Escoffier On Line

Most of my days are filled with a series of emotional highs and lows. One moment I can experience the exhilaration associated with executing near perfection, only to be deflated moments later when something does not reach my standards. You don’t have to be a Four Star Chef at a high end restaurant to feel this way. Passion and pride are not exclusive to any single segment of the industry, ethnicity, gender or age; you either feel this way or you don’t.

I beat myself up pretty good when things don’t work out as planned. Sleepless nights followed by stress filled days are common occurrences. Those days are lost forever! What a waste of my most precious resource, time. I know that during these challenging times, many of my fellow Chefs are feeling the same strain. We are all on edge. Uncertain of what tomorrow will bring and how our daily performance will influence our futures, we sweat it out through the end of each month, hoping and praying we hit our numbers and live to cook another month.

A little extra planning, a few more hours committed to the job, and a backup plan for most everything will allow you to better enjoy your down time. You may actually have a little less down time, but it will be higher quality down time and definitely worth considering. Remember that even the worst day will come to an end, try to brush yourself off, learn from it and set yourself up for future success.

Here are a few stress buster suggestions.

* Answer all emails, return all phone calls, and read all change logs  and daily reports before you go home. Ignorance is bliss until you're called on it. Know the answer; that’s what they pay you for.

* Read and know upcoming menus for at least a week in advance; run scenarios; think them through to identify and solve potential challenges.

* Plan your daily 5 minute staff standup meeting to provide the most useful and pertinent information, such as specials, prep lists and anything out of the ordinary.

* If you don’t have people you can trust to purchase, properly receive and store food. You need to oversee it. I can't tell you how many nights I counted steaks, not sheep, running scenario after scenario through my mind. Did we get that? Is it enough? This is not the way to recharge your batteries.

* Know your numbers before they're official. Run a daily food, labor and line item cost through a spread sheet.

* Don’t serve what you shouldn’t. I would rather 86 something than serve inferior or poorly prepared foods. In a preplanned banquet setting, you don’t always have this option. Proper planning and execution are crucial. Don’t be cheap; buy quality ingredients, and have a backup plan. You won't regret it.

* You're not running a test kitchen; cook what you know. Your customers expect a quality product for their hard earned money. Specials and new items must be researched, practiced and perfected before rolling them out.

Comment (3) Read More...

The Total Package Chef

I haven’t written a blog in awhile. I have been pretty busy; I lost some staff, and had to tackle multiple projects at both work and home. We all go through times like this, periods of overwhelming challenges, deadlines, personnel commitments and sometimes health related issues. Thirty days ago I wondered if I would fail or could I rise to the occasion and execute at the expected level? I was reading one of my older blogs and thought it may help to motivate others toward both personal and professional success. I have seen many chefs and cooks with top notch skills and good intentions never reach their potential. An ongoing pattern of self destructive behavior and poor decision making has sidelined them from the fast track. We all need to take a look in the mirror from time to time and give ourselves an attitude adjustment. If you can change your thinking you can change your habits, that’s all it is, bad habits. If you want to be successful in today's no excuses, just get it done world you need to be a Total Package Chef, no ones going to pay you for half of the package.

• Attitude is everything! You are going to do whatever is asked of you, like it or not. I choose to like it. I can't tell you how many times I grunted and groaned over last minute seemingly impossible requests only to execute with excellent results. If I had approached those situations with a positive attitude from the beginning I would have set a better example for others and added points to my reputation bank.

• Lead by example. You should get out of the office and on the line as much as possible, a few extra hours of work won't kill you and the payback is huge. Don’t curse, tell offensive jokes or talk politics, religion or baseball. I have my own thoughts and ideas; I just choose to keep them to myself. Keep smoke breaks and personal phone calls to a minimum if you want the staff to do the same.

• Hold People Accountable. No one likes to be the heavy. Honest and straightforward ongoing dialogue is necessary and most people actually appreciate it. If you are like an Ostrich its time to take your head out of the sand, it gets easier the more you do it. You can't afford to have non productive and problematic associates in the ranks.

• Train! Train! Train! I hear it over and over, "I can't afford to stop and train, it eats into production, I am to busy blah! Blah! Blah!" Without training you will never realize the level of success that you are capable of, you can't do it all yourself and you can't afford not to train.

• Keep Developing Yourself. Our industry is constantly changing, trends come and go quickly, new products are constantly introduced, techniques and methodology are refined and new technologies applied. There are many Chefs in my age bracket who no longer cook, study food, attend industry events, seminars or engage in any activity that will better them. Even the best and brightest in the industry realize the need to constantly move forward and evolve. Join the ACF, attend trade shows, read Escoffier, Plate magazine or Martha Stewart it doesn’t matter, knowledge is everywhere.

Comment (0) Read More...

The Mother of all Days

by Chef Leonard W. Elias CEC

Its 4 am, as I sit here drinking my coffee, surfing the net, clipping recipes and gearing up for the “Mother of all Days” all I can say is that I am glad I have a place to go. Yes today will be crazy, at last count we were up to 670 reservations for Mothers Day Brunch. It is what we do and under the right circumstance can actually be fun and challenging. Last night I had two weddings and a full day of regular serviced meals, so prep for today actually started on Wednesday. It sounds like a Christmas carol, 12 beef tenderloins, 11 boxes of shrimp, 10 roast turkeys, 9 legs of lamb, you get the rest.

I think I went a little crazy on the menu, but I have to draw the crowds and offer more then the hotel up the street. At $32.95 pp, you have to show value with an added wow factor. The buffet includes Pecan Salmon-Smoked Turkey-Creole Style and Regular Benedict, Tiramisu Stuffed French Toast-Apple Smoked Bacon, Vegetables, Lyonaisse Potatoes and more. Then there are the Omelets Stations, Carving Stations, Banana Fosters Station and Desserts. It will be out of control with over 400 reservations in the first 1.5 hours alone, with walk-ins I hope to hit 800. One of our sister properties always brags about hitting a 1000 covers, beating them would be like icing on the cake for me. Well I got to go, off to the trenches, hopefully all the staff will show up and we can have a smooth stress free service.

Happy Mothers Day

Comment (0) Read More...

Last weekend I traveled to the ACF Regional Conference in Birmingham Alabama. I was scheduled to arrive Friday, but could not leave until after I put out the Saturday Night Banquets. After driving through several tornado warnings, torrential rains and 60 mile an hour winds, I arrived safely at my destination. With no harm done, I looked forward to finding something to eat, but ended up ordering a pizza delivery. Sad to say compared to the $20 room service burger and less then desirable hotel lounge setting, I think I made the right choice.

On Sunday Morning I took part in several seminars and spoke with many chefs about the taboo subject “Are Culinary Schools Helping or Hurting the Industry”? I first of all will say that I have nothing but respect for a quality culinary education and the majority of dedicated and committed instructors. Their work is very important and crucial to the future of our industry. My problem is that I think we have hit the saturation point, too many schools, too many graduates with too few real opportunities. Where will all these graduates work? Is the $50-$100,000 cost of culinary education worth the payoff or will most graduates find themselves disenchanted finding little opportunity for advancement and eventually leave the industry?

If you are currently a culinary student or considering it, read on, you need to make an informed decision. My intent is not to discourage you or turn you off to the industry; I love the industry and have no regrets on my career choice. If this is what you want to do, great, but realize you will have a long journey ahead of you filled with many challenges and sacrifices? Working off hours including weekends and holidays will be the norm. While family and friends are gathered for holidays and get-togethers, you will be busy at work. You better get use to it; it’s the path you choose.

Some of you will be lucky and fall into great situations working under great chefs. Just realize how lucky you are and take advantage of it. Controlling and shaping your future starts each day that you suit up. Your attitude and commitment can never waiver. I am convinced that anyone can be successful at something; you just need to find that something, whatever it is and work it! If Culinary is it, give it all you got. But first you have to ask yourself, why are you contemplating a career as a chef? Here a few common answers. Please add some of your own questions and comments.

1. I love cooking and my friends and family tell me I am very good at.

That may be true and serve as a starting point but it’s usually not relevant to required basic industry skills and knowledge. I would suggest getting a job at a local full service or white table cloth restaurant; develop knife skills, elementary prep methodology and some kitchen savvy. Work for free if you must, it may save you thousands in tuition and will certainly give you a jump start on your career path.

2. I love watching reality TV Cooking Shows. The Culinary School commercials are also inspiring.

Read my blog on the subject @. http://www.fohboh.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1411008:BlogPost:334116

 

Just remember it is TV and many of the contestants are unemployed.

3. The Industry pays well.

You can definitely do well down the road and make a good living, but it won’t come easy. The attached UD Dept. of Labor statistics published are accurate.

Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

Median /Mean /Mean Annual

Chefs and Head Cooks $18.64 $20.39 $42,410

First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Food Preparation and Serving Workers $13.93 $14.81 $30,810Cooks, Fast Food $8.12 $8.47 $17,620

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria $10.68 $11.19 $23,260

Cooks, Private Household $11.57 $14.91 $31,020

Cooks, Restaurant $10.57 $10.94 $22,750

Cooks, Short Order $9.26 $9.73 $20,230

Cooks, All Other $11.09 $11.91 $24,770

Food Preparation Workers $8.96 $9.54 $19,850

 

 

 

 

Comment (0) Read More...

This was the first blog I ever wrote and thought everyone might enjoy it. I look forward to contributing and sharing new ideas and concepts to the site.

Having served thousands of buffets over the years, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on the subject. I am actually a fan of buffets. When executed properly, a buffet can be a great way to experience new foods while meeting a wide range of guest preferences.

Comment (0) Read More...