Ari Weinzweig – Food Woolf

Service 101: Energy Crisis in America

“There’s an energy crisis occurring in America and it’s happening in the hearts and minds of its people,” said my friend Ari Weinzweig, in a recent conversation. He shared with me how clear he was that there’s an energy crisis going on–one that’s just as serious as the one centered around our planet’s resources– in our nation’s workforce. Working men and women are checked out, uninterested, frustrated, unfulfilled, and looking forward to going home and doing something else. Poll most people and they’ll tell you the only place they can find emotional rewards or intellectual stimulation it’s outside of the workplace. It seems that the happy and fulfilled worker is a lucky, rare bird with the good fortune to have stumbled across a very special job in a very place.

People who are truly happy in their work naturally give off a positive energy. Those that are happy in their work have a way of making the people around them happy. And unless you are a shut off individual with no ability to read energy, the good feeling coming off happy individuals is contagious.

I recently had an epiphany about the power of good energy the other day while spending some time at Huckleberry, a neighborhood bakery and gourmet café in Santa Monica, California.

Happiness is a transferable energy source

Huckleberry was packed the moment I arrived. Despite having secured a table off to the side of the small eating area, I was stepped on, brushed against, and more than occasionally jostled by the long line of customers waiting to be served. I didn’t really care about the unconscious manhandling of the hungry guests, however. I had a bowl of silky and dense yogurt covered in a blanket of golden granola to savor.

But it was more than the power of oven-toasted oats that made me feel so content. It seemed that my good mood was a direct result of the energy of the place. The positive energy was so abundant I could tap into it—like my laptop plugged into the wall jack–and fill up for later.

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November 8August 16

Service 101: Finding My Mecca

Some people go to churches for inspiration. Others go to shrines, nature, the farmers market, or a synagogue for a higher message. For me, mecca is a tiny delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan named Zingerman’s.

I never expected to find bedrock inspiration from inside a humble brick deli with crooked wood floors. But ever since I took my first step inside the tiny footprint that is the deli, being there feels like I’ve been given a triple dose of hope. Within the overstocked walls of the hundred-year old building, there are employees who smile and gush about the products, and practically jump through hoops in order to please each and every customer. These employees—cherry cheeked teenagers, college students, young mothers, sisters and brothers, and gray haired men in bandannas–exhibit the kind of enthusiasm that one expects to see from the chorus of a big stage musical, just before the music starts.

They don’t serve Kool-Aid, but they’ll sample you on any product

At any of the Zingerman’s Community of businesses (or ZCob for short), the senses are bombarded. Colorful signs, packed shelves, freshly baked breads, and deli cases are filled with cheese and meats so appealing they have the power to make just about any food lover blush. With just one sample taste and an engaging description by an enthusiastic employee, many customers find themselves feeling the positive effects of the place. They loosen up. They smile. And, unsurprisingly, the soothed customer happily hands over piles of cash for a jar of wild flower honey, preserved lemons from Tunisia, the loaf of deli-sourdough, a chunk of Italian Pecorino, a vial of garum (an Italian fish sauce), a bar of chocolate imported from the Ecuador, and a buttery/spicy olive oil. Items that just moments before the customer had no idea they really, really wanted.

Look, if you’ve never been to Zingerman’s Deli, Creamery, Bake House, Mail Order, Candy Manufactury, Roadhouse, or Coffee Company in Ann Arbor, then you might think all of this positive work ethic stuff might sound a little bit hippy dippy. The thing is, there are no camp songs, no hokey character outfits that everyone is required to wear, and no corporate brainwashing. It’s simply a place where art and commerce meet and happiness and profit are friends.

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July 14November 14

Zingerman’s: The Service

“Zingerman’s is the only deli-and-service nirvana I know” –Eating Well

When it comes to eating out, I’m obsessed with finding good food and great service. It’s hard for me not to, since I work in the restaurant business. In the words of my sweet, generous husband, I tend to “go all Norma Rae” on service issues. When I see bad service and poor management, I want to stand up on a table and say “It’s all about great customer service!” But then my husband reminds me that maybe that kind of behavior will either get me carted away by the police or fired. I take this stuff very seriously. Maybe a little too seriously.

When I find great food, I’m elated. When I find a passionate server or bartender, I clap like a giddy school girl. When I find both great food and great service (which, unfortunately, is rare) I become a volunteer spokesperson for the joint.

Unlike many diners, I always walk into restaurant ready to love it. Based on my numerous years in the restaurant business, I know my eagerness to see a place succeed is just not the norm. Call me the optimistic pessimist. When it comes to dining out, I always want to believe that something great can happen.

The thing is, so few restaurants want to put in the time and effort to create a great experience for the diner from the front of the house (the service staff) to the back of the house (the kitchen staff). The food may be well thought out, but the service staff is neglected and left to their own (bad) habits. Or the service could be impeccable and the food is sub-par. Getting both parts of a restaurant right is very, very hard.

Can I get a drum roll please

Which brings me back to Zingerman’s. I know. I’ve been writing a lot about that place this week. But after all the writing (okay, I’ll say it, cheerleading), I would be short changing the place if I didn’t take a moment to express how impressive Zingerman’s trademark service is.

Beyond the incredibly delicious hand picked heritage foods and their artful presentations, Zingerman’s well-trained staff is always attentive, ready to help, knowledgeable and prepared to go the extra mile for the customer.

On a recent trip, my mother in law was presented with a handful of balloons (that had to be painstakingly filled up on-the-spot) when she mentioned it was her son’s 40th birthday. Sandwiches were hand delivered with a smile by an employee that that had to search the two floor dining room in order to find us. Our Roadhouse server, seeing that I was an information hungry foodie, answered all of my food related questions and offered historical background for many of the dishes. Ari Weinzweig, owner of Zingerman’s, went out of his way to make myself and my family feel welcomed and appreciated. He even took the time to find and read my blog after I mentioned it to him. At the Roadhouse he even filled our water glasses while telling us the story of the Pennsylvania sweet corn.

Every time I visit Zingerman’s, I’m blown away by their can-do attitude.

How do they do this? By dedicating huge amounts of time and effort into their people. To borrow the words of Ari Weinzweig, my service hero and author of Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service, in order to give great service one must:

1. Teach great service
2. Define great service
3. Live great service. The management staff spend enormous amounts of time walking the walk of great service by actively showing their staff how to give good service.
4. Measure it.
5. Reward it.

If you’re in the service business and take your job seriously, you ought to buy yourself a copy of Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service. It will teach you everything you need to know about getting successful results for great service.