Twelve Steps to Get New Restaurant Managers Off To a Great Start

Moving into your first restaurant management position can be a daunting transition. And if it's at one of the top restaurants in your area, that just ramps up the pressure.

Just ask Vianei Munoz-Vidal. A former server at Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant at the W hotel in Dallas, she then moved to Samar by Stephan Pyles. This noted Dallas chef's operation features "International Small Plates" from India, Spain and Eastern Mediterranean countries, and was named the city's "Best New Restaurant of 2009" by The Dallas Morning News. It's also where Munoz-Vidal is beginning her management career.

When I first met her, she was paying me a table visit at Samar two months after her promotion. Her natural friendliness, energy, hospitality and enthusiasm for the restaurant were very evident, and I asked her what the biggest thing was that she had learned since leaving the server ranks and joining the management team. She told me, "I used to be a player in the orchestra, but now I am the conductor. It is a lot different."

Moving into a first restaurant management position can be a daunting transition. If you are trying to develop a talented front-or back-of-house staffer into a management role, consider sharing these words of wisdom with him or her.

Though being a manager is certainly a different mindset from being a server, Munoz-Vidal has successfully made the transition. Management is a series of transitions, however, and how you handle those transitions can determine the level of success you achieve in your management career.