March 2013

More and more operators are making the observation that it is getting harder and harder to make a buck in the restaurant business. Between fewer customers, many of who are demanding more satisfaction but expect to pay less for it, and rising costs, not to mention plenty of competition doing their best to rise to the challenge, they have a point. Much of the wiggle room many restaurateurs have had in the past in terms of profitability is gone.

February 2013

In almost any restaurant no position is more important than that of the chef. Of course other positions, such as the dining room manager and GM or owner/operator, are just as critical. But if the menu is not appealing, the food not consistently well prepared, the food costs not kept in line and staff turnover not kept to a minimum, the chances of any operation’s success recede to zero. Most operators understand this, which explains the level of apprehension, if not the genuine anxiety, that many feel when faced with the task of hiring a new chef. Let’s examine just what we should be looking for in a chef, and how to best go about finding it.

One of the worst, but undeserved, stereotypes that the hospitality industry endures is the concept that it offers nothing but low paying, boring, dead end jobs to people who have no better options in life. But ask anyone who has been a proud member of our fraternity for any length of time and the overall impression you’ll get is just the opposite. It is an industry that has been consistently growing for years, has a genuine need for workers at every level of expertise and ability, and is hungry for people who are willing to work their way up the ladder as far as they are able to go, with little or no arbitrary limits placed on anyone willing to rise to the occasion.

As any good chef will tell you, there is nothing more important than the part of each day dedicated to prep work. Without well-planned and executed prep, labor and food costs, as well as quality, are impossible to control. And although service time is where the rubber meets the road, prep time is where we install the tires. When our restaurant’s doors open, we all want our kitchens to perform like a perfectly designed, well-oiled machine from the very first order through to the very last dessert.