OK. So You Wanna Be A Chef...

Simple as it may seem, being a Chef, at least a professional chef is alot more than most people realize. You are ultimately a business accountant who lives in a practical, hands on real world environment. What does that mean. It means you are the bottom liner, the top liner, and do what it takes to keep both in line. You got to listen to what is needed and think of how to achieve this.

So lets discuss what makes a great Chef. Is it the cooking? Is it being creative spirit? Is it being a kitchen leader? Just what is it? Well, it
is all of the above. And simply put, it is the ability to lead and direct in such a way as to obtain the willing cooperation, respect, loyalty and execution of your team players technical and tactical skills to effectively run a smooth flowing, food service operation. A mouthful, right? Right!

This is it. Simple as that. Great cooks are a dime a dozen. Great leaders are maybe a little more scarce and even great managers are certainly not lacking. It is the ability to put it all together and get the team to do it. Simple as that-TEAM WORK. If you don't get it, you will probably never get it. Every great Chef has a team following. Almost reminds me of a great saying; It is not how much that you love others that count, but how much you are loved by others that matters....

It's Showtime-Putting on the Smile!

You know the hospitality food service industry is very into 'putting on the
smile'. This means when you're entering the doors ready to go to work, you leave behind all your worries of the moment. And you put on that happy face and play the part. Customers are expecting a cheerful, outgoing and friendly person to help them. Nobody wants a grumpy person around.

So this is what we do in this business. After awhile, for some of us lucky enough, it becomes natural and we really are sincerely happy and all that about being there to give the best service possible. So whats my point?
I guess that there are times that I think of other things, and people that mean alot to me pop into my mind now and then. I have met some really great people doing what I do for a living. Some people have become a special, permanent part of my life in a meaniful way. I have had my share of triumphs in the spotligh as well as failures. Thank God, I have managed to get back up, dust myself off and move on. So I do think most of all of the very special people who have touched my life. I carry them in my heart. I try not to think about life's challenges outside the door nor do I make my life too busy. I check in everything at the door and go to work.

Should you feel so lucky and blessed to truly enjoy what you are doing and find peace and happiness in your endeavors.

Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, Tell 'em. Tell 'em what you told 'em...

...Just like your high school thesis-Introduction, Body and Summary;
the basics of training and training issues. Great training is great teaching which means a walking and talking lesson plan. You got to explain whats you going to train, train it and then review what you have trained.
It may seem simple in concept but it just doesn't happen even with the best of 'trainers'. I believe throughly that a high degree of real world experience coupled with leadership teaching skills will make the successful
trainer. He/she will train the skills, monitor the training, evaluate the training, get feedback, counsel and make decisions and adjust whatever is needed to obtain the strategic goal at hand. It means being on top of the training at all times. It also means one must be a master of what is being trained in order to successfully train it. It means getting the skills, learning the skills and doing whatever it takes to be the one with the answers.

Follow up! Follow up! Follow up! A key part of training that so often is neglected. We may give out the task, observe it being done and move on and never go back to see that it was done successfully. By following up, I mean be there,physically and mentally, be there to see and give praise and
constructive critique on the training tasks. Be involved- it shows that you care, that you are a active participant with the trainee. It doesn't mean you are doing the job for them. It means you are there to give instruction, guidance, answer question, and build best practices. Be there.

Engage your people. I learned this from a mild manner, well experienced GM at a restaurant. He often went to company training seminars and came back toshare what he had learned with his unit managers. I liked this. Share the wealth. Information is to be shared. The only way to keep it is to give it away. Think about that one. He said "engage your employees!"-
get in there with them, ask the questions, answer the questions, demostrate the skills, offer resources to make them successful, create a job friendly place.

Define your Destiny. This is kind of something I put together from all my training and great past mentors. Take what you know and set the standard=
go forth and define your mission within the scope of the company's higher mission. Be inovative, take iniative, be original, think and rethink, make it happen.

If you're in it for a job-Get the hell out. If you're there because its a job and a paycheck-get out, go somewhere else. There are plenty of jobs out there that are happy with people who just want to 'do their job' and
get a check. If this is you, find a job that really doesn't ask nothing of you except to drag your ass into work and do something and go home. In the kitchen, at least in my kitchens, you have got to want to make a difference.
It shows real fast if you are just a clock puncher and nothing else. I love to surround myself with people who are in it for a higher standard. People who make me think, keep me competitive, take it to the next level, want to make a difference and who give a hoot about their work. I realize everyone is not the same and there are levels of ability in everyone. I expect the best someone can do and nothing more. I will take a hard working sincere heart over a slacker any day. I have seen better work in an inexperienced, lower end worker than a experienced, highly skilled, higher level worker. It was the heart, dedication, failures and successful progression of the eagar inexperienced worker to excell versus the smooth sailing 'don't rock the boat' experienced worker who could deliver more but
won't. I look for that internal incentive. It is not based on fat salaries, bonuses, rewards, ect. It is one's one personal satisfaction from kicking ass at work-doing a great job. I really feel satisfied.

"Do you love cooking?" This was a question asked to me by a great Chef, one of my early mentors at CSULB faculty dining when I was a lead line cook. He let me do all the daily specials, use what I wanted to use and pretty much gave me free rein of the place. I accepted it a gift of confidence and a skills building opportunity. One day, he called me into the office and sat down with me. We went over some recipe ideas, cookbooks, magazines and stuff. I was really excited. He looked at me and asked me "Do you love cooking?" I was a little shocked because his tone was almost depressing and he didn't have that light in his eye like you get when you really enjoy somethi;ng. I said that I did, I did love cooking.
He said that he really doesn't like it, that he has been doing it for many years. He was probably in his late 50's or so. I was about 26. So after I left his office, I thought that well he was way older and worked so long in his field that maybe he just is in it for the job paycheck. I really couldn't fault him. He paid his dues. I began to think and hoped that I would never get that way, that I would forever love what I do. I would love my work, live it, breathe it, and walk it like I talk it. Up to that point I had only 5 years in the kitchen and so I thought hard about all of this. Now, with 25 years in the field, with just about 20 of them as management-Exec Chef/Sous/Chef/Dietary Supervisor/Kitchen Manager/Manager/General Manager- I can thank God that I still love what I do. I enjoy going to work. I do keep a balance nowadays of work and life. In the past, I was a workaholic-not very good thing with a family. Now, I deliver for work, I am there for all at any time, but I also manage my personal life as well. I can now work hard and see my kids grow up healthy all at the same time. So I guess you can give work your all and still enjoy life in the real world. That would be my message to all the 'punch a clock and get a paycheck' type of people out there. Live life to the fullest during work and after work.

Give me back my cookies!

People are creatures of habit. I have always believed that the pickiest, most particular parts of people's lives are what they eat, how they dress and how they wear their hair. It gots to be the big 3 consistent-don't mess with areas of our lives. Which is why being in the food business is challenging. So I recently lost my cookie vendor of some awesome batter.
(ok, let me put out a disclaimer: Yes, We chefs can make cookies and make them great but why not capitalize on a Brand that makes them perfect & thats all they do. We outsource this stuff otherwise we are rolling out dough at 4 in the morning. Do that once and you'll be flipping through the order guides searching for a vendor.)

So I used a replacement cookie batter, somewhat generic from another vendor.
I know, I know...You don't mess with the cookies-I found out real fast.
You see, cookies are part of the waking up in the morning routine. Got to have the same coffee, same cup, same snack in the same way. Change one part and it is impossible to handle for most people. You see this when you can look at the sleepless masses 'zombeeing' for their morning coffee and cookie. I will get the original batter back. English Bay Batter.
http://www.englishbaycookies.com/

Good thing is that I can feel confident about my English Bay Cookies. They must be good. Now I can really merchandise the product more than ever.

So then, "How do you change a product in the restaurant without all this fuss?". Very good question, very basic but believe it or not, so many chefs have no clue on how to do this. They walk in and start changing things just to change things because its how they did it before, or in school, or they just think it should be like this or that and so forth. Well, all is great for intuitiveness and iniative but in balance with the reality of a profit driven business. We'll tone down the ego, manage our pride, be humble and step back and look at the big picture on down to details. So what if we wanted to change cookies.

#1. Keep the current cookies going. Same way. Same price. Same stuff.
#2 Introduce a special, or whatever you want to call it-New Cookie!
#3 Walk & Talk it out with your customers, your guest. Listen to your
staff. Get feedback.
#4 What do you hope to achieve out of a cookie change or is there an
alternative, option or other consideration you haven't thought of.
What is the general practice in the area. "What are they doing?"
#5 So maybe you decide to keep the regular cookie, add a new one thus
increasing variety/selection and maybe even going a step further to
capture other demographics such as offering a sugar free cookie, a
'no nuts (alergy)' cookie, or even gluten free.
#6 Best case scenario, you keep your customers, build more customers,
strenghten your product line, increase profitability. It just takes
organized, thought out execution. The best changes that I have made ]
were changes that no one was aware of. Think about that.....