, and then we got a second wave. Went on another steady 30 minute wait, and finally sat the last table on the wait at 9:58. Everyone closed. Ticket times were great. Kazu really did a great job tonight. I was a little worried with the volume of business since he is still a bit new at the position, but he did a fantastic job. Also, I got several compliments on grill items tonight. I passed them on to Christina. She was really on her game. Great ticket times considering how busy it was, and all the chefs deserve praise for their performance tonight. I think were probably going to be really busy all the way through Saturday. I got a lot of people calling today, and wanting to make large party reservations for Friday, and Saturday (mainly Friday). When I told people that the party room was booked, and that for a party that size on graduation weekend they might wait anywhere from 1-2 hours the general response was, "that's cool, my family wants to come, so we'll wait".  Heads up.

Any VIP's in? Justin (Chef from Olive and June), Josh Coffee (chain manager for pioneer), Kerry and her family (they were all so sweet, and had a great time. The kids were so well mannered, and they ordered very adventurously.)  

Comps of note: Large training comp (trying to have cameron taste as many things as possible, also did some pairing for pre-shift). Several SIN discounts.

R&M needs?: The hot sake machine was dispensing cold sake at the end of lunch. I reset the machine during the break, and it took awhile to warm up, but it seem to work fine for dinner. Something to keep an eye. The ice machine was fixed today.

86'd items/ need more?