By Caroline Dozier
What are the two things everyone is looking for when they go out to eat? Great food and great service. That’s what you’ll find at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, says manager Christian Kalassay.
“I’ve been cooking all my life,” says Christian Kalassay, but he never thought about becoming a chef until he was cooking dinner with a friend one night and she said he should go to culinary school. “I had to ask her what that was. You see, I grew up in Northern Africa and I’d never heard of it.”
It didn’t take Christian long to find out, though. The next day he enrolled in the culinary program at Johnson and Wales in Norfolk. “I graduated in 1994 and I’ve been involved in the restaurant business ever since,” he says.
The restaurant business is a 24/7 job, explains Christian. “You have to put your heart and soul into it.” That’s what makes eating at Carrabba’s, located at 739 Lynnhaven Parkway in Virginia Beach, different from the typical chain restaurant, and the experience starts even before you get inside the door.
“Every day we clean the parking lot, we get out there and sweep it. We always maintain the exterior of the building,” says Christian. “When you walk in the door, my boys and girls at the front will greet you with a smile and open the door for you. They bring you to the table and describe the menu to you. Then my server will be right over and make suggestions. We cater to what you want, what we can do for you. They are attentive, not annoying, and they are always there for you.”
Yes, the restaurant is part of a nationwide chain, but Christian wants his customers to feel as if they’ve walked into a family-run restaurant. “My staff knows the people who come here. We ask you how your children are. I’ve been watching the kids who eat here grow up since I came here four years ago,” he says.
The secret is in a well-trained staff who loves working at the restaurant so much that they stay. In an industry known for its high turnover, Christian brags that he has had only two job openings this year. “Most of my kids come here in high school or college and they only leave when they graduate. That’s a great way to leave my place, to be going on to do what you’ve been studying for,” he says.
Finding the right people takes time, however. “The first year I was here, it seemed like it was constant turnover.” But he has learned that the process begins with hiring the right people, then training them well. “Training never stops. You should always be learning more about the job,” he says. “I’m either at this place or thinking about it all day long. I want to surround myself with good people.”
But great service is only half the battle in a restaurant. Customers won’t come back unless the food is excellent, also. That’s why Christian makes sure that everything at Carrabba’s is cooked from scratch. “We don’t even own a microwave,” he brags. It is fresh, also. “We prepare only enough for each shift,” he explains. “Take the basil we use in sauces and salad dressing. Each shift only chops what they will need. There is nothing left over at the end of the night. You know when you come here that every ingredient you get is fresh.” Great service, great food—what more do you want when you’re hungry?
