PASSION: Service

WELCOME BACK TO SOUPFLY!

It has been a crazy, busy, fun, hectic two weeks.  Yes it’s been two weeks since my last post.  I appreciate all of my readers and I welcome your comments.  My last post was one of the most popular since I’ve started writing this blog.  My intention here is to share principles that can help you elevate your level of Service & Hospitality regardless of what specific business you are  in.  Sometimes it is necessary to share about the not so pleasant experiences in order to better appreciate the WOW! ones.  Having said that, please know that I don’t seek out negative or less than great experiences to write about. I share with you my experiences from my perspective.

Westin Staff-Friendly, Caring-Passionate

I spent last weekend at an amazing seminar entitled The Millionaire Mind Intensive (MMI) here in Las Vegas.  This seminar is really transformational for those who are wanting and ready for it to be such.  I also had the  great privilege of staying at The Westin Hotel in Las Vegas, just around the corner from The famous Las Vegas Strip.  Although, I spent most of my 3 days in the seminar and didn’t venture around the property very much, I will say that the staff at The Westin, those that I had the pleasure of interacting with were friendly, helpful, cheerful, upbeat and positive.  It was such a nice, refreshing experience.

Even though I live in Las Vegas, I chose to stay at the property where the event was being held, which started at 9am on Friday morning.  I called the day before to see if there is a possibility of early check-in. I was told there’s a possibility but they wouldn’t know until that morning.  As you all know, check in is sometimes around 3 pm.  Early check in would typically be around 12 noon.  But  I was hoping to be able to get my stuff settled in my room before the seminar began at 9am.  That’s VERY EARLY CHECK-IN.   Well, guess what?  The gentleman at the front desk, was not bothered by my unusual request. In fact, he was able to find and get me checked into a room at 8am! Yahoo!  Thank you!  Ask and you shall receive.  You tend to get what you expect.   As you might imagine-I was already positive, upbeat and full of excited expectancy for my MMI event, but this little thing, of being able to check in super early just added to my already positive feeling.   And unlike the mega Las Vegas hotels on the strip, I didn’t have to proceed to my room first and then call down for my luggage to be brought up.  Rather, the bell man, stood beside me waiting while I checked in and then walked with me to my room.  WOW! Thank you Westin-you have no idea how great that is for a guest.  Or maybe you do.  And that’s why you do it.   I understand that this is probably logistically impossible when one is staying at a mega resort that has 3000 rooms.  So imagine, in some ways-better perks and more personalized service at a smaller establishment.  That small gesture of accommodating my request really set the tone for my stay at The Westin.  They get it.

The rest of my stay and interactions with the hotel staff were equally as positive. They all seem to have  a caring attitude and a desire to serve.  From the service staff at the Suede restaurant, to the bartenders at the casino bar as well as the front desk clerk who helped me get on their wifi on my phone-(because I kept getting knocked off it-the wifi) and the valet staff-they all seemed to have a passion for service.  In fact, on their lapel name tags it reads: Passion:   and then it has whatever that person’s passion is.  I saw things like-motorcycles, people, life, and positivity.  That’s so refreshing.  Obviously, at least from my perspective, The Westin works hard to create a culture of passionate, caring service focused individuals.   Oh, I almost forgot, even the gentleman from engineering who came to check on the air conditioner in my room was very friendly and upbeat.  Thanks Westin.

Oh by the way, yes, The Millionaire Mind Intensive was-as I expected it to be-AMAZING.  I really gained more tools and  the mindset that I need to move onto the next level in my journey.   If you’ve ever considered attending an MMI, I highly recommend that you do whatever it takes for you to get to the next one.  It will change your life!

GETTING TO WOW!  and GIVING BACK MEGA BOOK LAUNCH

We are well into our 30 Day Mega Book Launch!  I am so blessed to have such generous, kind sponsors who have provided us with gifts, prizes, certificates to raffle as prizes, as well as providing locations for us to hold our events.   I want to thank the following, (please forgive me, if I miss someone) :Las Vegas Distillery, DW Bistro, The Crepe in Tivoli Village, Crystal’s a Hair & Nail Studio, CraftHaus Brewery, Devotion Vodka, Whist Stove & Spirits, View Wine Bar, Kona Grill, Distill Local Bar, Jil-Ann Reardon, Top Dog Pet Sitting, Green Juice Bar, Urban Hydrogreens, Salt Room LV, Body spa West, Mercadito Red Rock, Spyon Vegas, Honey Salt, Fleming’s Town Square.

 

THREE SQUARE LV

We are donating $3.00 to Three Square for 30 days from every copy of my book-Getting to WOW! that is sold.

This also includes sales on my website and on Amazon.  So even if you do not live in Las Vegas and you can not attend our live local Getting to WOW! events, you can still support this new author-me and at the same time contribute to an amazing non-profit-Three Square Food Bank.  They are doing a remarkable job helping to feed over 100,000 people who are food insecure in Southern Nevada.

Every dollar donated provides 3 meals that they share.   So, imagine, every time a copy of Getting to WOW! is sold-that person is contributing 9 meals to help those in need.

Here’s an excerpt from Getting to WOW! regarding passion:

Love what you do and do what you love.

“Is the life you live the life you love?”  “Do what you love and the money will follow.”  These are pretty well known phrases and philosophies.  But does this mentality only apply to a sport, the arts or some other such pursuit?  Surely one can have passion for a sport, or for music but what about for Service?

As I’ve been interviewing various individuals-from Servers and Bartenders, to Chefs, Restaurateurs and others for this book-Getting to WOW! Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service-there is one recurring theme that always comes out-Passion.  It’s stated in many different ways by these individuals but every single one of them in some way echoes what Michael Skurow told me,

“As I was at culinary school, I really enjoyed the creativity I was able to express through food but when I began working in the Front of the House-the dining room, I really fell in love with the Service side of the business.”  Or as Olivier de Roany stated, “In order to be successful in this industry you really have to have a Passion for people and for caring about their dining experience.”    I completely agree with them.

The actual original definition of “passion” is “to suffer”.  So, being passionate about something means “to be willing to suffer for what you love”. (From the book, Aspire, by Kevin Hall)

If you are in this business-the Food and Hospitality World and you don’t love it-you ultimately will not be successful at it.  This is a really tough business in so many ways.  It is super high stress.  There are often long hours required.  Your life schedule becomes topsy-turvy.  You don’t have control of your nights and your weekends.

But on the flip side-if you do enjoy it and if you can find your passion in providing exceptional service and in creating memorable dining experiences for your guests-then the rewards you receive will be manifold.  Yes, you can make fantastic money working as a Server or Bartender but I’m not talking just about the money.  I’m talking about the satisfaction, the gratification, the feeling of fulfillment when you bring happiness to someone.  When a group of guests walk into your restaurant and maybe they have an idea of what to expect, or maybe they don’t, but after 1 1/2 or 2 hours or more of being your dining guests, they walk out not just fully satiated but completely content beaming with happiness and gratitude.  It’s really an amazing feeling to experience that.

You can order your copy of Getting to WOW! Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service here:

 

http://www.gettingtowowbook.com/home.html

 

Thank you all for reading.  Please share on Social Media and Like our Facebook Pages:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Getting-to-WOW-book/597788240322973

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-S-P-I-R-E-Enterprises/1571578463055111

https://www.facebook.com/pages/SoupFly/1438615929733655

We welcomed a new family member on Valentine’s day-Bruno-a little Chihuahua puppy. Lilly and Carly are still getting to used to him.

I hope you are all still focused on making 2015 your best year yet!

God Bless you and Cheers!

Christoff J. Weihman

ASPIRE Enterprises

Las Vegas, NV

 

 

A Major Soupfly at Grape Street Cafe in Downtown Summerlin

Welcome Back to Soupfly!

 

If you’ve been following Soupfly for any length of time, you know that I always focus on the positive.  My intention on this blog is to share our dining /service experiences and principles that can help people in the Service & Hospitality industry -or any industry for that matter, to elevate the level of service they provide.  Even if I experience something that is less than positive, I usually do not call out said establishment.  I usually just share principles that I hope will be helpful.

Well, moving forward I will start sharing more in depth.  If a restaurant critic can freely talk about if the food is not up to par at a particular establishment, why shouldn’t I be able to freely share about if service is not up to par at a location I’ve dined at?  Answer-I should and I ought and I will.  So, Soupfly friends here’s a true Soupfly experience my wife and I recently had:

So here’s a first. ..in all the years that I or my wife separately or together, of all the restaurants, in all the various locations we’ve ever eaten or dined at, Never, Ever have we experienced having a manager bring a plate of food back to the table to question, argue, discuss with the guest-me, what is wrong with it, saying, “That’s how we do it.”  And that without even first introducing himself to me. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

My wife-Michelle, her daughter-Melissa and I decided to try the new Grape Street Cafe in Downtown Summerlin last Saturday night for dinner.  When our server explained about the seabass, he said it is prepared with a tarragon butter sauce.  I choose not to eat butter, so I asked Britton if they could do it with just olive oil.  He said yes. When my fish was served -it appeared charred to me, singed.  Not just seared. I took one bite and I did not like it.  I called our server over and asked him to take it away.  Our server told me that it was like that because of the olive oil.  He didn’t seem to think that it would come out any differently if they cooked it again.  Since, there was really nothing else on the menu that sounded appealing to me, I just asked for some bread with olive oil.  He told me they had a french loaf.  What he brought me resembled more of a  large hotdog bun-not a French loaf.  I resigned myself to the fact-that I’d be having a hotdog bun-excuse me, French loaf for my entree-of course, with olive oil.  A few minutes-maybe three to five minutes later, a gentleman,  whom I presume must be  a manager comes to our table carrying my plate of singed seabass and proceeds to ask me why I sent it back, arguing with me.  He said, “This is seared, in fact if you look at the fish on the inside, it’s almost undercooked.”

 

Arguing with the Guest-Not a Great Way to Get them to Return

So, you’re telling me that it’s nearly undercooked on the inside but you want me to still eat it?  He stood there and argued with me, I finally nearly acquiesced and told him to just give it back to me, since that is clearly what he was wanting to do. I said-“Ok, I’ll just let it sit here in front of me.”   As he began to place the plate back in front of me on the table, my wife, Michelle asked, “Is this how you do business?”

How audacious, unprofessional, un-customer friendly of him. My seabass, was to my perception, too overdone/charred on the outside. When I told my server, he was concerned only with getting me something that I would be happy with, not focused on arguing, discussing with me why my perception was wrong and telling me “that’s how we do it”… like the manager  did. The manager only told us his name because I asked him what it was.

 

No Friendly Greeting

This is the same person who, when I walked into the establishment two weeks earlier to talk  with the general manager, said to me, “Two?”   To which I replied, “Two what?”  “Will there be two for dinner?” he asked.  No, I was there to talk with the GM .  There was no “Welcome, good afternoon, Thanks for coming to Grape Street Cafe, etc.”  And this is a newly opened establishment. If the manager doesn’t know how to greet the guests in a welcoming, friendly manner, how do they expect the staff to?  If the manager doesn’t set the tone from the beginning for a positive dining experience, then, when a Soupfly does happen-like a piece of charred fish-then it becomes a much more difficult situation to fix.

Is the guest always right? No, but you never argue with them. Would Wolfgang Puck do that? Hell , no!

Hey mistakes happen, sometimes the food doesn’t come out perfectly. Guests usually are understanding, accepting and forgiving. Let’s not focus on the problem, let’s move on and figure out how to make it right. Unfortunately for Grape Street, the manager, wasn’t about that, he was more concerned with why his server, our server, was asking to comp an item on a guest’s bill.
It’s not like I ate half of it or 3/4 and the sent it back. I took one bite and then determined I didn’t want to eat singed fish. I know the difference between that and seared.

Now, eventually, the owner, Chef John, did ask me about the situation and did his best to address it.  He made me a seared-yes, seared tuna that was cooked right and I enjoyed it.  However, never once did Carl come back to our table, apologize or ask if everything was fine or good after that point.  He did go to nearby tables while we were eating but completely ignored us after his arguing with me incident.  Nor did he thank us or say a word to us as we were leaving.

John, did comp my fish and brought out a tiramisu for us for dessert.  That was nice.  However, his response to the whole situation, especially when I told him, that my wife doesn’t really want to come back, he said-“Just come in the kitchen and ask for me, next time you come in.”

Well, why should we have to announce our presence in order to get good service?  We shouldn’t.  That’s not how to run a successful business.  You need to train your staff and management properly.  By the way, our server, did not know how to properly present and pour wine.  The food runners didn’t have a clue who ordered what/where to place the food.  So they auctioned it off.  Every course was like that.

None of the staff seem to understand about not reaching arms and elbows in front of the guests and reaching over. Nor do they know about serving ladies first. Or about cleanliness and not man-handling the rims of glasses as they set tables.  These are  basic service principles that they should know and be able to execute properly, especially when entrees are upwards of $35.00.   Like Michelle said, we did not have a $300.00 dining experience.  Not even close.  But that is what we paid and that with my entree being comped.

The first time Michelle and I came to Grape Street in Downtown Summerlin a few weeks earlier, we sat at the bar, had a couple drinks and something to eat.  It was a pleasant experience but I’m not going to elaborate on that now.  They don’t deserve it.

So what’s the lesson besides think twice before going to Grape Street Cafe in Downtown Summerlin? Engage your guests, set the tone from the beginning. If Carl had been walking the floor, touching tables, greeting guests earlier, then, if/ when a Soupfly may happen, it’s so much easier to get past it and make a positive recovery.  How about just the common courtesy of introducing one’s self as they approach the guest at a table, rather than waiting for the guest to ask-“Who are you and what is your name?”

 

Yes, Chef John /owner  did his best to recover.  He came back to our table a couple of times to check on us. But he came to our table originally because we asked our server for him.  At first our server said that he probably couldn’t come out because he was on the line.  I understand that, but if he is on the line, doesn’t he-the owner want to know what is going on in his establishment?  If we hadn’t asked for him, would he have known about the situation?  Communication is vital to providing 5 Star Service to your guests.  Grape Street has a long way to go on all points of Service & Hospitality.  John does a fine job, himself, as does the GM-who wasn’t in that night.  But the entire team and management all need to be reading from the same play book.

Finally, in any type of establishment, let alone, one that is masquerading as a fine dining place, it is so very tacky to use linen napkins to stablelize wobbly tables.  And this was at almost every single one.  There are other less tacky ways to fix wobbly tables.

Ok, I’m done.
By the way, has anyone ever heard of this new book on Service and Hospitality called,

Getting to WOW! Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service?

http://www.gettingtowowbook.com/

I’ll tell you this: none of us won tonight, not us and not Grape Street Cafe in Downtown Summerlin.
John, the owner, said, “Please keep coming back.” I gave – Yes – gave- him a copy of my book and I circled the two chapters-Getting Past the Soupfly and Getting the Recovery, that they were sorely needing to read that night.  Today is one week later, I wonder if Chef John , the GM and the Manager have even cracked it open yet.  My hope is that they did.  Remember Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service.

Here’s the Positive Contrast-WOLFGANG PUCK Gets it

Later that evening as Michelle and her daughter went to do some shopping, I went to Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Summerlin  just to have a glass of wine and an appetizer.  When I walked in Sharlyn-the hostess-(not sure if I’m spelling her name correctly) was friendly as she greeted me, and remembered me from only being there one other time, as did Jacob, and Doug Chippewa the manager.  Both of them came by my table just to say hi.  I felt  very welcomed. My server, Gianna was courteous, friendly, hospitable, knowledgeable and made my short experience there very pleasant. Bartender, Courtney, created a nice cocktail for me that wasn’t on the menu.  Delicious and refreshing.  Chelsea, the newest member of the management team was walking the floor, greeting guests, running food, serving drinks.  The energy of the entire place was upbeat, fun and positive.  I can’t wait to go back.

 

This place-Wolfgang Puck, exudes Service and Hospitality. Smiles, friendly greetings.  Servers and management that clearly care about their guests’ dining experience.  I heard things like, “Sorry to make you wait”,  “Please enjoy”, “How’s everything?”, “Let me know if I can do /get anything else for you.” etc. etc.  That’s why there’s only one Wolfgang Puck but we can all ASPIRE to that level of Service & Hospitality wherever we are.

#GetitRight, # GettingtoWOW, #ServiceAndHospitality, #psbuywedgesinsteadofusinglinennapkinsforwobblytablez, #tacky, #GettingPasttheSoupfly, #HireASPIREEnterprises, #HospitalityProfessionals, #NobodyWontonight, #WolfgangPuckDowntownSummerlin, #GrapeStreetCafeDowntownSummerlin,

Thank you for reading.  As always, I invite you to share on your favorite social media.  Please Like us on Facebook.  Send us your Comments and hit the Follow button to receive an email each time there’s a fresh serving of Soupfly.

God Bless you and Cheers!

Christoff J. Weihman

ASPIRE Enterprises

Las Vegas, NV

GettingtoWOWBook.com

Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega Book Launch Events Update-Partnering with Three Square Food Bank

Welcome Back to Soupfly!

I am happy to report that my first radio interview as a published author went quite well this past Saturday.

I was interviewed on GrilliantIdeasRadio.com discussing Service & Hospitality and my book, Getting to WOW! Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service.  It was a great opportunity to start getting my message out through other avenues.  Grilliant did not grill me too bad.  He was a great host and I enjoyed the experience.  The first of many, many, many to come-interviews, that is.

Here’s a short excerpt from my radio interview-courtesy of my wife/videographer-Michelle

Here’s the complete replay from Saturday’s interview. Fast forward about 30 minutes to hear the interview.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/grilliantideas/2015/02/07/grilliant-ideas-radio-with-guests-christoff-weihman-and-the-lonesome-heroes

As you know we are soon, starting our Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega Book Launch in partnership with Three Square Food Bank.  We have a number of events scheduled around Las Vegas for Book Launch/Signing Events.  We will be donating $3.00 from every book sale to Three Square.  Also, there will be opportunity for attending guests to contribute more to this wonderful non-profit at each event.

There will be raffle prizes, I will be discussing my book and answering questions and hopefully, we will have some of the people that I’ve interviewed for Getting to WOW! making appearances-including a celebrity Chef or two.  Each event will be somewhat different from the next but all will be fun and enjoyable.  Come support a new author, enjoy some great food and drink, buy a book and make a difference!

Here’s the schedule of our Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega Book Launch Events-note some have dates yet to be decided but we definitely are hosting events at all these places.

Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega Book Launch Schedule:

Tuesday February 17, at DW Bistro from 4:30- 6:30 pm.

Tuesday February 24, at The Crepe in Tivoli Village in Summerlin, 7 pm -??

Monday February 23, at Whist Stove & Spirits at the District in Green Valley Ranch -time/details to be decided

Sunday  March 1, at Mercadito in Red Rock Casino-Brunch-time to be decided

Made LV Tavern- at Tivoli Village in Summerlin-Date and time still to be decided but it is definite

Fleming’s TownSquare -Date still to be decided

La Casa Cigar Lounge in Tivoli Village-sometime in late March, still to be decided

Here are the Facebook Event Pages for the confirmed events. More to come

https://www.facebook.com/events/776280752421853/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1405999136367893/

https://www.facebook.com/events/429605693864319/

Here are some of our generous sponsors for our events:

Thanks for reading.  If you have not yet gotten your copy of Getting to WOW! Everybody WINS with 5 Star Service-I encourage you to do so. Whether you work in the Service & Hospitality industry or not, if you are serving or selling to customers, guests, clients or patrons-you will enjoy this book.  I guarantee that you will find valuable content that you can use to up your game of Service.

Go here to order your copy today!

http://www.gettingtowowbook.com/

God Bless you all and Cheers!

Christoff J. Weihman                                  

APIRE Enterprises

Las Vegas, NV 

Getting to WOW! First Radio Interview Coming Soon- Saturday, February 7 !!

WELCOME BACK TO SOUPFLY

I hope you all had a fantastic, productive month of January!  Statistics show that the majority of people usually let their goals slide by February 1st.  The new year is well underway and perhaps work, day to day life, weather, maybe sickness and a whole host  of other distractions can and may have thrown you off course.  That’s okay.  It happens.  You may be discouraged, but don’t allow it to defeat you.  I encourage you to revisit the goals you set on January 1st, and if you’ve let some of them slide, then re-adjust, regroup and re-commit.  We are at the start of a new month-let’s focus, be disciplined and get going!  Make it your intention to make 2015 Your Best Year Yet!  Like Joel Osteen says, “You Can, You Will.”

I am so excited about our upcoming Official Getting to WOW! Mega-Book Launch.

http://www.gettingtowowbook.com/

 

We originally were going to start today but with additional time needed to organize and schedule events-we have pushed it back 2 more weeks.  So, our official, Getting to WOW! Mega-Book Launch will begin on Monday, February 16, 2015!

Getting to WOW! on the Radio!!

I am very excited and happy to announce that we will be having our very first Getting to WOW! radio interview this coming Saturday on GrilliantIdeasRadio.com

I invite you to Like their Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/GrilliantIdeas

I am scheduled to be on air at 12 pm EST.  That’s 10 am for us on Pacific time.  I invite and encourage you all to please tune in.  And if you want to really be supportive, please feel free to call in.  Here’s the number: 714 242 5272

Yes, it’s an online radio station which I think is so exciting because their listeners are not restricted to a specific local market.  They have listeners from all across the country and maybe even all across the world-just like Soupfly!

Speaking of which, as usual, Soupfly once again has readers from new countries.   We want to welcome readers from the following new countries: Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Oman.

Getting to WOW! Book Launch Events

We are working very hard to book, organize, schedule and confirm events for our Getting to WOW! Mega-Book Launch.  So, far I have two events officially confirmed-they are:

Tuesday, February 17, 4:30 pm-6:30 pm

DW Bistro 6115 S. Fort Apache Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89148

http://dwbistro.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dwbistro

Come for Happy Hour-enjoy specialty infused cocktails with locally made, Las Vegas Distillery Vodka.  There will be tasty bites provided by Chef Dalton.  The author will be sharing excerpts from Getting to WOW! and signing copies for everyone who purchases a copy.

 

Tuesday, February 24, 6;30 pm -??

The Crepe at Tivoli Village in Summerlin, NV- 420 South Rampart, Las Vegas, NV 89145  

This event will be a Service & Hospitality industry Trivia night, with whimsical food, great drinks, prizes and of course, hosted by the author, Christoff J. Weihman.  He will be sharing excerpts from Getting to WOW! and interacting with attending guests.  All books sold at this event will be signed by the author. Come join the fun!  We may even end up doing some karaoke that night!

http://thecrepelasvegas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thecrepelv

 

 

 

 

Remember, that we are partnering with Three Square Food Bank for our Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega-Book Launch.  For every book sold, the author is donating $3.00 to this local charity.  At each event there will also be opportunity for guests to contribute additional donations to benefit Three Square.

Other Locations that we are still finalizing details of event and dates are:

Mercadito in Red Rock Casino; Made LV in Tivoli Village; Whist Stove & Spirits at the District in Green Valley Ranch.

Our goal with our Getting to WOW! 30 Day Mega-Book Launch is to sell at least 1000 copies of the book.  With your support, I know we can.  I am looking forward to an absolutely incredible, amazingly successful Mega-Book Launch.  

If you would like to assist, support or help-(I know those all pretty much mean the same thing) in making our Launch a Success, please message me.

Thank you for you continued support!

Blessings & Success to you!

Cheers!

Christoff J. Weihman

ASPIRE Enterprises

Las Vegas, NV 

ChristoffJWeihman.com

GettingtoWOWBook.com