Congratulations to Sergei Kiefel and the front of house team at One MICHELIN Star Frasca Food and Wine and the 2023 MICHELIN Guide Colorado Service Award Winner! This long-standing institution manages to feel relevant and exciting through excellent service and delicious dishes. Warm and approachable staff paved the way for genuine conversations and memorable nights. Below, the team shares how they manage a consistent level of service and what's next.
What is a typical night at the restaurant?
Before every service, we host a staff meeting where we go over menu changes, new ingredients, wines, and most importantly guests notes and service theory. This meeting is a critical moment for our team to ground themselves and prepare to welcome guests in before our doors open.
Once we unlock our front door, I remain close to welcome guests. After they've been seated, it's all about getting to know them. The most seamless way for me to do that is running food to their table, where I get a chance to say hello, check in, and make sure they're enjoying their experience.
What goes into preparing each night?
Preparing for each night starts in the morning. One of the first things I do is look at our reservations for the evening and review our guest notes. I meditate on details like dietary preferences, where guests are coming from, and what they're celebrating. This helps me envision how the night will unfold.
A huge part of my personal mental preparation for the evening is making sure I get outside and exercise. We're so fortunate to live in a place where we have easy access to some really beautiful places to get a quick hike, climb or run in.
In the afternoon, our guest relations team and chefs are in constant communication about each table and how we can best take care of them that night.
There's a lot of logistical pieces that are seemingly small—a guest's water preference or how a couple prefers to sit side-by-side, but we believe they make up such a huge part of our hospitality experience at Frasca. Studying these details allows us to translate them into an incredible experience.
What's your favorite part of the guest experience?
My favorite part is the chance to offer hospitality to as many guests as I can every night. I enjoy getting to be present with a guest and finding ways to care for them during their time with us.
What does "really good service" mean to you?
I see good service as the starting line of great hospitality—the mastery of mechanics and technique allows us to open up and be more in tune with the guest.
As our Frasca co-founder Bobby Stuckey always says, "Service is what you do to somebody. Hospitality is how you make them feel."
We work really hard at service so that we can be great at hospitality.
How are you able to keep the team calm?
I'm aware of the energy I bring in the moment I walk through the door. I have a responsibility to take care of myself because I know that as part of the team, we're all going to absorb each other's energy. If we start off right, there's a high chance we're going to have a great night together.
It's also important for my team to know that I have trust in them. The best way for the team to stay calm is to believe in what they're doing—giving them the confidence to do their job, but being there for them when things aren't perfect.
What is the biggest misconception about your role?
There is so much that goes on behind the scenes in order to deliver an incredible dining experience. I am so fortunate to be a part of a team that when we all come together, we're able to deliver a really special experience, but none of that comes without experiencing and learning from weeks, months, even years of good and hard services.
No professional athlete steps into a game unprepared—there's years of film, training, studying, and practice that allow them to be prepared for that moment, and we operate in the same vein.
Hero image: Casey Wilson/Frasca Food and Wine
Thumbnail: Casey Wilson/Frasca Food and Wine
