This week, Zagat editor Billy Lyons finds out how all parts of a restaurant work together to handle a high volume amount of reservations by speaking with the front and back of house team from Buddakan.
After nearly 10 years in business, New York City icon Buddakan is still attracting over 1,000 diners on select nights. Every day, the managers meet to go over reservations and develop a plan of attack.
"It's all about how we plan our evening and how we plan our first seating to keep everything moving. Once the wheels are in motion, it goes," noted Tina Long, Director of Restaurants for STARR Restaurants, which counts Buddakan among its large portfolio of properties.
Once the managers finish up, the rest of the staff is looped in to talk about menu changes. When I visited, new desserts including a Japanese style cheesecake were being added to the menu.
"I always like to think that for selling the desserts to the servers, servers are actors. I try and give them as much back history in their character as possible. So I'll tell them as much as I can about each of the desserts I make" explained Pastry Chef Daniel Skurnick. "Here, once we get going, it's just "fire dessert, fire dessert" and get it out as quickly as possible" Skurnick noted.
While the front of the house is meeting, the back of the house staff has been working for hours. The kitchen runs for almost 20 hours a day to be ready when those first orders are placed. Once the doors are open, it's time for the staff on the dining room floor to put their game faces on.
"In this restaurant especially people come either for a birthday, an anniversary, or perhaps they've traveled half way around the world. You sort of have to prepare yourself emotionally for that and physically" noted Kevin, a server who has been with the restaurant since its opening. "I want my table to feel as if they are the only table in the restaurant, that I have only their needs, what I call table side manner" the longtime Buddakan employee noted.
On the night I visited, a private party of 70 guests occupied one section on the top floor of the restaurant, while the restaurant's large communal table on the ground floor, considered the most coveted table in the restaurant, was quickly filled to help create an energetic mood that carried its way to other dining rooms shortly thereafter. Buddakan celebrates its 10-year anniversary in March.