Starting Out
My first go at serving was in this brewery that played live music until 3am.
And like most everyone, received no training.
I was 18, completely disorganized, had virtually zero command over my tables, and remember wondering how the other servers could actually have casual conversation and joke around.
Not a great experience that I was quick to exit once another opportunity came up.
Years Later
I was taking this full-time course in Nashville and needed part-time income. If you've been to Nashville, you know this is a great place to work in hospitality.
I walked into a few places with my resume and admitted I didn’t have much experience but willing to learn. One GM said he'd work with me and brought me on.
This guy was great. Seriously, he really did me a service — walked me through EVERY aspect of serving, every task, step by step, how to carry plates, how to run food, what to pay attention to, how to greet guests, where to stand, what to do with my hands, tonality, everything. Seriously detailed.
That was for 5 days and with daily menu tastings, tests, pop quizzes.
Clarity, structure, expectations are seriously under-rated.
Then he put me in a small section and said it would all click in a couple weeks.
This was true.
It was kind of like I synced up with the internal rhythm of the place. It all just kind of made sense. Right place, right timing, right focus.
I never thought as a kid that I want to be great server some day. I wouldn't have said I was 'passionate' about hospitality. But I like being good at what I'm doing...
I don't want to suck in public at anything. Ever. Does that make sense?
And if I'm being totally honest, I prefer to be an absolute rockstar – totally in control, making it look easy, cool as hell. That's my motivation - not serving itself. Serving was just the current thing.
I became a student of the trade in some ways. I've always enjoyed finding patterns in the seemingly chaotic – discovering its structure, finding upper limites, developing systems, then mastering it. This is apparent in a lot of my studies.
I was studying software full time and now work in AI if you're curious. Before that I learned and become fluent in multiple languages (Chinese, Thai, Spanish), learned programming and the basics of data engineering, trained and competed as professional Muay Thai fighter, and learned to navigate a number of foreign countries.
Languages, code, fighting, foreign lands, restaurants – all seemingly chaotic, but all contain an underlying structure that once identified and understood, allowed me to really operate.
It's in recognizing structure that one can actually develop competence. Structure is that which you can build upon, measure against, lean on, and become in sync with.
There’s an order and system to be found in serving too.
Creating Real Server Training
I was moving back to Thailand to work for a gym and do some of their marketing. I planned to create some content for them and wanted some practice. I thought why not start with this? It's what was in front of me... which I've found to be reliably good thing to lean into.
At the time, I was training manager of my restaurant and had already been teaching it regularly.
What's interesting is my buddy had been wanting to create something with me for a while but we hadn't found a common thread. Until I mentioned the idea of serving... guy had years experience I was unaware of, and most importantly, was good at it.
So we got to work hashing out everything we wanted to teach, taking notes on each stage of dining, and thinking through the concept. The objective was to make training that was actually useful, kinda edgy, and to the point. Real server training.
He flew down South a month later, and we got to work. We only had 10 days to complete it, and for a shot gun production, I think we did alright.
I came back from Thailand a few years later - just to visit actually - but covid restrictions picked back up, and I ended up in a restaurant here.
I had the idea of building another training program that really captured the way of thinking through each stage of dining.
So I got back on the phone with my buddy, and we pretty much did the whole thing again.
If you'd like to learn more about me, I write on different interests/ fields of study/ projects here:
