It’s Pre-shift Somewhere “Standards Don’t Have Moods”
Weekly dose of wisdom from my partner and our Director of Operations, Phil Zelonky
There are two versions of service:
The one you feel like giving.
The one you promised to give.
Your guests don’t care if you’re tired. They don’t care if the host stand is slammed. They don’t care if the kitchen is buried. They just know what it feels like when we’re on… and they can tell when we’re not.
Standards don’t have moods. People do.
And leadership is the choice to keep the standard anyway.
Your job isn’t to “try.” Your job is to deliver.
Walk like you belong here. Posture up. Eyes up. Calm pace. Fast hands.
Warmth first, everything else second. People forgive a wait. They don’t forgive feeling ignored.
Don’t drop the basics when it gets busy. Busy is when basics matter most.
If you see it, you own it. A crooked chair, an empty water, a guest scanning the room—handle it.
One great table can save a night. One sloppy table can ruin a brand.
The line we talk about is
We don’t rise to the occasion — we fall to our training.
we keep it simple:
Smile first, details always, urgency without chaos.
💯