The Professional Chef (Hardcover)

Chapter One

Evolving into a professional culinarian is a lifelong journey full of learned details and years of experience. It is challenging and demanding. Specific techniques and acquired knowledge are continually tested and improved upon. The specialized training required is intricate and precise. Deciding where to begin your study is just as important as the process of learning.

becoming a culinary professional

A sound and thorough education emphasizing the culinary fundamentals is the first step to becoming fluent in the trade. Aspiring professionals will find formal training at an accredited school an excellent beginning. Other training alternatives include taking part in special apprenticeship programs or self-directed courses of study. The process involves advancing from kitchen to kitchen by learning at the side of chefs who are involved in the day-to-day business of running a professional kitchen. The goal is to ensure a thorough understanding of basic and advanced culinary techniques, regardless of the type of training received.

Creating a network of professional colleagues and industry contacts is important for future development. The avenue of growth that includes working with others, sharing information, and communicating regularly will help to keep your own work fresh and contemporary. An established network also makes it much easier for you to find a new position or qualified employees.

Learning new skills to gain a competitive stance and encourage creativity should be an ongoing part of your career development. Beneficial and rewarding opportunities result from attending continuing education classes, workshops, and seminars. Remain up to date with the following informative resources:

* Magazines

* Newsletters

* Instructional videos

* Web sites

* Government publications

* Books

the attributes of a culinary professional

Each member of a profession is responsible for the profession's image, whether he or she is a teacher, lawyer, doctor, or culinarian. Those who have made the greatest impression know that the cardinal virtues of the culinary profession are an open and inquiring mind, an appreciation of and dedication to quality wherever it is found, and a sense of responsibility. Success also depends on several character traits, some of which are inherent, some of which are diligently cultivated throughout a career. These include:

* COMMITMENT TO SERVICE—The degree to which a foodservice professional can offer a quality product, as well as thorough customer satisfaction, is the degree to which they will succeed in providing excellent service.

* SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY—The responsibility of a culinary professional includes respecting not just the customer and his or her needs but also the staff, food, equipment, and facility.

* SOUND JUDGMENT—The ability to judge what is right and appropriate in each work situation is acquired throughout a lifetime of experience; good judgment is a prerequisite for becoming and remaining a professional.

the chef as a businessperson

As you continue your career, you will move from positions where your technical prowess is your greatest contribution into those where your skills as an executive, an administrator, and a manager are more clearly in demand. This does not mean that your ability to grill, saut, or roast foods to the exact point of doneness is less important than it was before. It does mean that you will be called on to learn and assume tasks and responsibilities that are more managerial, marking a shift in the evolution of your career.

Become a good executive. Executives are the individuals who develop a mission or a plan for a company or organization. They are also the ones responsible for developing a system to allow that plan to come to fruition. As an executive, you must shoulder a large portion of responsibility for the success or failure of your establishment. Executives don't operate in a vacuum, however. Nor do they emerge full blown one day out of the blue. Even before you wear a jacket embroidered with "Executive Chef," you will have begun to exercise your abilities as an executive.

Become a good administrator. Once an overall goal or plan has been laid down, the next task is to implement and track that plan. Now your hat becomes that of an administrator. Some administrative duties may not sound at all glamorous—preparing schedules, tracking deliveries, computing costs, and so forth. If a restaurant is small, the executive and administrator will be the same person. That same person also might be the one who dons a uniform and works the line. The best administrators are those who can create a feeling throughout the entire staff that each person has a stake in getting things done correctly. When you give people the opportunity to help make decisions and provide them with the tools they need to perform optimally, you will see that it is easier to achieve the goals you have established on an executive level.

Learn to use the important tools of your business; budgets, accounting systems, and inventory control systems all play a role. Many organizations, from the largest chains to the smallest one-person catering company, rely upon software systems that allow them to efficiently administer a number of areas: inventory, purchases, losses, sales, profits, food costs, customer complaints, reservations, payroll, schedules, and budgets. If you are not using a system capable of tracking all this information and more, you cannot be as effective as you need to be.

Become a good manager. Managing a restaurant, or any other business, is a job that requires the ability to handle four areas effectively: physical assets, information, people (human resources), and time. The greater your skills in managing any of these areas, the greater your potential for success. Many management systems today stress the use of quality as a yardstick. Every aspect of your operation needs to be seen as a way to improve the quality of service you provide your customers. As we look at what you might be expected to do in order to manage effectively, the fundamental question you need to ask, over and over, is this: How would a change (or lack of change) in a given area affect the quality of service or goods that you are offering your customer? Competition continues to increase, and unless your establishment is different, better, faster, or unique in some way, there is every chance that it may not survive, let alone prosper.

MANAGING PHYSICAL ASSETS

Physical assets are the equipment and supplies needed to do business. In the case of a restaurant, these might include food and beverage inventory, tables, chairs, linens, china, flatware, glassware, computers and point of sale systems, cash registers, kitchen equipment, cleaning supplies, and ware-washing machines. When we talk about managing physical assets, we are considering how anything that you must purchase or pay for affects your ability to do business well. The first step in bringing the expenses associated with your physical assets under control is to know what your expenses actually are. Then you can begin the process of making the adjustments and instituting the control systems that will keep your organization operating at maximal efficiency. One of the biggest expenses for any restaurant will always be food and beverage costs. You or your purchasing agent will have to work hard to develop and sustain a good purchasing system. The information found in Part Two of this book can help. Because each operation has different needs, there are no hard-and-fast rules, just principles that you will apply to your own situation.

MANAGING INFORMATION

You may often feel that you can never keep current in all the important areas of your work. Given the sheer volume of information being generated each day, you are probably right. The ability to tap into the information resources you need, using all types of media and technology, has never been more important. Restaurants, menus, and trends in dining room design have all been dramatically impacted by such societal trends as busier, on-the-go lifestyles and increasing interest in world cuisines. Prevailing tastes in politics, art, fashion, movies, and music do have an effect on what people eat and where and how they want to eat it. Information gathering can become a full-time task on its own. To make use of the information available, you must be able to analyze and evaluate carefully to sift out the important material from useless data.

MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES

Restaurant operations rely directly on the work and dedication of a number of people, from executives and administrators to line cooks, wait staff, and maintenance and cleaning staff. No matter how large or small your staff may be, the ability to engage all your workers in a team effort is one of the major factors in determining whether you will succeed or not.

Your goal should be to create an environment in which all staff feel they have a distinct and measurable contribution to make within the organization. The first task is establishing clear criteria, otherwise known as a job description. Training is another key component. If you want someone to do a job well, you first have to both explain and demonstrate the quality standards that you expect to see. You need to continually reinforce those standards with clear, objective evaluation of an employee's work through feedback, constructive criticism, and, when necessary, additional training or disciplinary measures.

The management of human resources includes several legal responsibilities. Everyone has the right to work in an environment that is free from physical hazards. This means that as an employer, you must provide a workspace that is well lit, properly ventilated, and free from obvious dangers such as improperly maintained equipment. Employees must have access to potable water and bathroom facilities. Beyond this bare minimum, you may offer a locker room, a laundry facility that provides clean uniforms and aprons, or other such amenities.

Workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance are also your responsibility. You are required to make all legal deductions from an employee's paycheck and to report all earnings properly to state and federal agencies. Liability insurance (to cover any harm to your facility, employees, or guests) must be kept up to date and at adequate levels.

You may also choose to offer additional forms of assistance as part of an employee benefits package. Life insurance, medical and dental insurance, assistance with such things as dependent care, adult literacy training, and enrollment in and support for those enrolled in substance abuse programs are all items of which you should be aware. In an increasingly tight labor market, a generous benefits package can make the difference in the caliber of employee you are able to attract and retain.

You must keep a properly completed I-9 form on file for every employee, and you should be familiar with the regulations that could affect you or those you employ. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) will provide the necessary information.

MANAGING TIME

It may seem that no matter how hard you work or how much planning you do, the days aren't long enough. Learning new skills so that you can make the best possible use of the time you have certainly ought to be an ongoing part of your career development. If you look over your operation, you will see where time is wasted.

In most operations, the top five time wasters are lack of clear priorities for tasks; poor staff training; poor communication; poor organization; and missing or inadequate tools to accomplish tasks. To combat these time wasters, use the following strategies.

Invest time in reviewing daily operations. Consider the way you, your coworkers, and your staff spend the day. Does everyone have a basic understanding of which tasks are most important? Do they know when to begin a particular task in order to bring it to completion on time? It can be an eye-opening experience to take a hard look at where the workday goes. Once you see that you and your staff need to walk too far to gather basic items or that the person who washes the dishes is sitting idle for the first two hours of the shift, you can take steps to rectify the problem. You can try to reorganize storage space. You may decide to train the dishwasher to do some prep work, or you can rewrite the schedule so that the shift begins two hours later. Until you are objective about what needs to be done and in what order, you can't begin the process of saving time.

Invest time in training others. If you expect someone to do a job properly, take enough time to explain the task carefully. Walk yourself and your staff through the jobs that must be done, and be sure that everyone understands how to do the work, where to find necessary items, how far each person's responsibility extends, and what to do in case a question or emergency comes up. Give your staff the yardsticks they need to evaluate the job and determine if they have done what was requested, in the appropriate fashion, and on time. If you don't invest this time up front, you may find yourself squandering precious time following your workers around, picking up the slack and handling work that shouldn't be taking up your day.

Learn to communicate clearly. Whether you are training a new employee, introducing a new menu item, or ordering a piece of equipment, clear communication is important. Be specific, use the most concise language you can, and be as brief as possible without leaving out necessary information. If tasks are handled by a number of people, be sure to write out each task from the first step to the last. Encourage people to ask questions if they don't understand you. If you need help learning communication skills, consider taking a workshop or seminar to strengthen any weak areas.

Take steps to create an orderly work environment. If you have to dig through five shelves to find the lid to the storage container you just put the stock in, you haven't been using your time wisely. Planning work areas carefully, thinking about all the tools, ingredients, and equipment you need for preparation and throughout service, and grouping like activities together are all techniques that can help you organize your work better. Poor placement of large and small tools is a great time waster. Use adequate, easy-to-access storage space for common items such as whips, spoons, ladles, and tongs. Electrical outlets for small equipment ought to be within reach of everyone. While you may be forced to work within the limits of your existing floor plan, be on the lookout for products or storage strategies that can turn a bad arrangement into one that works smoothly and evenly.

Purchase, replace, and maintain all necessary tools. A well-equipped kitchen will have enough of all the tools necessary to prepare every item on the menu. If you are missing something as basic as a sieve, your cream soups won't have the right consistency. If you have a menu with several sauted appetizers, entres, and side dishes, are you and your line cooks waiting around while the pot washer scrambles to get you restocked with saut pans? If you can't purchase new equipment, then think about restructuring the menu to even out the workload. If you can't remove a menu item, then invest in the tools you need to prevent a slowdown during service.

planning your career path

Whether you are seeking an extern position or planning your career upon graduation, understanding the various areas within the hospitality industry is important when laying the foundation for your career path. Setting both short- and long-term goals will help you to realize the career that you are seeking. Knowing yourself and recognizing your strengths and weaknesses factor into this equation as well. As a start, here are some general questions to ask yourself as you begin to think about your career:

* What type of environment (corporate/business, restaurant group/company, chain restaurant, independent restaurant, fine/upscale/casual dining) do you see yourself in?

* Do you prefer small or large volume?

* Do you prefer front of the house or back of th house?

* Are you seeking a management training program, or a direct hire position?

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Professional Chef Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission of John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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