Requesting feedback on your work can be awkward.

I went on a whole rant in my Episode 8 Breakdown of The Bear video, but one of you folks commented on it and I felt it was worth expanding on here.

When I was a sous chef at Lysverket, we would typically do 2 seatings. Sure, staggered tables would happen, but for the most part, guests would begin their tasting menus at either 5:30pm or 8pm.

This left great opportunities at around 7:30 and 10:30 (while desserts were being served) for my chef to go out in the dining room and talk to guests.

Bergen, Norway wasn’t exactly the most popular tourist destination (compared to other cities like Copenhagen), and so he would always make it a point to try and speak with guests 1:1.

He figured, this might be the one and only time they ever visit the restaurant.

Then, when chef would be away (doing TV appearances or just on vacation), he’d ask me to do the same thing - and I landed on a pretty helpful framework for asking for feedback.

Highlights and Lowlights

I didn’t think of it as that special at the time, but now can I look back and see why it was so useful. I’d approach the table, greet them, and then ask, “what were some highlights and low lights?”

This opens multiple doors for the guest:

1. I’m not asking the generic question of: “how was everything?” - that’s the equivalent of “how are you?” in conversation. There’s a societal “default” of just saying, “I’m good, how are you?”. You might as well have not asked anything at all. By putting attention on the peaks and valleys of their experience, it allows for more focus.

2. By asking for “lowlights”, I’m also implying that I’m okay with negative feedback. Please, share with me. Asking a table, “what was your favorite dish?” is really just me stroking my ego. You make it possible for folks to share what they might’ve thought missed the mark or didn’t quite jive with their palate. I’d say maybe 20-30% of guests actually took me up on sharing “lowlights”, but it’s better than the 0% I would’ve gotten from effectively asking, “tell me how good we are”.

3. More importantly, if they DO share a lowlight with you, you’ve got them physically there to share the concept behind the dish, any background on the process, the fact that it might still be in development, or even ask them what expectation they had when they were presented with the dish. This kind of feedback is gold, and to be able to talk things through with them while they’re in person (vs via email or over DM when they give that feedback over Instagram the next day) is incredibly valuable.

4. By seeing patterns in highlights and lowlights, you’re actually able to make well-informed decisions on what is performing well on your menu (and what to cut out). Few people are realistically going to tell you the entire meal was bad, and so you can start to notice that 80% of tables share the same 1-2 highlights in the menu, and potentially make those signature dishes on the menu (or prioritize those for your website or social media). Not to mention, with increased voicing of feedback on lowlights, you now know exactly what to tweak and improve.

It’s not always comfortable to get feedback. We open ourselves up to criticism, and it’s hard to tell what feedback to uncomfortably stomach, versus what thoughts to take with a grain of salt.

However, compared to the alternatives of negative compounding on your reputation, frustration from staff, decreased popularity, and gaslighting yourself…I’d say it’s the better poison to pick.

In SUmmary

Embrace feedback with the 'Highlights and Lowlights' approach to genuinely understand guest experiences.

This strategy opens the door for constructive criticism, allowing for real-time, valuable insights into your culinary offerings.

Implementing this feedback can lead to refined dishes and potentially signature creations, enhancing your restaurant's reputation and guest satisfaction. Remember, the path to culinary excellence involves not just receiving praise but also welcoming and acting on critiques.

Get more insights like this every week inside The Repertoire Newsletter, or join a community of other industry pros to talk dish creation and menus inside Repertoire Pro.