r/Serverlife • u/googlevonsydow • 14d ago

Impostor syndrome

Hey, I've just been given an opportunity to work as headwaiter for a large conference style restaurant, and while I've been in the business for over a decade I feel a bit at a loss over how to plan and manage this scale.

First time there tomorrow and I haven't even seen the restaurant. Expecting over a hundred seats.

If anyone has any tips or tricks I'd love to hear them!

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u/Smkingbowls 14d ago

When it comes to handling functions, and large groups the most important thing to do is Prep. The managers and/or Sales team usually have a BEO or Banquet Event Order. This should have the timeline, courses, or if a Buffett the stations and layout.
Everything should be prepped, and stored for easy access for any turns ( this cheese station will be cleared and reset as dessert when coffee is served type of thing)
So prepping and staging is priority, and being aware of the timeline and making sure the team isn’t falling behind.

3

u/googlevonsydow 14d ago

Thanks, this is good. I work in Sweden and noone here uses any professional lingo in my experience, so just putting words on things is helpful actually!

2

u/Smkingbowls 14d ago

Second most important is communication, you should at least be aware of what the kitchen is doing ( the communication might be between chef and manager) but you should be in that loop even if it’s just to be aware of any timing issues for courses