Last week, I explained how physically demanding the work of a Chef is. Today, we are looking at the same Fogo De Chao restaurant but we are going to focus on the demands for the Gauchos or servers. They are not only in front of the hot skewers and meats but they have to be constantly walking. Along with the walking their is slicing the meats and answering customer questions.
Fitbit Tracks Each Step Of The Gauchos
As the Head Chef, I asked one of our Gauchos to put my Fitbit step-by-step counters. We did this over the last weekend rush as an experiment. The purpose was to discover their exact activity.
The difference between our expectations and our reality was very far apart.
In a single, average Friday, this Gaucho will walk 14 miles around this Philadelphia Fogo De Chao restaurant:
Every mile was spent either with a full tray, carrying a churrasco skewer, cleaning tables, and going down and upstairs. This particular Gaucho always explains that at the end of the day she ends up very tired. Looking at the Fitbit tracking numbers, it does not surprise me.
Simply put, it is extraordinary what the servers do. We are adding number of their specific activity so that there can be no doubt. Whenever you go to eat at a trendy restaurant, which is always busy, you will know that the servers work very hard and deserve a good tip. All things considered, when performing wellness tracking for restaurant workers are walking a half marathon around a single restaurant.
The next day was an average Saturday during the summer. The same Gaucho will walk 11,41 miles around the same restaurant:
The next day was the Sunday of Father’s Day, 2018. For the same restaurant, the milage went down to 8.95 miles. Ultimately, we asked why to the working servers. The answer that we found was that on Fathers Day there is larger groups and more talking to the customers then usual restaurant chit chat. It is, after all, Father’s Day:
Performing Wellness Tracking For Restaurant Workers
We looked at the number of amount of Gauchos working each weekend day. We wanted to make sure that the numbers were accurate and balanced. I asked how many servers worked each of those weekend days that the Fitbit was used. It was confirmed that there were 18 servers working each of those weekend days and nights.
In the final analysis, this experiment exceeded our expectations. I have no words to express my gratitude. I can only say, “servers are awesome”.
Words By Daniel Miller
Head Chef At Fogo De Chao