Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2020

Take it for what it’s worth: Working hard is exhausting, but invigorating. Whatever goal I set for myself can be achieved in the food business if I set my mind to it and make the commitment to do what it takes to get there. Not everyone is cut out to work in the restaurant business. Take pride in the chef’s uniform.

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Uniforms 2000 Consumer Goods Small Business 384

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Others – peers, parents, or even teachers might label you as not having what it takes which was incredibly painful. Would you take care to make sure it was prepared perfectly? Would you take that extra few seconds to make the presentation of ingredients was beautiful? Not a clip-on name tag, a part of the uniform.

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Uniforms Article Café Small Business 439

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 29, 2024

It is human nature to try and push those out of our minds, but given a moments pause, it’s easy to remember them. It takes time for people to push aside tradition, habits, and yes – fear, that accompanies change. Change will happen, in fact it already is, but as we all known – change is not something that is embraced with open arms.

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Kitchen Safety Guest Recovery Uniforms Food Safety 440

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Mediocre sucks the lifeblood out of an individual or an organization – it is the dark side of the moon, the harbinger of discomfort and pain, and the salt in the wound that saps your energy and leaves you hardened and embarrassed. Take a simple hamburger – the second most popular item on American menus (a close second to pizza).

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Uniforms Fine Dining Small Business Customer Service 450

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 15, 2022

It is the ability and desire to strive for this potential that allows us to jump out of bed in the morning and face the day knowing that we can and will contribute in some way. Remember the feeling of belonging you experienced when you wore a clean, pressed, white uniform and apron? Figure it out!

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Uniforms Front of House Food Safety Healthcare 448

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. A server doesn’t show up, we adjust the station chart and maybe change the timing at the door, but we figure it out. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. I rest my case.

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Front of House Back of House Uniforms Hiring 450

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 15, 2023

Those of us who fit this description should take the time to think about those who are not so fortunate. When you see a doctor or nurse walking towards your local hospital for another 12-hour shift, stop and say: “thanks for taking care of all who are in need”, it costs you nothing and means a great deal.

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Hospitality Travel Uniforms 2024 440

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Anything worth doing is worth doing world-class whether washing dishes, organizing a cooler or workstation, dicing vegetables, finishing a plate of Kobe beef, taking inventory, or mopping a floor – it’s all important. [] CREATIVITY: Respect means everyone (cooks in particular) has a desire to create something worthy of carrying their signature.

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Training Customer Service Uniforms Leadership 423

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. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. Apathy is a disease that spreads as quickly as a virus. It infects others who are easily convinced that it is the way it needs to be. We are better than that!”

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Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

The labor pool is a true challenge, the pressure to earn a profit is relentless, the fickle nature of guests can be frustrating, the shear number of daily decisions required of the job is mind-numbing, and the need to put yourself out there with each plate of food that leaves the kitchen can be – frightening. Take it for what it’s worth.

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Seating Uniforms Take-out Communication 572

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Push it out, how many covers, lock, and load, finish strong, over the hump, wrap it up: this the language of the kitchen during service, these are the timestamps like the number of quarters in a football game or innings in baseball. Give your cooks a chance, now and then, to dine out front. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG.

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Customer Service Customer Experience Point of Sale Presentation 417

Culinary Cues

MARCH 29, 2021

Take the analogies for what they are worth to you. Anger and finesse are evident in the intensity that takes place as a cook attacks a relentless list of preparations for service. Will I run out of anything at the peak rush and if so how will I find the time to prep more when tickets are lining up on the board?”

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Uniforms Presentation Take-out Café 449

Culinary Cues

JULY 14, 2023

Interestingly, it goes even further because if you take this approach, you quickly understand you can always do that task better tomorrow. If you are just starting out as a dishwasher, then seek to become a world-class dishwasher. So, the mantra sets the stage for the drive to constantly improve. People will notice.

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Cash Management Uniforms Food Supply Café 372

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

SUDDEN LACK OF DEPENDABILITY: When an employee who had always been a rock of dependability – always on time, ready to work, interested in taking on more responsibility, always able to complete tasks as expected, suddenly fails to meet those expectations – then it’s time to pay attention. You see a little out of sorts, what can I do to help?”

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Employee Relations Training Take-out Fine Dining 441

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

I relish great restaurant experiences, take pride in the operations where I have worked, feel connected to nearly anyone who works in professional kitchens and restaurants, and admire restaurant folks who find comfort in being the best that they can be. Find out everything you can about your guests and potential guests. Stay on it.

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Fine Dining Front of House Customer Service Customer Experience 444

Culinary Cues

JULY 6, 2020

Your principles, and those of the cooks who proudly wear the uniform of the kitchen, are your stakes in the ground. Professional cooks avoid pointing fingers and when wrong – they take responsibility. Professional cooks are always seeking out excellence. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

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Kitchen Safety Uniforms Presentation Café 520

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

This is also a great comparative process to use when seeking a new career opportunity – a chance to note if taking a different position aligns with your beliefs or if it causes you to compromise. I would encourage you to think about this and take the time to write down your beliefs as a “manifesto” and then use it as a guide moving forward.

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2021 Point of Sale Take-out Reference 467

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 14, 2024

The media went from bowing their heads when a chef walked into a room to seeking out the angry and disgruntled, the outliers and the pundits, the cooks who are unworthy of the uniform and the tattered and worn who are simply burned out from aligning with the wrong operations. I wonder, why?

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Uniforms Book Article Café 374

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 16, 2019

START DEPENDABLE – STAY DEPENDABLE: Once you are employed make sure that you are at work, ready to go, full of energy, smile on your face, uniform in order, and 15 minutes early. When you take control of a positive environment than others will follow suit. It’s not too much to ask. It’s not that much to ask. Show some respect!

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Uniforms Equipment Small Business Customer Experience 323

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

This is where cooks come in, this is when cooks are there to help make a difference, to support the good times and provide common ground and calm when the storm takes over. Do I not only realize but also act out the importance of the position and the impact what I do has on the profession? We are a force! Look at your job this way.

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Consumer Goods Uniforms Café Blog 467

Culinary Cues

MAY 16, 2022

But when this occurrence takes place with a team, the results can be magical. Tom quickly washed his hands, tied on an apron, adjusted his uniform and set-up his workstation. She had to handle eight different menu items on those cherry red flat tops and high BTU burners and called out orders to each station on slower nights.

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Café Front of House Point of Sale Back of House 418

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 31, 2019

He always gave the job his all, spent time studying and practicing the techniques that gave him confidence, following the lead of the executive chef, and wearing his uniform with pride. Now that Jake had made it through his first month as executive chef, there were already signs of the position taking its toll. Now his day had come.

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Reference Uniforms Take-out Social Media 346

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

The chef is not just the leader of the kitchen, he or she is the leader of people, and as such you must act the part – all of the time, day in and day out, and when you want to as well as when you don’t. Be the leader who is willing to listen and not judge, but point out their errors in judgment.

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Education Consumer Goods Training Back of House 358

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Some have their feet planted firmly on the ground with a system that is time tested and solid, while others tend to drift in and out of consciousness. Unless that chef is a partner there is a high probability that he or she will leave at some point and take the restaurants positive reputation along for the ride.

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Cash Management Point of Sale Leadership Website Management 324

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

Yet, within this calm there are lights on in kitchens across the country and the smell of sourdough breads, breakfast pastries, and bacon waft through the air, even making those dedicated runners slow down and take it in. It was 1am before the dishwashers finally turned out the lights and locked the kitchen door behind them.

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Fine Dining Uniforms Dine-in Food Order 452

Culinary Cues

JUNE 16, 2020

Dining out was unavailable and we got by, we re-introduced ourselves to cooking at home and dusted off those skills that had been dormant, or added some new ones that had here-to-for not existed. Cooks and chefs drifted out of the limelight and now even those career cooks were likely questioning their choice of jobs.

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Social Media Entertainment Email Marketing Customer Experience 334

Culinary Cues

APRIL 9, 2024

Look out chef – I’m coming for your job! Your uniform is right, knives sharp, and the skills you developed over the past two years were second nature. This is where new cooks win the support of the entire team and learn to take care of the people who keep the operation clean and organized. Are you okay with that?” Embrace it.

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Uniforms Waste Café Take-out 395

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Funny, they all started out the same but took different paths. He worked in each kitchen area learning how to cut meat and fish, help on large banquets, work every position on the line, take inventories, and even how to make decisions on wines. If you take an interest, I will push you and give you plenty of opportunities to grow.

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Back of House Hotels Uniforms Certification 321

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Have you established a uniform and grooming standard in your restaurant and is it equitably enforced? Are you meticulous about changing the oil in your deep fryer, or filtering out the smell of carbon build up on burner grates and broiler grids? How much time and effort are placed on this?

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Fine Dining Dine-in Front of House Design 388

Culinary Cues

MAY 20, 2024

He would spend endless hours trying to figure out how to re-create the experience of in-house dining through home delivery. We can all learn from this – ask the question: “If I take on home delivery then how will I maintain quality and promote a positive experience for the guest?” ” Enough said!

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Hotels Front of House Fine Dining Back of House 327

Restaurant Engine

DECEMBER 25, 2024

Take some time to write down your answers to these questions. The dishes you offer, their presentation, where you get your ingredients, and how you lay out your menu. The style of customer service you offer, the uniforms your staff wear, and how your team interacts with your customers. Do you have a distinctive ambiance?

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Social Media Customer Experience Email Marketing Customer Service 93

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

And some are cooks and chefs who take the skills that have been developed over years and apply inspiration, vision, and even a bit of chaos to a canvas and create something that is totally unique – a benchmark for others to follow. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. We are the same, yet we are much different. Restaurant Consulting.

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Uniforms Food Order Presentation Fine Dining 191

Hot Schedules

MAY 21, 2020

Dan stated, “We have been in constant contact with all of our employees, checking in on them multiple times a week to see how their unemployment benefits are working out, if they have another job, and if they have the desire to come back. The TX Gov came out with rules of engagement guidelines and I immediately printed it out.

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Back of House Employee Relations FOH BOH 148

Focus POS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

While this hasn’t always been an option, many states have begun allowing restaurants to sell alcohol to-go to help restaurants recuperate some of the sales they lost out on during the first few months of COVID. However, the regulations aren’t entirely uniform across the board for how restaurants can offer this service.

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License Restaurant Law Online Ordering Uniforms 162

EATER

MAY 5, 2021

Janitorial staff were known for all-white uniforms with nary a speck of dirt before the pandemic, so yeah, cleanliness is a big deal around here.). What you won’t see, however, are selfies with princesses, masked-up hugs with Pixar characters, or sparklers coming out of Mickey Mouse’s mitts. Stay attuned to Disney news. Matt Stroshane.

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Mobile Ordering Hotels Reservations Outdoor 246

Hot Schedules

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

Sure, there are the obvious (and numerous) compliance requirements outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but payroll errors can also ripple out into other areas of your operation. That includes the time it takes to change into a work uniform, drive to a different job site, or participate in a training session.

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Employee Relations Retail Small Business Hospitality 147

Restaurant Engine

DECEMBER 9, 2020

Yet, there are some things to consider before taking the plunge. Catering can take a lot of time, especially when demand is high. Can you afford to invest in additional uniforms or aprons for your servers? You want to figure out how catering will fit into your work schedule, so you make sure to give the time it needs to grow.

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Catering Website Management Seasonal Menu Food Supply 113