Missing Something

I decided to go to the schools restaurant today, after having had a great experience with food and service the previous day. I figured I would order a Caesar salad and the crab cake appetizer to go because I only had fifty minutes before class started. You must keep in mind that this was a different class running the restaurant from the previous day. I am in my L’Ecole uniform, but still a paying customer. The fact that students no longer get discounts on meals plays a huge part in my expectations of service. Had I been paying less than full price, or had the dining room been packed than my level of understanding what was to follow would have been much more lenient. My simple order had passed the thirty-minute mark and I was starting to show my irritation. Nothing extreme at this point, just wondering mind you. When to my surprise the hostess and host were both extremely rude by becoming offended at my impatience. Basically making me feel as if the fact of the jacket I was wearing entitled them to not treat me with the same respect and dignity they would be required to show any other customer. I understand this is a teaching restaurant, but seriously, taking thirty-eight minutes to make this simple order and then not treating a paying customer regardless of their attire with respect is unacceptable. These particular students have missed something in their class.

Re-purposing / Cross Utilization

Planning and purchasing of food has taken a new approach in my life. With thousands of dollars invested in just product, I have to constantly plan. This means that nothing on my menu is just dropped in place because I personally like it or it is easy to make. What happens when there is leftover hamburger? Depending on the amount it becomes a chefs special of chili, or a bolognaise sauce for pasta. Leftover chicken breasts become, yes, you guessed it “chicken taco chili” or add some Sweet Baby Rays, shred the chicken and you have pulled chicken sliders. Planning the soup du jour is anything but haphazard also. Chicken noodle soup becomes chicken corn chowder with the addition of heavy cream, potatoes, corn and rice just as long as you did not put the noodles directly into the soup. Vegetable soup becomes vegetable beef soup by adding chopped up hamburger from previous service. The trick here is to always keep your inventory on your mind, know when perishables are reaching the critical point and have a plan in place for them. With today’s technology and information at your fingertips, there is absolutely no reason to throw much of anything out. Be smart, be creative and most of all be thrifty.

 

Chicken Taco Chili

Milo’s Grill will be running a chefs special this Thursday. It will be chicken taco chili. People keep asking what that is as if they have never heard of it. This is a great tasting dish and a nice change from the norm. Here is the recipe with all the directions needed.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 16 oz. can black beans drained.

 1-16 oz. can kidney beans drained.

 Two garlic cloves minced.

 One medium onion chopped.

 One jalapeno pepper minced.

 One green bell pepper chopped.

 10 oz. package (1 1/4 cups) frozen corn kernels.

 1-8 oz. can tomato sauce.

 1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes drained.

 1 tbsp. cumin.

 1 tbsp. chili powder.

 1 tsp. dried oregano.

 1 tsp. kosher salt.

 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper.

 Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts uncooked.

 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

 DIRECTIONS: Combine ingredients 1 through 14 in a slow cooker. Stir until combined. Place uncooked chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Thirty minutes before serving, pull chicken breasts apart with two forks. Stir and continue cooking.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese in center, and tortilla chips around the edge of bowl for dipping. Sprinkle fresh cilantro across the top and serve.

 

 

Letting Go

Ah the joys of being an employer. As a business owner in the trucking industry, my employees were self-governed requiring very little input from me. Occasionally I made the mistake of hiring someone whose personality was not suited to that type of life-style. This person would have to be held by the hand and guided through all of their decisions. This very rarely happens in trucking, but in a restaurant setting, it occurs on a daily basis. I keep making the mistake of assuming people will know what to do, because I know what I would do in a given situation. Everyone knows what happens when you assume, right? Yeah I thought so. I also tend to be a bit of a control freak. I will let you do things your way, and then come behind you and do them the right way, which of course is my way. All of that has changed now. I have had to make some changes to my kitchen team, one was appallingly needed and the other was forced upon me. I now have the team that was originally chosen and they are a great team under pressure. I need to step back and let them do their job without interference from me. I have to learn how to let go and trust them to do what they do.

Tightknit Community

As I have gone through culinary college, I have constantly heard how the chef’s in the metro area are a close community. The public often overlooks the fact that our chosen profession is one of service to the people, and yet we sacrifice our time, our family and sometimes even, our well-being to accomplish this job. The type of personality it takes to join these ranks is one of compassion, pride and giving without expectations of receiving. Just in the few weeks that I have owned my place, I have had the pleasure of experiencing what belonging to this family entails. From chef instructors who give of their time to help with the menu design and recipes, I have to say thank you to Chef Susie Judy without whom the grilled cheese would just be bland, for Chef Damico’s insight into how to keep a hamburger flavorful and perfect until service. Chef Zesch for his advice on how to keep my menu open ended for changes and Chef Shuman for catching all of my grammatical errors on said menu. As the weeks have gone by, I have experienced friendship and hard work from my fellow student Dana Whaley, who is never afraid to jump right in to a chaotic situation and help straighten things out. I have had ex co-workers show up at the back door unexpectedly and offer their time, not to mention my ex-boss Dan Langreder offering his time and support. For all these people to have only known me a short time, and yet make me feel as if my success matters to them in a very personal way shows what a truly tightknit community this really is.

What a Difference

It has only been a couple of weeks since I have opened Milo’s Grill. It took a lot of hard work just to get the place cleaned up enough to have an opening night. The previous owner never turned the hood vents on because she thought they were too noisy. I could not believe it when I was told about this. Twenty-two items on her menu were deep-fried. Without hood vents being turned on where did she think the grease and steam were going? Well I can answer that easily enough, all over everything. My crew went through three gallons of concentrated de-greaser just in the first week. This has been an ongoing clean fest since we have started. This place is finally starting to come together the way I see it in my vision. There is still a lot of things I will be changing and updating but at least I feel comfortable enough not to cringe every time someone I know walk’s in. Here are some before and after pictures.

Quality vs. Sustainability

We are learning at Culinary College that the area in which one opens a restaurant must be able to sustain said restaurant. This means that the income level and disposable income must meet or exceed a set limit based on the pricing of your menu. Quality products are not cheap by any means. This is reflected in the price that must be charged for any given item. Can inferior product be purchased and enhanced? The answer would be yes to an extent. There is only so much you can do before the flavor or texture is affected. The choice that must be made is quite simple. An Inferior product at a cheaper price with a higher customer base, or high quality product with a much lower customer base. Yet I have found a third alternative, a combination of the two, which allows me to keep rising above my competition and yet cater to those with less income. Problem solved.

Food Expressions

A painter expresses themselves on canvas, a poet through their prose. Shakespeare could work wonders with mere words, and Michelangelo worked upside down to paint the Sistine Chapel. A Chef in this day and age must be able to rise to the heights of artistry and express their selves. The food itself is the paint with the plate being the canvas. The menu is the book with the description of the dish being the prose. The next time you sit down in a good restaurant and look at a menu, take some time to notice, what story about the food is it telling you? When your plate arrives at the table, can you see the Chefs heart and soul in the dish? Does the flavor profile send a shiver of excitement through you? If for any reason the answer is no to any of these questions, then there is no food expressions here and you are eating for sustenance only.

Proper Preparation?

Let us assume you have a dining room that seats three hundred guests. This will be a Friday night in an area that likes their fish platters. Along with the filets that will be hand breaded, you have four sides to choose any two items to go with the plate. We cannot forget that there are those who do not like fish and will choose other items off the menu. The question here is how much of the side items does one make and how much fresh fish do you purchase? The answer may surprise you. Wait for it. You are wrong no matter what you do. You will either purchase too much or too little of everything. Why? Because the customers that night want that fancy new grilled ham and cheese sandwich you came up with or they just want a cheeseburger. On the other hand, you maybe only allowed for 75% of the customers to order the fish platter and 90% want it. Either way, you are wrong. Proper preparation starts with your best guess and work from there.

Making Things Right

The customer is always right. That is and always should be the mantra of any customer driven business. There should never be any wiggle room here. Without the customer base, you do not have a business. What you have is a lot of stock and an empty room. I have had a few irate customers and the first thing that must be accomplished is to diffuse their temper and calm them down. The customer needs to feel as if they are important and their needs matter. They should feel this way because they chose to come to your establishment with their hard-earned money. For the same reason we should appreciate the fact that they did. There is an old proverb that says “to err is human, to forgive is divine”. Acknowledge the error, own it and repair it then manipulate the customer into being “divine”.

Grilled Cheese 101

When we first started this phase, there was a major conversation about grilled cheese. The Chef instructor told us of her going to a restaurant and getting a grilled cheese that was horrible. She then showed up the next day and put her class through the grinder on making grilled cheese sandwiches repeatedly until they were perfect. The reason I repeat this story and share it with you the reader is simple. I was astounded that something as simple as this sandwich can be messed up. Recently I experienced a trained culinarian slap some cheese on Texas toast with no butter, place it on the flattop and cover it with a lid. I went ballistic, how can a person have went through the same training I have and not know how to do this? A grilled cheese sandwich is basic cooking 101 that almost every child in America has learned how to do by age ten.

Thinking About Food

I am always thinking about food. How it influences our lives on a daily basis. Whether it is to celebrate, mourn or just something we must have in order to survive. As a family, we gather at meals to talk about the day’s events. As a couple, we have romantic dinners. From back yard barbeques to chili cook-offs. Why for Christ’s sake we even have eating contests in which the winner can eat the most! Let us not forget clam bakes and luau’s, pig roasts and block parties. Food is the most talked about subject of all time in my opinion. It does not matter what your age, gender or religious background may be, food is a common topic to all and always an icebreaker.

First Impressions

Yes, it is another blog about Milo’s Grill. I am sorry but since this place is taking all my free time, it is constantly on my mind. I have designed everything from the menu to the color scheme of the employee’s. I keep trying to look at the place from a customer point of view. My team and I have only one chance to impress each customer. As they walk to the counter, they are judging us. What do they see? I ask myself this repeatedly. I even go so far as to have the wife take pictures while we work for me to study later. I want them to see cleanliness, uniformity, professionalism and warmth. I want them to feel a sense of ownership here; this is their place as well as mine. I want their compliments as well as their complaints. This is how we grow, how we change, and we better ourselves. First impressions are made in a moment that can last forever.

Shoppers Delight

I have been doing a lot of shopping for the new Grill I have opened. I have gotten cards at all the restaurant supply places around the Metro area. I have to say my favorite one so far has to be The Restaurant Depot on Manchester in St. Louis. They do not sell to the general public, a business license is required to shop here. I feel sorry for the ones who have never been inside this “Holy Land for Chefs”.  The cheese aisle alone could hold my interest forever. This place has all the equipment, paper products, cookware, and gadgets a Chef/Restaurant owner could want. What could be better than that? They also have all the food and ingredients to use that equipment to prepare and plate. I found my happy place.

Working Out The Kinks

Well the grill is open and had a trial run this past Friday night. I have what I think is a great crew. We had decent sales despite the fact that not a lot of people knew we were going to be open. This was to be our chance to design how the team works and what the requirements are. Some changes definitely have to be made in who goes where, and how the communication needs to be handled. I did find my time on the grill was limited due to the public relations factor. I am hoping these taper off so that I can actually do more in the kitchen. Everyone wants a piece of my time and I just want to cook. It will be a fine balancing act I am sure. Once I can get the purchasing on a rotational schedule, things should even out a bit. Right now, I find a lot of my time this past week was spent in just purchasing. Shopping has never been something I enjoy. As a team, my kitchen staff is on a fast track learning curve. As an owner I have to remember at all times that, they are new to this, and so am I. Someone has to pretend they know what they’re doing, I guess that’s me.

I Told You So

We have been in culinary school for almost eleven months. From day one, we have heard from every Chef that owning or managing a restaurant is hard work. It takes dedication, hard work and many unpaid hours to get it off the ground. The place will be on your mind from the time you wake up until you go to sleep. If you created this restaurant from scratch, then it is your baby. If you are a parent then this next part is easy to understand. Once conceived it’s all you think about, once born you want to nurture it and watch it grow. You make plans for its future, and strive to put in place all it needs to succeed. This place is truly your child, and if it fails, you ask yourself “where did I go wrong?” I have only had my establishment one week, and yet all of these things have played out. Sleep has become a luxury I cannot afford, for there is always something that needs to be done. I am still in my infant stage with this and yet I can already see I will have to forcefully disconnect at times to have a life outside of the restaurant. I dare not complain, for with a knowing grin and maybe even a chuckle or two those who have been here before me will say, “I told you so”.

It All Sounds So Simple

Wow! Life can be ironic at times. We are doing a major project for mid-terms that will work its way into finals. Creating our own restaurant from start to finish and everything that entails. As I am putting the finishing touches on a much labored over project, the phone rings. On the other end was opportunity knocking very loudly. It seems that the people running the kitchen at my local V.F.W. has given up and walked away. It would seem that poor management skills, bad purchasing practices and an overall lack of business planning has done them in. Shades of kitchen rescue dancing in my head I ask why me? The V.F.W. Commander tells me how he got my name and number and what he has heard about me. A good work ethic and moral code has paid off. He wants to know if I can run the kitchen and draft up a menu and plan. I say yes, and get to work on it right away. All I have to do at this point is take my homework project, scale it back and change a few things. Sounds pretty simple in theory, and then the reality sets in. This is highly involved, what with purchasing to cover the menu, not to mention creating a menu, hiring at least three employees. This has gone from something simple into the realm of impossible. I just have to remember, others do these things on a daily basis, and if they can do it, so can I.  This is what I’ve been training for.

What The People Want

I have been working on a menu. What I have found is it is too easy to slip into a comfort zone of creating what I like. The customer is whom I have to appeal to, not my personal taste. With this in mind, I re-draft the menu and start getting other opinions. Corrections and changes are made repeatedly. What I am finding myself doing is making changes according to what I am hearing each person say. Some of these changes are very insightful and helpful. I need to be more mindful of whose opinion I am listening to. Someone with experience and knowledge of the industry, such as my Chef instructors should be heeded. The rest of the people I find are making the same mistake I did, they are looking at the menu with an eye towards what they like. The broader picture has to be kept in mind, something for everyone but not all things for everyone.

Running On Empty

I am not a Doctor by any means. What I do know from experience and common sense is the fact that food equals fuel for the human body. Without it, we lose cognitive ability. The body can survive for a time without food by burning the energy that we have stored from before. This is damaging in the end though, sugar levels drop and insulin levels will rise. This causes the heart to race, cold sweats and a multitude of related problems. By doing this to myself through most of my youth, I am now paying the price for the stress I put my body through. I find it ironic, as I look back over the years that I would never let my car or truck run out of fuel, but I constantly did just that to my body.

Stranger in a strange land

As stated in another blog, my culinary class went to PFG’s vendor expo at Hotel Lumiere. What I may not have mentioned is the fact that we were all in uniform. This consists of chefs coat, pants etc. well with that being said, we were done for the day and had all met in the front lobby to leave. Suddenly I had the urge to use the facilities and soon headed that direction. Much to my dismay, it is a long walk down somewhat of a narrow area due to the setup of the venders. As my luck generally would have it, an old man was shuffling along in front of me. My need was so strong at this point that I almost blurted out for him to move faster. Well I get there finally and take care of business, as I am washing my hands a large gnarled hand falls on my shoulder. This is something that does not happen in a men’s restroom, no sir, no way! I am immediately defensive as I turn. With a big smile on his face, there stands the old man who was shuffling along. He offers his hand for a greeting and commences to telling me he is on our Board at Le’cole. He informs me of how they got their start here and so on and so forth. I must have missed his name when he gave it due to the shock of being touched in a restroom. I ask him his name again and to my surprise, he says Orville Middendorf, and commences to tell me how he started his company with $4000.00 in 1962. In those few brief minutes it took for us to reach the front lobby, he never stopped talking and what’s more important, I never stopped listening.

One Stop Shopping

Hotel Lumiere was hosting the Performance Food Group show in downtown St. Louis this past week. This is an opportunity for all the local purveyors and vendors to gather in one place. A chance for everyone from aspiring Chefs to big name restaurant owners to see and sample their wares. My culinary class had the pleasure of enjoying this as a field trip. We were given two hours to wander around, sample the food, and talk with the vendors. I could have spent the whole day doing this. This was a great opportunity to get a peek behind the curtain. To really see where the food products in the restaurant comes from. Everything from packaging, processing, and storage of food, to the food itself was available to see and sample. Bookkeeping programs, human resource classes to point of sale systems were there for our perusal. Any item that caught your attention was guaranteed to lead into a productive conversation. I met individuals there that are able and more than willing to help further my career. The atmosphere was like a family gathering instead of a vendors show. I have not been to many food events, but if this is the normal attitude, well then sign me up!