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Positioned within the coronary heart of Portland, Maine, Sur Lie is a James Beard Award-nominated tapas restaurant with a menu spearheaded by chef Mimi Weissenborn, a lately introduced contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef.
Whereas Weissenborn takes the helm within the kitchen, proprietor and James Beard Award semifinalist Krista Cole works behind the scenes to make sure a easy service evening after evening. She first opened the restaurant out of her love for tapas and wine pairings, filling a spot she could not discover in Portland. Then, Weissenborn got here alongside and adjusted the sport. Now, their distinctive dynamic is a key element to their success at Sur Lie.
“[We’re] this unbelievable dynamic duo,” Cole says. “I am very data-oriented, organized and environment friendly, and he or she’s the sensible, inventive mind that comes up with the menu, which is why folks come into Sur Lie as properly. We have now a extremely good relationship that manner. As girls within the business attempting to interrupt down obstacles, we concentrate on what we’re each actually good at and learn how to complement one another.”
Collectively, the pair has crafted revolutionary menus and an much more spectacular tapas service. One buyer, Mike C., visited the restaurant on a post-holiday journey and nonetheless remembers his server’s identify as we speak.
“Service makes the meal, and it might break the meal,” Mike says. “Meg — as a result of I do bear in mind her identify — she was actually nice, tremendous pleasant, good and informal however skilled. The service that we received was attentive however not overbearing. I am not searching for them to come back up and verify on me each second, however I additionally do not wish to have to go searching once I want them. That is service: studying that information, that have, that know-when-to and when-not-to.”
Cole says she is not certain if the sixth sense for exceptional service will be taught, however she encourages her crew to develop delight of their work. She notices a transparent enchancment in service when servers deal with their work as a craft and really feel empowered so as to add their very own private contact.
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It additionally helps to have a passionate chef working the present. “I believe a very powerful factor, too, is [Mimi is] a tremendous chief, and that, to me, speaks greater than being a tremendous chef as a result of when you may lead a crew of individuals and actually encourage in our business, then that interprets into the visitor expertise,” Cole says.
Constructing a dream crew would not occur by mistake. Cole makes use of two hiring tactics to search out workers who present promise. First, she critiques the applicant’s resumé and researches their earlier workplaces to grasp their previous work cultures and see if they might be a pure match at Sur Lie. Second, she asks in regards to the applicant’s favourite office and why, gaining perception into their values and cultural contributions.
From hiring to stock, Cole does all of it, emphasizing the significance of group to remain on prime of every thing. Earlier than turning into a restaurateur, Cole labored as a healthcare supervisor and studied entrepreneurship, gaining experience in crew and organizational construction that also serves her as we speak.
“Having techniques and processes in place is tremendous vital to offering high quality and consistency,” she says. “[That translates into] having your crew actually engaged within the work they’re doing and with the ability to maintain folks accountable. It needs to be a well-oiled machine, and there needs to be very clear expectations and a technique of doing issues.”
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With such techniques and expectations in place, Cole is ready to shield her restricted time. She owns and runs two different eateries in Maine along with Sur Lie. One thing so simple as creating an Amazon order request kind or making ready a gathering agenda saves her treasured time and ensures she addresses each concern along with her crew.
Studying customer reviews is at all times an merchandise on Cole’s to-do listing and a vital part of Sur Lie’s well-oiled machine. She appreciates anybody who takes the time to offer suggestions, however she actually takes it to coronary heart when it comes from a neighborhood resident.
When she first took over the restaurant Gather, she invested within the model by hiring specialists and sourcing native elements, leading to larger menu prices. “[We were] listening to from the neighborhood that it was getting too costly,” Cole says. “We positively took that suggestions significantly since you’re not a vacation spot restaurant in a small city. Normally, you are supported by your neighborhood and the locals. In order that was one thing that we shifted and tried to make a little bit extra approachable for folks, particularly in a family-oriented neighborhood.”
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From beginning in healthcare to proudly owning three eating places, Cole continues to steer her entrepreneurial journey with these key classes:
- Decide up transferable abilities alongside the way in which. The entrepreneurial journey is usually a winding highway, however abilities from different industries can show invaluable in the long term.
- Take heed to locals. Neighborhood is the driving power behind all native companies. Ensure to hearken to locals and worth their opinions to foster long-term loyalty.
- Get a very good learn in the marketplace. Decide if there is a gap available in the market your corporation can fill and assess how one can differentiate yourself from opponents.
- Service is a craft. Service leaves an enduring impression, good or dangerous. Encourage your team to carry their very own aptitude to customer support and take delight of their craft.
- Defend your time. Set clear expectations together with your crew on when and the way you are accessible. Whether or not it is a kind for stock requests or an agenda merchandise for the all-hands assembly, having a system in place will enable you work smarter, not more durable.
- Rent to boost your tradition. In case you do not put money into your employees’s careers, they will not put money into the client expertise. Acknowledge their worth and the way it aligns together with your firm tradition.
Take heed to the episode under to listen to instantly from Cole and Mike C., and subscribe to Behind the Review for extra from new enterprise homeowners and reviewers each Thursday.
Editorial contributions by Erin Palmero and Kristi Lindahl
