Saturday 23 February 2013

Week beginning February 18th - Please can we ask your name?


When we first opened and had only a few customers, we worked on the process of taking the order for the coffee at the till, then passing down the docket to the baristas, (mainly Catherine), who then made it and called out the drink type.

Usually she would be watching the customer anyway and knew who they were and what they had ordered. More often than not, she would hear the order being made at the till and start to make it before we even took the money and hand it to the guest as they made their way down.

Then we started to get busier. Catherine and Emma as well by then, would start to lose track of who ordered what (fair enough) and so we started to ask for names which we could write on the docket and then be able to call out and identify the person.

It is mainly only for takeaway, but we also write the names on dockets for customers drinking in. These days, it is almost imperative that we write the names on the dockets when we place the order.

This however has positives and not so positives.

Postives:

  • You get to know everyone's name and can say hello to them, in person, when they come in the door, creating a wonderful, personal rapport with them.
  • Other staff can learn their names as well, and get to know the customer too.
  • You build a relationship with that person, someone who comes in every day perhaps two or three times a day, or just once a week.
  • It makes for a much, much nicer working environment.
  • It improves efficiency and speed in the espresso making process.
  • The person is given their drink without any mix ups. (mix ups create delays down the docket line)
  • Remembering someone's name is plain and simple excellent customer service

Not so positives:

  • Remembering everyone's name, this can be hard. I once quite loudly said to a regular 'Hello Jane!'. (Her name is Kate). The staff member next to me almost died in shame for me.
  • Having a new staff member who has to learn everyone. This can be very daunting for the new person.
  • Having to ask again and again. This I know can be annoying. We use different ways of asking though. 'I'm sorry I cannot remember your name' or 'Please can you remind me of your name?'

So we have developed a new trick.

A customer walks in and I am serving them but do not use their name because I do not know it. The staff member next to me knows, and so goes, 'hello Nick, how are you?'. This then saves me having to ask again when they place their order. Brilliant!

Another trick is we also get the new staff to ask the really old customers whose names we have never known but it is too late/too embarrassed to ask.

We also have recognised a trend. Dan is the most popular name in Kaffeine, by far. We have loads of 'Dans'. Like heaps. Dan is the winner. Well done Dan.

We also had a few customers say 'oh you're doing what starb--ks is doing now'. No, I'm sorry, but a) we do it for the reasons above and b) we did it way before they did.

So here's to knowing your customers names, all of them, and if you are in Kaffeine watching us and it feel like an episode of 'Cheers', well perhaps it's meant to.


We hope you enjoy this weeks menu as much as we will.



Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Rose petals and dark chocolate 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Vegemite and cheddar 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Black tomato soup with parmesan bread 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Three corner garlic cheese, tomato, pancetta, spinach
Sumac sweet potato, saute red onion, brie, rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, chilli burnt pineapple, blue cheese, rocket
Mushroom, Welsh Rarebit and spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Beef marinated and slow roasted in seville marmalade, roasted red onions and parsnips, black mustard leaf dressing
Boiled spelt, chopped ox-eye daisy, pickled Japanese rose petals, toasted almonds
Edamame beans in a buckthorn and sea purslane dressing

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Gruyere baskets filled with fennel cooked in oak moss, garnished with wild fennel salted walnuts


Saturday 9 February 2013

Week beginning February 11th - Kimsy bro - legend


It was a normal day at Kaffeine, I'm pretty sure the sun was shining, people were happy, we were busy. I was on the floor and next to me was the legend that is Matthew. Great hospitality worker, fantastic talent.

I don't think he knew yet, but we just had a position come available on the floor. In walked a young lady, well presented, nice smile, asked him if we had any work and as he had been trained to do, asked her to please email her CV to us. We get quite a few walk-ins looking for work, unfortunately the majority are not suitable for our requirements.

But I had a feeling about his one. I politely interrupted. 'Ah Matthew, perhaps we can have a look shall we?'.

Most recent experience was at another cafe near Carnaby Street, good start, plus also work at Polpetto, then work in Perth at a number of cafes and hospitality places.

Interview? Yes please.

Kim started work with us and we knew she only had 8 or 9 months of visa left. Normal start. On the floor, training on the job, off we go.

Then one day not long after, another normal day while in the middle of a busy service, I served a customer at the till and they requested a Portuguese tart and down the food end was Kim, serving another customer and before I knew it, the tart was plated up, with a side fork, in front of my customer. This did not just happen once, she did it all the time. Leaves you speechless really.  No words, no queries. Just done. It was like the wind had blown it gently into place.

And perhaps that is what best describes 'Kimsy bro', as she came to be known. A gentle, calm breeze in the middle of a hectic, fast paced environment. One who just got things done with a minimum of fuss, or bother, or worry, or stress. Quite honestly, one of the most natural hospitality workers I have ever had the pleasure to work with.

Then one day, the word got out that she was 'a bit bored' at service. Well, when you are that good at it and it comes so naturally, that can be understandable. Remember that we get in over 600 people per day and she was one of the front line staff. 'yeah, pretty easy really' she said with a laugh.

So we moved her onto coffee. Natural. That same level headed, common sense, quiet achiever, gentle breeze that still gets things done so quickly and efficiently. Funny too. So funny. When you can work with someone, manage them and then know that when they are on shift, all will be okay, you sleep well and you have a happy day.

Even on Saturdays, when we are smashed busy and we have people looking for tables and we try to accommodate as best we can, Kim would manage that with the same level of calm. 'Table for five? Yeah no problem'.

Others are broken by working here, it is hard work. Kim just made it look so easy. She left us this week, back to Perth to follow a career hopefully in architecture. Whatever she does, she will be good at it, whoever employs her is a very lucky employer indeed.

I feel blessed to be able to meet and employ people such as Kim, she has joined a growing list of legends of Kaffeine. Well done Kimsy bro, we will miss you.


We hope you enjoy this weeks menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as we will enjoy serving it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Plumcot 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Spinach and feta 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Sweet corn and chicken chowder 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Chorizo, tomato, red onion, pesto, rocket
Aubergine, sweet chilli, thai basil, goats cheese, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, gruyere, gherkin, dijon, pickled onion, spinach
Smoked salmon, capers, aioli, dill, red onion, rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Smoked tofu, satay, cucumber, poppy seeds, wild sorrel
Mangosteen, pennywort, toasted coconut, salmon baked in hay, kecap manis and fish sauce
Green beans and buck-horn plantain with peanut and chilli
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Chinese vegetable buns

Saturday 2 February 2013

Week beginning February 4th - The thrill of being busy

Buzzing, rushing, smashed, pumped. Not words to describe a night out, well of course they can be but not in this context. No, these are words to describe a busy, amazing, fun service.

Ask most hospitality people who love it and they will probably be able to say that one of the things they love most is getting smashed busy and the absolute adrenaline rush that comes with it. However, this comes with a condition.

It is only fun when everything goes well. Everything is in it's place and all flows smoothly and all the customers are having a great time and the food/coffee/drinks are all perfect and the music adds to the atmosphere and there is talking and laughing and hard hard work. There is also an unspoken communication and teamwork between the staff members who know each other so well, they work around each other, help each other, things happen without even having to ask. All your systems work, all your organisational practices are in place, the flow is flowing, it's AMAZING!!!

When I worked as a waiter and you had your own section, you could be in charge of this flow, this buzz, you would be working your floor, making tips, rushed off your feet. When I worked as a cocktail barman and a busy Friday night and again, everything is in it's place and the team is buzzing and working and everything you do and make is perfect.

Last Saturday was Australia Day and we were smashed for 7 hours straight. We opened at 8:30 am and it was a slow start but by 10 am we were full and we remained full, with a queue at some stages, all day. It was also one of those perfect days, everything went very well. Everything went smoothly.

We are lucky, we are busy most days and all of our staff love it, love the rush. Come on, bring it on they say! There is the 8:30 to 9:30am rush, the 10:30 rush, the 1 pm lunch smash and the famous 3:30 rush. This one we know to be ready for. It's part of the training. 'Be ready for 3:30'.

We are very particular about our systems and organisation and we also work very well together. A customer may order a Portuguese tart with me at the till, but one of the other floor staff will have it on a plate and in front of them before they finish their order. That's brilliant. That's also customer service.

Of course if you don't have it all in place, then when this rush comes you are ofte in big trouble, or if you do not have staff who can cope, or who are not trained properly, or ready for it, or willing. If your systems are not strong, if your back up is not good, if you do not have 'a place for everything and everything in it's place', then trouble will ensue.

Watching a busy service and the staff working it is brilliant too. I always said to potential new bar staff back in the days, go and sit at a bar, a good bar, and watch the barmen work, watch how they work together and flow. I'm pretty sure that people must watch us too. If you want to open your own cafe, do this. Go and sit and watch. But do it in good busy places and do it in quiet places. Watch and learn.

We are very lucky to be very busy most days, so we get that rush nearly every day of the week. It is tiring, but we would not swap it for anything.

It's Waitangi Day menu this week, so a few NZ influences on there including Chef Jareds favourite, cheese and marmite scones.

Please enjoy.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and bran 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Marmite and cheese scones 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Lambs lettuce and Elephant garlic soup 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Red peppers and courgette cooked in smoked paprika with sumac cheese, red onion and spinach
Ham with tomato, mature cheddar, rocket and pickle

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Spicy prawn salsa with brie and spinach
Grilled Haloumi with onion jam and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Slow roasted spiced lamb with parsnip, served with cous cous and black mustard yoghurt dressing
Kiwi, soft sheep's cheese, lesser celandine, walnuts with a Manuka honey and cinnamon dressing
Kumara roasted in dried and ground Kelp
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Sweet corn and cured cod