Captain's Meeting Template

See if the Event Designer would like to speak.

Describe the event. What is the event?

Identify important/VIP people (clients, couple, MOB, etc.)

Describe each block in the timeline. (cocktail hour, dinner service, late night)

• Give out assignments for each block of the timeline.

Iterate the important points

• For events with a cocktail hour, a couple of passers are REQUIRED to pass 1-2 rounds of beverages before moving onto their next assignment.

Anything else deemed important for a specific part of the timeline.

• For example, if we need to be off the floor during speeches or if there is a private last dance, mention that here.

At least 1 server MUST be assigned to help whoever is releasing tables with table service.

• This person/people will

  • refill waters

  • bus empty glassware

  • fold napkins

  • serve kids meals and special meals as needed

• Buffet backers & carvers - communicate with your chef about how much food you have. 

  • Make sure you know how many steaks and pans of food you have to begin with.

  • Ask how much of the item you are replenishing you have left throughout dinner service

• Once everyone has gone through the buffet, only the carver should stay at the buffet. Everyone else comes on the floor to bus and refill waters.

Announce that you will be visiting all of the stations before the party starts to go over presentations.

Please be prepared to make me one portion.

Go over the portion sizes (color scoop, short rib blocks)

Station backers - communicate with your chef about how much food you have. 

• Make sure you know how many steaks and pans of food you have to begin with.

• Ask how much of the item you are replenishing you have left throughout dinner service.

• Backers should make the Captain and/or Chef aware of low food amounts.

Once the stations slow down, one person comes off each station and joins the rest of us on the floor.

After the meeting, everyone MUST visit their sections and confirm meals counts for each table against their plated cards.

While you are there, check your place settings to make sure they are done correctly and not missing anything. If something is wrong, fix it.

Bussing!

• Pull 1 fork and 1 knife with salad.

• Do not rush the guests. Wait until almost everyone at the table is finished eating before you begin bussing.

• Don't carry dirty plates through the floor, carry trays.

What do you do after placing salads and entrees?

• You should not be standing in the corner socializing.

• In a team of 2, one person should always have a pitcher of water and the other should be looking to bus empty glassware.

  • We can't leave all of the empty glassware on the table and sweep it at the end, this is not good service.

• Be present on the floor. Simply being present is important so you can answer questions and fulfill requests for guests... like getting someone a new fork if they dropped theirs.

• Go over how to place the salad and entrees appropriately for the event.

• Leave left, retrieve right.

• Let guests know what meal they are getting as they are served because the guests probably do not remember exactly what they ordered.

• Expediting procedures

  • Let everyone know who is expediting (Captain, chef, Event Designer)

  • Runners must hand their Plated Cards to the expediter and be non-verbal.

  • All courses MUST be expedited. We will not be sweeping salads.

  • Runners should not carry more than 8 entrees. Places should some back to help carry when needed.

Bus properly.

• Pull 1 fork and 1 knife with salad.

• Do not rush the guests. Wait until almost everyone at the table is finished eating before you begin bussing.

• Do not carry dirty plates through the floor. Carry trays.

3 servers for each section

• 2 servers run the platters

• 1 server to collect the trays after the table is done serving themselves. Do not let the platters touch the table.

Runners, this is what you are going to do:

• Stand at opposite sides of the table from one another.

• Hand the first platter to the guest sitting to your left and say "here we have ____, please serve yourself and pass it to the person on your left." Then hand the other platter to the guest on their right and say "here we have ___. please serve yourself and pass to the person on your left.

Platters should not touch the table. The third person on the team should be waiting to grab the platters and run them back to the kitchen for the chefs to consolidate. 

Please stay on the floor after serving to keep and eye out for if a guest wants more food, to bus, and to refill waters.

When can we bus waters after dinner?

• If guests have moved from their seats to the dence floor like at Casa or Howey and there is a water station, we can bus the waters.

• If the dancefloor is among the seats, like at Lake Mary, you must keep the waters on the table.

• Must have a water station if we are bussing waters from the guest tables.

When can we bus chargers?

• We can pull chargers after all courses have been served and all plates and flatware have been bussed.

Linen Information 

• Which linens belong to us and which bag do they go into?

Bartenders

• One person needs to stay on the bar at all times, if it is slow and there is more than one bartender, one bartender should come off and ask the
  Captain if they need help on the floor.

Training tips

• Current tips for the month.