Embrace the Suck

JANUARY 13, 2021

Coming out in late February 2021. You’ve heard it said to you by every consultant out there.You need to work ON your restaurant and not IN your restaurant. Yet, here you are still slugging it out every single day doing battle on the front line. I have seen the promised land for myself when I owned two restaurants.

Coaching 360

Coaching Back of House Front of House Take-out 360

Culinary Cues

MARCH 4, 2022

You breathe out and shake your head again knowing that as much as you try to convince yourself, those jobs are not part of your portfolio anymore. An employee is constantly late or lacks the personal motivation to do a consistently good job – the senior chef will likely seek the cause rather than simply lash out or give up on a person.

Coaching 473

Coaching Training Fine Dining Article 473

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 13, 2025

Sure, there are always a few players who truly stand out and supporters are quick to point to a portfolio of statistics to lend credibility to their choice. So, really, the MVP is the team, not any one individual. The same is true in a restaurant. In a real team environment, there is room for everyone to shine at any given moment.

Coaching 281

Coaching Sports Presentation Seasonal Menu 281

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

When we sign our work, we take full responsibility for it. “I Think about it for a moment – would you be willing to put yourself out there and take ownership for work that is less than stellar, less than the best you can do? Make excellence the rule and send mediocrity out the back door. I did this, this is my work”!

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Seminar Front of House Back of House Workshop 359

Culinary Cues

JULY 15, 2024

This is a disease that lies dormant in many people just waiting to take over their every being if those in positions of leadership allow it to. It is apparent in the classroom, the local grocery store, your doctor’s office, the gym where you work out, car dealerships, airports, subways, hotels, and yes – restaurants.

Leadership 380

Leadership Food Truck Employee Relations Training 380

Culinary Cues

JUNE 3, 2024

Are you serious about cooking, creating, coaching a team, and contributing to the success of a business? It may not look the same and they may have never written it down, but this is their method of operation. [] LOOK THE PART Take pride in your appearance and the sharpness of your uniform. Besides when you look good, you feel good.

Uniforms 338

Uniforms Point of Sale Coaching Small Business 338

Embrace the Suck

OCTOBER 28, 2021

Only 5 out of 100 restaurants will celebrate their 10-year anniversary. Hire a business coach (okay that was a little self-promotion…LOL). Take a hard look at the following mistakes and give yourself a little reality check. If you’re guilty, just admit it and then take conscious action to change it.

Coaching 337

Coaching Training Social Media Hiring 337

7 Shifts

AUGUST 16, 2021

The way to run great shifts is to get out ahead and schedule pre-shift meetings. This section of the meeting gives managers time to teach and coach their team. With the essentials covered, use this time to take a deep dive into a topic of relevance for the business. Call it out here. Use and Take Notes.

Front of House 397

Front of House Back of House Customer Service Coaching 397

Embrace the Suck

MAY 24, 2023

It's time to dust off your note-taking skills because we're diving into a four-step game plan to draw the crème de la crème to your restaurant, starting immediately. Now, let's discuss our current predicament and find a way out. Instead, we should be on the offense, taking our recruitment strategy to the talent pool.

Recruiting 335

Recruiting Hiring Coaching Customer Experience 335

7 Shifts

JUNE 3, 2022

According to Jim Taylor, a restaurant coach at BenchmarkSixty , restaurants can afford to pay employees more by looking for efficiencies in their productivity. Here are a few ways to ensure you're scheduling with empathy: Get the schedule out in advance. Or perhaps even take a short trip to visit friends or family.

Tip Distribution 397

Tip Distribution Email Marketing Communication Coaching 397

7 Shifts

JANUARY 5, 2022

On a human level, 7shifts encourages restaurateurs to take a more empathetic approach to scheduling their employees, since the task is significantly less stressful than traditional methods. We can now identify and reward highly engaged members of our team while providing the proactive coaching others need to excel at their job.".

Back of House 368

Back of House Point of Sale Front of House Coaching 368

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

How you play the game in the process of winning is critical, as is the sportsmanship that allows people to get past defeat with honor and grace while taking the time to positively recognize those who administered that defeat. Create a Team Built to Win. Michael did not need to be pushed to strive for excellence – it was in his DNA.

Fine Dining 413

Fine Dining Coaching Dine-in Café 413

Culinary Cues

JULY 23, 2023

Great food is every chef’s goal, inspired guests is a highly desired outcome, charged up cooks and a team in total sync is the chef’s calling card, and financial success is something that every chef is fully cognizant of, but this can only happen when chefs are able to focus on what they have been coached to do.

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Guest Recovery Seasonal Menu Presentation Customer Experience 407

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

Maybe the driver is distracted with a cell phone, engaged in a discussion with a passenger, or simply spacing out – but regardless of the reason, you see the impact before it happens, and you are unable to move out of the way. So, if this sounds like you, then take a deep breath, shake it off, stand tall and listen.

Coaching 307

Coaching Take-out Café Management 307

Embrace the Suck

MARCH 27, 2020

Times like these bring out the best in some people and the worst in others (a shout out to all the toilet paper hoarders out there). It was a bunch of mercenaries that only looked out for their own survival. Keep limping along and try to hold out until things “get betters”? There was a lot of drama.

Leadership 343

Leadership Cash Management Coaching Take-out 343

Culinary Cues

MARCH 22, 2023

When offered, it quickly sells out because people are always drawn to perfection. Vince Lombardi, considered by many to be the greatest football coach of all time said: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” You know it, when you see it, feel it, smell it, or taste it.

Coaching 372

Coaching Fine Dining Café Training 372

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

The stores were empty, and restaurant service staff were staring out windows from the vantage of unfilled seats. The look of the service staff, cooks on the back loading docks grabbing a smoke break, salesclerks with arms folded, starring out shop windows, and nervous shop owners checking their bank accounts on cellphones was disconcerting.

Customer Experience 366

Customer Experience Customer Service Food Safety Hospitality 366

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. Unless…a coach or player steps up and says “NO”! “We 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.

Front of House 332

Front of House Back of House Coaching Customer Service 332

7 Shifts

JULY 28, 2021

Your bartender forgetting to make a drink for one of your tables or your server bringing a plate to the wrong table is all it takes to throw off the rhythm of your staff. It's time to bust out that clipboard and write a checklist. This is when you can transition from a boss to a coach by keeping your staff informed and encouraged.

Communication 430

Communication Management Management Front of House 430

7 Shifts

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

It left him with three options: go bankrupt, sell the business, or have his son, Avery, take over. Because legacy was a core part of the business, selling was out of the question. More than just time clocking Another reason why the payroll process is so much faster is because staff punch in and out with 7shifts.

Cash Management 370

Cash Management POS Customer Experience Food Truck 370

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The writer, speaker, leadership coach and 33-year veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc., The publisher of It’s My Pleasure went out of business and I sold the rights to Baker Books. Free people up to focus on serving the guests, not following rules to stay out of trouble. What lessons do you hope a reader takes away from the book?

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Coaching Leadership Book Customer Service 126

Embrace the Suck

APRIL 16, 2021

When I am coaching a client, I love to sit in the dining room and just listen. They just think that’s the way “things are” Which honestly is the biggest bunch of b t out there. Are you willing to look in the mirror and admit you might be the one holding your restaurant back because you are burned out?

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Coaching Social Media Hospitality Take-out 239

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Ah…” when opportunity knocks, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket, in basketball or hockey you’ll miss every shot you don’t take, if you aren’t going all the way, why go at all,” …there are plenty of quotes that point to the same reality. This statement applies to all of us, in every situation, or any career. You might fail.

Coaching 336

Coaching Employee Relations Take-out Training 336

Embrace the Suck

JUNE 18, 2021

Working on the right things, in the right order, what to focus on now, and what to hold off until later, can mean the difference between success and burn out. 60% of restaurants don’t make it past their first year and 80% go out of business within five years. THE HARSH REALITY. The statistics aren’t pretty. Chaos in action.

Leadership 354

Leadership Small Business Marketing Coaching 354

7 Shifts

AUGUST 19, 2020

This takes your attention away from your core management responsibilities—plus a continuous stream of new, untrained staff can lead to mistakes and poor guest service. Providing a restaurant staff training manual to new staff also suggests you take their role—and career development—seriously.

Training 370

Training Kitchen Safety Customer Service Food Safety 370

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 23, 2023

As leaders who are focused on making our business stronger through thoughtful problem solving, we have had to take a hard look at how to meet that particular challenge. We strive to empower our employees by coaching them for long-term success. Fourth, adopt a coaching mentality. We are excited to see where it takes us.

Coaching 198

Coaching Employee Relations Hospitality Social Media 198

7 Shifts

JANUARY 26, 2021

million out of work, it was nothing short of devastating. Ordering online, paying with mobile phones, scanning QR codes for a menu, and a ton of takeout, are just a part of dining out now. With mobile ordering, there are no menus to pass out and back around, no germed-up credit cards to swipe, and no cash to handle.

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2021 Front of House Social Media Mobile Ordering 370

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 29, 2020

As more restaurants in the United States receive the go-ahead to open their doors for indoor dining, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine reached out to industry experts on ways to calm employee anxiety. You will take guest temperatures, if, and when, allowed. Here's some of their advice. Do connect with every guest.

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FOH Kitchen Safety BOH Food Safety 216

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 30, 2021

Sitting is the chef’s office, or what some might refer to as a storage room with a desk, it is always enlightening to look out on the kitchen and watch the motions of those who have found a home in double-breasted white jackets and skull caps. What many chefs neglect to understand is that they are teachers, mentors, and life coaches.

Coaching 417

Coaching Café Training Take-out 417

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 6, 2020

Now more than ever, restaurant employees are taking their jobs seriously—and restaurants who don't offer employees the benefits of full-time corporate jobs are already seeing higher turnover. In-N-Out Burger extends benefits to its part-time employees. Find out what makes your restaurant great, and do it better.

2020 206

2020 Coaching Front of House Customer Service 206

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

The ‘Player-Coach’ Model Fosters Strong Relationships The best restaurant managers serve as workplace role models, leading by example and modeling desired behaviors such as keeping the guest experience front and center and being well-versed in menu offerings.

Management 191

Management Management Coaching Front of House 191

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 19, 2024

Competition can be joyful and uplifting or it can spiral out of control, tearing away at reason and good faith. It was Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach of the Green Bay Packers who proclaimed: “Winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing.”

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Coaching Café Blog Article 298

Embrace the Suck

JANUARY 24, 2022

Times like these bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Some have added take-out and delivery. We all have had to take a hard look at our business models (even me) and asked what can I do now that the world has been forever changed. So let's talk about those habits. There was a lot of drama.

Cash Management 259

Cash Management Leadership Take-out Coaching 259

Culinary Cues

MARCH 3, 2024

You were either part of this or feeling left out because you weren’t. Can you tough it out? We even boast an informal initiation period where new employees are given conflicting directions, inaccurate details on the work to be done, or even sent on wild goose-chases just to embarrass them and see if they can take it.

Leadership 372

Leadership Restaurant Law Social Media Sports 372

Culinary Cues

MAY 26, 2020

Let’s put on our restaurant hat and take responsibility for doing what is right for both the health and wellbeing of our families, staff, and customers, and help in bring our communities out of the deepest economic hole since the Great Depression. Let’s assume, for a moment, that we actually are all in this together.

Kitchen Safety 268

Kitchen Safety Food Safety Leadership Front of House 268

7 Shifts

JULY 12, 2023

She joined us on The Pre-Shift Podcast to discuss her philosophy on managing a team, including how she coaches managers. I kind of did it out of a self-serving type of thing where I was like, I never see him. At that time he was owning Poppy + Rose along with his other business partners until I came along and bought them out.

Front of House 370

Front of House Back of House Take-out Book 370

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 9, 2020

The following seven tips can help restaurant managers and HR professionals navigate risk in this rapidly evolving pandemic, especially as restaurants in many jurisdictions are required to operate solely with take-out or delivery service options. Others may have decided to shutter operations altogether. Share Guidance. Be Transparent.

Leadership 223

Leadership Kitchen Safety Employee Relations Tip Distribution 223