Ask An Admin: Major Food Group’s Kyra Suki Burner

MFG’s Director of Guest Relations on what it’s like to get 55,000 emails a month.

Ask an Admin is an interview series spotlighting professionals in every corner of the restaurant world. Keep up with more restaurant industry content by following BentoBox on Instagram.

This month we’re talking reservations and guest relations! Kyra Suki Berner is Director of Guest Relations for Major Food Group, where she manages a team of nearly thirty people handling everything from booking reservations to making guests feel extra special.

Take a look at what she has to share about her experience over the past decade-plus at one of the country’s premier restaurant groups.

What was your path to becoming the director of guest relations for Major Food Group?

I joined Major Food Group right out of college. I applied on Craigslist and became their first reservationist. From there, I was able to build the department. Back then, eleven years ago, we didn't have anyone to oversee events or catering, so I took on those responsibilities until we were big enough to break them off into separate departments. I gained so much knowledge and real-life experience by working with the people around me.

Can you tell us a bit about what you do day to day?

I manage a team of almost 30 people, which includes managers, VIP coordinators, Guest Relations Coordinators, and a few administrative assistants. (Our philosophy is to cross-train where we can so everyone can jump in and help. This is the power of having a central reservations team.)

Our coordinators work with guests to book them reservations or answer any other questions they may have. I spend the day analyzing our books and seeing where we can optimize seating; this could mean adjusting turn times or seating times, checking no-show reports, or even checking the weather! I have a team of managers who are instrumental in the day-to-day, as they work directly with our coordinators, which frees me up to work with the Marketing team on promotional materials, meet with managers to fix booking issues, or work on guest development projects.

Why do you think it is important for restaurants to have employees specifically dedicated to guest relations?

Guest Relations has been a huge part of the MFG philosophy since I started. At the end of the day, my team is driving revenue to all of the restaurants, so the job affects our entire company’s livelihood. It also gives us the opportunity to standardize practices across a large company, which directly affects the company culture.

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Working behind the scenes can be a somewhat thankless job. Do you have any advice for other restaurant administrators?

Guest relations is hard, but one of the most amazing aspects of this job is that we still get to be a part of the restaurant operation and converse with guests, even if it is virtually. When we can go above and beyond for a guest by adding notes to their reservation or finding a way to squeeze them in on a busy weekend, we feel the love from the other side of the computer screen!

For any other administrators, my advice would be to do your job well, work hard, and communicate effectively with the restaurants. Strong relationships are a must.

In your opinion, what is a well-run restaurant group like and what can restaurant groups do to be more like that?

Build a strong company culture. You need employees that live and breathe your story and we've been so lucky to have many that do. This gives us the opportunity to set standards and stick to them.

What’s one thing you wish the FOH and BOH staff knew about your work in the office?

The volume! We’ve recently been able to track how many emails our team receives a day and since then I’ve been shouting from the rooftops! The GR team at MFG can see up to 55,000 emails in a month.

Are there any tools you use that you would suggest for other administrators?

Part of our Guest Relations mission statement is “Commitment to building authentic and exceptional service through technology and training,” so tools are incredibly important to us. We use an email management system called Front which gives us the ability to answer the high volume of emails we receive most efficiently. It doubles as a mini-CRM, so we can look up information about guests quickly. We also use Microsoft Teams for day-to-day communication and file storage. We have a lot of training documents. And Teams has an FAQ section so coordinators can easily look up our corkage fee or address without searching a document.

What’s a memorable moment you’ve had in one of your restaurants? Do you have a favorite?

This is tough — I've worked at MFG for 11 years, seen so many incredible things, celebrated several occasions, and met tons of wonderful people. I suppose saying I met my husband at work is a cop-out, so besides that, we recently put on Carbone Beach down in Miami for Formula 1 weekend. While this was the most challenging four days of my life, it was also one of the most remarkable events I’ve ever been to.

The restaurants are like my children... I love them all the same! :) But I currently live in Miami and will say that ZZ's Club has such extraordinary food and hospitality.

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Ask An Admin: Major Food Group’s Kyra Suki Burner

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