Maitre D

About Safta:

Safta, meaning "Grandmother" in Hebrew, is our company-owned restaurant located in the vibrant RiNo neighborhood in Denver. Opened just six months after our flagship restaurant Saba, Safta reflects Chef Alon Shaya's heritage and offers a culinary journey that pays homage to the rich and diverse landscape of Israeli cuisine. Influenced by the flavors of the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, Safta presents a collection of moments where food and culture intersect. Our menu showcases an ever-evolving cuisine, with wood-fired pita bread baked steps from the table, soaking up the flavors of Bulgaria, Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Palestine, and Greece, to name a few.

Our Mission & Core Values:

We will Educate - We are Respectful - We are Fair - Will will Empower - We are Reliable - We are Passionate - We will Communicate - We are Positive.

We will spend our days together in a place where everyone feels comfortable and safe. We will create a space, whether in our restaurant or throughout our community and beyond focused on furthering love, mutual respect and professional and personal fulfillment.

We will stand up for and uphold our values of equality for all people no matter the circumstances. We will surround ourselves with people who share in these values. Then, we will cook and serve, and be happy.

Maitre’d Expectations:

The role of a maître’d' is crucial for the smooth operation of a restaurant. As the maitre'd, you will gain knowledge of regular diners and build relationships with guests. Below are our expectations of a Maitre’d. 

Guest Relations

• Warm Welcome: Greet guests warmly and ensure they feel welcome.
• Name recognition and attention to guest preference 
• Seating Arrangements: Efficiently manage seating arrangements to optimize table turnover and guest satisfaction.
• Guest Satisfaction: Address any guest concerns or special requests promptly and professionally.

Service Coordination

• Reservation Management: Handle reservations and coordinate with the kitchen to manage the flow of service.
• Event Planning: Organize and manage special events or private parties hosted at the restaurant.
• Communication: Maintain effective communication between the service team and the culinary team.
•  Collaboration with the kitchen, service and management team in order to plan special touches, or “legends” is also highly encouraged.

Operational Duties

• Quality Control: Ensure that the restaurant maintains high standards of cleanliness, presentation, and service.
• Problem-Solving: Resolve any operational issues that arise during service, such as seating conflicts or customer concerns.
• Answer phone calls that come into the restaurant, take reservations for the guests and take detailed guest notes in Resy. 
• Balancing schedule and self-directing in order to manage their administrative work and time on the floor
• Revenue Maximization: Discuss strategies to increase revenue, such as increasing seating times, decreasing turn times and creatively customizing table builds
• Town Knowledge:
• Knowing events around town
• Understanding our neighbors hours of operation
• Building relationships with other Maitre’d in the area 

Leadership and Professionalism

• Training: Train new employees on service standards and restaurant procedures.
• Lead by Example: Exhibit professionalism and a positive attitude to set a standard for the rest of the staff.
• The maitre'd should be able to answer any questions the guests may have about the menu, special events, and all things Safta. They should know the menu in detail, be able to make suggestions and answer any questions about allergies or dietary restrictions. 
• Conflict Resolution: Mediate any conflicts among staff or between staff and guests.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay updated on industry trends and continually seek ways to improve service quality.

Expected Skill Set:

• Interpersonal and communication skills:
• Communicating clearly, both verbally and in writing, in order to create a clear and communicative environment between guests/patrons and hosts/servers;
• Displaying strong customer service and leadership skills
• Adeptness with a diverse group of people in potentially adversarial situations using a calm, polite, tactful, discreet and effective approach.
• Organizational and time management skills:
• Having strong multitasking skills; being able to work under pressure in a dynamic, fast-paced environment;
• Highly responsible, reliable, organized, detail oriented and structure
• Analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills:
• Identifying issues and resolving problems in a timely manner
• Analyze guests/patrons in order to make the proper recommendations.
• Ability to work cohesively as part of a team and possess good judgment
• Being driven to achieve goals, as well as motivating the staff to achieve team goals
• Self-motivated, decisive, responsible and driven to provide the best service.

Job Responsibilities:

• Responsible for sending thank you emails to all reservations who dined with us the day before, using the email.
• Forward all complaints/praise responses to the General Manager and Executive Chef. 
• Get feedback from guests or patrons in order to ensure satisfaction with both food and service
• Assess customer complaints, inquiries, and recommendations, always striving to provide a better service
• Maitre'd will take reservations with detailed guest notes in Resy 
• They will assign tables daily and weekly, mapping out Resy to maximizing bookings while allowing accurate turn times for reservations. 
• They will confirm all Safta’s Table/partial or full buy-out reservations and their understanding of the menu and charges planned via phone a week in advance
• They will notify management of any forecasted problems with bookings/guest requests.
• Over time, the Matire’d will gain knowledge of regular clients, build name recognition with guests, and be able to note their preferences to create a genuine experience for returning guests. 
• They will make detailed guest notes regarding connected names, dining preferences, guest complaints, special dates and requests.
• Maitre’d will be responsible for training and supervising host staff, along with management.
• Maximizing the amount of walk-ins taken while still balancing the flow of the restaurant and kitchen
• The maitre’d will take ownership of handling guests anytime we are late on their reservations by more than a few minutes, always offering a complimentary glass of sparkling wine or water and notifying the MOD.
• Reviewing the email. Be the point of contact between inquiries and management.  

Maitre'd will train new hosts and supervise existing hosts on the following:

• Common language training
• Communicating with the guest/patron:
• Getting feedback from guests or patrons in order to ensure satisfaction with both food and service
• assessing customer complaints, inquiries, and recommendations, always striving to provide a better service
• anticipating and addressing the customers’ needs
• ensuring all information provided to the guest or patron is current and accurate.
• Communicating with management when guests are:
•  waiting more than 15 minutes for a table
• seem unhappy with service/food/ambiance.
• when problems with ambiance/atmosphere of the restaurant occur
• Phone verbiage and general information training
• Insure hosts are speaking with guests, patrons, or staff using a clear, professional, and respectful language at all times
• Confirming reservations for the next business day and Safta’s Tables/large parties a week in advance 
• ensuring all information provided to the guest or patron is current and accurate.
• Greet all the guests and seat them according to their assigned table in Resy
• Thanking and greeting guests with genuine appreciation before they leave.
• Training on how to rearrange the floor plan when changes occur in real time
• Ensure that the restaurant is clean before we open for business, for which they should inspect all around the restaurant,  point out anything dirty to the staff and organize the restaurant according to the decor sheet guidelines.
• Enquire from the guests whether they enjoyed the food and the service upon exit
• relay this information to management
• Escort the guests to the restrooms and handicapped exit when necessary
• Maintain cleanliness and stock items in all communal spaces and restrooms throughout the shift
• Restrooms should be checked every hour.
• The Market Hall area should be tidy and guest facing at all times
• Monitor completion of opening and closing duties
• Take ownership of cleaning, organizing and stocking the host stand area
• Ensure all tech is plugged in and charged when needed and at the end of the day

Qualifications:

• Proven experience in a high-end restaurant as a maitre'd or similar role.
• Strong leadership and organizational abilities.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills.
• Ability to handle high-pressure situations with grace and professionalism.
• Previous experience with ResyOs operating system 
• Previous experience with Toast POS is recommended 

More detail about Safta part of Pomegranate Hospitality, please visit