Lily Martin

A brand-new restaurant in the heart of James St. A fine dining restaurant that prides itself on a personalised customer experience and clean, delicious, fusion foods.

As a section waiter my main responsibilities include,

• Setting and un-setting for service
• Cleaning and maintaining cleanliness of restaurant
• Opening and closing restaurant
• Have intimate and thorough menu knowledge
• Make informed suggestions
• Intermediate wine knowledge
• Working closing with kitchen and back of house staff to ensure cohesive service
• Use POS systems proficiently
• While ensuring basic tasks were completed efficiently and competently, a major part of my role is to focus on rapport building
• As a people person, being able to get to know the customers has been a rewarding and natural part of the role
• Additionally, it allows myself to become a part of the experience, which has led many people leaving named reviews, or even requesting myself my name for their next booking.

This role required a diverse range of day-to-day duties along with the management of various unique situations. The venue had multiple areas to be managed, inclusive of a 4.5-star hotel, restaurant with a seating capacity of 100-120, multiple other casual dining areas, Gaming room with 45 gaming machines, TAB gaming bar, main bar and three large function rooms

Basic duties included,

• Delegating staff positions, duties and shift times,
• Setting up and arranging functions,
• Handling customer enquiries and complaints.
• Overseeing stock levels and ordering supplies. Ensuring compliance with licensing, hygiene and health and safety legislation.
• Opening and closing the venue.
• Cash management and reconciliation across the venue
• Completing thorough daily financial reports,
• Kept in daily contact with head office and upper management via written reports
• Ensuring I made myself available to staff at all time, It was imperative they could contact myself at any moment
• Being vigilant of all patrons and staying in contact with security to ensure a safe environment for everyone
• React quickly and assertively to be able to manage and deescalate when a high-pressure situation arises.
• Managed staff scheduling for optimal coverage, ensuring efficient operations during peak hours.
• Trained employees in essential job functions.

Joined the company during the weeks leading up to opening. I was taken on to be a part of a tight knit group of managers to pioneer the opening of the business. Being a brand-new business, I was given the freedom to create and implement all staff training procedures and checklists to maximise time efficiencies. Shared human resource duties with the other two members of the management team and played an integral role in hiring staff and monitoring performance. An important part of this role for me was ensuring all staff felt comfortable and supported through the large learning curves faced. Some of the main everyday tasks I would complete include -

• Managing shift records, in charge of averaging and managing wage costs associated
• Covered production demands with well-coordinated schedules and work assignments.
• Completed tasks with high accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ensured staff implemented correct application of procedures in line with company values and WHS requirements
• Building a strong rapport with customers both internal and external.
• Liaise with staff and fellow management to create an efficient and motivated team.
• Set and achieve KPIs and targets, Maintain email correspondence and regular store reports to owner and stakeholders.
• Create, send and receive invoices in line with changing promotions and trends.
• Supervise and enforce cash handling procedures, Create and adjust staff rosters.
• Create and execute new ways of promoting and selling existing products in order to increase turnover and customer experience.
• Social media advertising, Recipe creation and refinement.
• Constant monitoring of review platforms to ensure customer satisfaction to identify areas of improvement and create company values to correct these areas.

• Work with all sections of the restaurant to ensure a 5-star experience for all customers
• Working the food pass, taking direction from chefs and servers to maintain a cohesive service
• Keeping cutlery stocked and communicating with BOH to avoid run outs
• Using spare time effectively around the restaurant to set up sections for their next sittings, general restaurant maintenance and cleaning
• Working a section of 20-40 customers per sitting
• Provide constant attention when hosting private functions of 7-35 people, which included all food and beverage service and liaising with customers to understand their needs and wants for the event
• Discuss spending limitations with the host and make recommendations to suit
• Give my customers insightful recommendations by ensuring to always expand my knowledge of existing products as well as new or changing items
• Basic knowledge of classic cocktails and serving premium wines
• Using POS systems to generate all orders and process payments
• Responsible for running opening and closing of the restaurant, ensuring all tasks were completed in a timely and proficient manner.

• Fostered a positive work environment that encouraged teamwork while also promoting individual growth opportunities within the company.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction with timely and accurate responses to inquiries and concerns.
• Implemented quality control measures to ensure consistent excellence in service delivery across all projects.
• Developed strong relationships with internal departments, ensuring seamless collaboration for efficient service delivery.
• Conducted post-project assessments to evaluate overall success and gather feedback from clients for future improvements.
• Ensured adherence to industry standards and regulations, maintaining a high level of professionalism at all times.
• Proactively identified areas for improvement in service delivery processes, leading to continuous optimization efforts.
• Coordinated cross-functional teams to deliver comprehensive solutions for clients'' unique needs.
• Collected, arranged, and input information into database system.
• Generated reports detailing findings and recommendations.

• Managed shift records, producing timely reports to keep management up-to-date
• Covered production demands with well-coordinated schedules and work assignments
• Completed jobs with high accuracy and high attention to detail while ensuring the application of procedures in many areas
• Building a strong rapport with customers both internal and external
• Liaise with staff and fellow management to create an efficient and motivated team
• Set and achieve KPIs and targets
• Maintain email correspondence and regular store reports to Head Office
• Create, send and receive invoices in line with changing promotions and trends
• Supervise and enforce cash handling procedures.

• Stayed up to date on company offerings and procedures with use of internal resources and regular communication with managers to produce enhanced customer satisfaction with fast, knowledgeable service
• Uncovered customers' root issues and developed effective solutions to meet specific needs and maintain loyalty
• Helped management make permanent improvements to customer service strategies by collecting and sharing feedback
• Managed orders from start to finish, inspecting final products to verify quality and bagging items for customers to ensure reduced customer wait times by processing orders with timeliness and accuracy
• Took orders and processed payments by operating touch screen POS system
• Using correct cash handling procedures when processing payments and tailing money accurately, balancing cash drawer at open and close of each day
• Maintained professional restaurant appearance by handling cleanliness and overall presentation of work areas
• Collaborated with team members to meet daily demands and handle challenging projects
• Fixed problems with equipment using troubleshooting and repair abilities
• Assisted with tasks and work duties during slow periods to maintain team productivity.