Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

This is a behind the scenes look at the place and the people that bring a plate of food to the guest’s table. The chef will likely be the most experienced culinarian with responsibility for the financial operation of the kitchen, menu planning, ordering and inventory control, training, and quality control.

Seasonal Menu 517

Seasonal Menu Back of House Customer Service Front of House 517

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

The next day comes around with the normal hectic start including placing orders, taking reservations, finding replacements for absent employees, and making changes to that evening’s menus. The best operators train restaurant eyes and teach their employees to be ambassadors for greatness. It’s never too small to worry about.

Uniforms 360

Uniforms Small Business Dine-in Training 360

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2024

As the chef of a busy restaurant, I know emotions in the kitchen will be high and the focus on food will be challenged by the anxiety felt by cooks hoping their team will make it to the next round. Walking over toward the bakeshop I hear Jake respond to a server’s question regarding timing until her order is up. A rookie mistake.

Front of House 248

Front of House Food Order Back of House Café 248

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 24, 2023

This is what allows cooks to stay one step ahead of chaos, if anything is out of order than the system starts to crumble. It becomes uncomfortable to find a plate, cup, side towel, pan, or pantry shelf out of order. Order is one thing that the chef must hold on to. It all makes sense – so why is this a problem?

Back of House 407

Back of House Front of House Food Order Uniforms 407

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 8, 2023

Cooks are now bouncing from foot-to-foot waiting for the chime of the printer as orders in the dining room are being taken by servers who put on a show face that projects calm. Then the printer begins to talk to cooks as the first orders arrive. Order fire – four pasta, two rib – rare, and a strip – medium.” “Yes,

Fine Dining 460

Fine Dining Back of House Front of House Food Order 460

Culinary Cues

APRIL 1, 2024

I picked up the clipboard holding an overview of restaurant reservations for the night as well as a stack of banquet orders that will tax the system until well after midnight. He never even took one bite of the food that I prepared. Elvis, on the other hand was more difficult to serve than the banquet for twelve hundred.

Back of House 318

Back of House Kitchen Safety Hotels Front of House 318

7 Shifts

JANUARY 31, 2024

It's up to the restaurant manager to maintain a warm, welcoming atmosphere and train staff to do the same. Inventory management Managers need to ensure the kitchen is stocked with the right amount of food so that nothing is wasted and as few items need to be 86'ed as possible. This goes far beyond training during the first week.

Management 398

Management Management Kitchen Safety Front of House 398

Culinary Cues

MAY 12, 2022

These are the restaurants where dining is much, much more than just consuming food. If they don’t see the value, regardless of how tasty or beautiful that plate of food might be, then why would they return? From my perspective the answer lies in menu planning, training, and labor efficiency. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Pricing 352

Pricing Training Consumer Goods Customer Experience 352

Culinary Cues

APRIL 18, 2023

Here are some thoughts. [] IT’S STILL ABOUT THE FOOD: People go out to eat for a variety of reasons – convenience, social interaction, a change of pace, business travel, vacations, celebration, or habit. Plan, equip, train, evaluate, educate, and celebrate each and every employee. Sounds like a pile of contradictions, doesn’t it?

Food Truck 319

Food Truck Back of House Education Training 319

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 18, 2022

I was probably 10 or 11 years old on a shopping trip with my parents when we walked by a diner window with full view of their short order cooks. The difference between the two happens before the first order is received. As I look back, those short order cooks in the Buffalo diner window had it all together. It was amazing!

Customer Experience 411

Customer Experience Food Order Hiring Café 411

Culinary Cues

APRIL 22, 2024

I suppose it was only inevitable that this new method of doing business would creep into restaurant and other food related businesses. Every restaurant should want their patrons to leave with a smile on their face, memories of great tasting food, a comforting feeling that they were taken care of, and a sense that what they spent was worth it.

Consumer Goods 284

Consumer Goods Pricing Customer Experience Hospitality 284

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Let’s not confuse freedom with a desire to do whatever we want without a system of order or respect for the discipline of structure. There is comfort in the ability to achieve concrete objectives – a well-prepared plate of food and a satisfied customer.

Uniforms 463

Uniforms Airlines Food Order Fine Dining 463

Culinary Cues

APRIL 15, 2023

Cafés and Bistros should be able to dip into a cache of “extra” money to pay for the entrance fee and since it is thought that restaurants make significant profits from the food they sell, then those deep discounts will be easy to swallow. If you are not in the restaurant business, then maybe this sounds reasonable. We would love that.

Seasonal Menu 447

Seasonal Menu Café Point of Sale Social Media 447

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 28, 2021

Cooks are busy at work with their own preparations as breakfast orders from the dining room arrive at a harrowing pace. As service begins to reach its peak, you set aside your prep work and jump into the expeditor position calling out orders and finishing plate garnishes. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. CAFE Talks Podcast.

Kitchen Safety 423

Kitchen Safety Front of House Fine Dining Seasonal Menu 423

Culinary Cues

MARCH 21, 2022

When a kitchen exudes calm, even when the amount of food prep and the stress of the moment seem over-the-top, it is always a result of organization and attention to detail. Throughout the kitchen – this is the rule of thumb: everything has an order, a place, and a time that everyone adheres to.

Front of House 353

Front of House Back of House Point of Sale Uniforms 353

Culinary Cues

MAY 1, 2023

They are the people I am most comfortable around – people with whom I share something important – preparing food. In all cases – I have learned something from them. There are many war stories of battles in the kitchen when we stood together on the precipice of defeat, only to find a way out because we share a unique bond.

Front of House 427

Front of House Back of House Food Order Seasonal Menu 427

Culinary Cues

MAY 5, 2021

TRAINING AND DELEGATION: Yes, the hospitality industry has plenty of responsibility for this situation that can only be resolved through teaching and training managers and chefs to be more efficient with their time, able to discover how to prioritize their tasks and learn when and how some of this work can trickle down to other staff members.

Hotels 415

Hotels Coaching Employee Relations Training 415

Culinary Cues

APRIL 23, 2022

The buck seems to always stop with the chef; it’s the chef’s kitchen, the chef’s food cost, and the chef’s menu that drives marginal profit at best. The answer is simple, yet profoundly challenging: food cost is EVERYONE’S responsibility. Train to these standards and manage them. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Food 381

Food Seasonal Menu Waste Point of Sale 381

Culinary Cues

MARCH 26, 2022

Well, you have all heard the statistics about success and failure when food and beverage are involved, so I won’t repeat them. Once established – do not sacrifice what you have invested the time in developing. [] FAILING TO INVEST IN TRAINING. Training ALWAYS pays back in dividends. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Cash Management 366

Cash Management Social Media Restaurant Law Communication 366

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 8, 2021

With the increasing relevance of social media as the primary method of getting a restaurants message out – chefs who are social media savvy (astute at using Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, YouTube, and Twitter) will be at the top of the “hire” list for prominent restaurants. [] TEACHING/TRAINING. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

2021 462

2021 Social Media Kitchen Safety Restaurant Law 462

Culinary Cues

JULY 31, 2022

For the Restaurateur: Are you willing to take a hard look at your business model and change how you attract, train, invest in, compensate, and evaluate your staff? Are you willing to spend much more time working with and training your staff – building their skill set and showing them how to really cook from the heart?

Food Supply 392

Food Supply Training Supplies Café 392

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

The tasks of the chef are fairly universal: planning menus, putting your signature on each dish, hiring and training staff, ordering product and building vendor relationships, controlling costs and adhering to budgets, maintaining a clean and safe kitchen environment, etc.

Beverage 487

Beverage Events Food Order Website Management 487

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 22, 2022

The food was, of course excellent, but more importantly reflective of the region and its history and the experiences of the chef. This is where people met to talk about their families, local events, a bit of politics, a love of music and art, and laugh with reckless abandon over a plate of magnificent comfort food. author unknown.

Seating 442

Seating Front of House Back of House Cash Management 442

Culinary Cues

JULY 14, 2023

Make sure the tables are level, windows in that station clean, tablecloths even, silverware and glassware spotless, menus clean and pristine, back-up supplies in perfect order, your uniform impeccable, and know the menu and features inside and out including correct pronunciations and beverages that pair perfectly with food.

Cash Management 299

Cash Management Uniforms Food Supply Café 299

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Deep inside, people want to experience that quarterback throw a 40-yard pass, the batter power hit a grand slam homerun, and a chef create an incredibly different, beautiful, delicious dish that changes the way people think about a plate of food. I’ve ordered the same thing every Friday for the past ten years!”

Coaching 350

Coaching Small Business Café Entertainment 350

7 Shifts

MAY 11, 2020

If you have a goal reopen date in mind, work back from that to develop when each task needs to be complete in order to hit that goal. Hold a training session before re-opening with staff to walk them through the latest food handling safety procedures.

BOH 368

BOH FOH Food Safety Equipment 368

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

Whether speaking from a spiritual standpoint, referencing soul music, soul food, or the soul of a restaurant – it is clear that each of these can “transform the moments in our day and bring us closer to living life from a place that sits well with who we are at our core” 1. We not only taste soul food; we feel it. CAFÉ Talks Podcast.

Back of House 383

Back of House Transportation Café Food Order 383

7 Shifts

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Food Service Skills For Your Resume. 5 Restaurant & Food Service Skills for Your Resume. Health, Allergen, and Food Safety Training and Certifications. Health, Allergen, and Food Safety Training and Certifications. Food allergies. Food Service, Kitchen, & Hospitality Tech. Undercooking.

Front of House 370

Front of House Back of House Kitchen Safety Food Safety 370

Culinary Cues

MAY 16, 2024

A great order of eggs over easy transitions from utilitarian to exceptional with a slice of toast made from this bread. Your work as a baker makes everyone smile, makes every meal special, and stimulates conversation over memories of food rather than the challenges of the day. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER Praise your local bread baker.

Café 241

Café Food Order Retail Education 241

Culinary Cues

MARCH 4, 2022

Food cost is way too high – the senior chef has faced that problem numerous times. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. www.harvestamericacues.com – BLOG. He or she knows where to look, where the source of the problem may lie. Harvest America Ventures, LLC. Restaurant Consulting. CAFÉ Talks Podcast.

Coaching 472

Coaching Training Fine Dining Article 472

Culinary Cues

JULY 14, 2021

These warriors of the kitchen remember the heat, the aching muscles from standing on their feet for a 12-hour shift, the pressure of timing, the polished hands from grabbing too many scorching hot pans, and the staccato sounds of the POS printer ticking off countless orders. The orders start to arrive as the team acknowledges they are ready.

Food Order 473

Food Order Café Ordering Inventory 473

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 8, 2022

The anxiety building up to a full house in the hotel packed with a series of food events has made it impossible to relax. The event wall was filled with clip boards, each holding the food function of the day. All our ingredients were already in-house, only a produce ordered remained and we expected the truck around 9.

Front of House 397

Front of House Back of House Seating Food Truck 397

7 Shifts

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

If you weren’t thinking that much about online ordering before, you definitely are now. The easiest way to get your food out there is by partnering with a third-party delivery app. Native or first-party delivery doesn't rely on a separate service to take and send out orders. It will still cost you to run your own delivery.

Online Ordering 341

Online Ordering Ordering Customer Service Food Order 341

7 Shifts

JANUARY 31, 2024

It's up to the restaurant manager to maintain a warm, welcoming atmosphere and train staff to do the same. Inventory management Managers need to ensure the kitchen is stocked with the right amount of food so that nothing is wasted and as few items need to be 86'ed as possible. This goes far beyond training during the first week.

Management 195

Management Management Kitchen Safety Front of House 195

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 30, 2022

You must give and invest in order to receive. JOIN: Become a member of the local chef’s chapter of the American Culinary Federation, join the Bread Bakers Guild, Slow Food, USA, or the State Restaurant Association. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. BE THE SOLUTION. Harvest America Ventures, LLC.

Workshop 361

Workshop Article Uniforms Take-out 361

Culinary Cues

MAY 27, 2023

Try “FOOD” on for size. Encourage talk about food while on the job, take the time as a chef or manager to make “FOOD FACT” teaching moments throughout the day. Encourage talk about food while on the job, take the time as a chef or manager to make “FOOD FACT” teaching moments throughout the day.

Technology 347

Technology Front of House Social Media Back of House 347

Culinary Cues

MAY 9, 2022

Occasionally, she would call me to help push out a big order by flipping pancakes and French toast on the griddle. Suddenly, I was on my way to becoming a short-order cook. You pick things up quickly, your knife skills are pretty good, you are fast and efficient, and your plates of food are as good as mine. CAFÉ Talks Podcast.

Hotels 361

Hotels Food Order Café Inventory 361