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 Employee Relations Small Business 319

Culinary Cues

JULY 16, 2022

I am aware as I grow older this is going to happen, but nevertheless, it hits hard and makes you take inventory of the person you are, what you do, how you do it, how you treat others, and the way you live your life. Dick Cattani was a monumental figure in the business of food hospitality.

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Front of House Back of House Education Leadership 366

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 30, 2023

It will take super-human effort, ample amounts of time, arduous training, and boat loads of cash. Even the Michelin Guide broke the ice of snobbery in recent years. How’s that for an introductory sentence? Is it worth it” (not necessarily price) seemed to rise as a real factor in determining the long-term success of a restaurant.

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Fine Dining Front of House Dine-in 2016 353

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 Uniforms 353

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 Seasonal Menu 423

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2024

It’s January in the Northeast – a time when the demands of the kitchen and the excitement of football converge. It’s the lull after the holidays in restaurants and the beginning of the NFL playoffs. I have learned, over many years, to avoid trying to “correct” the environment and simply find a way to adapt. Okay, the football lingo has begun.

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Front of House Food Order Back of House Café 248

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 24, 2023

Everything has a place, and everything is in its place, is a mantra that becomes an obsession with cooks and chefs. It is the very act that allows cooks to push through the chaos of a restaurant kitchen day with military precision and awareness of looming uncertainty. Cooks seem to willingly drink the Kool-Aid”.

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Back of House Front of House Food Order Uniforms 407

Restaurant365

DECEMBER 6, 2019

A mobile POS can help any restaurant looking to improve server productivity, increase revenue, and overall streamline their front of house operations. What is a Mobile POS? A mobile POS (or MPOS) is a handheld version of a standard cloud-based POS terminal. 4 Ways a Mobile POS Can Increase Revenue in Your Restaurant.

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POS Blog Mobile Ordering Front of House 117

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 460

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 366

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 517

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 495

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 Uniforms Back of House 328

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 379

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 195

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 413

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 421

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 444

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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2022 Food Truck Merchandise Point of Sale 375

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 388

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 Retail 244

Culinary Cues

JULY 31, 2023

A few years back, I posted an article about the UNWRITTEN RULES of the kitchen. It was an attempt to outline those universal guidelines for success in a kitchen, those attributes, and expectations of anyone who ties on an apron. These are not the only rules, nor are they necessarily a perfect fit for every operation, yet again, maybe they are.

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Kitchen Safety Back of House Front of House Food Safety 324

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 Service Customer Experience 392

Culinary Cues

JULY 12, 2020

It is an uneasy feeling that was pronounced as those cooks who were already at work – looked cautiously at their teammate, nodded, and turned their heads back to the work in front of them. The kitchen lights are back on, deliveries arrive, the battery of ranges is fired up, and cooks (some of us) are welcomed back.

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Front of House Back of House Dine-in Food Truck 403

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 331

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.

Front of House 366

Front of House Back of House Presentation Café 366

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 Fine Dining 450

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 387

Culinary Cues

MAY 21, 2023

I just listened to a podcast from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, whom I think we all know of, as he wrestled with the impact that technology has on his own three daughters and society as a whole. It was enlightening even though much of what he pointed to is well-known. In all cases, we remain in control of the technology that serves as an effective tool.

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Technology Social Media Back of House Front of House 335

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 Leadership Back of House 292

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

For the past six months I have been committed to an exercise regimen thanks to my Apple Watch. Closing the rings of movement, exercise, and standing has been a goal since I first strapped on the watch, a goal that consumes my attention and cannot be broken for fear that I will simply fall off the pattern if the rings fail to close for one day.

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Fine Dining Dine-in Front of House Design 315

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 3, 2022

Before I can turn on the computer, Emmett has my usual breakfast in front of me: eggs over easy, bacon, home fries, and a side of salsa. , I shout while frantically rubbing my calf trying to work out that Charlie horse pain. I can feel the knot in that muscle move slowly from the top of my ankle to the back of my knee.

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Back of House Hotels Front of House Book 337

Hot Schedules

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

Going this route also frees up management from HR administration to complete more front-of-house tasks. Offer Training and Continuing Ed. Traditionally, professional training has been seen as a route to losing talent, but lack of upward mobility in many service jobs greatly contributes to The Great Reshuffle. Konference.

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Employee Relations Front of House Waste Hotels 147

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

I know how much time, energy, money, and heart goes into that first day when a proud operator and/or chef looks up at the front door sign that proclaims they are open for business. Every year, a significant number of new restaurants open and almost as many close their doors for good.

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Fine Dining Employee Relations Front of House Small Business 433

Culinary Cues

MAY 26, 2020

OK – so that doesn’t help much unless we have a plan, a plan that everyone buys into, and a plan that shows hope on both fronts. So the question is – where is the leadership in building such a plan? Where is the real leadership from professional organizations and from the communities where those restaurants reside?

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Kitchen Safety Leadership Food Safety Front of House 267

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

They say that hindsight is 2020 – that being so, there is plenty for us to reflect on and determine how we might have done things differently. The fact is, we can’t go back, but we can look forward. At this point we are all hoping that 2020 will just fade from our memories. It’s history, as they say, but history is important.

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2020 Back of House Front of House Food Order 303

360Training

DECEMBER 11, 2019

If you’re interested in a career in the restaurant industry, but don’t know where to start, this blog post is for you. We’ll start our list with the employees at the front of the house. Now let’s move into the back of the house, otherwise known as the kitchen.

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Kitchen Safety Certification Food Safety Front of House 128