russ blakeborough

Creating a Flavor Symphony

Whether eating, cooking, or creating a cocktail, the art of learning how to methodically taste all the elements of a dish can be something that lasts a lifetime and can be used daily.  Try following this outline taught to me by a renowned Hungarian Chef.

Let me explain.  First, you must learn how to interpret what you are tasting and then you can enhance and perfect the taste.  This same procedure can be used when creating a dish or a cocktail to make sure that it is well-balanced, full-bodied, and has flair.


Think about it as an artist would create a painting: The background of the picture is the depth or the base of dish, the middle ground is the storyline, or flavor accents, and around the edge (and sprinkled throughout) are the highlights.  The highlights give style and personality to the dish while dancing around and giving sizzle to the finished piece.  Then lastly, think about tying this all together as an exciting work of art.

The Art of Tasting
russ blakeborough

Concept creation is such a very important process. One in which you should spend a great deal of time and effort - much more than people generally do. After all, it will be the personality of your restaurant, your labor of love, for years to come. The decisions that you make during this process should not be taken lightly. In this day and age, where there are so many great restaurants, guests will only return to and tell others about, the ones that are truly memorable and that they can connect with on a deeper level.

 

As your concept creation consultant, I would begin by asking you a series of questions. Basically, interview you and find out all your deepest thoughts about what you want to the restaurant to be: what is your focus, your dream, and vision for your restaurant? Once I get a clear understanding of what’s in your head, I will research - starting with the area restaurants to evaluate what the competition is doing. For instance, what are the top 10 comp-set restaurants doing?  Then, I would evaluate all equivalent style concepts in the area to see if there are any missing concepts, which may fit the bill, or help us find any other needs that can be filled. It does not have to be necessarily a specific type of cuisine; it certainly can be, but you do need to have a distinct theme and personality. This persona will set the tone for how the restaurant is run, how it is marketed, and how it is viewed in the public eye. The goal is to create something that is memorable, inspiring, exciting, and unique. A concept that will show creativity, sensuality, style and personality.

The next step will be the Concept Creation. Based on research and your vision, I will draw up three concept boards that depict three separate ideas/possibilities for you. The concept board will show visually, the name and theme outline, all in a quick view format and design look. This helps us narrow down the direction to one concept. From there, I will create the final presentation concept.
 

The final deliverable will contain a name, style, design elements, décor, music, lighting, menu outline, beverage highlights, events that speak to the concept, the look, and style of the server, as well as, approach and wardrobe.

Creating a new Concept

hotel restaurant

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The Bottom Line

We all work hard to earn a dime these days. In the restaurant business, it can be very hard earned, and you want to keep all those dollars and put them in the bank. Here are the top five areas to be on the look-out for:

 

1.     Purchasing - look at your purchasing practices.  Contracts and procedures are key. Do you have a purchasing agreement? Do you get weekly price quotes? Who is ordering and who is receiving? How does the process work? Are we buying the best quality and getting the best yield? I continue to see issues in this area. It is the biggest issue that I see and should be a priority.

 

2.     Labor - normally the number one expense that you will have.  Don’t take it for granted. Who is scheduling your team, and based on what? Do you compare income to labor hours? Without cutting the quality of service and preparation, there are many ways to be more efficient.  Is everybody arriving at the same time and going home at the same time? Staying busy in slow times? Are people taking lunch breaks? Do the staff leave or hang around on the clock? Look at it from all angles. I can almost guarantee your savings in this area.

 

3.     Theft - I have always trusted my team, and trust is an important factor in creating a strong team. However, don’t let that be your reason not to protect your investments. Unfortunately, you can’t always trust everyone. Have systems in place to rule out opportunity.  If you leave the bank door open, you would be surprised who will take a tour!  Close the opportunities so that people are not tempted. Look at all departments and positions.

 

4.     Portion control – over-prepping and over-pouring. Know what your meal and drink sizes are and stick to them. Value for the money is important. Give what you think is the right size for what you are charging; just have systems in place to make sure that you do so.

If you need guidance in this review process, contact me

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Getting Culinary & Service Teams United

Before you begin

Where to begin? The first thing to do before you even think about training is to evaluate where you are, and where, and what, you want to be, as a restaurant. Then, create the vision and roadmap with steps to get to that vision. Try to be clear in what it is that you really want your team to work on and the steps that will bring you closer to that goal. Only then can you start the journey to making that vision a reality.

 It’s not as easy as it sounds, though. First, let’s take a look at what you want your restaurant to be.

Answer these questions. Describe your service vision [there is no right or wrong]

a.    Casual                         …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..      Formal

b.    Approachable             …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..      Reserved

c.    Know the basics         …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..      Knowledgeable

d.    Get it out fast              …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..     Leisurely

e.    Jeans & T-shirt           …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..      Jacket & Tie

f.     Fun & Sassy …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..      Mad Scientist

g.    Grandma’s House      …..1…..2…..3…..4…..5….. Emily Post Book of Etiquette

Just a little fun to get you to think about what your vision really is! Many restaurants start training without giving it much thought. Write down the vision of what your restaurant will be.

 

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What's HOT in 2017

What to expect in Food & Beverage - Let’s look at the trends

 

Cuisine – We seeing movement from overly manipulated food to simpler, cleaner preparations with lighter food, maintaining flavors that are bold and edgy. Here are a few trends we will see more of:

 

·      Chef-centered concepts

 

·      Locally sourced, but not necessarily organic or health foods

 

·      Reasonable portions – walk away satiated, but you can still walk!

 

·      Underutilized meats and seafood – rebirthed with sexier names

 

·      Exotic grains and seeds

 

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Scores going down?

Are your hotel scores declining?

 

Revenues are going down, customer service feedback is going in the wrong direction, expenses are going up - and your boss is asking a lot of questions. How did we get here? Well, it happens easily, and happens to most of us at some point. We get caught up in the whirlwind of the daily business and fail to realize how a couple of small things start to grow into a larger problem.

 

 More importantly, how do we go about the task of fixing it? Really making a difference and actually improving the operation? Let’s review.

 

·         Identify - Confirm that you really have an issue is step number one. List out all of your metrics to last year, sixth months ago, last month. What has changed? Is this a short-term blip that will auto-correct or is it more?

 

·         Analyze - Doing some type of analysis is the next step. I found it best to call in an independent contractor rather than someone from corporate office or someone that is too involved in the daily operation. Have a full review of the hotel conducted by an unbiased outsider, who will review the operation, look at what people are saying, and work with the team to figure out where the issues are. Working with the whole team will bring real answers and also make sure that they are more likely to be on-board in leading the improvement, once identified. All aspects of the operation should be evaluated: service, quality, speed, atmosphere, cleanliness, marketing, culinary operations, purchasing, systems and efficiencies. Any review should include the hotel leadership team dynamics; are they the right fit? How do they work together? Are there training opportunities or other needs? Review the concept: is it working, congruent, and current?

Don’t think for a moment that this is too much for the team. I guarantee you that everyone [ok, most!] on your staff wants to work in great location that they can be proud of!

For help with a comprehensive assessment and a detailed plan to get your organization moving in the right direction, contact me anytime…..

 

Author, Russ Blakeborough, has extensive hospitality leadership experience and is Managing Director/Senior Consultant at Focus – F&B    www.focus-fb.com