I really enjoyed reading this. I too recall the pride of being able to walk quickly through a restaurant with a fully loaded, large tray outreached above your head so you can weave your way through a congested Saturday night floor.

I used to tell the servers I managed that the "floor" was their stage. When they were on the stage they had to feel like an audience member could always see them. They could talk loosely in the break room etc, but while on "stage", they had to act accordingly. -we would have openly welcomed a ballerina :)

The hostess is one of the most important job in a restaurant. If you incorrectly plot the seating, you could destroy an entire evening by over burdening your staff -especially the kitchen. A good hostess can also make a regular feel special even if they have to wait 20 minutes for their reservation.

I must say though, the "host stand" may be the place where the most hiring discrimination occurs. I was essentially mandated to hire pretty, young women. "Dress the door" is what they called it. Still, a few of those young ladies were wonderful people and extremely hard working as well as being attractive. It was a starting place for a future server.

Thanks for your comment. It definitely brought back some memories.