Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

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. It is this dichotomy of experiences that draws people into a career behind the range and keeps them there for decades.

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Seasonal Menu Back of House Customer Service Front of House 547

Culinary Cues

MAY 28, 2022

These unplanned tattoos are a rite of passage, our report cards that help to define when we have passed the test of time in front of the range. The most important room in a home is the kitchen. This is the hub of activity, the space that portrays unity, defines tradition, nourishes the body and mind, and sets the tone for communication.

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Front of House Back of House Small Business Employee Relations 421

Culinary Cues

MARCH 21, 2022

From first-in, first-out in the walk-in cooler to how you fold side towels and where your knives are placed – it is organization that allows a kitchen to run efficiently and keeps the mood and pace of the restaurant in sync. To some, it may seem less significant, but to seasoned professionals – this is the truth of the kitchen.

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Front of House Back of House Point of Sale Food Order 443

Culinary Cues

MAY 1, 2023

There are many reasons why I am so grateful for the decades I spent in front of a range. And, I have witnessed the apologies and hugs between front and back of the house that said: “Sorry I may have been abrupt, it was the heat of the moment, and you know I truly care about you.”

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Front of House Back of House Food Order Small Business 474

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 28, 2021

I know you remember the first day that you slid your arms into the sleeves of that chef’s jacket with your name embroidered under the title: executive chef. It was that first time in the lead position – the commander of the kitchen brigade. You are now the conductor of the orchestra that is totally in sync, creating beautiful music together.

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Kitchen Safety Front of House Fine Dining Back of House 473

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 22, 2022

There were eighteen or twenty seats (mostly deuces) and in better weather maybe two more tables on the street or alleyway in front or beside these tastes of a chef. There were eighteen or twenty seats (mostly deuces) and in better weather maybe two more tables on the street or alleyway in front or beside these tastes of a chef.

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Seating Front of House Back of House Cash Management 474

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 10, 2021

If you pull a joker, the meal is on the house. Train your staff to build other taking points. Promoting your restaurant should start with promoting the food itself. However, too many restaurants fall into the trap of promoting items with a low food cost and high margin. Others tend to emphasize their cheaper menu options. Net result?

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Marketing SEO Front of House Website Management 567

Culinary Cues

JUNE 23, 2024

THEY ARE OUT THERE, and they are willing to teach, train, support, and inspire those who want to be great. Not all kitchens are alike. Not all chefs are the same. Not all cooks step to beat of the same drum. So, how detrimental is this “bad press” and what can be done about it?

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Uniforms Front of House Back of House Food Supply 448

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 24, 2020

Consider this – the menu is the most important component of a successful restaurant and once designed it can, and should, impact every other aspect of the business. YES – the menu is that important! The menu comes first and should reflect the philosophy of the owners and chef and how the operators expect to be perceived by the public.

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Menu Seasonal Menu Front of House Café 482

Culinary Cues

JULY 4, 2021

This will, of course, make it far more challenging to control quality and consistency, but with a movement towards on-going training and quality assurance – it can be done. By now, everyone is aware that there are enormous challenges with the supply chain – brought on by the pandemic and post pandemic rush to return to normal.

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2021 Food Supply Seasonal Menu Supplies 508

Culinary Cues

JULY 19, 2024

The attention to detail at every workstation is a perfect indication of the training and unity of purpose that every cook shares, and the sense of calm that this organization brings is a strong indicator of how the unit works towards plate perfection and a great customer experience. Cooks don’t have to work at mise en place, it simply “is.”

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Front of House Food Order Customer Service Customer Experience 354

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

So choose where you want to sit and lets jump on the speculation train. [] NOURISH AND PROVIDE SUSTENANCE: Without a doubt – one of the primary purposes of a restaurant and one that supports the defined needs of a guest is to fill their stomachs. This was (is) the design of classic coffee houses, speakeasys, and corner cafes for generations.

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Culinary Cues

MARCH 26, 2022

Once established – do not sacrifice what you have invested the time in developing. [] FAILING TO INVEST IN TRAINING. Training ALWAYS pays back in dividends. Train to your standards and be very clear. Every employee needs to be trained and most relish the opportunity to learn and get better at what they do.

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Cash Management Social Media Restaurant Law Communication 462

QSR Automations

JANUARY 16, 2025

Provide s multiple ways for guests to book a reservation: In house On your website Via a third-party partner Using a browser widget Create s custom availability plans for events (concerts, ball games, parades , etc. ) Reporting and Analytics Data is king; ConnectSmart Host helps you make the most of your front-and-back-of-house data.

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Front of House Operations Back of House Reservations 52

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 20, 2021

The kitchen is a place where those who are successful come to the realization that those later aptitudes are enhanced through experience – the more you do, the better you become. Some talented people are not the best cooks and chefs and quite often the most intelligent (using commonly referred to scales of measurement) are lacking in common sense.

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Front of House Uniforms Back of House Kitchen Safety 491

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. Well, here we go. I haven’t slept much at all over the past few days and certainly won’t until the weekend is over. The preparation has been mind boggling, now we just have to execute. Things looked good.

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Front of House Back of House Seating Food Truck 449

Culinary Cues

MAY 27, 2023

Employees can always catch up on their phones during breaks but during production and service their focus must be on the job in front of them. [] BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER: One of the “bad and ugly” aspects to technology, especially social media, is that people are pulled into their silos and fail to interact and share with others.

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Technology Front of House Social Media Back of House 418

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 8, 2023

It’s the fire in the belly waiting to take charge, the anxiety being held in check, cold sweat running down your back even though it’s 120 degrees where you stand, and the nervous chatter of tongs clicking to the beat of a cook’s rhythm. Now everything is quiet except for the clicking of tongs. The air was thick with anticipation.

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Fine Dining Back of House Front of House Food Order 520

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

We all know the challenges facing restaurants right now – there is little benefit in reiterating the problems. The question is: “What’s the answer?” Of course the pandemic is the cause and the effects are either a direct result of that or the necessary restrictions that evolved from Covid.

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Kitchen Safety Back of House Front of House Customer Experience 432

7 Shifts

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Health, Allergen, and Food Safety Training and Certifications. Cooks and back-of-house employees tend to work with inventory management software and kitchen display technology. Cooks and back-of-house employees tend to work with inventory management software and kitchen display technology. Table of Contents. Cross-contamination.

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Front of House Back of House Kitchen Safety Food Safety 370

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 4, 2022

People do care about value and once the splash of being able to get out of the house wears off, value assessment will be paramount once again. Well then – what will? Try apathy on for size. Maybe it’s me but I have seen a growing number of restaurants (certainly not the majority at this point) who are simply not trying that hard anymore.

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Front of House Coaching Back of House Uniforms 429

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 5, 2023

There are films that become representative of a generation and sometimes of a life lesson – occasionally both. We remember a line or two that is always there to remind us, to give us pause, or inspire us to reconnect with something or someone. You want more! The fact of the matter is: “Wax On, Wax Off” is great advice.

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Kitchen Safety Food Safety Back of House Front of House 446

Culinary Cues

MAY 23, 2021

At the same time, many of those restaurant employees – front and back of the house, were taking their time trying to decide if it made sense to return to an industry that was unpredictable, low paying, void of reasonable benefit plans, and now a target for customer anger and angst as servers suddenly became covid policemen.

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Guest Recovery Front of House Employee Relations Food Truck 450

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2022

It is also this potential that allows teachers to change the direction of a young student’s life, a garden expert to beautifully landscape a home, a plumber to turn copper into a work of art, an electrician to properly wire a house, or a cook to prepare a perfect restaurant meal. Each person has something to offer and a need to do so.

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Uniforms Front of House Food Safety Healthcare 450

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 18, 2023

The rhythm between front and back of the house is seamless, tempers are in check, and the night ends with everyone sharing fist bumps and high fives. Whenever we (chefs) look back on our time in the kitchen, we’re able to categorize experiences in one of three silos: a learning experience, mission accomplished, or inspiration.

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Back of House Front of House Education Café 467

Culinary Cues

MAY 15, 2021

To attract and retain quality staff you must train well, treat them with respect, pay them a respectable wage, offer reasonable benefits, and provide them with the tools to be successful. The restaurant industry continues to be devastated – not just as a result of the pandemic but because the pandemic brought underlying issues to the surface.

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Customer Experience Cash Management Customer Service Front of House 449

TastyIgniter

MAY 12, 2024

This blog post provides valuable insights on how to improve restaurant excellence by focusing on both front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH) operations.

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Front of House Back of House FOH BOH 96

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 23, 2021

In the restaurant business there are really only two ways to view profit: a very small amount of profit balanced by very significant volume, or a significant amount of profit on far less volume. How you approach the design of your restaurant in this regard will determine nearly everything else. So what is contribution margin? SP = $43.33.

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Point of Sale Front of House Back of House Customer Experience 450

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 6, 2020

Those who are proponents of systemic thinking know that even the smallest decision, especially one made in a vacuum, will domino and cause havoc on numerous fronts. White tower decisions without a grasp on the systemic impact of those decisions is a common flaw of leaders who are out of touch with reality. A short while back the U.S.

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Government Front of House Small Business Back of House 306

Culinary Cues

APRIL 1, 2024

Outside people went about their day, never giving mind to the effort, dichotomy of characters, hustle, stress, and complexity of what takes place in the “back of the house” at a twelve hundred room hotel. Chefs are often nostalgic. So here is an example of a story build mostly on fact with I’m sure a touch of embellishment over the years.

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Back of House Kitchen Safety Hotels Front of House 421

Culinary Cues

APRIL 29, 2024

The industry expects that many managers will need to belittle and embarrass employees for their quality of work often resulting from the lack of training provided. There is a real dichotomy in understanding, a gap in understanding between the employer and employee and how each views the work at hand.

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Front of House Back of House Training Customer Service 317

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

I am optimistic and realistic at the same time. This is the Yin and Yang of the environment where restaurants live today. This is the Yin and Yang of the environment where restaurants live today. It is because of these people that I am very bullish on the future of the restaurant business.

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Small Business Front of House Customer Service Communication 445

Culinary Cues

JULY 9, 2022

It’s the start of another day in the kitchen. Seven in the morning and aside from the baker and breakfast cook, I am alone with clip board in hand and my roll bag of knives placed strategically at a workstation. Having held the position of chef for nearly 20 years, this routine was very familiar and always enjoyed.

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Front of House Back of House Presentation Café 446

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

It might be an in-service training session, a one-on-one demonstration to a young cook, a pre-meal session with front-of-the-house, or even a simple “words of wisdom” post on the employee bulletin board. I have always been blessed to count a significant number of true chefs as friends. TEACH SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

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Front of House Communication Reference Back of House 322

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. Managing a restaurant is a delicate routine—if we can even call it a routine. A better description might be a balancing act that presents new and unique challenges every day. This part of the job is arguably the most multi-faceted.

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Management Management Kitchen Safety Front of House 397

Hot Schedules

MAY 10, 2021

Seasonal Staff Playbook: Hiring, Training & Retaining Great Teams. Stadium and other sport event venues have a front row seat to these plays – and to what happens when the right talent gets on the field and execute. We’ve got a few tips from the workforce management front office here at Fourth. User Network. Social Media.

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Hiring Training Mobile Ordering Coaching 147

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Ironically, there is always room to be great and there is plenty of room to be mediocre. With more than one million restaurants in the US we can flip a coin and hope for the great, will likely step through the doors of good, and far too often settle into the mediocre. I wonder why this is the case. Plain and simple. What are they thinking?

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Fine Dining Front of House Customer Experience Customer Service 449