Kitchen Guy

Blog Topic: Service Service Service

Posted by Chef Jim on January 21, 2010  |  Comments Off

SIMPSON BAY, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles – There’s a restaurateur here whom I came to like and admire very much over the last few years. He and his wife retired from the U.S. and opened what became a very popular tavern/restaurant. He’s just one of several expatriates I’ve met in Sint Maarten. It can be a daring move for anyone, and a number of these folks seem to be retirees, so they’re gambling with their savings and security.

Sometimes these gambles pay off. Many times they don’t. I’ve seen both instances a number of times. If you put together a menu that people want, and if the food is good, and you can hire as many of the right people as you possibly can, that’s a formula for success. A major problem in Sint Maarten, as far as I can tell, is the labor law that seems to require an excess of personnel, many of whom are just biding their time, collecting their paychecks.

I’m not saying this is unique to Sint Maarten. I’ve had the misfortune of supervising a number of “employees” like that right here and I’ve told more than one not to let the door hit them in the back. Nevertheless, when you have this excess of personnel, my expectation is that no customer should ever be ignored or have to wait for service.

I remember the first time I visited the island and went to a bagel shop on a Sunday morning. I was astounded to see that it took four people to complete an order for a toasted bagel: one to take the order (in triplicate!); a different one to pass the order to the kitchen; the person in the kitchen; and the cashier. It’s no wonder the place went out of business. Food margins are slim enough. Bagel margins are even slimmer.

These restaurateurs I wrote of earlier owned a restaurant that used to be walking distance from our apartment in Simpson Bay, located in a strip shopping center along the very busy Welfare Road. The owners seemed to have it made. The place was always busy and the food was decent – not great – but decent. There was always a large, jolly man with cornrows and beads in his hair to greet you; he remembered your name; there was always a hug and he made sure that the wait staff paid attention to your needs. I could always forgive the missteps from the kitchen (invariably there was always something) because the atmosphere was playful, friendly and the prices for beer, wine and mixed drinks were very reasonable.

I’m not sure what motivated them to move their location across the Bay, but the whole character of the place changed. The prices increased dramatically, no doubt because the rent and other overhead expenses increased substantially in the new place. A bone-in rib eye steak, of unknown grade and origin, cost $39.95, when the boneless version was $10 less. That didn’t make sense to me – I know bones are great for adding flavor, but I just can’t abide paying that much extra for something I can’t eat.

Nevertheless, here was our experience: It was a Sunday evening, about 7:30. We parked our car and walked into the new place. You’ll recall what I said about places having an excess of employees. We stood at the host’s stand for nearly 10 minutes before even being acknowledged. Finally, a bartender came out from behind the bar and seated us at a table near the kitchen. Imagine a bartender not asking if you’d like something to drink!

It was nearly 10 minutes before a different bartender came by to ask us if we’d like something from the bar and then I watched our two-drink order sit on the bar at the wait station for more than five minutes. We still had not been given menus. Finally, the drinks came to the table. To my way of thinking, when one orders a martini, it automatically should come with at least one olive. That’s part of what makes it a martini. When I pointed this out to the server/bartender, he acknowledged the missing garnish and brought it over. Then, after a quick glance at the menus that finally came to the table, we ordered our appetizers and dinner.

Our appetizers came in a reasonable amount of time and they were good. As for the main course, we waited and waited and waited for our entrees. I actually saw our order placed on the pass, ready for delivery to our table. But a server took it somewhere else. About 10 minutes later, one of the wait staff volunteered to us that, “Another table ordered exactly the same thing you did and they got your order.” Really? What’s up with your computerized POS system that prints out the table number?

It was very nice of the server to comp a glass of wine for each of us. But another 25 minutes ensued before our entrees arrived at the table.

I asked my wife to rate the place on a four star scale and she said she would give it somewhere between two and two-and-a-half stars. I would have to agree, leaning toward the lower rating. Service is so critical to the dining experience. The entrees were okay (not great) but the service was so seriously lacking at this place and it saddens me that I’ll probably cross it off my list of places to go when I’m here next.

That saddens me, because as I wrote at the beginning of this piece, I like the owners and have always wanted them to do well. I understand they’ve taken on a partner who will buy out their interests some time in the coming year so that they can retire again. So to the new owner I say: as long as the government of Sint Maarten requires you to have so many people on your payroll, why not train all of them in customer service?

Blog Topic: SXM Postscript

Posted by Chef Jim on January 29, 2009  |  Comments Off

SXM is the airport code for St. Martin and I’m writing this retrospective and postscript in the airport as I await the boarding announcement for my flight back to the U.S.

As much of a hassle as air travel is today, I’m willing to undergo the indignities of TSA checkpoints, weather and air traffic delays, interminable waits for luggage, as well as the martinets at passport control stations for my annual “pilgrimage” to Sint Maarten/St. Martin.

Our rule for trying new restaurants really paid off nicely this year. We discovered an elegant new steakhouse (Bajatzu) with outstanding food and prices surprisingly reasonable and not in the typical steakhouse stratosphere. The wine list was one of the better ones I’ve seen on the Dutch side. The atmosphere is quite conducive for pleasant dining experiences. I really liked this place.

After all these years of coming to the island, we also discovered – or I should say we finally discovered – the place for the best Caribbean lobster on the island. It’s a real dive, too – actually not much more than a rickety old dock with a tin roof. It’s called Uncle Harry’s and there really is a Harry. He is a genuine character but a delightful guy. Driving up to the place can be quite intimidating, though, as you may have to park in between gigantic earthmoving equipment, being used by the nearby international airport as it reclaims land needed for more runway space.

The tables and chairs are cheapo patio plastic; the napkins are paper; the silverware doesn’t match; the wine list consists of four pedestrian labels; and the prices are unbelievably sky high – for everything. Caribbean lobster, unlike Maine lobster, has no claws, so the meat is primarily in the body and tail. Uncle Harry charges Maine lobster prices for his Caribbean lobster: $34.50 per pound and his smallest lobster is usually in excess of three pounds. Fortunately, he does not charge to split plates. But I will tell you it was probably the most expertly prepared grilled lobster I’ve ever eaten on either side of the island.

This next place wasn’t a new discovery. Rather it was a rediscovery. After a two-year absence, we returned to Mario’s Bistro on the French side and I’m beating myself up because I didn’t eat there last year or the year before. I guess when you only have 14 opportunities for dinner, and your island has more than 500 restaurants to choose from, you may miss one or two of your favorites. Mario is one of the island’s best-known and most honored chefs. That’s because the food he cooks is extraordinary.

And I think they may have been taking attendance, because the maitre-d’ remembered me by name and almost exactly how long it had been since he had last seen me.

Not every place was a hit. There was an ownership (and name) change at a restaurant about 100 yards from our timeshare building. Le Bec Fin is now known as Bel Mar. It used to be our go-to place when we just didn’t have the energy to venture out elsewhere. Restaurants have life cycles and I guess the previous occupant was ready to turn over the place to someone else. Too bad. He knew how to run a restaurant. His food was always good and his wine list was a nice one. I wish I could say the same for his successor.

There’s something else you should know about the restaurant business on this island: Restaurants often write their own reviews and sometimes the newspapers forget to label them as advertisements. This particular place said in its “review” that it was known for its fine wine list.

We ordered a mid-list French number and when they brought it to the table, the bottle was – literally – hot. I asked them to bring me another one and it was the same. The people at the next table leaned over and told us they had a similar experience. Then the food came and it was – I’ll try to be kind — um, less than memorable.

On the other hand, I had a great New York-style pastrami sandwich at Topper’s Monkey Bar.

My countdown has begun. Only 10 months, 24 days, and 4 hours to go.

Blog Topic: Dutch Treat (Dutch Sint Maarten)

Posted by Chef Jim on January 25, 2009  |  Comments Off

SINT MAARTEN, Dutch West Indies – It’s not much more than a speck of land in the midst of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, but Sint Maarten/Saint Martin has been called the Gastronomic Capital of the Caribbean for good reason.

This island is part Dutch and part French with the oldest unguarded international border in the world. The historical marker puts the date in the mid-17th Century when European powers were plundering the New World for its exotic spices and valuable minerals. There never has been any gold or silver here. The riches of this island are to be found in other things.

I’ve been coming here for more than 15 years and the food scene on the Dutch side is constantly changing. In fact, it continues to be in flux. The economy is a big factor here, too. That flux is not the case so much on the French side (next week’s column). When I first started coming here, the restaurant choices were rather limited. The ubiquitous American fast food franchises were here. But you had to make a real effort to find local cuisine or a restaurant that served something more than pedestrian food you could find on any street in America. There were a few decent eating places, but finding a table in the “fine dining” establishments was never a problem. There was a reason for that – most of the tourists and timeshare owners were from the U.S. and they wanted food they recognized.

The date of the transformation is inexact, but over the past eight or nine years, the food scene on the Dutch side has done, in my estimation, a complete 180. The fast food franchises are still here – and they’re busier than ever – but there has been a renaissance of sorts of better eating places with a variety that would satisfy most gourmands.

If it’s your first time here, you may go through sticker shock because prices are very high. The island doesn’t produce very much so just about everything is imported. Until a few years ago, even most of the potable water was imported. But beer – especially Dutch beer – is cheap.

French, Italian, Indonesian, Caribbean, German, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Scandinavian, and Mexican foods are available in all price ranges. Additionally, the freshest seafood (after all, it is an island) makes for some extraordinary meals.

My favorite restaurant on the Dutch side is Saratoga. The chef, John Jackson, has been on the island for many years and he never disappoints. His menu always has an amazing array of seafood, including fresh oysters, and a variety of fish – some served whole – and his saucing is flawless. This was the first year since I’ve been coming to Sint Maarten that I haven’t had New Year’s Eve dinner at Saratoga (a quirk of the timeshare calendar), but it was the first place I wanted to go to. And I’ll probably eat there again before I leave.

So here’s where else I’ll be eating (on the Dutch side): I’ll get my Indonesian fix from Pasanggrahan – a place that’s been here forever. I’ll get my steakhouse fix at Rare (one of the most expensive places on the island – but worth it); my Jimmy Buffet style island food fix at Taloula Mango’s on the boardwalk in Philipsburg; my Italian cravings will be satisfied by La Rosa’s; pub food will be at Peg Leg Pub’s new location; French, even before I get to the French side, will be at La Ginguette; and I’ll enjoy drinks and socializing with many of my “same-time-next-year-friends” at Soprano’s Piano Bar.

As you can see, my vacation looks more like a busman’s holiday. But I plan to catch up on a lot of reading and doing plenty of walking and exercising to work off the pounds I’ll undoubtedly put on.

The Dutch side of Sint Maarten is a very busy place. Traffic can be a nightmare because there is only one main road that’s not very well maintained and it’s just two lanes. The island is home to a number of marinas that cater to mega-yachts of the super-rich and entry to those marinas requires raising a drawbridge and bringing all traffic to a halt four times a day. Maintaining infrastructure does not appear to be a priority for the local government.

Nevertheless, my wife and I are two of the many thousands who continue to return year after year despite the traffic and other travel hassles (no comment about airlines) because Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, to us, truly is Paradise Found.