The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-02-12

upstairs, is divided according to the differ
ent dining rooms, the Waldorf restaurant,
the Astoria restaurant, the old and new
gardens. the cafe. the barroom. the ladies
and the gentlemen lounging rooms, the
floor walters, who serve meals III the guests
rooms: and the walters employed in the
club rooms, in some of the parloIs on the
fifteenth floor, where refreshments are
served, and in the tea rooms Oscar is
the head waiter, and he has under him
between five and six hundred men oscar
is tactful and shrewd, dexterouS and art
full. In short, there is probably no more
diplomatic manager in this big country of
diplomatic managers, but that's another
story that III tell you later Now, what
do you want to see and know next p
Are small orders never forgotten p
asked the reporter. How III the world
can the cooks and walters help forgetting
them occasionally? Suppose poor per
son wanted just to look at the place and
went into the restaurant and ordered one
thing, say, an oyster poulette. catching
sight Of Il portion of this dish i'll the course
of preparation, .'couldn' that get lost in
the shuttle of elaborate course luncheoms
and dinners p
''Never, exclaimed the buyer 'Sys-
TEN, system, system, is the eternal cry
here, and system, you know, means three
things, order, promptneSs and success.
Suppose, as you suggest, that man goes
into the restaurant and orders one portion
of oyster poulette. The waiter writes the
order down and takes it to the sauce cook.
for the principal Of oyster poulette is sauce
The sauce cook orders Immediately from
the fish butcher one portion of oysters for
poulette. While the oysters are passing
from the fish butcher to the sauce cook a
kitchen checker records the order on his
BOOK, stamping the exact time, 50 that no
order can be forgotten or delayed When
the waiter gets his oyster poulette there is
only one way for him to leave the kitchen,
and that entrance is guarded by number
of controllers. In passing with the pou-
lette the waiter hands his check to a con-
troller, who stamps the price of the pou-
lette on the check, and this is presented
iii the diningroom to the guest. The con-
trollers are nothing more nor less than bill
clerks, while the walters are salesmen.
An order for ar elaborate dinner receives
no more attention than an order for one
plain dish. The order for the oysters goes
to the fish butcher, for the soup to the
soup cook, for the fish to the fish cook
for the roast to the roast cook, or rather
to the chief cook of each of these depart
ments and so on through the menu
You see Adrien, the chef, has left the
ranges and is sitting at the high desk at
the right of them. He has on the board
in front Of him orders which have been
given days beforehand for several elaborate
luncheons. These luncheons are now
being served upstairs in the restaurants
and in private rooms He orders the diff
ferent courses put on the fire so that they
will be cooked Just to turn when the
proper time for serving them comes An
experienced waiter takes this labor off the
chef, for he can give his orders so that each
course will be properly done when the time
Of service arrives.
''One Of our greatest drawbacks is that
everybody wants to be served about the
same time. Most people dine about
o clock and all want to finish nowadays
about s, so that they can spend the even
ing at the theatre or elsewhere
1T requires great deal of tact and
vast amount of patience on the part of
walters and cooks not to get embarrassed
or out of temper when orders are crowding
in on them until they are up to their ears
and eyes in them. Oscar sets them good
example upstairs and Adrien down here.
Observe Adrien fer yourself as he sits there
at the desk giving his orders. He is as
calm and complacent as Il self satisfied par
son, who feels that he Is one of the elect
He hears every order that is being given
in this kitchen. The minute that an
order is given for something out of season.
something that is not on the market; he
says. we haven that in the house 1t
ism on the market. The chef is giving
his orders and answering all questions with
out becoming in the least ruffied, and as
you see him now he is always, day in and
day out. That S why he is such a sue
cessful chef >
''Does Oscar have to exercise such self
control and what does he have to do?'
asked the reporter.
Are you thinking about going into
the hotel business rejoined the buyer,
with laugh ''If you are L m not going
to give away any more Of our secrets
But then nobody could ever get on to
Oscars arts and wiles Oscar's business
is to know every prominent person who
comes in here or is guest of the house.
He not only remembers their faces, but
addresses them by name if he hasn't seen
them for months or even years. Oscar
hears all complaints of the guests served
with meals and takes all orders given before
hand for elaborate meals or even simple
ones He has to be and is able to read
people as you would read an A B G primer,
ellis object in life is not only to please
our guests, but to make them feel pleased
with themselves. When a very rich woman
comes in to order luncheon, say, for
dozen ladies, if she is a new w,rich woman,
Oscar must help her to make out menu
consisting of rich and costly dishes, menu
that will show off her wealth. On the
other hand, if refined aristocrat comes
in he must serve her with things to please
her refined taste He must give the less
wealthy woman who wants to entertain
here the worth of her money and help her
to make the best showing possible, and he
must let everybody who applies to him go
away feeling that he or she knows more
about luncheons than Oscar knows, and
he's got that down fine.
"What is the average number of persons
served with meals here daily?
Impossible to say off-hand, answered
the buyer why, we begin the day by