Brendon

The learn as we go - Chef Journal : Part 1

I always enter the kitchen with a small notebook on my person to make notes for the day and anything I find interesting or thing may benefit me in the future/or offers me a new learning experience (I encourage all chefs to carry a pocket notebook on themselves at all times - It is a fantastic tool that can be as useful as any knife) 

With that said, I will use my Unichef status profile to explore the different kitchen, cooking styles and techniques I meet throughout my journey as a chef. 

W/C 16th October. 

Start of a new week and a new challenge helping a country pub  improve their kitchen team, food hygiene and food quality. Walking in on the first day of a new kitchen is always the biggest challenge when as a senior chef you need to assess what needs improving first and where the priorities lay. I knew this particular kitchen was going to be difficult and so I created a similar pyramid of needs that follows the Maslow model. 

Obviously it goes without saying having a clean kitchen is first on the list so that's where I started. But most kitchens and businesses fail to identify the importance of moral and workplace culture.  In order to be a successful business you need staff. And in order to keep staff you need to keep them satisfied. So that's why having that as the second level is pretty much.

The third area most senior chefs will understand about, guest satisfaction is not just eating the food but also enjoying the options available and that the kitchen is stocked up appropriately. Without a stocked up kitchen you are limiting guests to limited choices which usually starts their eating experience off with a sour taste (Increases the chances of complaints over petty things which they may not have complained about). But most of this section is about ensuring the kitchen works in a linear fashion and all sections are prepped and ready to go. 

Once a kitchen is stocked and menu's can be offered, the next important step is business viability which covers the profits of the business which I have covered in my recent post on the forum about calculating GP % and costing menu's. 

The final section on the pyramid is creativity and specials as most chefs/cooks will agree that once they become bored then the flair and aspirations start to leave. This is when most will think about leaving unless a certain amount of positives is keeping them there (working conditions, Pay, Hours). 

So here I am, a kitchen that needs a good amount of TLC, care and general interest in providing good food. But first....a very good clean. 
Luckily I employed a very good sous chef and she is fantastic, determined and very talented. We were all hands on the Monday getting what we could clean and tidy whilst working on preparing the menu.

This process continued through the week chipping away at the jobs that desperately needed doing (We all know those kind of fryers that look like they haven't been properly clean in months and how hard they are to clean). 

Then came the weekend. Without thinking (Or having time to think) its the start of the school holidays, and we are very busy. Word has got round there's a new kitchen team and reviews are flying in. This is always a nightmare as you are trying to keep spend down based on previous weeks spending, but when business increases by 200% in one week, there not much you can do other than brace yourself and crack on with a smile on your face. 

The real fear on myself is the Sunday service. So many I have done have started great but then destroy the kitchen with how busy it gets. This Sunday was no different. The hype was incredible and we were busy from the off. Luckily we were prepared and the whole day....or whole week was a raving success: