Nights at Le Mucha
When your neighbourhood gem becomes a neighbourhood friend
Part 3 in a 4-part Belgian Hospitality Series
About the Series
It’s frustrating, and maybe a bit pathetic, seeing restaurants in North America gush all over their social media and marketing campaigns about how much they care about you, about their staff, and about how well you will be treated every time you come back.
The problem is that every time you come back, no one working there has any idea of who you are because everyone working there is new since you last were there, even if that was only a week or two ago.
The marketing says they missed you and that they look forward to seeing you again, but that’s a lie. I wrote about that lie in this post. Then, because we’re suckers for punishment, I wrote this post confirming that nothing has changed.
Turnover is rampant and growing in North American hospitality and that’s why experiences are less than authentic, service is less than personal, and the experience is less than memorable.
Many places in Brussels, and France too for that matter, seem to have the same menus, cooks, waiters and wallpaper that they had the day they opened. Even if many of them opened in 1740-something. A few of the original guests seem to be hanging around too, their grey hair a slightly different shade of blue, but still ordering Pastis as they did when they first visited 112 years ago.
Would restaurants in North America be more successful if they had long-serving, professional staff that not only knew their regulars but knew their tastes as well? Who knows, maybe North American customers aren’t very good at being customers either.
I wrote about one of our favourite Belgian hospitality personalities here, but now it’s time to showcase a few more.
The stories in this four-week series showcase how the people in each story played a big role in the success of the restaurants they worked in.
There’s a common lesson to be learned from each story. It’s never the brand, it’s never the marketing, it’s never the loyalty programme points. It’s the people that create the experience that drives loyalty. Over time, loyalty turns into familiarity and friendship.
In hospitality, when your business becomes friends taking care of friends that appreciate the services they receive, success is inevitable.
Step 1 - Find the right restaurant
There are brasseries and there are brasseries and then there are brasseries like Le Mucha. We’d heard it was good and that it was near our place, but it’s tucked away so far down a side street that the first time we went we ended up in a Lebanese restaurant closer to the main street that the side road dangles off from. We had an OK meal, but we knew it wasn’t the brasserie we’d been recommended. (And we were probably hungry, so rather than try to look further or ask directions in my frail French we decided to just eat…)
The next time we tried to find it we did and we’d booked in advance so even if we mistakenly wandered into the Lebanese place again, we would have wandered out again, and continued our search until we found Le Mucha.
Step 2 - Don’t worry, they’re not stealing your wine
You know Le Mucha is a step up from some brasseries as soon as you order a bottle of wine. Yes, they show you that they have brought the correct bottle to you. Yes, they pour a small taste while holding one hand behind their back and then holding the bottle, label toward you, as you taste the sip they have poured. But when you accept the wine and they have filled your glasses (which means about a third full in Brussels), they don’t put the bottle on the table.
If it’s white, or rosé, or even a chilled red like a Brouilly, it will be put into a large, silver chilled bowl with other bottles to keep it cool. If it’s red, it gets placed on the bar beside other bottles.
Americans beware, the bottle won’t be placed on your table and you’ll never be expected to, or even able to, pour your own glass from it. Miraculously, however, your glasses will always have wine in them and the bottle will last your entire meal with the last drops being poured just before you order dessert.
(What if I’m really thirsty or if there’s a group of us, you ask? No worries. Le Mucha will allow you to order more wine and they will control the flow just as smoothly.)
Michel or Ali or Bernard do that for you. Michel was the owner, Ali was “always” our waiter, and Bernard poured wine and waited on us if Michel was busy or Ali was away.
Step 3 - order the special and trust their judgement
They have a fairly typical and quite extensive menu, but having gone once or twice, we only ordered off the monthly specials list. Another tip about restaurants in Belgium and France is that the specials are special. Special for the season. Special because they were able to get some especially good ingredients from the market. Trust me, the best choice is to trust the professionals. Michel, Ali, Bernard, and their team were professionals!
Speaking of steps, the food was a step up from a regular brasserie, sauces were made in-house and everything was always freshly prepared.
Ali quickly learned our tastes. Red wine was preferred over white and meat over fish. Sometimes he would give us the menu and quietly ask if we’d rather like to try some meat that wasn’t on the menu, (the extra special special) and the wine was his decision. He knew our taste and we trusted his judgement. It was so much better than our own!
Step 4 - Relax and enjoy!
If you’re loyal to a restaurant, it’s directly rewarding at good places in Europe, Belgium included. After you pay your bill, the waiter will return and offer a drink on the house.
Le Mucha was located in a house in a residential area in Brussels. The warm season there could stretch from a few days to several months. The weather is not why people choose to live in Belgium. In any case, when it was warm and dry, the indoor restaurant was closed and tables were set up in the back garden. On one particularly lovely evening, we enjoyed a meal in the company of a friend visiting from the UK. The conversation was flowing and time was flying. Around 11 pm, Michel got the hose out and started watering plants. There were still a couple of occupied tables, but I suggested we take the hint. We had paid and we had enjoyed the customary on-the-house drink afterwards. It was time to leave.
“Where are you going?”, said Michel. “I’m only watering the plants.” He could see we were enjoying ourselves and soon enough, Ali was there pouring us an extra, extra drink.
I can only wonder how the accountants in corporate and chain restaurants would deal with a service culture like that. I guess that’s a hypothetical question that they have cost-managed their way out of answering thanks to stiffly structured SOPs aimed at getting people in and out as quickly as possible…
At Le Mucha, their service was rewarded with long-time loyalty from appreciative guests.
It was our neighbourhood gem that became our neighbourhood friend!
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