Angie
Collingwood,#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, January 08, 2008
This function was for a Birthday Come & Go Tea for 75 people and a buffet dinner for 45 people (dinner guaranteed for 50 people). 156 people unexpectedly showed up for the Tea portion; not only did this exceed our legal occupancy of the room, the unexpected numbers required additional employee assistance from other departments and additional trips to our main hotel. We persevered and did our very best to accommodate these extra, unexpected guests for the tea service. The organizer complained about the chicken entrees that were served on the buffet. It was not until the day after the function that we learned that the organizer's mother (who was the guest of honour) had supposedly been served under-cooked chicken. As the chicken was kept in a hot box for 30 minutes prior to the function (as is customary), temperature and condition of the chicken was closely monitored. As well, both the Executive Chef and Sous Chef did a taste testing of the entrees. Our Director of F&B consulted with both our Executive Chef and our Sous Chef, who were both personally involved with the preparation, and determined that the chicken entrees were fine. Even if the chicken entrees were found to be less than perfect, it should have been brought to our attention during the function, when we could have immediately remedied the situation, not well after the fact. The Assistant F&B Manager, who was present during the entire function, made multiple quality checks at every table to ensure the quality of the meal; he received no complaints. Had he received any, he would have acted promptly to correct the situation. He had even commented on the success of the evening. Our Director of F&B, Assistant Food & Beverage Manager, Director of Sales, and Credit Manager all had correspondence with the organizer after the function to discuss the situation. The organizer is dissatisfied because she has not received any financial compensation from us on a well executed function. We feel that we did everything possible to ensure a successful event.