Sign of the Times

 

Weekend Surcharge

Great Cafes loves the Australian and New Zealand habit of charging customers a menu surcharge on weekends/Sundays and public holidays and paying staff more on those days.  Will it catch on in the UK?

Lots of Cake

Lots of cake offered by our 2018 Cafe of the Year Spider on a Bicycle in Aboyne, Scotland as part of its recruitment of cafe superstars.

Star Uniform

 The Starfish restaurant in Tarbert has staff T-shirts with great messages on the back.  Such an easy way to create ambiance plus the seafood and service was great.

Push Ya Self

Love the kitchen exhortation at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons and reminds me of The Savoy's motto 'For Excellence We Strive'.  Head Chef at Le Manoir Gary Jones has just made it more relevant to today.

Not Just the Horses Get Recognition

Great catering service at Royal Ascot rewarded by Sodexo Prestige's service pins.  Simple, it works and the staff we met really appreciated the recognition.

Nothing Changes

Staff back of T-shirt message at Gordon's Wine Bar by Embankment tube: Nothing Changes ... Pickpockets Still Abound.  Please Watch Your Valuables.

Dress Up Fridays

Staff at The Liberty of Norton Folgate cafe in the City dress up on Fridays and have a little fun by wearing moustaches.

Coffee on Cannon Street

Harris & Hoole's flagship in Cannon Street is worth checking out.  You order at the counter but all coffees are made at four stations beyond the order point - impressive and they must be anticipating major volumes.

 We (and the staff) like the personalisation of the operation and it is part-owned by Tesco!

Go Home and Relax

Well Bread Cafe in Cowes, Isle of Wight has its opening and closing 'to do' list on public view.  Love the reminder to be 'slick, efficient, helpful and remember to smile' plus Last Thing 'Go Home and Relax'.

Charming Intelligent Staff

Metro Cafe in Dublin grabs attention, praises its staff and is one of the best 'staff wanted' signs we have seen.

Treasure Hunting

Great staff recruitment notice at Itsu with eight language and flag headlines.

New Exhibits

Benugo take over the catering at the British Museum

The UK's biggest visitor attraction with almost 6 million visitors a year

Happy staff too - this is the staff restaurant cake table

Impressive Staff

Pret set a standard

Levy Restaurants are going to make a difference to Compass

Perhaps the suggested 16%, 18% or 20% gratuity (in New York) would help?!

Staff Appeal

Staff uniforms are important because the staff are so visual - right there in front of the customer and moving about all the time.

Paul is clever with their all-white bakers outfits.  Let's not kid ourselves they do any baking but they look the part and add hugely to the suggestion of a bakery cafe.

Smile, Smile, Smile

Spotted on the till at healthy fast food unit Leon.  I'm never too sure signs are read by staff (or customers) but the staff at the Carnaby Street location greeted everyone warmly with a SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.