A La Carte

A La Carte

A la carte is our casual dining option where customers can select and order from the a la carte menu. You can find the most up-to-date A La Carte menu on our website's menu page. 

Customers dining on the a la carte option should be seen as potential High Tea customers who are looking to book a private function with us. It is therefore imperative A La Carte customers receive the same high level of customer service our High Tea guests receive.  Always offer to answer any questions about the venue or refer them to the manager for anything you don’t know.  Don’t assume they know everything about us, when the conversation presents itself take every opportunity to upsell or cross-promote our products as much as possible, let them know about upcoming events and that we have an online store where they can have our food delivered to them. 

As A La Carte does not require pre-payment and bookings we do have groups walk in. For this reason, we always have at least 3 tables set for walk-in customers when we are not fully booked. If there is no seating available inside for walk-ins we should always offer outside seating if available or takeaway. 

Below you will find the steps of a la carte service. 

A la Carte steps of service

• Welcome A La Carte customers with a very friendly smile and hello, immediately seat them at a table. 

• Once the customer has been seated for 2 - 3 minutes, approach the table. Complete a small introduction as follows: 

• Welcome to Mary Eats Cake, my name is Xxxx and I will be assisting with serving you today. Are we celebrating anything special? Have we been to Mary Eats Cake before? 

• I will explain a little about what we do here and how our menu works. Our specialty here is our High Tea, as such I would highly recommend the Mini High Tea Experience, which gives you a good sample of how our full High Tea experience works, you can also try our full High Tea experience, however there would be a short wait on that one of approximately 20 minutes. 

• Ensure that you ask if they have any questions about the menu or if there are any dietary requirements for the table.  

• Take drinks or food or both orders. If they would like more time for food, approach again in another 2 - 3 minutes.

• Put all orders through one of the iPads and then set up the table with any missing pieces required for their order. Ie if they are having High Tea, they will need a gold stand. If they are having a lunch item they will need large cutlery pieces and/or salt and pepper shakers.

• When you are serving food or drink, explain what each item is before placing it down on the table. Be friendly and jovial and try to make conversation where possible. 

• Approach the table when they are halfway through their meal to see if they have everything and are enjoying it, check on the water on the table and whether they would like extra drinks. Remove empty glassware or plates. 

• Once all customers have finished their meal, clear all empty plates and glassware and ask if they would like to try some of Mary’s famous scones or desserts or would like to finish with a coffee or tea. If they do, take the order. 

• Once the client is ready to leave, thank them for coming. If they enjoyed the tea or cakes, point them in the direction of our merchandise shelf or cake counter for things to take away.