Anatomy of a Dessert: Make Sure It's Simple
Many kitchen desserts today consist of a slice of cake, pie or tart on a plate finished with whipped cream, a lone berry and perhaps a mint leaf. But there’s far more to a complete dessert. Just as chefs spend time thinking about the individual components of their appetizer and entree presentations, so should they devote thought to desserts.
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 Front of the house training improves guest frequency rate Do any of these words give you a pronunciation hesitation? As food varieties from around the world become easily available, more and more unusual words appear on our menus. Sophisticated consumers are often treated to a round of giggles as a server struggles to pronounce and define some of the more exotic ingredients from the list of daily specials. While it seems harmless enough, this situation is damaging in many ways. Even if the server is spared humiliation, the caliber of his service, and your restaurant, just dropped a couple of notches. This means a dent in your guest frequency rate, and probably a dent in tips, too. Add in the lack of credibility when a culinary illiterate makes a recommendation for your high gross profit entrée or a special bottle of wine, and you've just lost on several levels. Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. As an industry we simply don't put a focus on front of the house training. I've been saying for years that the advent of the culinary revolution and celebrity chefs, combined with legislated back of the house food safety and sanitation programs, has raised the caliber of kitchen staff to a very respectable level. But not so in the front of the house. While our European cousins hold the wait profession in high esteem, the common perception here is that a waiter is someone in between real jobs. But this can change with some attention to training and an added dose of pride and self-esteem. To help with the training part, we've attached a customizable Glossary of Culinary Terms with pronounciation key you can review with your staff. We also have a variety of Trade Secrets front of the house training programs available. Leave a couple of copies in the stations around the restaurant and give occasional pop quizzes and with bonuses for the highest performers. The pride and self-esteem are up to you.
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Bill Main is a nationally-recognized author, consultant and speaker. His company, Bill Main & Associates, specializes in strategic growth plans for foodservice entrepreneurs. For information on how you can grow your top line revenues through innovative marketing, menu, leadership and training systems, visit www.billmain.com. |
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