Best kept secrets of productivity revealed
Anyone who’s ever worked in a professional kitchen knows that productivity is the key to beating ticket times and exceeding customer expectations. In our fast-paced society, maximizing productivity can give you a competitive edge and increase your revenue. When you’re the chef in charge, your kitchen’s productivity boils down to how you manage your staff and day-to-day operations
1. Remember what you learned in culinary school. Sometimes the techniques you learned in culinary school can fall by the wayside once you enter the workforce for a variety of reasons, but getting back into the habit of using proper techniques (like basic knife handling and vegetable cuts) can increase your speed in the kitchen and keep your dishes consistent
2. Always look for areas of opportunity. On the flip side, remembering what you learned in culinary school doesn’t mean you’re limited to only doing what you were taught. After you have a command of the basics, feel free to innovate if that’s in your kitchen’s best interest.
3. Train your staff, then trust them. Micromanaging is a big mistake that can eat away at a kitchen’s productivity. When you hire new staff, take the time to train them and train them well. During periods of rapid growth, you might be tempted to shortcut this process, but doing so will hurt you in the long run. Once you test your new hands to make sure they can meet your kitchen’s standards, then let them go. Every once in a while, you’ll want to verify that everything is being done accordingly, but keep in mind that you can delegate this task to other experienced chefs as well.
4. Stay on top of your inventory and your vendors.Reducing waste is a balancing act that is even more challenging as seasons change and certain fruits and vegetables are harder to come by. In order to be financially sound, a restaurant needs to bill triple what their food costs, so it’s better to run out of something now and again than to throw out too many perishables. However, in order to keep your customers coming back for their favorite dishes, it’s important to keep track of your restaurant’s natural ebb and flow of popular menu items so you can order the right amount from your vendors.
5. Enforce mise-en-place organization.Mise-en-place translates from the French meaning “put in place” and is a restaurant concept of knowing where things are and what you have to accomplish. True mise-en-place is more than just being organized; it’s a state-of-being that stems from strong focus and discipline. Cleaning up as you go and training your staff to do the same will help your kitchen be prepared for the unexpected and anticipate problems before they arise.