Field Notes on My Visit to Front Beach Cafe - Essay Example

Running Head: FIELD NOTES Field Notes on My Visit to Front Beach Café Name Institution Date Field Notes on My Visit to Front Beach Café in Melbourne in Australia on July 29th 2011. Address: 16 The Esplanade I arrived at the Front Beach Café at 7.35 p.m. on 29th July 2011. The café is strategically positioned to overlook Torquay beach which is a magnificent and breathtaking beach. On arrival, I was greeted by her peaceful ambience and friendly staff. I drove to the hotel as her road networks are well connected and there was ample packing. As I walked into the café I remembered this was not a usual visit to a restraint. My intention was to play the unusual role of an observer. However, I could not just observe what was happening without becoming part of it in a place where idlers were not welcomed. I therefore opted to engaged in low level participant observation to accomplish my goal. As people came in and left, I could see them hugging one another. Verbal greetings were exchanged too. For strangers verbal greetings and handshakes are applicable. People communicating (Carroll, 1992) can have a direct eye contact but staring is discouraged. Eye contact shows a sign of being polite. In this place the waiter and waitresses consider them equivalent to the quest. As I entered the gate, I was welcomed by some security officers who required my identification details. The security man assessed the customers as they came in but did not limit people on the basis of their style. Women were more accepted in the café as compared to men as indicated by the questioning. The assumption that men were more likely to be engaged in crime than women was in application here. As I stood there, one man who was visibly intoxicated was turned away indicating that such clients were not allowed into the café. After the scrutiny, I was directed to the reception. At the front door, a security man who portrayed the traditional stereotype of a bouncer was employed. This indicated that security was tight in the café. As I entered the reception, I was greeted with smiles a word of welcome. One employee wearing a t-shirt inscribed “front beach, the place to be” showed me to a sit and offered me a drink before I could even for anything. He later inquired to know whether I had come there to enjoy their service alone or with a group. When I explained that I was alone, I was shown to the main dining area. As I walked to the dining area, I realized that there was a function in one room. I peep in just to see the inscription “Happy birthday, Myennyie”. It is through this that I learnt the reason behind the questioning at the reception. Looking ahead, I noticed anther small crowd of about then people dinning together. It seemed that these group of individuals new each other quite well. They enjoyed a chat as they took their meal. Since I was not part of the group, I walked to a separate table in one corner where I could comfortably capture the events of the day. The waitress quick walked to me and gave a welcome smile to me. “feel at the right place as you kindly check on our menu list to make an order”, she said as she handed me the menu list. She then stood right beside me waiting for me to make up my mind on what to order for. Food offered included salad and house made tartere, seafood feast including smoked salmon or fish, scallop and bacon skewers, crumbled calamari, oysters 3 way and king prawns all served with chips. The menus indicated the diversity of head chefs and their passion for local and sea produce. The menu also included roasted potatoes and broccolini, oven roasted rump dressed with a herb and caper and tender steaks. A variety of drinks were offered in the café and the prices differed with each type of drink. Adverts of different drinks and foods offered in the café were running concurrently on television as a way of advertisement. There was a sensational list of juices from which customers were to choose their favorite. I opted to consume orange juice as this was my favorite. I looked through the menu and ordered for smoked salmon served with chips. Within five minutes, I had already been served. This was quite fast considering the large number of people walking in every minute. The meal was well presented and appealing to the eyes. As I dinned in the café, I could enjoy the ‘beachie’ and relaxed feel of the place. The café also had some relaxing benches outside the café. Clients watched surfing clips in the café as they took their drinks. The employees were always on the lookout in case one needed any assistance. Inside the café, waiter’s were in motion trying to spot any client who had not been served. They directed customers into vacant tables which had been neatly set. The patrons controlled the crowds by ensuring that there were no idlers in the café. Once an idle person who had not purchased any product was sported, the patrons went ahead to request them to walk out or order for a meal. However, those who had already taken a drink, meal or both were allowed to relax in the café or outside as they preferred. Throughout the period spend in the café, there was no resistance from those requested to leave the café if they were no purchasing any product. In total, two people were sent out. The employees wore uniforms inform of t-shirts which had the café’s name clearly inscribed. The dressing style of the workers reflected the aesthetic of individual avenue. The t-shirts were red in colour while the trousers or skirts were navy blue. Females who wore skirts neither wore too long skirts nor too short. From the look, it was evident that majority preferred putting on trousers than skirts. They did not only have their uniforms smart and clean, but their hair styles as well. For male employees, their hair was neatly cut while the female employees had their hair either neatly plaited or styled. As noted earlier, the café catered for different entertainments and crowd sizes and therefore had multiple-purpose spaces. I realized that as I strolled outside, there was an evening party in one of the spaced for a couple that had wedded that day. The ladies walking in and out of this event wore brightly colored well fitting or tight evening dresses. The café attracted varied crowds including the middle aged and young clients. In this particular event, the crowd was mainly made up of youths. Fewer men had come into the café as compared to the women. I noted that the birthday party and evening party had more women than men. Most of the women came with their partners or friends. However, as I watched people make their orders and the consumption patterns of those who had already made their orders, I noted that more women requested for drinks when alone as compared to men who orders for heavy meals. Heterosexual relationship were also evident as more couples flooded the café. Being a Saturday evening, the dressing of most people coming into the café was casual. The men were mainly dressed in jeans, smart casual crisp shirts or labeled t-shirts and had neatly cut short hair. Most women on the other hand had long hair, and wore tight, light-colored clothes revealing midriff or cleavage. Their shoes were mainly strappy and high heeled. However, there were several women with low heeled shoes especially the middle aged women. Some spaces inside the venue we gendered. For instance, though a slight difference existed, there were more women in the café than men. This was replicated in the wedding party where there more women as compared to the men. The staffs were quick to identify clients who had not been served or those who needed to make a new order. Music in this café could be heard from inside the café but not from outside. However, the music differed from one venue to another based on the function. In the main dining area, cool music was played. The birthday and evening party DJs controlled the music as it was interrupted with talks. It was evident that most of those who had come in were very social as people made new friend and exchanged smiles with strangers they had met in the café. However, some opted to simply enjoy their meal and walk out. Take away food was also offered as people walked out. Meals were offered in cocktail whereby prices were clearly written on a blackboard. Though the café had good ventilation system, a large portion of clients were smoking. Some of them opted to smoke outside while some smoked inside the venue. Ashtrays were placed in every table for convenience of those who felt like smoking. There were more women who smoked than men. For instance, I spotted eight women smoking and six men between 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm. There were no incidences of violence. The security staff controlled customers who seemed to be unsatisfied with the services with minimum of upset. For instance, there was an incidence where a client received what he had not ordered for. It is during this time that I realized how concerned the employees were with customer satisfaction. The waitress calmly apologized to the client and went back to bring the ordered meal. One of the bouncers at the door also came and apologized to the client on behalf of the employees. This just indicated how keen the security officials were in maintaining calmness in the café. Though dissatisfied at first, the customer smiled back as an expression of understanding. Different strategies were used to make the café more appealing to clients and encourage more consumption of foods and drinks offered in the café. For instance, there were different table setting based on the size of the group. There were also spaces for those who came in alone. The speedy service also encouraged consumption of the products offered in the café. Whenever one seemed idle, a waitress would come and inquire if any assistance was required. I was also requested to fill in a form rating the kind of service I had received at the café. As indicated in the form, this was applied in analyzing their customer satisfaction level and identify areas of improvement. I filled in the form and returned it as I paid for the services received that day. It was already midnight and time for me to leave. As I walked out, I realized that a lot of cars were still packed outside the café and security was evident with the clear lighting and an increased number of surety officers patrolling the area. The entrance and exit gates were also manned throughout the night. I signed out took and drove back home having accomplished my goal. I have travelled to different hotels previous and I have been a keen observer. The reason for selecting Front Beach Café is because being in Melbourne and near the beach, it attracts both locals and tourists alike. This gave me a chance to observe people from different cultures confined together. My cultural background has some influence through I worked hard to control this. For instance, hugging is seen as an indication of an intimate relationship. In this regard, I considered those hugging and walking to the café together as being couple though this may not be the case. I was satisfied with the field notes I wrote reason being that I did not do the observation under the influence of any person. I was neither on the side of the café management or employees. Additionally, I have gained relevant skills required in writing field notes. References Carroll, J. ed. (1992). Intrudders in the Bush: The Australian Quest for Identity, 2nd ed. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly publishing. 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