More Secret Restaurant Codes That Ensure Great Service

We’re still hearing from listeners about restaurant codes, those codes that are invisible to the rest of us but make service more efficient.

And Mark Zink is a chef in Charlotte, North Carolina. Years ago, he worked in a white tablecloth restaurant in New Orleans, and they had a system of their own.

He says the salt shaker was oriented to face the host of the party when they were first seated. Wine glasses were removed or added to reflect the orders for the course, different style glasses for different wines, no glasses for teetotalers.

And the orders were trade up in a clockwise sequence to match the seats so that each person was served each course simultaneously without the stereotypical, “who gets the chicken?”

You know, there are all these little things. There are all these little things, all these little efficiencies that we add that make stuff go more smoothly.

I really appreciate that kind of attention to detail.

Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought about placing the salt shaker to indicate where the host is, but that’s super cool.

I wonder what they do if the customers rearrange stuff in between courses.

That’s a good question.

Martha and I would love to talk to you about your codes and ciphers, 877-929-9673.