The Steakhouse

My first shift in the Canadian pavilion was as a seater at Le Cellier Steakhouse. I was scheduled 11-6:30 and I made sure that I got there super early. Since it was my first shift, we started out with paperwork and a discussion of my job as a seater. I had two trainers, Jacky and Charlotte.

After the paperwork and discussion, I was brought into the restaurant and was given my own seating chart to start learning the tables and sections. It was really overwhelming at first, trying to remember where each table was and in which section. Luckily, I was able to keep the seating chart to help and this made me feel a little more comfortable.

I watched Jacky and Charlotte each seat a table and than it was my turn with them shadowing me. They corrected any little mistakes that I made, but overall I really felt comfortable seating. I didn’t take anyone to the wrong table, which was pretty exciting! I knew that knowing where the tables were and which section they were in would come with time and practice.

I had my first cute Disney moment with one of the guests on this shift as well! When one family came into the restaurant, the little girl in the family announced to everyone that it was her birthday and she was six years old! I ended up seating that family and when I asked how everyone was doing that same little girl responded by telling me that it was her birthday. I said to her “you’re six years old today, right?” Her eyes lit up and she responded “how did you know?” I told her Disney magic! It was the perfect thing to happen on my first shift and it made me so happy to know that the magical moments that I wanted to help create with this job were actually possible! It was a magical moment for me as well!

The next day I was working as the PM seater, which meant that I would be trained on the closing seating jobs that night. My trainer for today was Andrea. I had another great day and I really like seating a lot. I got to try doing trivia with guests who were waiting for their tables, which was a lot of fun! One of the little girls who got some of the questions right, and got Mickey stickers as a result, gave me a hug before she left the restaurant. These moments are really exceeding any expectations that I have had for this job, which really makes me look forward to my remaining time!

On Sunday, I was trained on Greeter, which is the person who checks in all of the guests for their reservations. My trainer for today was Jeff. I was shown how the whole computer system works, along with our reservation system. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and details that need to be mentioned to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable meal. After getting all of this down, I felt much more comfortable with the computer system.

On Monday, I was trained on the last position in the restaurant, Setter. This person helps to clean and set up the tables in the restaurant after they have been bussed. My trainer for today was Caro. A lot of people don’t seem to like working as a setter because of all the physical work and the fast pace. I actually didn’t mind it that much. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of moving around the restaurant as fast as I could while still looking professional, but I really liked the fast pace of the job. The day flew by so quickly and I looked up and it was ten hours later and time to go home.

After my four training shifts, I had my “prove it” shifts. These are the shifts where you are left by yourself to see if you can handle the job. My first was the AM seater shift. After this shift I actually had two days off, so it was a nice way to end off my work week. It was a good shift and I had pretty much learned all the table numbers by this point!

I felt really confident in the restaurant and would be by myself for the next several shifts. I had two days off before that would happen though.

Currently listening to: “I Survived” by The Graduate from the album Anhedonia