Restaurant Reality - All Grown Up?

More stories about owning a restaurant than you’ve ever wanted to know.

I have often heard that development of organizations somewhat mirrors that of humans. Bethany’s Table is fifteen. That means we are driven by our sense of ideals and are somewhat more sure of ourselves than is warranted. But how old are we really? In some ways it doesn’t feel like we fully incarnated as a restaurant until we created the bar and rebuilt the kitchen in early 2023. The preceding thirteen years we were more of a restaurant development project.

The pandemic was hard. As we exited the period of core pandemic drama we bulged into the space next door, currently home of Radii Pi, and moved in our Marketplace meals in order to reclaim the restaurant seating. The Marketplace didn’t work out and the gyrations of its decline added much stress. Many of you remember Brook, whom we had initially hired to be our post-pandemic GM. Brook was a brilliant leader on the floor but not much of a P&L guy. Nonetheless, he stayed on and created a sense of team on the floor that I had never been able to manifest. Yet things never returned to our pre-pandemic social stability.

Mikey!

There was a bartender that had to go but that was resolved when Mikey stepped in, holding court with his joy and exuberance until he left for his new career a few months ago. On the one hand, our service was never better. Yet we’d been missing a beat. There was an oozing semi-unhappiness that we couldn’t seem to arrest. And there were some “very special” moments. We had always worked with the concept of self-managed teams. Facing down the challenge of finding people with good judgement who wish to work in a restaurant, we endeavor to staff the floor with warm, conversant adults. Hitting all the marks of service notwithstanding, it is our task to treat our guests to genuine hospitality, as we would our own family. This requires a deft touch.

A self-managed team works with the servant model of leadership. The will element in leadership belongs to that of the follower. Leaders typically emerge. In a restaurant that pools tips, it is important that the chosen leader be a peer, a member of the team. They cannot have managerial duties, authority over scheduling or the ability to discipline, hire or fire. They are the safe place for the team to get answers and to help resolve sticky situations. It is a political role that requires them to walk that bridge between their team and ownership. Given my temperament and generally grumpy nature, it was great to have Brook there.

Some things just can’t wait!

I spent most of last summer in Walla Walla and shouldn’t have. There needs to be an owner on the other side of that bridge. I had hogged all of the authority, leaving Janet to just manage the kitchen, but I was derelict in my responsibilities. The Good Ship Bethany’s Table took on some water. My bad.

Brook segued onto find his path, Mikey left for the career he’s trained for, Justin blew a tire and Kailey left mad. Hospitality is a relationship business and the folks our customers had learned to love were tele-transported from the scene. We didn’t have Brook’s firm hand on the wheel to reinvent the staff. There was a vacuum and no leadership.

Joseph and Marissa came to me and asked to share that leadership role. Joseph’s experience and willful sense of certainty combined with Marissa’s calm sensibility made that seem like a good idea. It was only three weeks but the result was disastrous! I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say that the new leaders proved not too facile with the concept of leadership that we had promoted. It didn’t work coming or going and the staff became very disgruntled. New hires walked off the job and for those remaining it was touch and go. This was the worst month of our 15 years. Meanwhile I was consumed trying to get Radii Pi opened and then tending to the missing basement wall in Walla Walla that needed a replacement foundation poured before Thanksgiving.

Does it hurt when a snake sheds its skin?

I wonder if a snake gets uncomfortable during the process of shedding its skin. I certainly guess that it feels much better once it’s over with. That is kind of where we’ve ended up. We cut out the cancer and hosted some very meaningful conversations. We have hired a fantastic, friendly bartender and two lovely new servers.  

Janet has assumed the role of General Manager. She is committed to refilling the room with the warmth, love and genuine hospitality that is her hallmark. She will be on the floor to support the staff and greet guests five nights each week. She will see everything and be everywhere. And there will be peace.

Some of you perhaps witnessed some of our ends fraying these last few months. Truly, some of the finer qualities that made Bethany’s Table stand out have been under duress. If you have experienced less than you deserve, we apologize. It won’t happen again. If you came in and didn’t notice a thing, as I hope is true with most of you, just wait until next time!

So what age are we? Where are we in the timeline of our biography? I feel like we have just stepped out and are finally ready to greet the world. There are 17 years left on our lease. I think we’ve arrived at the beginning of our glory days… God willing and the creek don’t rise.