How to Avoid the Restaurant Drama The animosity between kitchen and wait staff is an age-old dilemma that restaurants have been facing since the beginning of time. The kitchen, referred to as the Back-of-the-House, and the servers, referred to as the Front-of-the-House, have been at odds with each other since restaurants existed. At best, it’s an occasional annoyance to managers. At worst, it can seriously interrupt the work flow. While this employee competition ...
Adjusting Your Menu Throughout the Year Changing your menu seasonally is a great way to keep it interesting and fresh. It’s also the best thing for your food cost since seasonal ingredients are cheaper and more readily available. Some foods are available for purchase outside of their harvesting months because they are preserved through various storage methods, but purchasing food when it’s being harvested is usually the best route. Here are a few simple ingredients and the seasons in which ...
Restaurants tend to develop a language of their own and the longer you spend in the business, the more it begins to sound like your native tongue. I routinely catch myself uttering “coming behind” when I’m passing slow old ladies at Wal-Mart, rather than politely saying “excuse me.” Here are some samples of Restaurant-ese: Murdered- This refers to food that has been ruined, usually by overcooking. Radar Love- Putting food in the microwave. ...
The food service industry might not seem glamorous, but there is definitely an unspoken dress code. Two employees wearing the exact same attire can convey two totally different images. Here is a list of ways that restaurant employees typically make fashion blunders. Wearing black pants if you’re not the chef. This rule applies to cooks. It is highly disrespectful to wear black pants in the kitchen unless you are an Executive or Sous Chef, regardless of whatever kind of laundry ...
Some industry insiders are predicting that the age of fine dining and haute cuisine is on its way out the door. From my experience, I don’t think that’s an entirely inaccurate call. There are certain elements of true fine dining that are slowly fading away. Fine dining indicates a certain amount of pomp, not just from the wealthy customers, but primarily from the cooks and chefs. I remember a time when cooks and chefs walked around with such a culinary arrogance and snobbery ...