Tasting evening

Yesterday was my day off – not by choice, though but because there were no events that day. I drove my sister and mom to the airport at noon and came back home to eat something and as I finished, my boss called, saying that she’s sorry for the short notice but she was hoping I could come for the tasting evening, saying not to be pressured on the time, that all waiters are going to be there at 4:30 and well, Icome when I come. Lucky for all of the involved, I had the car – and having it for the next couple of weeks – to my disposal, so I told her no problem, that I’ll just change clothes – good thing I didn’t do the laundry just yet – and go straight to the Stoa.

Though she did tell me to take my time, I got there right on time, which was good. except for the Kitchen staff, there were 5 waiters, including myself. We’ve set 5 tables, and the lounge floor for the reception. At 6:30 people started to show up.

My duty during the reception part was “wandering snacks” – I was given by the Kitchen staff a tray with food in small dishes or finger-food and went upstairs to the lounge to wander between the guests and offer them something to eat. When the Curtain Lifting started, I helped clearing the dirty dishes to the back.

When the curtain lifting was over and people came down to the main hall and to their tables, I went inside – after helping carrying the salads to the salad buffet – to introduce myself and offer my table with something to drink from the bar. After clearing the first dish plates, all waiters carried 2 large plates with one main course dish. There were five types of main course dishes for the guests to taste, which came out as soon as the previous dish was cleared of the table. After that the desserts buffets were opened. I was standing behind one of the desserts when the boss came to switch me, telling me to go to the tables and offer them coffee or tea, which I did and went right away to offer and get them the coffee/tea with cookies on the side, heh.

My table was so satisfied with my service, that the groom to be came to me and gave me a tip, thanking me for the great service and the bride to be also came over to thank me. later on, I was told by the manager of the Stoa, that they came to her with nothing but compliments of my service, saying they want me to serve in their wedding. heh, on one hand it’s a great compliment but then again on the other hand, their wedding’s set in October, it’s just a little bit sad that that’s what they’re wishing me to still be a waitress 6 months from now.

The table next to it, who I only served the coffee and tea, was also impressed by the service, and the sales manager who was there with the guests told me that. I smiled and said that I can’t take full credit for serving that table because I wasn’t the only one serving them. by their looks, I could tell they loved that answer.

In the end, we’ve split the tips among the five servers – I got 30 shekels and another waitress got 70, so each server got 20 shekels. it’s something we’ve agreed on in the beginning of the event, because everybody was helping everybody with their tables, so it’s only fair to split the tips between everybody.