STRAWBERRY, RHUBARB, YUZU

Saturday, June 4- There was no question, at any position, department or corner of the restaurant, that tonight was a Saturday night. The upstairs dining room came alive with the PDR being open for cocktails and 2 additional 4 tops, the energy was fantastic. However, #thestrugglewasreal as 2 servers and 1 server assistant (plus managerial assistance from all 3 of us) combined for over 90 covers in LB2.

Mood Scale: Earlier this week (before Man in the Hat staff coffee) Lynnea brought in espresso for the staff. Today Natalie brought in donuts for National Donut Day as well as a thank you for her birthday dinner last night at Leña. These contributions to the team lift everyone’s spirits and give us the energy to deliver our best Leña experience to the guest. Brava team, Brava!

SG’s: Jorge Guzman, GM of Surly Brewing of Minnesota, given extra attention from Matt. Clayton’s mother Devonna. Chef Suzanne, with owners of Bistronomic, lovely service by Allie. Thomas Lents, executive chef at Sixteen, taken care of by Malcolm. Chef Erling Wu-Bower of Nico, amazing service by Lynnea. Steve Morgan, Formento’s somm, and friends of LLL.

Oscar was in LB2, with 2 separate couples celebrating anniversaries. In both cases he had the pastry chefs write in chocolate “happy anniversary” on the dessert they ordered, and delivered it himself with a candle, wishing the couples well, and you could see our guests appreciate his benedictions. Oscar is about to celebrate his own 1 year wedding anniversary, and was able to use that genuine connection to elevate these guests Lena experience. Brien, who worked the LB2 bar solo tonight, had a challenging guest refuse to stop eating his mis en place (diced fruit for cocktails) with her fork, and he had to move it away from her view. Despite that challenge, he was still laughing at the end of the night: that’s called resilience.

MVP: Ren and Xavier our 2 new dishwashers did a very solid job working with Don Fredy, they are both strong additions to the team.