When a Customer becomes a Friend

As a Restaurant owner its business. As a Chef its about food. Seemingly there would be no room to make friends with your patrons. Seemingly. However,  that is not the case if you want success on both levels. As an owner you must get out onto the floor and get face to face with the patrons. Like politics you have to shake hands , compliment the ladies, and maybe kiss a baby or two. As a chef your food is a vehicle of love,  really. I love to cook. Its a manifestation of my creativity and I love to see the satisfaction on someone's face when they enjoy my creation. That is a transfer of the energy , of the love. This also is a major part of the key to success. I have never in my career heard of a chef that hates to cook succeeding. LOL.

The point here is that this business is primarily about connecting with people. The success, really is in getting to know them on a first name basis, and having your place become like a home away from home to them, not necessarily just in dollars amounts.  You can not help but make friends. Some good friends, lifetime friends. Those connections are vital. Those connections bring referrals, they bring business. More importantly they bring a community together and sometimes create a new community of like minded food lovers. In life,  people come and go. In the restaurant business the goal is to keep them coming back. I consider myself lucky when people do come back again and again. When they book parties and share special moments of their lives with me and my staff.

Last spring, March 2014 I believe, we had such a  moment. Our friends Patti and Phil booked a party. Not huge , not overly fancy, but it was such a memorable event. First let me tell you about Patti and Phil. This is a couple that had a visible respect for one another. They had a tangible love about them. Anyone around them may even say they were the couple we all hope to be. Solid. Phil had been facing some serious health issues so this gathering was a stretch for him. Patti was taking up the slack by smiling , and joking around with everyone in the room. Just working the room while keeping a close eye to make sure Phil was not over doing it. She made a toast that brought our server to tears and many of the people in the room. The love in her voice was so clear. She sounded like a woman who knew  that every minute counted, and like a woman facing her worst fears head on. Even through the brave face of courage you could tell there was an unspoken agony agreement between them. No one said it but I think we were all afraid that this illness may get the upper hand. To their credit they lived in that moment with grace and love. I was honored to share it with them. To serve them as they connected with their friends and filled my restaurant with good cheer and love.

This morning Phil lost his battle with cancer and joined the community in heaven. My heart aches for Patti who a long time ago went from patron to friend. Goodbye friend.