Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

If that plate of food were to carry your name and contact information, would you approach it differently? What if you, with your name stitched on the face of your uniform had to deliver that plate of food to the guest and introduce yourself in the process: “May name is Jack Jones, and I prepared this dish”? Think about it.

Uniforms 365

Uniforms Article Café Training 365

Culinary Cues

JULY 22, 2021

I hear it from every single restaurant operator I know and even many more that I don’t – there is an acute shortage of staff. There isn’t a simple answer to this challenge, but we know that it will require a shift in how restaurants operate. Hope springs eternal. Staffing is a bear – I know it. In the meantime – here we are.

Guest Recovery 448

Guest Recovery Uniforms Point of Sale Customer Experience 448

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Do you really want to work in an operation where desperation is the primary motivation for hiring? For the dedicated cook, you want to work in an operation where your peers are also cooking for the right reasons. Are these the individuals who will help the operation reach its long-term goals? Think about the question yourself?

Uniforms 369

Uniforms Hiring Consumer Goods Communication 369

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 17, 2020

None, however, are as devastatingly out of the operators control as this pandemic. Even the best operators are at a loss for solutions. Those processing plants need to cover their substantial operational costs now that restaurant business has all but disappeared. Every day brings another college program closing.

Uniforms 470

Uniforms Cash Management Brewery Consumer Goods 470

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 27, 2020

There is comfort in the ability to achieve concrete objectives – a well-prepared plate of food and a satisfied customer. There is comfort in wearing a clean, crisp, white uniform that represents history, tradition, and pride. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. This is what discipline and organization bring to a work environment.

Uniforms 463

Uniforms Airlines Food Order Fine Dining 463

Culinary Cues

JULY 14, 2023

If you are opening a full-service, high-end restaurant then make sure that it is unbelievably great, a restaurant that becomes a destination, the type of operation that is a benchmark for everyone else, a place that gets people excited and leaves them scratching their head wondering: “how can any restaurant be that great?”

Cash Management 299

Cash Management Uniforms Food Supply Café 299

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 29, 2022

When an individual complains about the hours, his or her team, a lousy chef, a restaurant that doesn’t care about them, about how uninspiring the food is, or how poor the pay is and how limited the opportunities, then my reaction is: “it’s so sad that you haven’t found the right kitchen, the right chef.”

Uniforms 427

Uniforms Café Training Operations 427

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

From a purely economic perspective – cooks have a real impact on the national economy, the quarterly jobs reports, and the operation of more than 1 million restaurants that are part of the economic pulse of communities from New York to California and Chicago to New Orleans. Let’s look at the hard data first: In the U.S. there are 1.3

Consumer Goods 412

Consumer Goods Uniforms Café Blog 412

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Their chefs started them peeling vegetables, cracking eggs for breakfast, putting away food deliveries, and so on. After a couple years she moved back here as the chef of her current operation. Today you will meet everyone on the team and learn just how important a great dishwasher is to the operation. Thanks, chef.

Back of House 265

Back of House Hotels Uniforms Certification 265

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2020

I am entitled to mine as those perspectives have evolved over decades of work in the food industry with many fantastic people who come from a multitude of backgrounds, and who bring all sorts of issues and challenges with them. Those who only work for a paycheck are not likely to find a fulfilling career with food. Be a proud cook.

Uniforms 315

Uniforms 2000 Consumer Goods Small Business 315

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. Front and back of the house demand this organization if the end result is a smooth operation and happy guest. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG.

Front of House 353

Front of House Back of House Point of Sale Uniforms 353

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

The choice to be great or not so great is in the hands of the restaurateur and the folks who make a living with food. Some mediocre operations may experience a false sense of euphoria simply because of supply and demand. A restaurant cannot survive on attitude, service, and food alone – it must operate as a savvy business.

Fine Dining 392

Fine Dining Front of House Customer Service Customer Experience 392

Culinary Cues

MARCH 10, 2022

On this day of recognition, and for that matter every day that we turn on the kitchen lights, let’s rethink how we view the position and look at the facts: The best food will never be received well on a less than sparkling plate. One of the hidden painful costs of operating a kitchen comes from the cost of chemicals used in the dish area.

Front of House 447

Front of House Back of House Uniforms Hiring 447

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 28, 2023

The commonality is our voice through food; a voice that is built through years of practice, history and tradition, environment and experiences, family and friends, and a cumulative portfolio of all these influences. Uniforms will be pristine, the demeanor of cooks will be professional, knives will be sharp, and pans scrubbed clean.

Food Supply 362

Food Supply Dine-in Uniforms Presentation 362

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

It is the team behind the chef that makes a successful restaurant; it is the team that executes the chef’s vision; and it is the team’s focus that allows the chef’s cost consciousness to result in a financially successful operation. Yes, I do mean a culture of retention. BUILD A TEAM – KEEP A TEAM. People respond well to excellence.

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Loyalty Program Communication Training Coaching 582

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

But what about your food, what about the guest’s reaction, what about creating memorable experiences, what about your connection to the plate? Isn’t it the same reality in a full-service operation where pushing the numbers is priority number 1? www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. Mission accomplished. The answer, of course, is YES!

Customer Service 344

Customer Service Customer Experience Point of Sale Uniforms 344

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 4, 2022

I continue to see good restaurants lose a step with their food preparation, flavors, and plate presentations and shrinking menus that no longer inspire. It is apathy that kills a restaurant, not environmental factors that make operation challenging. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. Let’s do this before it’s too late.

Front of House 328

Front of House Coaching Uniforms Back of House 328

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

There are masters to serve, people who depend on the work of the culinary professional, who trust that their food will be prepared properly, that it will be managed and handled well, and the plate viewed as an important canvas on which the technician and artist paints. Sarah – that special you worked on was a home run.

Employee Relations 382

Employee Relations Training Fine Dining Take-out 382

Culinary Cues

APRIL 30, 2023

Did that experienced, higher than normal paid employee contribute to the operation as you intended? Cooks love to make delicious, beautiful plates of food and demonstrate their skill in the process. This is the most important measure of success when it comes to investment in people or ingredients.”

Employee Relations 403

Employee Relations Sports Pricing Hiring 403

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

So, what if we defined these for a restaurant operation (their meaning will vary to some degree depending on the concept of the restaurant) and built them into the same ring model used on my Apple Watch? Have you established a uniform and grooming standard in your restaurant and is it equitably enforced?

Fine Dining 315

Fine Dining Dine-in Front of House Design 315

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. Food, beverage, and labor cost percentages mean very little if money is going out faster than it is coming in. One of the most tempting forays into entrepreneurship is the restaurant business. Save, save, save.

Cash Management 366

Cash Management Social Media Restaurant Law Communication 366

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 28, 2020

For the restaurant operator caught up in the current, somewhat bleak reality of the business environment we are living in – there is hope in knowing how resilient the business of food can be. I don’t know what that means for your operation but take an inventory and look for the sensual interaction with guests. BE PRESENT.

Social Media 436

Social Media Communication Loyalty Program Training 436

Future Food

MAY 20, 2020

Five Food & Hospitality Trends for a Post-Lockdown World. Prior to the pandemic, many people predicted food trends such as a rising interest in meat alternatives, low or no-alcohol beverages and sustainability-driven purchasing behaviours amongst many others. which brings me to my next point, Tech…). Me&u ordering app.

Hospitality 113

Hospitality Food Customer Service Food Order 113

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

We should applaud competition, welcome it, and learn from it. [] DON’T PUSH ASIDE FOOD TO GO, FOOD DELIVERY, GHOST KITCHENS, OR CURBSIDE PICK-UP JUST YET: Yep, it saved many restaurants and our customers embraced it – now we can’t forget it. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. CAFÉ Talks Podcast.

Food Supply 416

Food Supply Employee Relations Kitchen Safety Social Media 416

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 30, 2019

I have the privilege of working with many different restaurants and food businesses. The following provides some “food for thought”, maybe even a “look in the mirror” checklist for those who are drifting away from those initial goals. [] THINKING THEY CAN MANAGE THROUGH OTHERS. So why does it sometimes go wrong?

Cash Management 266

Cash Management Point of Sale Leadership Website Management 266

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Maybe it’s a local diner as a dishwasher or assistant to a short order cook; maybe it’s a fast food operation as a “sandwich artist” or grill person for that hamburger chain; or maybe it’s a summer snack bar where you learn to walk through all of the steps. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. For a few, at some point that changes.

Fine Dining 389

Fine Dining Food Order Back of House Uniforms 389

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 31, 2019

All in” refers to a physiological, mental, emotional, and even spiritual connection to the work, to the operation, and to the greater culture of culinary arts. Owners and operators expect it, peers expect it, staff demand it, and customers just have a feeling that the chef is always present. Now his day had come.

Reference 345

Reference Uniforms Social Media Take-out 345

Culinary Cues

MARCH 24, 2020

And – due to the level of split second communication that takes place throughout a kitchen day – these operations develop their own language that is a cross between French, Italian, and street-smart urban English. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. So, now the cook’s restaurant is closed. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Take-out 350

Take-out Uniforms Food Order Blog 350

Culinary Cues

MAY 26, 2020

Why is there no universal strategy that helps restaurants collectively walk through the process of re-opening with confidence and uniformity? www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. How can we really stay on top of this challenge? Why is each restaurant struggling with how to manage the need for safety vs. the need to generate revenue?

Kitchen Safety 267

Kitchen Safety Leadership Food Safety Front of House 267

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

I have built a reasonable set of technical skills along the way, and have learned – through trial and error, how to become a better than average chef and manager of kitchen operations. And others may be content to present their food with great realism as Norman Rockwell might if he had been a chef.

Uniforms 178

Uniforms Presentation Food Order Fine Dining 178

Culinary Cues

JUNE 16, 2020

Is the relationship of food and dining much less important to all stakeholders? Time will quickly tell as restaurants begin to open and operators try to coax back those cooks, chefs, and servers to an industry that still has a few warts that need to be addressed. Is this a barometer for change? Is this where we are at?

Social Media 285

Social Media Entertainment Email Marketing Customer Experience 285

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

The labor pool is a true challenge, the pressure to earn a profit is relentless, the fickle nature of guests can be frustrating, the shear number of daily decisions required of the job is mind-numbing, and the need to put yourself out there with each plate of food that leaves the kitchen can be – frightening. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Seating 572

Seating Uniforms Take-out Communication 572

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

Unlike the passion they may show for the food they prepare for guests – food to a cook is oftentimes viewed as quick fuel to help them push through another service. We need to collectively work on this issue and find a fair solution.

Education 309

Education Consumer Goods Training Back of House 309

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Respect for the place where you work, those who own and operate the business and the physical property for which you are responsible is paramount. Let them know about sales, food cost, labor cost, changes in vendor prices, increases in utilities, mortgage or lease arrangements, and how profitable or unprofitable the restaurant is.

2021 396

2021 Point of Sale Reference Take-out 396

Focus POS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

While curbside pickup and delivery operations were able to hold many different restaurants over, for the time being, the ban on indoor alcohol sales was a little trickier to get around. However, the regulations aren’t entirely uniform across the board for how restaurants can offer this service. However, the regulations aren’t uniform.

License 162

License Restaurant Law Online Ordering Uniforms 162

Restaurant365

AUGUST 19, 2021

While you may think of your restaurant inventory as part of operations, restaurant inventory management should also be considered an accounting function. Operators, owners, and managers can all benefit from becoming well versed in the basics of restaurant accounting. Understanding restaurant accounting basics.

Inventory 147

Inventory Management Management Employee Relations 147

Restaurant Engine

DECEMBER 9, 2020

People love your food, and they want it outside your restaurant, too. You have a restaurant, and people already love your food. Things to think about include: Who will manage the catering operations? Can you afford to invest in additional uniforms or aprons for your servers? Do you have enough servers to handle it?

Catering 113

Catering Website Management Seasonal Menu Food Supply 113