Behind the headlines
My day at Le Petit Blanc started at 9.30am, but by then Olivier Delaunoy had already checked the banking from the previous day (about 90% credit card payments), briefed assistant manager Joakuim Gregorio to run the morning's waiting staff meeting, and had a meeting with principals from the brasserie's appointed filtration company.
At 9.32am Belgian-born Delaunoy is having his regular meeting with Simon Rhatigan, general manager of Le Manoir. Not surprisingly, the major topic of conversation is the previous day's "Blanc in trouble" headlines. Delaunoy fielded most of the calls, and fended off an over-enthusiastic TV crew which wanted to interview him live in the front eating area.
"Like the papers, I knew where they would be coming from, and as there is nothing I can say before the planning meeting I wasn't going to disrupt customers," he explained.
Both men are aware the Blanc name is always going to attract attention - and that some of it will be critical. Delaunoy's job is to remove any grounds for complaint. "We must be on our toes," observes Rhatigan. Wryly, he recalls one councillor's comment along the lines of: "We would never have given permission [for the brasserie] if we had known it was going to be so successful."
At 10am Delaunoy begins a walk-through of the restaurant. First thing to catch his eye on this four-times-a-day inspection are bundles of linen partly obstructing the back fire exit. Members of the waiting team are marshalled to move them. Delaunoy reminds them that simply dumping them in the easiest place would justify council complaints.
Staff reprimand
Cardboard boxes outside the kitchen are next on the hit list and are quickly removed. Debris at the back of the bar area is missed. It takes on an air of permanency as the day wears on - until Delaunoy reprimands the person concerned, who is also pulled up on other details, such as the state of the spirits display behind the bar. Only straight lines of dust-free bottles have customer appeal on the Conran designed shelves.
At 10.15am, in the downstairs men's toilets, new insights are gained into what male customers do with excess paper towels. Suffice it to say that the macerator can't always cope - so Delaunoy has to!
Five minutes later he is inspecting winter flower arrangements. Delaunoy and Rhatigan pose self-consciously for photographs, holding up sample dried arrangements from the local flower shop. The decorative plastic carrots are a sticking point. "If RB saw those he'd go nuts," says Delaunoy. It's back to the drawing board for the florist.
At 10.45am, Rhatigan and his general manager return to the "upstairs office" (the brasserie's private dining room) to finish their monthly meeting. On the agenda is leaflet racks for the bar area, which have to comply with Raymond Blanc's aesthetic sense of style. Delaunoy has to second-guess this, and come up with a possible design - to be implemented if M Blanc is happy.
Also discussed is the imminent switch from the current rubbish collector to the local authority carrier, in order to secure later morning collections and minimise disruption to residents. Delaunoy is set to take the changeover details on board himself. It is Rhatigan who insists he should delegate the job to his deputy, Sophie Cole. Delaunoy agrees - but "hands off" management doesn't come easily to him.
The meeting is over by 11.15am and the brasserie opens for business, Delaunoy tackles a formal reprimand. A customer has complained to Le Manoir about "the waitress from hell" who had served her the previous night. While a Petit Blanc customer is never wrong (a letter jointly signed by Delaunoy and Blanc, offering apologies and a complimentary dinner, will go out the following day) Delaunoy errs on the side of leniency - it is the waitress's first offence and she has apologised for any wrong impression she may have caused.
At 11.30am Delaunoy tackles a pile of paperwork in the stuffy office downstairs. His two-fingered typing is slow but sure. "We have the latest Windows package, but we could do with some part-time admin help," he admits.
Delaunoy is on the restaurant floor at 12.30pm, wearing an "Oxford-style" shirt identical to that of the waiting staff. This man knows how to work a room. He welcomes, upsells, ("perhaps a kir royale?"), checks that orders pass muster with the diners, passes the time of day with the regular business customers, gently flirts with the ladies-that-lunch, and sends them all off smiling. He is in his element. "I always spend three hours on the floor at each service," he says.
By 2.10pm he is back in his office. A drain in the back garden area needs attention, so Delaunoy lines up the appropriately named Clear Drains Ltd for a visit in two days' time. "Bon," he says, as he puts down the phone, a word he uses regularly throughout the day, earning him the nickname of Mr Bon-bon among the staff.
At 3.05pm it's time for lunch at his desk - Blanc-style of course! Chef Stuart Busby organises seared hot smoked salmon - new to the menu. Delaunoy approves. The working rapport between the two is evident. "He may be a good general manager," says Busby, "but his jokes are awful!"
As the pressure cools upstairs. Delaunoy reveals he is 29; married to English-born Yvonne, a receptionist at Langan's Brasserie in London; has recently moved to Oxford, and he sees working at Le Petit Blanc as "a great opportunity".
At 4.10pm he is back upstairs attending more meetings, first with Busby and later with the evening shift waiting team. A programming glitch on the computerised hand-held order-taking notepads had meant that keyed-in orders for port and jugs of water were not being picked up. Back in the office, Delaunoy reprograms - each item takes about 10 minutes.
At 5pm the afternoon drifts into early evening and the first customers start arriving. Delaunoy is noticeably more uptight. "I'm always like this at start of service," he reveals.
He need not have worried. Service is very slick - only a slight problem with the air conditioning (quickly fixed) and a badly dented large dried flower arrangement in the private dining room. "A female customer got a little excited the other day and fell backwards into them." But can they be fixed? It seems one of the assistant managers is up to the job.
"Bon," says Delaunoy.
Next visit to Le Petit Blanc: 7 November
