Service from the Heart
With 32 years of experience in service and a keen sense of how to please the guest,
Ahmed Moustafa, Maitre of the Rotisserie Belvedere, has been distinguished with the
Ambassador of Tourism award, from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. Chef's Corner met
with him to gain insights into the complex world of customer service provision.
How did you get started in the hospitality field?
After graduating from the hotel institute and an internship at the old Shepheard Hotel, I joined the Hilton Group in 1975. I worked my way up from bus boy and have been Maître d'hôtel of the Rotisserie Belvedere restaurant at the Nile Hilton starting in 1997.
How did you feel when you learned that you had received the Ambassador of Tourism Award?
It surprised me from the beginning to be selected among the nominees and then I felt shocked and very proud, especially for my family, my mother and father, who always taught me the value of wanting to be of service to others. They instilled in me this desire to serve others and to give, and to put other people's needs ahead, always. It is something that springs from the heart.
What makes somebody a good service provider?
It is the character of the person itself. A high level of communication is very important, as well as patience, honesty and an ability to keep information from conversations you might overhear from guests confidential.
Being in between the pressure of kitchen and customers, how do you create good teamwork?
Patience is very important! As a Maître d'hôtel, you have to deal with four different entities: the kitchen, the steward, the guest and your team as a whole. It is important to make decisions fast and take appropriate actions. The action you take must be quick and correct. After spending 10 to 12 hours a day together, the team you work with must become like your family. It is very important to have a low turnover in staff, and that the team works well together. If we have to take on a new person, it takes two to three months to train him and for him fit into the team. Changing personnel disrupts the team and even your guest can feel that. This brings us to the next point, which is consistency.
Consistency comes with constant checking and training, tests and verifying guest comments. This process allows us to assess where we stand today. Every three months or so, we administer regular tests to our staff to ensure they are well informed. The tests consist of 50 questions that we provide the answers to and that the employees must study. It ensures that we can handle the guests' questions on everything from 'what time the Egyptian Museum is open' to updated information on the hotel's developments etc. It also provides us some refreshment and keeps us up to date and attentive to what's new.
Then of course we brief our staff regularly about important guests who will be coming, as we serve queens, first ladies, prominent actors, ministers and chairmen of large companies, and, by the way, this is a great source of pride for our team. This pride in our work insures quality performance!
What do you feel is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
The most rewarding is to get my guests feeling very happy. If there is a small thing that has gone wrong on any one occasion, I cannot sleep at night and I keep it in mind until that guest's next visit, then I try to make it up to him. It is great for me to feel that the guest is very happy, to avoid anything, any obstacle that could block this; and to provide a hassle free experience and the freshest, best possible quality meal. In addition, with every day comes new learning, it may be some new information from the visiting chefs from overseas or guests, or my boss, and this keeps you growing and developing.
What, in your view, have been important changes in service over the past decades?
In the past, service was very complex and involved many utensils and tools; there was the legumière, dish for vegetables, for example, which is now obsolete, and the meat was carved at the tableside. Now the service is plated and fast with a lot more emphasis on plate decoration.
The guests also have changed. They have a great deal of experience through travel, media and are generally more aware of what is new and up to date. They are more knowledgeable and sophisticated, more "gastronomique". A few years ago, guests ordered one or two courses at the most, now they are going for more courses; there is a move away from grilled foods and renewed interest in sauces.
Like the dining trend around the world, Egyptians too now like to try new things and taste
exotic flavors. Accordingly, we have a guest chef from abroad every half-year to bring
new ideas and up to date serving. He trains the kitchen team and we also learn from him.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
I would say it's how you handle difficult guests. You may have guests who are aggressive, talkative, or full of self importance. You may be in a rush, but he wants to talk to you. Or he comes in while you're in middle of a conversation with another guest, but he expects you to greet him, nonetheless. In that case, I make a point to rush over and speak to the guest in question as soon as I can.
Once we had a guest who came into the restaurant and asked us to dim the lights, because he was accompanied by a lady. We did, but he asked for the lights to be dimmer. When we informed him that this was the minimum we could manage, he became upset and nothing pleased him after that. So we had to rectify the situation, and we did, by offering complimentary flambé dessert. Once the sweets trolley was brought to his table along with the flaming dessert we prepared, our guest was definitely soothed and happy. It is important in this situation for the service personnel to feel empowered to offer guests complimentary items as this often solves many problems. When there is a problem it helps to solve it fast and effectively, without disturbing the guest's mood; this is how you will keep guests returning.
Why does understanding the guest matter so much?
If you understand your customer, then it becomes easy to handle anything for him and you can help him better. I keep my 6th sense tuned into new guests and repeat guests, always. I call it my thermometer!
A guest that dines alone has different needs than a couple or a group: we provide him with fast and attentive service, paying extra attention to what he may need, so that he may not feel as if he is dining alone in a restaurant.
Hospitality is also expressed in the concept we have at the hotel "the Hilton Moment", when a repeat guest comes to celebrate his/her birthday or anniversary or special event and we are right there, as a team, knowing the guests and how best to help celebrate the moment.
Published in Chef's Corner Magazine, Issue 42, March/April 2007
Interviewed by Samira Mahmoud
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