Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Nearly nine years ago, during the first twelve months of Harvest America Cues blog, one of my articles went viral attracting almost 40,000 views in one day. The article struck a nerve with its focus on A Cook’s Kitchen Laws. Ah…but what about the chef – the person with the tallest hat and the title to match?

Coaching 447

Coaching Restaurant Law Article Training 447

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 28, 2021

You earned this title through years of hard work, loads of unique experiences, trials and tribulations moving through positions from commis to prep, line cook to sous chef, and now having arrived at the helm. Cooks are busy at work with their own preparations as breakfast orders from the dining room arrive at a harrowing pace.

Kitchen Safety 473

Kitchen Safety Front of House Fine Dining Back of House 473

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

There are cooks and there are cooks – each has his or her list of responsibilities, required skills, and bag of tricks. Just because you are listed on a schedule as a cook does not necessarily mean that you are adept at filling every position under that designation. When the order is placed the cooking is almost instantaneous.

Back of House 520

Back of House Dine-in Restaurant Law Ordering 520

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 9, 2021

What we seem to forget sometimes is that those memorable experiences are due to a collective effort of every person involved in creating a dining event. So, what are we doing to create a memorable experience for this team? The goal of every restaurant and every chef is to create memorable experiences for the guest.

Front of House 474

Front of House Customer Experience Dine-in Training 474

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. Each of those factors: knowledge, skill, experience, confidence, and preparation are part of a cook’s mise en place. I still remember that day in downtown Buffalo. It was amazing!

Food Order 473

Food Order Customer Experience Hiring Café 473

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 1, 2019

After paying that small bit of tribute it is back to business as usual – spending money with the familiarity of chains, well known and heavily advertised brands, and buy on-line (yes even on-line business with restaurants through apps like GrubHub). Every year, this weekend is the official time to celebrate small businesses.

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Small Business Customer Experience Customer Service Seasonal Menu 489

Culinary Cues

JUNE 23, 2024

Painting the environment that surrounds cooking with the same brush is unfair and quite inaccurate; yet many do. Not all cooks step to beat of the same drum. So, how detrimental is this “bad press” and what can be done about it? Not all chefs are the same. Why is it that culinary schools are faced with declining enrollments?

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Uniforms Front of House Back of House Food Supply 448

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. In the kitchen – work responsibilities are divided into oversight and action positions – the number depending on the scope of the restaurant menu and the size of the operation, but basically there are chefs, cooks, and support staff.

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Back of House Seasonal Menu Customer Service Front of House 547

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 3, 2020

As restaurant owners and chefs scratch their heads trying to figure out what’s going on – it might be helpful to look at the lessons that are before us. As restaurant owners and chefs scratch their heads trying to figure out what’s going on – it might be helpful to look at the lessons that are before us.

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Government Training Small Business Consumer Goods 493

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

There is no issue more pressing, and no task more important than building a kitchen team and establishing a culture of retention. Yes, I do mean a culture of retention. In all of my years in the food business, I have never seen a time like now when these issues of team building and retention were more challenged. BUILD A TEAM – KEEP A TEAM.

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Loyalty Program Communication Training Coaching 582

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 18, 2023

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. I never want to be in that position again, so what have I learned?” Sure, luck can be involved, but luck is rarely something to depend on or take credit for.

Back of House 467

Back of House Front of House Education Café 467

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 27, 2023

In a restaurant centric operation, it is the management team, including marketing, who determines the expressed needs of the market, what specific dishes would draw the most guest support, and how to manage all to ensure maximization of profit. To make it simple, the restaurant can choose to be either chef centric or restaurant centric.

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Hiring Training Pricing Presentation 449

Culinary Cues

MARCH 10, 2022

If you doubt my belief – think about this: If a line cook calls out – we simply spread the work out among those who are present. How frustrated would a line cook be if he or she had to clean their own sauté pans after every use? How fluid is a kitchen when the cooks and dishwasher are in sync?

Front of House 450

Front of House Back of House Uniforms Hiring 450

Culinary Cues

MARCH 21, 2022

To the novice it may appear the cooks and chefs are plagued by OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) but let me be clear: a kitchen without this level of organization will revert to chaos and chaos never wins in the long run. When a kitchen is this organized, cooks practice detailed organization without even thinking about it.

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

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Get it done, no mistakes, and pick up the pace are all directives that help line cooks make it through another day or night. But what about your food, what about the guest’s reaction, what about creating memorable experiences, what about your connection to the plate? But what about that quality translation?

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Customer Service Customer Experience Point of Sale Presentation 439

Culinary Cues

APRIL 23, 2022

From the dishwasher to the prep cook, line cook to sous chef, and server to restaurant manager – food cost percentages must be something that everyone takes on as a job requirement. Let’s look at how this works: [] SMART BUYING. Now that I have your attention and you are back in your chair, let me explain.

Food 448

Food Seasonal Menu Waste Point of Sale 448

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

It happens now and again, that question comes up on-line, usually from individuals new to a professional kitchen, or those who have little idea about how kitchens work. What is the difference between a cook and a chef”? THE LAW: Look to the chef to see how the kitchen will act. It goes with the turf.

Restaurant Law 450

Restaurant Law Coaching Café Sourcing 450

Culinary Cues

JUNE 3, 2024

Are you hungry enough to do what you need to do, to build a plan and stick with it? Are you serious about cooking, creating, coaching a team, and contributing to the success of a business? Besides when you look good, you feel good. Go beyond hearing and work at truly “listening” to what they have to say.

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Uniforms Point of Sale Coaching Small Business 434

Culinary Cues

MARCH 4, 2022

I would assume that many chefs who read this article – at least the ones from my generation have reflected on where they are, what they have done, and what they are still able to do. We read the articles and listen to chefs and restaurateurs desperate to fill positions of line cook, sous chef, chef, manager, etc.

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Coaching Training Fine Dining Article 474

Culinary Cues

MAY 1, 2023

I could not think of a career more rewarding than being a cook and a chef. So, no matter what their journey has been like; no matter their heritage, race, gender, education level, or portfolio of beliefs – this is a business of unity in purpose. There are many reasons why I am so grateful for the decades I spent in front of a range.

Front of House 474

Front of House Back of House Food Order Small Business 474

Culinary Cues

MAY 16, 2022

As a cook or chef there are many days that go well and a few that challenge the best. There are times when a service kind of clicks and the night ends without any problems – these are nights that allow you to feel good about what you do and the level of skill that you have built. Your dictionary.

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Café Front of House Point of Sale Back of House 439

Culinary Cues

APRIL 30, 2023

What will they contribute? It is accepted in professional sports, like in so many other aspects of life: “You get what you pay for.” It is accepted in professional sports, like in so many other aspects of life: “You get what you pay for.” Who will my team be able to lasso and pull into the organization?

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Employee Relations Sports Pricing Hiring 503

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 20, 2021

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. Some from each group have been (are) quite successful while others stumble along not quite sure what steps to take next. This is a must!

Front of House 491

Front of House Uniforms Back of House Kitchen Safety 491

Culinary Cues

JULY 29, 2024

It seems to me that we are living in a time when it is so easy to throw away what we have, to disconnect without much thought, blame others for one’s discontent, and avoid responsibility for individual success and happiness. I may just be venting, and maybe it’s inappropriate, but so be it – this is strictly an opinion piece.

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Back of House Take-out Café Blog 456

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 8, 2022

What can be done ahead, what items must be a ’la minute, when should ingredients arrive to ensure the best quality at time of service, how will they be plated, and can any plating be done in advance? This is what happens behind the scenes, this is what the rest of the team depends on.

Front of House 449

Front of House Back of House Seating Food Truck 449

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Long before the restaurant chains of today, decades prior to the birth of fine dining, experience dining, and molecular gastronomy, there were neighborhood cafes that were part of small communities across the country. Ah, but the food and conversation were consistently good, plentiful, and in-expensive.

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White Paper Hospitality Fine Dining Reference 411

Culinary Cues

JUNE 22, 2020

There are times, possibly many times, when you question your own skill – whether in cooking or presenting food, or even with the operation of a kitchen. It is what is felt and experienced deep down inside that made these individuals stand out as accomplished and authentic. They were one with what they played and sang.

Food 474

Food Presentation Café Leadership 474

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 3, 2023

She wasn’t a chef as we might describe that person today, but she was a terrific cook and a savvy businesswoman. She wasn’t a chef as we might describe that person today, but she was a terrific cook and a savvy businesswoman. I asked her what made her food so special? What was the ingredient?

Hospitality 466

Hospitality Customer Experience Customer Service Small Business 466

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

Chefs are, for all intents and purposes, inherently creative people who are always looking for a way to express that creativity and place their signature on the plate. Most professional cooks feel the same way, knowing that working in a property that does not push the envelope does very little to build their resume.

Fine Dining 520

Fine Dining Café Customer Experience Menu 520

Culinary Cues

MAY 19, 2022

Jake didn’t even spend much time at the expo station until this first group of reservations was well underway – the line could handle it quite well. Everyone knew what was coming any minute now, so they continued to bounce from foot to foot, clicking tongs, and hydrating as much as possible. This was “order/fire” time.

Seating 448

Seating Dine-in Seasonal Menu Ordering 448

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

It is so easy to fall into the trap of a stereotypical line cook. We can deny it and point to examples of cooks who are always professional, kind, cool under pressure, and willing to listen, but face it – this is more the exception to the rule rather than the rule itself. Why is this? Is this the person you want to be?

Take-out 467

Take-out Customer Experience Blog Training 467

Culinary Cues

JUNE 7, 2021

Yes, as a cook you may wonder when great things will come your way and the answer is – probably never. Every cook, or should I say every serious cook, has the ability to reach for that elusive chef’s job, discover how to make a difference, create a culinary signature that others will notice, and earn a comfortable living in the process.

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Social Media Communication Café Take-out 450

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

JANUARY 23, 2020

In the zone is a phrase commonly used to describe a musician, athlete, or even a cook who experiences an “everything going right” situation, and when the person, or persons, involved are totally focused on the task at hand– but, being fully in the zone is really so much more.

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Seasonal Menu Communication Sports Events 435

Culinary Cues

APRIL 5, 2021

My first real job at the age of 15 (unless you count being a paperboy) was washing dishes and helping out the breakfast cook at a local diner. By the time I graduated from high school I had worked at a few restaurants and found myself holding down a line position dropping fries and fish fillets into 375-degree oil.

Take-out 448

Take-out Small Business Food Order Café 448

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 27, 2020

A well-run kitchen is not a free-form environment where every cook does his or her own thing or moves to the beat of his or her own drum. The refreshing nature of discipline is what attracts many of those great employees to the environment of the kitchen. Oh contraire, my experience is just the opposite.

Uniforms 474

Uniforms Airlines Food Order Customer Experience 474

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 19, 2022

We cooked together, laughed, reminisced, raised our glasses, ate way too much, and gave thanks for all that we had. We all looked forward to this tradition and hailed these days as our most treasured of the year. Some traditions change, they evolve for various reasons; they remain, but they are different. Why aren’t they open?

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Hospitality Café 2022 Specials 448