Food Service Marketing Blog Articles

It's Friday night, and Chef/Owner Chris Hunter is chatting with guests at In Season in Islip, Long Island. "It's a dance I do throughout the evening," he shares. "I fire the lamb, and while it cooks I change into a clean apron and talk to a few tables." At Farm Bloomington in Indiana, Chef/Owner Daniel Orr says, "There is always time to do little 'drive-bys' at the tables and bars." Orr dodges out of the kitchen each night to talk to his patrons about the local farms that supply his restaurant. At Sirocco, in the Renaissance Esmeralda in Indian Wells, California, Chef Livio Massagnani tries to meet the guests as they arrive, "so I can tell them about the evening's special ingredient and discuss how they'd like me to prepare it for them."

These masters of face time know that tableside conversations help them serve customers better. Chatty chefs learn guest preferences and make decisions accordingly. They keep their eyes on the staff and increase accountability.

Better service may be the most-often-cited reason chefs hobnob with the clientele, but it doesn't describe the practice's most prominent benefit -- increasing profits. The value of this no-cost marketing tool is twofold: short discussions about special ingredients increase sales, and the personal touch encourages return business. In some cases, a chef's reputation for mingling even pulls first-timers through the door. "We notice all the time that new customers come to the restaurant and ask the host, 'Is this the place where the chef comes to the table?' or 'I hear the chef will speak to us,'" Hunter confides.

Preferring not to associate their personal attention with dollar signs, chefs typically associate chatting with improving service rather than making money. Chef Bob Waggoner of the Charleston Grill in South Carolina claims that quality is the principal reason to establish a relationship with customers. He does his first nod-and-grin walk-around at about 7 p.m. Diners can be assured that the chef is in the house, and he knows that the staff is on point. "I can guarantee the quality of the food will be better if you have to look each guest in the eye," he assures.

"I can guarantee the quality of the food will be better if you have to look each guest in the eye."
   -- Bob Waggoner

When Daniel Boulud selects a candidate to be chef within the Dinex Group, his multilocation restaurant management company, he looks for culinary skill and a tableside personality. He knows that effective communication skills charm diners. These qualities convinced Boulud to offer the executive chef position at Manhattan's Cafe Boulud to Gavin Kaysen, a 2007 Bocuse d'Or contender and current nominee for the James Beard Rising Star Chef award. Kaysen's youth and approachability make his mingling all the more appealing, especially when it comes to a younger set of guests who are often newer to the fine-dining experience.

For some, starting a good conversation requires practice. In 1994, when Alison Barshak was the debut chef at acclaimed Striped Bass in Philadelphia, the largely self-taught cook felt completely comfortable in the kitchen. Nevertheless, it took some time before she was at ease speaking with strangers in the dining room. Now as chef/owner of the cozy, 65-seat Alison at Blue Bell in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Barshak considers the customers like guests in her own home and has developed personal relationships with many of them.

When Orr cooked at Manhattan's Guastavino's, a party for 1,000 people wasn't uncommon. He gained his mingling confidence by writing a miniature script to describe each menu item. After memorizing them like an actor's lines, he recited his descriptions to his staff for practice. That repetition improved his delivery with guests and created a well-crafted sales tool. According to Orr, inspiring guests to try something new increases their check totals and brings them back for more.

Some chefs just need a good hook to get guests talking. Hunter engages customers by showing off his ingredients: "I usually carry some beautiful examples of fresh produce -- recently it was a bunch of icicle radishes -- from table to table and spark conversation." During the growing season, he invites interested patrons out to his kitchen garden. Customers return to taste how he prepares the vegetables that were growing during their last visit. Orr uses a similar technique. "I go to the table with waiters and tell guests about produce and products from certain farms. When I tell the customers, it becomes a better sales tool," he explains.

in Indiana, I already know a lot of my guests, so they would probably never forgive me if I didn't go talk to them."

Kaysen's style at Cafe Boulud is fundamentally more cautious. He reads the guests' tone of voice and body language within the first few seconds of his approach. By determining whether or not he will be welcome, he avoids interrupting romantic interludes and tense moments in business meetings. Sometimes it's just a question of timing. "While guests usually really like a personal visit from the chef," he adds, "we also know it's not the primary reason they came to the restaurant."

Getting personal with guests is a great way to latch on to return business. Waggoner frequently invites guests to attend special events himself. He asks clients, "We're going to do a wild-game dinner. Do you want in on it?" The events frequently sell out without any formal advertising.

Orr finds that letting guests into the inner sanctum makes them feel special. During restaurant tours, he shows customers all of the nooks and crannies. By including the restaurant's basement bar, called the Root Cellar, on the tour he turns guests on to the opportunity to host private parties in the space. "You might not even know it is there, so it is nice to take guests down for a visit," he adds.

Barshak knows many guests' birthdays, how often they come for dinner, and their favorite menu choices. Waggoner uses his computer list to remember special-occasion information. When guests make a reservation, they're asked if they're celebrating. The program even records guests' orders so the same dish can be recommended on the next visit. Waggoner also encourages guests to celebrate events at the restaurant by making a big deal of each occasion. He and the restaurant manager personally sign birthday and anniversary notes and deliver them with a chocolate plaque and petits fours. The technique is paying off. Waggoner has greeted the same well-dressed couple every Friday night for the past decade.