Making Magic Happen

The time has come: wedding season has officially kicked off at UpStairs. Beginning this past Saturday, UpStairs was host to a beautiful fall wedding. These occasions are especially near and dear to our hearts as they offer us as a restaurant united the opportunity to shine at what we do best: provide hospitality and sumptuous food.

Prior to joining the UpStairs team, I was personally involved in a fantastic catering crew back in my hometown of Oneonta, New York. The company is called Sunrise Specialty Catering, and its proprietors are Janet and Mark Quackenbush. From age 16 until the very recent past, I can barely remember a weekend were I wasn't involved in a wedding. To date, I estimate that I have been part of just over 400 weddings. Some are more memorable than others, but resoundingly each and every one has left an impression upon me that I will carry forever.

This past weekend was an incredible event to behold. As this was the first wedding of the season and for many of our new servers their first wedding at UpStairs, there was a palpable hum in the room as we sat down to our extensive pre-meal. It is, for me, delightful to see the servers exude a nervous energy that equals that of the bride and groom. Everyone wants so badly for the day to be a success at all costs.

It is in this respect that UpStairs excels. The empathy for the wedding couple is there. Each and every employee, from the host to the dishwasher, is fully cognizant of the implications of their actions and how they directly influence the outcome this most special day. From a front-of-the-house standpoint, I revel in the fact that my servers are so quick to assess the read of the room. We tell them from the inception to survey the room, to seek out the rowdy college friends, to look for the shaky grandmother and make sure she has a cocktail, and above all else to make absolutely certain that the bride and groom eat at their own wedding. I cannot express how awful I feel when the wedding couple doesn't eat but a few bites of the food they have so generously selected and paid for simply because they were nervous or compelled to talk to everyone in the room.

There is also something to be said for the extremely cheesy, but completely accurate analogy to snowflakes (i.e. that every wedding is completely different). Granted, the general order of events is almost always the same, but never is one group exactly like another. Herein lies the beauty of what we do in hospitality. We facilitate a good time. We promote an environment that fosters good cheer and frivolity. And we smile ... a lot. Not those plastic "Ken and Barbie" smiles that leave the jaw sore and face numb, but genuine inner smiles that resonate from the heart and translate to the visage.

At another point, I plan to post some of my more light-hearted stories and anecdotes from catering/restaurant past. For now, however, I have proven exactly how long-winded I can be, and will summarize. For anyone who knows me, I have a profound respect and admiration for Walt Disney. His reliance upon magic, wishes, and dreams to make effective realities amazes me. With every event with which I am involved, I strive to propagate that magical energy within myself, my servers, and everyone else involved. It is through that belief in a dream event that magic is achieved.

Here's to more magical events at UpStairs!