Recipes for Success Part II

Now that you’ve created a standard recipe book, it’s time for you to test it out, for this specific task you need to create a budget, as this may be quite expensive but there are some considerations that you can use to lower this expense:

Involve vendors and suppliers, they also have a budget for sampling, and you’ll get part of what you need to perform the tests.

Do it right the first time, focus on what you are doing; otherwise you will be cooking the same recipe several times.

Follow your own instructions, if it doesn’t work that way, change it promptly and make sure you write down the new procedure, this will save you time and money.



==While testing, make sure to have your whole kitchen staff present, this helps as training, involvement and commitment.

==Plan in advance all ingredients that you will need, as emergency purchases denote lack of organization.

==Have everything in place, chopped, sliced, minced (mise en place) as 50% of the success of every recipe relies in this step.

==Measure every single ingredient, don’t leave it to imagination, and remember that this will result in a consistent cost for pricing.

==Have someone writing down any change that may happen.

If you can, record a video on each preparation, this is a powerful training tool for future hires.

==Take pictures of the prepared dish, a good picture shows every single part of the dish.

==Let your kitchen staff make recommendations, this kind of involvement can be crucial for your profitability.

==Have everyone try every dish (from owners to managers and line employees), this type of “thermometer” will set your feet on the ground, as waiting staff knows what is sellable and what is not, create commercial recipes, because your whole operation depends directly on being able to sell a dish. If you and your staff don’t approve a dish, you can either discard it or try it again.

==Take enough time to test your recipes, be aware that this consumes a lot of time and effort; don’t make the mistake of trying them out while you’re open for Customers.



Once you managed to produce standard and tasty commercial recipes, gather all notes and information and produce (print) one set of recipes for each and every one on your kitchen team, have them learn the recipes, this way you will have standard training and understanding.



After you have done all of the above, you need to transfer that knowledge to all waiting staff, create an “explainer” that contains:

++Name of the recipe

++How you cook or prepare it (keep it simple, as waiters are not cooks, but they know their stuff)

++Portion sizes (that way they can calculate how much a person can eat and make suggestions)

++Write down if the dish can be served differently (food allergies or restrictions)

++China on where you are plating the dish

++Garnishes or decoration

++If the dish is served hot, cold or warm

++Some considerations on the main ingredients (if the beef is Angus, where does it come from, how it is treated or butchered), these are gadgets for a waiter to close a sale and to break the ice