Playing the waiting game

By JULIE MIDDLETON

New Zealand's first dedicated school for professional waiters is about to open its doors, in an effort to boost what one if its directors terms "very, very low" standards.

Long-time hospitality professionals James O'Connell and Nick Penrose launch The Greatwaiter School in Christchurch in early April, with a learn-as-you-work six-week programme open to those with at least basic food and beverage qualifications and some industry experience.

The course, which costs $2220, will be extended to Wellington and Auckland, and aims to make up for what the pair sees as a widespread lack of training - and inspiration - for people who want to be professional waiters.

It's a lack of top-class input - from bosses or elsewhere - that O'Connell says leads to "very, very low" standards at restaurant tables.

Even the waiters at some New Zealand venues touting themselves as the top of the table obviously lack training, says O'Connell, telling anecdotes that would embarrass various proprietors should they hear them.

Great waiters, he says, don't only sell food and wine and deliver what's required at the table in good time and in the right state.

They are often in contact with tourists who ask advice, and they should promote the local region as well.

O'Connell describes as "scary" the scant knowledge waiters often have of what they are serving, let alone what the area outside might offer.

"We have to celebrate waiters as lot more and realise that waiters play a large important role in our tourism," says O'Connell.

"Waiters spend more time with international visitors then anyone else. We need to say: we're important to tourism, we're ambassadors."

The pair - who have trade-marked the "greatwaiter" label - reckon they can transform the culture of table service in New Zealand and give it the sort of kudos associated with the job overseas.

And the rewards: O'Connell says that if waiters in New Zealand's 1747 eateries sold two extra $22 bottles of wine a day through better service, the increased turnover would be worth at least $77,000 daily - or more than $28m annually.

"We are not about creating snobs for the five-star operations," says O'Connell, who started his career with a Christchurch Polytechnic diploma in hospitality management and has since won six waiting awards.

"We aim to increase the service standard across thge whole industry."

Those who will benefit most, he says, are those who aim to be "professional waiters who love creating memorable dining experiences."

And that includes part-timers. O'Connell says it's important that those working part-time in waiting to pay the bills - such as university students - take their skills seriously so they can reap the rewards. They "need to invest in their job."

He says that improved service will inevitably lead to an increase in tipping culture - something officially not done in New Zealand, but on the rise for exceptional service.

"When I was waiting, I would earn $100 to $150 in cash tips [a day], and that inspired me to be good at my job," he says. And that money is tax-free.

Overseas, some waiters are unwaged and earn just what they are tipped - an irrefutable incentive to provide the best service.

Wages are generally poor in the hospitality industry in New Zealand, he says, and there isn't the same incentive to put the customer first.

But the equation is simple: the greater the waiter, the bigger the pay packet.

O'Connell and Penrose, who was a butler at the age of 20 to New Zealand's United Nations ambassador in New York, have set up a section on their website to garner feedback about "exceptional" service.