Employees can be entrepreneurs too.

Entrepreneurship runs in my blood. My Father is a lifelong entrepreneur and both of my Grandfathers were too. In my teens and early twenties I dreamed of owning my own restaurant and couldn't wait for when I would become the boss. Eventually my chance arrived and I handed in my notice to go and open my own eponymous restaurant. 

I vividly remember that final service at Mosimann's Dining Club when I flippantly said to Anton as he passed me in the corridor; "Hey Chef, today is my last day as an employee!" 

Later he quoted that back to me in a speech during my leaving party when he said it was a very bold and brave statement and wished me all the best. His words have stayed with me to this day since I hadn't really thought about how profound my statement was. It seemed I had set myself a challenge that I could NEVER go back to being an employee again. Now that became a scary idea at the time. But also a very exciting one...

Of course what I learned over the years is that you actually never stop being an employee. Even as he made that speech, Anton Mosimann himself was an employee since any Director of a Limited Company technically becomes an employee of 'The Company'. I also found that as much as I liked to think of myself as 'the boss', I still had to answer to business partners, and bank managers, and auditors and stakeholders and ultimately, our customers. Yes I could make my own decisions, but effectively I never stopped working for someone else. Did I ever stop being an employee? No, not really. I just thought I had for a short while.

That realisation made the decision to join a large company as an employee an easier one from that philosophical point of view, since I had now exorcised the demons of curiosity and found out for myself what it was like to be my own boss. It came with amazing highs, but also had incredible lows and the challenge since then has been to find that happy medium. As it happens, I think I may have found it.

When I joined my current employer, my biggest concern was in making sure I did not make any rash or bold decisions - decisions I would normally have made as an entrepreneur - until I knew the outcomes were going to be 'safe'. Learning all of the policies and procedures on my induction was a daunting experience. Furthermore, I was encouraged to 'manage the feelings' of one or two colleagues that I was to work with. This didn't bode well. As much as I tried to avoid 'rocking the boat', I began to lose confidence in my own decision-making instinct and constantly deferred to my line manager. I had gone from one extreme (of risk-taking) to the other (of safety) and got myself stuck in management quicksand. Something had to change if I was to become effective again. 

Eventually, a senior manager asked me a very simple question that gave me my Eureka moment; "Thomas, if you ran this location contract as if you owned it, what would you do?". I balked at the question and gave two or three quickfire solutions to some of the issues we were facing. "So why don't you do that?" was the reply. This really helped me figure out how to think about any future issues or challenges I was to face. I needed to get back in touch with my entrepreneurship as it was my secret weapon to becoming a better manager and leader.

Idea on the Horizon

Since then, I have tried to inject that momentum of energy and thought process into everything I do at work. By encouraging my team and colleagues to take more ownership of the challenges we face - just as I would as a business owner - they have become better managers themselves. I find myself constantly looking at how company systems can be tweaked and modified, initiatives kick-started (or improved), or how colleagues can be supported either directly from myself or from within the company culture. I know this approach might grate a few people the wrong way, but I have to believe that's their problem. 

Like friendship, I believe that entrepreneurship grows and strengthens the more you offer and share it. It is the foundation upon which the company I work for was founded. It is also the foundation upon which my own character was moulded. Doesn't it make sense that each should benefit the other for the greater common good?


Please feel free to leave a comment. And if you enjoyed reading this you may like other related posts listed below. To receive future posts don't forget to subscribe via email (just enter your email above), by RSS or why not follow me on twitter @mykitchensync.

Take three tablets...

Here's an iPad ad that screams "Wild!"... "Bright!"... "Together!"

Meanwhile on his commute home "...every evening, at exactly 6:07 District Manager Thomas M. Wilkes" does this on his Dell XPS...

Or in meetings, this young hipster executive daydreams of escaping a world full of spreadsheets on his Microsoft Surface Pro...


Which lifestyle do you aspire to?

Bonus: And can you guess which tablet has the biggest market share in unit sales?

A shot of St. Patrick's day humour...

I'm about the head out into the rain and drive across from Oxford to Potton on the Bedford/Cambridgeshire border to my Dad's pub The Red Lion in Potton to help out on this St. Patrick's eve. (Hey, could that be a new Clinton Card idea?) He's got a bit of music on and he might dish up a few sausage and chips later if a few quid is spent at the bar. 

Anyone who has met my Dad, tells me he is one of the funniest pub landlords they have met. Personally, I'm kind of immune to a lot of his musings since I've grown up with the stress, hangovers, late nights, early starts, social sacrifices, rows, financial woes and general pointlessness of chatting to that lone regular in an otherwise empty pub as he sups pints all afternoon while talking sh!te until finally his hunger, his wife or his wallet interjects and gives him reason to go home. My Dad's favourite kind of customer as it happens.

Still, in the spirit of our Irish weekend, here are three classics from Tom Kilroy's 'funny moment' repertoire:

*Anouncement from the Bar...*

"A roll of money wrapped in an elastic band has been handed in at the bar." 

*Pub goes quiet*

"I repeat, a roll of money wrapped in an elastic band has been handed in at the bar."

 *People looking at each other wondering who lost a roll of money*

"Anyone who has lost a roll of money wrapped in an elastic band, please make your way to the bar where you can collect your elastic band."

When a fight broke out in the Gloucester Irish Club where Dad was the Steward back in the 80's, one of the committee members ran up the stairs and asked him to sort it out. The story goes that he jumped behind the curtain to hide, only to peak out with the immortal words

"Sort it? Jaysus, I come from a long line of cowards you know!"

When I was about 8 years old and standing behind the bar one afternoon while Dad had his dinner (we call it lunch in today's parlance) during the annual budget announcement on TV at the time. As soon as a customer came in (that same bloody regular!), I called up the stairs and Dad came down to serve him. Pouring the pint of Guinness, Dad broke the silence with the opening gambit of:

"Were you watching the budget? Ah now, it's gettin' outta hand. I see they're putting the price of food up by 10p a pint..."

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Let me leave you with this very funny video made by Neil and the lads at the Hop Inn Pub in Athenry. It coincided with the visit by President Obama to Ireland to celebrate his Irish roots... I love the queue of cars down the street patiently waiting for the filming to finish. How they think of them..

5 reasons why I freakin' love hospitality

1. It gave me a life skill I can always fall back on.

2. I got to travel all over the world meeting some amazing people along the way.

3. The jobs I've had have given me a sincere respect for the awesome people who work in our industry everyday - from the smily person serving the wrap to the studied persona of the hotel doorman.

4. Looking back, I think the hours were less and the money more than people warned me they'd be when I started out. Come to think of it, money couldn't buy the lifestyle I've enjoyed at times.

5. After 23 years, I'm STILL finding there's so much to learn and see and experience, that tomorrow still feels like my first day at work.

How cool is that?

Menu Engineering: My Top 10 Ingredients for a great Dessert Menu.

This post is part of a series to help you build a winning menu that will engage with your customers, assist your team and most importantly, drive your bottom line.

We’ve looked at why selling desserts in your business is so fundamental and we’ve drilled down into the philosophy that goes into creating a great dessert menu. In this article, I want to share some of the Patissier’s craft and menu know-how: the basic ingredients if you will...

Oven-fresh bakes served warm
With so many great tarts, pies and cake recipes to choose from, this should be a no-brainer. Bear in mind that guests like to choose something they wouldn’t normally attempt at home. And remember the golden rule: SERVE IT WARM! This gives the impression that it is straight from the oven, even if your dessert is bought in (and there are some good ones on the market). 

Something tangy, fruity, light and moussy
From Key Lime Pie to Passion Fruit Bavarois, a tangy light mousse-like dessert will always be a popular choice after a main course. Personally I love to savour the moment by enjoying this with a teaspoon. 

Mmmm… Chocolate
No self-respecting dessert card should go without a dream choice for Chocoholics. Keep it small, rich and luxurious. And remember a really good quality bitter chocolate pairs beautifully with Red wine… perhaps to finish after that steak?

A Nursery Pud
Old fashioned favourites will never go out of fashion. Serve them hot and with lashings of custard or some ice cream.

The Best Quality Ice Cream you can afford
Always include a selection of good quality ice cream. If you have the luxury of making your own, then offer an interesting choice. Vanilla will always sell, but asparagus ice cream will engage the customer to browse more closely. A great up-sell technique is to pair your flavours with a suitable liqueur to pour over e.g. Vanilla Ice Cream with a shot of Baileys… 

Low Calorie, High Impact

Offer Fresh Fruits and/or Sorbet
Always have a low fat or healthy option so that nobody feels left out when the table is ordering. (My favourite lines from Fawlty Towers when two diners requested if they could cancel their Fresh Fruit Salad: “Ah, I’m sorry, the Chef has already opened the tin.” That’s NOT what I’m talking about here!) 

Classics add class 
Connoisseurs of a good pud will appreciate any nod to the classics. From an authentic Zugerkirsch Torte made with fiery Kirsch from Zug itself to a flamboyant Crepe Suzette flambé cooked at the table (isn’t it time this came back into fashion?). Or perhaps an understated, but perfectly executed Tart au Citron. 

A Creme Brulée to die for..
Personally, I always judge a restaurant on it’s Creme Brûlée. Why? Because with so few ingredients and limited presentation (this is a myth), there is so much that can go wrong. Right? But get it perfect and it’s a real treat. And don’t be afraid to throw in some flavours. Caramelised Roasted Hazelnuts or Berries soaked in rum can really lift a brulee out of the doldrums.

All cheeses great and small
Whether you offer a full cheese trolley presented at the table or a simple plated selection, no dessert menu is complete without it. 

- Here’s a strategy if you have a small operation and are worried about wastage. Choose 3 to 5 good quality cheeses across the range and offer them as a small slice paired with a drink that compliments their flavour. So a vintage stilton paired with a wee glass of Port, or an aged Cheddar with a small bottle of Ale. When I did this in my business years ago, I was amazed at the number of people who chose the cheese option because they fancied that particular drink to round off their meal. Give it a trial.. you might be surprised too. 

Are you making the most of your cheese selection?

Use the full Flavour Palette
- A few for reference: In Winter think caramel, coffee, hazelnut, peanut, pistachio, cinnamon, clove, baileys, whiskey or almond as flavour bases.
In Summer think orange, lemon, lime, vanilla, cardamom, lavender, raspberry, strawberry, passion fruit, mango, banana, Malibu, cointreau and blackcurrant as flavour bases.

And finally, add a touch of humour
Laughter is the best medicine so the saying goes. For that reason, it’s always good to throw in a quote or a funny reference. Here’s my favourite, which I have always put at the top of my dessert menus to get the ball rolling:

“Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts. Coincidence? I think not.” - Anon

Hopefully this advice will give you some inspiration to go back and revisit your dessert menu to see where you can maximise your sales.

And don't forget to keep checking back as I have a few more menu engineering tips to share with you soon, including a Price Point Strategy and, in answer to a great question from Jenny on LinkedIn, the impact your Font choice can have on your guest's perception.

Menu Engineering: 14 Principles for Selling Great Desserts

This post is part of a series to help you build a winning menu that will engage with your customers, assist your team and most importantly, drive your bottom line.

Before you start building your dessert menu, start with this in mind: What if you had to offer desserts to a family of six (perhaps your own family..)?

Now, go round the table and try and guess their choices… What would Granny have? (Something soft, perhaps some ice cream.) Or that teenage daughter watching her waistline? (How many calories are in sorbet Mum?) What about Dad? (Creme Brûlée… I like what I know.) Or Mum? (Ooh chocolate, ‘cos I deserve a treat!) Or Granddad who’s kinda stuck in his ways? (I like me custard, does it come with custard?) 

As you can see, a picture of what might be on you dessert menu starts to take shape...

With this in mind, here are my topmost guiding principles in creating a powerful Dessert Menu that will generate sales:

Keep it to eight items
The more choice you have the more wastage you have.

Rotate your dessert list on a fortnightly or monthly basis
Achieving consistency takes a little time, so changing your menu too often can have a negative impact on quality.

Daily Specials
If you have a lot of regular diners, then offer one or two daily specials. These then tie in with the seasons and annual celebration days such as Shrove Tuesday.

Think contrast
...creamy vs crunchy, gooey vs brittle, warm vs frozen, perfumed vs tangy

Portion Control
- To ensure you control your food cost, items served in ramekins, glasses or coupes should be encouraged, especially if you are on a tight budget. And since everyone pays the same, they should get the same.

- For pies, tarts and gateaux, use one of these. They’re available in different denominations.

- If you’re following the latest trend of rectangular shaped bakes (what Patissier's sometimes call a tranche) then use a ruler (or scale) to ensure portion control.

- Bottom line? The trick is to leave your guests full, but wanting more...

Garnish, not garish

Creme Brûlée: Clever use of Caramel to add lift.

Get rid of that stupid out-of-season strawberry or mint garnish on everything. It costs you on every single plate you send out and doesn’t have the impact you think it does. Clever use of Chocolate, Caramel or even Tuille Biscuit can be far more dramatic.

Take a blank canvas
Invest in some great plates. I mean, really great plates. You can add a premium for this and it will have the impact you were looking for with that stoopid strawberry thingy.

Artistic flair
Dusting your plate with cocoa powder or icing sugar is a quick and dirty way to making a dessert look artistic. You can even cut out a stencil of your logo and use that. (Make sure the waitstaff know to serve any dusted part of the plate AWAY from the guest to avoid getting it on their clothes.)

Keep your reader informed
Don’t forget to mention if a dessert is Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Fat Free; Contains Nuts or any other dietary information that your guests should know about.

All good things
And if it takes time to prepare (such as a souffle), let them know in advance on the menu as well.

Create the experience
Never miss an opportunity to celebrate a guest’s birthday with a candle in their dessert. (More on this to follow in a separate post. Yeah, it's THAT important.)

Sell the Experience
If any of your desserts have a story, or an inspiration, or a unique selling point, then tell it. People are intrigued by this and will give it a go to see for themselves.

Don't ignore Cheese
In my experience, the type of person who orders cheese tends to be a good spender, especially when it comes to wine. If you offer a great cheese selection, you will encourage them to come back often more. At whatever level you decide to pitch it, make sure your cheese is fresh and preferably at room temperature, biscuits crunchy and fruit/celery washed.

A sale is a sale, even if it's half a sale
And if your guests are wavering, make sure service staff know to remind them that all of your desserts come with two teaspoons should they like to try one to share. It may even lead to coffee or digestif sales…

Apply these guiding principles to your dessert menu philosophy and you will have a range of products and services that your Service Staff can believe in and SELL. 

In my next post, I will be looking at the dishes that all good dessert menus should have. 

Menu Engineering: The Profit's in the Pudding

Worth a re-read. 

Especially this:

If you want to enjoy your 'just desserts' through increased dessert revenue, here are three simple rules: 

• Mobilise your team: if they believe they have a fabulous product, they will sell it. 

• Sell the experience: an engaging menu that tells a story will pique the imagination. (Perhaps you recently served a celebrity... Share that story and people will want to try the dish they had.)  

• Keep it simple: reasonably priced, homemade, classic puds served elegantly will always win through. 

(Originally posted on 16Jan11)

A cooking show for the rest of us

Come to think of it... Imagine a weekend TV show with a time slot like Sunday Brunch and the budget of Saturday Kitchen. 

Presented by Roy Ackerman and someone like Ravinder Bhogal. In-the-field reporting from Brian Turner (Cuisine), Fred Sirieix (Service) and William Curley (Patisserie). 

A different perspective.

Featuring latest industry news; aspirations, technical prowess and results from Bocuse D’Or; World Skills Competition; National Chef of the Year; National Waiters Day and AFW Awards of Excellence as well as OUR industry perspective on current affairs, awareness campaigns and the grass-roots people making a REAL difference in our sector today.

I’d watch that. Would you?

And if you're in TV and could make this happen; well, you know the rest..

If M&S wrote your menu...

Marks and Spencer knows the power of great dish descriptions when they describe their food?

It had an effect, because it rattled the Asda/Walmart Marketing Director enough to have this spoof made apparently.

That was 2006, just last year Aldi decided 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.'

Menu Engineering: Winning Words Your Menu Needs Today.

This post is part of a series to help you build a winning menu that will engage with your customers, assist your team and most importantly, drive your bottom line.

Dining out is a social experience. Think about those words for a moment: Social. Experience. 

Mrs K. enjoying a chat over lunch at The Cube. (R)

Social in my mind means conversation, to regale a story or to enjoy your dining companion’s perspective. And what better way to trigger those stories, that human interaction, than with the document your diners collectively hold in their hands: your menu. As your guests browse the Chef’s list of recommended dishes, any emotive words or descriptive phrases will help trigger conversation. THAT is where the experience comes in. Your guests don’t just eat - they have a dining experience. And customers WILL pay a premium for the pleasure.

The funny thing is, they may not even remember what they ordered when they later tell friends about the meal they enjoyed at your great restaurant, (put that down to your awesome wine sales technique), but they will remember what a great conversation they had as they reminisce. Before you’ve even lifted a pen or a pan, your menu has captured the imagination and generated some great word-of-mouth referrals. Now you’re really cooking.

So here are a few pointers that I tend to use when describing my dishes:

Use Femininity 

If your menu appeals to ladies, then the fellas will follow. How many restaurants have mid-week tables of ladies enjoying a girl’s night out? Get them returning on the weekend with hubby or that dishy new beau with words like fluffy, softly, lightly-scented, gently folded, delicate. You get the idea...

Steaks are Masculine

Because men love to work that Barbeque. As do some ladies.

So use words like Seared or Pan-fried or Char-grilled - all manly things to do to a steak or a piece of chicken.

What other dishes could be framed as ‘masculine’?

Who Cooked It?

One of the most powerful ways of engaging your customers and your team is by mentioning the people involved. If Chef Robert makes the bread, then say so. Anna's Red Cabbage Coleslaw or Jan's Sandwiches (as we had in our pub once upon a time) really personalises the experience and wins loyalty. In fact Jan used to have to come out to personally inform our guests what her sandwich of the day was. Why? Because they loved it and came back time and again for more.

Drop that letter ‘a’

This drives me absolutely nuts. Welcome to Mediocrityville.

“Steak served with a Mushroom Sauce”. Why is that ‘a’ in there? Get rid of it.

Char-grilled Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Avoid the word ‘with’. 

Your page is valuable real estate. Don’t clutter it up with unnecessary with's, and's and a’s. Use a comma instead.

Fish Cakes with a Mustard Sauce becomes 

Fish Cakes, Mustard Sauce or 

Dill-Scented Salmon Cakes, Wholegrain Mustard Sauce or 

Salmon Cakes on Lightly Foamed Creamy Mustard Sauce

(Which dish would you choose?)

Invoke that sense of Smell 

Smells tap into your reader’s memory bank and that can be very compelling when making a choice on what to eat.

Scented with, infused, minted, pungent, caramelised

Describe Textures in your dish titles. Again this is great for feminising a dish.

A sauce can be creamy, shiny, silky, velvety...

Think Nigella...

Think Nigella: Use terms that invoke luxury

Smothered, rich, oozing, Luxurious, tipsy, soft-centred, gooey...

Think Heston: Invoke memories (Think of school days and apple pie here...)

Old-fashioned, retro, childhood, vintage, classical…

Think Delia: Mention the cooking method, but in a feminine way.

Gently Baked, lightly poached, herb-roasted, slow-braised...

Think Jamie: Describe how it’s dressed on the plate:

drizzled, a squeeze of, shavings, a cordon, sprinkled, layered, piled, bosh!

Compare and contrast

It’s a writing trick, but it’s also a way of constructing a dish, so an example could be:

Iced Parfait of Caramelised Hazelnuts, Warm Chocolate Sauce (Hot/Cold) or

Velvety Chocolate Mousse, Peanut Butter Brittle (Soft/Hard)

Talk up your Provenance

If you’re not mentioning how you source your food, then start today. 

Be aware however, of how you go about that. There is a current trend to mention the farmer, butcher, grower, cheesemaker, trawlerman or every man and his dog to get across the point that you are sourcing ethically and locally. If you think it makes sense to your customers, continue doing it. 

Personally, I find it clutters up the menu (Pan-Seared Red Tractor Sirloin, Creamy Sauce of John Smith foraged Wild Mushrooms just doesn’t work.) What does work is perhaps a small text box at the bottom or at the back of a menu that mentions all of those acknowledgements and logos in one hit. 

Oh, and train your staff to be ready for the question from inquisitive or enthusiastic guests. Those you nourish will flourish.

I hope this has given you some inspiration to revisit your menu wording and create that connection with your customers that’ll have them coming back for more. For more ideas on how to be creative with your dish descriptions, open any cookbook and have a browse. More than recipes, they are lifestyle aspirations. Have you got that on your menu?

Bookmark or Subscribe now: Upcoming posts will look more specifically at unlocking Dessert’s Hidden Treasure and the psychology behind a great Price Point Plan.

Menu Engineering: Emotion is an Ingredient

This post is part of a series to help you build a winning menu that will engage with your customers, assist your team and most importantly, drive your bottom line.

Using emotional touch points to describe your food is a sure-fire way of engaging your customers. They know chefs are passionate. They know it’s hot in the kitchen and tempers flare. They know chefs are great in bed. (I made that up. Patissier's are.) So why can’t we display some of that raw emotion on our Menu. After all, it’s a key ingredient in what inspired any dish in the first place; a memory, a concept, an occasion, or as a tribute or even to emulate perhaps.

If you ask any Chef what his all-time favourite dish is, invariably it’ll be something cooked by his Mother or Grandmother. Or where does he like to eat out on his night off? Again, I would lay good money on the choice being Indian or Chinese. So why on earth does that same Chef insist on handing us a shopping list of ingredients in any restaurant worth wearing a tie to. 

You know the Carte I’m talking about; weighted sheet, off-white, textured, say 200gsm and sparingly held together in some kind of bamboo or leather contraption. 5 Starters, 5 Mains, 4 puds and trolley of cheeses, at a supplement. Naturellement. And don’t be surprised if you find the price spelled out in longhand at the bottom. There is after all empirical evidence this will increase sales. Your eyes wander down the page and we’re back to that seemingly random list of things: 

Scottish halibut, fregola, blood orange, sea kale

Marcus Wareing

“What the hell is fregola?” “Sshh, the waiter’s coming?” That particular dish is taken from one of Marcus Wareing’s menus at The Berkeley. You can see the rest of it here. (And for the pedants: Times regular, 17 point and very sparing on the capitalization.)

Now, what’s worth mentioning at this point is - and I want to make this very clear - there is NOTHING WRONG with that style of menu. OK? I am not saying it is wrong. For Marcus Wareing, it is the culmination of many, many well thought out decisions and it works for his business. What I am saying is that we can’t ALL be Marcus Wareing and we don’t ALL have two Michelin stars to back up those little words he sprinkles sparingly around the page. 

So how should ‘the rest of us’ describe our menu choices? Let’s go back to that chair you are sitting in where your customer normally is. Now, imagine a very suave Italian (or French) Maitre d’Hotel describing the dish above to the lady next to you. Actually, if you’ve seen this in real life, it’s a thing of beauty - these guys really know how to turn on the charm. The Halibut could be described as ‘very light’ or ‘beautifully fresh’ (say it with the accent) or even ‘incredibly delicate’. The Fregola is from Sardinia, so again our Italian friend would invoke the beautiful sea breeze where his Mother used to make such a delicate pasta. The blood orange adds ‘zing’ and the sea kale gives it a beautiful ‘finishing touch’. Now you tell me... what have we learned about this dish? Nothing. Except my dining partner now wants to go to Sardinia with Señor Sassi and orders the fish just to make him happy. Sold! And the side to go with it.

If only we could take all that flirtatious charm and sprinkle it on every guest. Oh wait... by invoking the emotive power of language on our menu, WE CAN. 

So the next time you are writing your menu Chef, try to imagine standing AT THE TABLE and explaining the dish IN PERSON. Yeah. Use those words.

In my next post, I will share some of the winning words and phrases that have proven to drive sales in my business.

Menu Engineering: The Power of 'Recommended'

This post is part of a series to help you build a winning menu that will engage with your customers, assist your team and most importantly, drive your bottom line.

In a previous post, I talked about the importance of having a great introduction on your menu. Suddenly, this gives the feeling of having a conversation with the owner. Now, you ask, which dishes should I try to further the experience. 

The best way is to highlight certain dishes is with a ‘Recommended’ symbol. But it is a minefield. Yes, they have to be dishes that will work best for your business in terms of revenue, but they also have to work for the guest in terms of quality. Balancing that customer satisfaction with meeting the targets of your bottom line is a very tricky business. 

A great example of Recommendations influencing choice.

To start with, every chef will say that ALL the dishes on their menu are good and will naturally gravitate towards the ones they like to eat. But let’s take a hard-nosed approach for a change..

Here are the key questions that you need to ask in deciding a recommended dish:

Which dishes are super-popular and bring people back for more?

A bit obvious, but surprisingly it’s not necessarily the dish the Chef thinks it is. He might think it’s his fantastic Duck a la whatever-he-calls-it, when in fact it’s the lemon tart served after he’s gone home. That’s why patissier’s rule!

Which dishes are really straightforward to prepare in terms of mise-en-place?

The dish looks good in terms of food cost, but it might be killing your labour budget. At St Cross College, our chef loves to serve soup for big functions. Makes sense… doesn’t it? The problem is a waiter can only carry two bowls to a table, so I need more staff. By encouraging the chef to change to a risotto for example, the waiter can carry 3 bowls. Now we can serve 120 guests with fewer staff.

Which dishes are easiest to dress on or have plated during service?

Prepare for success by making sure you don’t get a traffic jam at the stove. It may be popular with the guests, but not if they have to wait for an hour for it to be served.

Which dishes use the least expensive ingredients?

Sometimes a dish can be just that simple; cheap and easy to prepare. Nursery dishes and homely classics will never go out of fashion it seems. So don’t overlook them in favour of celebrity ingredients.

In terms of dietary requirements, which dishes appeal to the widest audience?

This is especially true in banqueting or for weddings where pork, shellfish, beef, horse (couldn’t resist) or fois gras are best avoided, unless of course you know your audience really well.

Which dishes are priced the most expensive on the menu?

One lesson I learned in my restaurants in Kathmandu is that people love to show off. To flaunt their wealth. So let them. Sometimes it does make sense to recommend the most expensive dish.

Here’s a sneaky one: which dish requires one or two sides to make it complete?

The dish itself might seem reasonably priced, but throw in a couple of sides and your bottom line is looking good. Sound familiar?

Another bonus one: Which dishes offer supplementary upgrades? e.g. Prawn vs Lobster Surf n’ Turf?

So you recommend the basic version and allow guests to ‘upgrade’ if they wish. What’s wrong with that?

And would the Chef know which dishes promote the sale of some great wines?
This is where good restaurants become great. Involving the sommelier, the maitre d’ and the chef in the conversation will really drive sales. A very delicate terrine, will encourage the sale of a Premier Cru in the hands of the right Sommelier. But if you allow the Chef to recommend his homely soup, which probably is great and ticks lots of boxes, you do lose the opportunity to upsell on your wine.

I know there are a lot of analytical tools out there to help you arrive at the right recommendation list, but here’s what we did at my place in Kathmandu. We monitored sales over a six week period. Then we costed EVERY SINGLE dish. Next we got the Heads of Kitchen, Dining Room, Bar and Accounts around a table and we thrashed out the merits of each dish on whether it should be recommended or not. 

What we learned was that, our two most popular main courses happened to be our least profitable. (And it’s hard to put the price up when competing with the hundreds of restaurants nearby). We decided to keep them as ‘Recommended’ because people would choose them anyway, and they’ll come back for more if they do. However we offset that with a couple of delicious starters that were surprisingly inexpensive to produce. Our secret weapon however is our dessert menu which we believe is the real differentiator between us and our competitors in Kathmandu. That will be the subject for another post soon.

Sport Relief vs Tax Relief

It struck me that the Chancellor - every chancellor, I guess - must be pretty heartless when it comes to announcing a budget. No matter who he tries to please, there are always people on the other side of the fence who feel they got a raw deal. 

And so it was with the so-called ‘granny tax’, which wasn’t really a tax at all but the Red Tops didn’t focus too much on such details. What mattered to them was that ‘’little old ladies” were being screwed out of their hard earned cash while the fat cats in Downing Street retired to their subsidised bar for a snifter. And that sells papers.

Talking of bars, the licensed trade were incandescent with rage that Duty was sneaked in under the rather misleading statement of ‘no changes to duty rates’ when in fact it meant the 2%-above-inflation calculator would still apply from previous years. In real terms that means an additional 9p on the pint while the punter paying for it thinks there was no increase at all.

The problem with all this wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth at such injustice is that we can’t make a difference. Yes we can vote in a new government, who will happily provide more of the same. Or perhaps we can lobby for some changes, but this only moves the burden elsewhere. Perhaps we can start a movement...

But wait. Before the Chancellor can even begin to worry about such a backlash, he is given a massive get-out-of-jail-free card from the general public as a result of one frenzied night of overwhelming generosity. I am of course talking about Sport Relief and the amazing achievement of raising £50M during a frantic night of charity broadcasting. 

The worst thing that could have happened from Mr. Osborne’s perspective, would have been if Sport Relief had had a dismal disaster with worse-than-ever results to report on the night. Mr. Osborne would have woken up to headlines screaming their vindication that the economy was not working and that heads should roll. 

Alas that didn’t happen. In typical British form, we accept our lot, count our blessings by giving a little to charity and begrudgingly pay that little extra for our hard-earned pint down the pub.

Who can blame the Chancellor’s heartlessness, when the great British public has more than enough heart to go around?

Five Key Management Philosophies

My company have invited applications for a new and very exciting ‘Leadership Academy’ training course which involves a year long course of study, field trips and projects for the twelve successful candidates lucky enough to be chosen to take part. The process involved a number of essays being submitted which is to be followed up by an assessment day held in London at the end this month.

Due to my hectic schedule over recent weeks (more about that later), I have to admit that I have been neglecting you guys for too long now, so I thought I would adapt a couple of my essay submissions and share them with you since I think they come from an interesting perspective....

Management Style

The Management Style I have developed over the last 20 years can be distilled down to five key philosophies: Inspiration, Delegation, Discipline, Ownership and Trust.

Inspiration is the fuel that gets your personal and team goals off the ground and keeps the group moving towards that vision. When all is going well, this can be self-fulfilling. However during difficult circumstances it is your ability to inspire that can pull the team together and drive individuals to achieve their maximum.

Delegation is the front line attack in freeing up your schedule if you are to get the real work done of planning and leadership. In my current role, the stock take is a collective team effort, while our Head Chef finally has a computer to work on after 10 years in the job so that he can communicate directly with the client and suppliers. This frees me up to spend time on further training, assisting other sites with my  operational experience or on the frequent marketing projects that hit my inbox.

Discipline is twofold: discipline within yourself to strive for excellence at every level and discipline among your colleagues to understand what is expected of them and the boundaries they have to work within. As employer and Chef Patron in my restaurant operations, I have always encouraged my chefs to teach the Kitchen Porters how to prep the dishes, but no chef is entitled to change a recipe without my consultation since the business depends on our food and service consistency. Incidentally, shelling langoustines during downtime for a steward also has the knock-on benefits of motivation, development, delegation and succession planning.

Ownership is a fundamental tool of empowerment that I have always given my team if they are to have full confidence in their role. At the height of my success as an entrepreneur in Nepal, a typical service saw my teams serving hundreds of guests across multiple venues. This meant relying on my staff to make decisions in my absence that would reflect the values of the business. For example a complimentary Irish Coffee sent to a table celebrating a birthday or a personalised dessert served to a VIP. This resulted in an abundance of goodwill and repeat business which greatly enhanced our bottom line, not to mention our brand equity.

Trust is possibly the most difficult entity to fully appreciate and develop within a team. And by trust I don't mean vigilance that your staff might steal from you (values-based recruitment should avoid this), I am referring to
i) trusting each team member that they will deliver their best work at all times.
ii) inspiring the team to collectively trust in my leadership ability.
iii) encouraging team members to trust in their own ability to deliver excellence.
iv) fostering a fun yet professional atmosphere where staff trust each other.

Without this mutual trust, I have found one can end up micro-managing your staff or worse, doing their job for them and this is a huge waste of your energy and their potential. To avoid this, I have a simple policy: I trust my staff to get it right (and we share the credit), however if something doesn't go according to plan, then I trust them to tell me first (and we share in finding the solutions).

What are your key philosophies in Management, and do they work for you?