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Pivot, Pass, & Alley-Oop like the Raptors!

Let’s leave the Vic and go on a road trip to an NBA final game.

I got us seats in the front row with Beyonce on one side and Drake on the other.

Are you enjoying yourself watching those tall men with awkward facial hair pivoting on kayaks tied to their feet chasing a rubber ball down the court?

Aren’t you glad I invited you? Go! Sporty! Team! Rah!

Hey! Did you just see that? The one tall dude bounced the ball straight into the other tall dude’s hand without looking in his direction. That’s impressive! I’ll bet they practiced that one before.

Now, what’s happening? The one guy with the electric yellow shoes threw the ball halfway across the court and the funky braid guy jumped up and slammed dunked it.

The crowd roars!

What did they just call that move? An “Alley Oop?” Never heard of it. I’ll ask Drake.

Hey guys! According to Drake, an “Alley Oop” is when one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in midair and slam dunks it before touching the ground.

I’m super impressed.

That alley-oop took selfless teamwork, precision passing, perfect timing and unbelievable skill in finishing the job by getting the ball into the basket.

(I’m told that’s the point of this whole sweaty charade.)

As I’m standing in the endless line for the ladies washroom (why they don’t put double the amount of women’s toilet in these stadiums, I’ll never know) I’m thinking about our little team back at the Vic.

In a way, Vic Servers are like basketball players. We’re not sweaty or particularly tall and we have our facial hair in check but we do pivot, we pass, we alley-oop.

PIVOT

Pivoting is a seat numbering system we use.

Every table has a set starting point. For booths, it’s the seat to the left of the server. For tables, it’s the point to the west (The TD BANK) or sitting on the banquette. On the patio, we use the person sitting closest to the A-frame sign pole (the NW corner of the patio)

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Once you know your pivot point you start numbering each seat starting with the seat directly to the LEFT of the point. This will be seat #1. Now number the rest of the seats in a CLOCKWISE direction until you meet the original point.

Ring in all orders using these seat numbers. The first guest’s order in touch bistro should be the person directly to the left of the pivot point.

The yellow binder has a map of the space with the pivot points all marked.

PASS

Passing is precision teamwork. We do this without having to communicate with each other or yell across the restaurant. When one server’s food comes up any other server or super! can serve their food.

No eye contact, no permission needed.

ALLEY OOP

Using pivot points allows any other server or super! to run food to any table without having to ask who ordered what.

It’s a system that allows any server or super! that walks up to the table to know who gets what, without ‘auctioning’ or ‘raffling’ off the food or drinks.

You know, “Benny? Benny?” The guest whose NAME IS Benny but who ordered the POUTINE raises his hand and everyone is hangry and confused.

In other words, a server can set another team member up from a distance for a precision slam dunk of serving the correct food to the correct persons.

Once everyone becomes comfortable with seat numbering, the entire restaurant will run more smoothly with faster service, less confusion, and fewer mistakes.

This should help to increase server tips from better service and reduce restaurant costs from mistakes.

That’s a win for the restaurant, the staff, and the customer. Go Raptors! Win the championship, make Canada proud. Go team Vic! Win the championship of service by pivoting, passing and alley oop-ing.