A local place in a small strip mall along a major thruway with limited parking. You could drive right by it and not even realize what you've missed. The restaurant itself is very small with only 10 tables total, half of them are 2 tops. But, what they are missing in space, they make up for a wonderfully colorful dining area with lots of paintings and color and they play R&B for background music. The food is incredible. Hats off to the chef for creating a very unique menu with a number of signature dishes. Today, my group ordered the Salmon Croissant, the La Fête Croissant and the La Fête French Toast. For Starters we got the Soul Food Eggrolls.
The eggrolls were filled with Mac & Cheese, Chicken and collared greens and served with BBQ sauce to dip in. These are truly unique. I've never had anything quite like them and it was a really nice surprise! They were slightly sweet and the change in ingredients creates a very unique eating experience. While they are delicious plain, but, the BBQ sauce is absolutely killer. They don't have brand name sodas or regular water. If you want water you have to buy bottles. The soda they do have is really tasty. They have a citrus hibiscus soda that is also really tasty! The salmon croissant comes with a filler of salmon. I was expecting smoked salmon and was very pleasantly surprised! Excellent choice there Chef! The fillet was moist and flavorful. Not overcooked at all! The LaFête Croissant is an actual steak as well. No shaved meats here like you would find in a Philly steak sandwich. This steak was tender and juicy and perfectly seasoned. Topped with lots of sautéed onions, peppers and mushrooms. Both sandwiches were loaded up with a fried egg to your liking. Both sandwiches were served with beautifully cooked holes fries with lots of seasoning t to make the flavor pop. I had the La Fête French Toast. They use a chala bread and it comes out nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside. The French toast is also served with 2 eggs your choice and the home fries as well. Honestly, the food alone deserves 5 stars.
So, why not 5 stars overall? In a word, the service. While the service staff is pleasant, they are VERY green. She never introduced herself so I couldn't even tell you her name. She talked about being a picky eater as an excuse for not trying the food at her business. It's not. As a server you should try EVERY SINGLE ITEM before serving. Why? So you can talk professionally about what you are serving. Would you sell cars and then say you've never driven them? Of course not! So why is this practice acceptable in the restaurant business? Spoiler alert... it's not either! So... no introduction at greeting. Apparently her name is Kiara which was on the receipt. Then, after we had ordered the appetizers for the table she never got us silverware or plates. We had to ask for them, after the food arrived. The food took longer than I would expect, but, with the quality being what it was it's certainly excusable. I'm always willing to wait for exceptional food.
Remember this... you aren't an order taker. What you are is a tour guide! You should know your food, be excited about serving it and it's the job of the server to lead their guests through an exceptional meal. Service is just as important as the kitchen. Never forget that. One last piece of advice. The table wasn't set properly before we were sat. There was no salt shaker. There were no napkins. There were no side plates. As a server, setting up your station is essential for smooth service. Imagine this. Each server is a store within a mall. The mall is the restaurant. So, how does a server set their store apart from everyone else's? Cleanliness. Attention to detail. Anticipating the needs of the guests. The one thing she did do correctly was to ask how our food was within just a couple of minutes. The general rule of thumb is to check the table within 3 minutes or the bites! This was the one thing she actually managed to do.
Train your staff to suggest specific items. They should have in mind at least one appetizer and two entrees before addressing the table. The server should be saying things like, welcome to La Fête, my name is __________, can I start you guys off with an order of Southwest Eggrolls while you are looking through the menu? Why is this important? Because, like I've mentioned before, the server is a TOUR GUIDE, not just an order taker. And this is why food knowledge is essential. That way when the server says, can I start you with Southwest Eggrolls and it will trigger the guest to say, we aren't in the mood for that, but, what dips do you have? It's a conversation starter. Servers must know the food so they can intelligently discuss it and make smarter suggestions for your guests and increase their check. That simply means more money for EVERYONE. read more