Sunday's at The cafe..

Sunday's at the cafe can be pretty hectic! And this Sunday was no exception...since we are short staffed, all of us had to have our shit together, otherwise...well, you don't want to know...

I am going to give you a brief of a typical Sunday.

arrive at 10 (we open at 11), turn on everything, ovens, espresso machine, dishwasher, music... get baked good in the oven.. do a quick inventory of what have and what we need to prep... depending on how busy we were on saturday, this can be a short list or a big one..one person will get the front of the cafe set up this includes..getting all water jugs filled, newspaper, setting up/cleaning up pastry case, fill milk jugs, make lemonade, getting tables tidied up...in the kitchen we are just making sure that we are ready to go... so, if you happen to rock up to the cafe at five min before opening and we say, we are not open, we are sorry...it's just that those five min can be crucial to us getting ready to serve you properly...last week we were busy right from the start...and with one person missing on the floor...it was hard work to have happy customers..

this is how i like to have the cafe staffed on a sunday...2 in the kitchen and 2 on the floor...we had 3, so that meant, i was in the back running up to the front to drop off orders, helping Dee get coffees out and clearing tables.. the girl in the back is not totally familiar with the menu, so i was cooking orders as well...in the height of the season, we can have 5 on at once...2 in the kitchen, 2 on the floor(1 person on coffee's/drinks, serving cakes and 1 person taking orders) and then 1 runner/dishwasher... A little side note, to those of you who want to have your own cafe..it's great to be busy, but that means more staff etc.,...so, factor that into your budget...

Anyhow...we did it! we got through this past sunday fairly well...there was a moment of complete overwhelming AAAGGGRRRHHH...but with a few deep breaths, and smiles and we will be right with you's, we made it...and thank you to all of our customers who understand....

Shannen

Customer service tip:

be sure to communicate with your customer's....

keep them up filled in on what is happening in the cafe, if the kitchen

is slammed and they are in a hurry, they will appreciate the info to decide what they are going to order..and always have a smile for everyone who walks in the door!