[digitalkym]

How do you tell a chef he needs to change some of his cooking style. I'm a food and beverage manager that loves to cook and is respected for my cooking. A while bck I think I made a mistake on a hire. A lot of his food is good and his presentaion is out of this world. But so many of his entree sauces are sweet....very sweet. He's from the south and says that's the way it's done. I've told him he needs to lay off the sugars and he has toned it down, but not enough. Last night it was a chicken dijon. A sweet chicken dijon. His lasagnas and any red sauce is also very sweet. He takes a lot of pride in his cooking as he should, but how do I get him to listen without threatening his job.

[longfellow]

Your situation is a differcult one to deal with because his tasting is geared to sweetness and when it comes to cooking we all cook to suit are own taste buds not someone elses. Question are the customers complaining or is it just your and a few others perspective of his food? If the customers are complaining then i would have customers fill out comment cards and do a sort of survey of his food. If it comes up to food being too sweet then bring it to his attention. If the majority of customers are satified then I would not do anything. If I used my taste buds to hire cooks my hiring ratio would be 1/1000. Every time I drive past a McDs,BK, Sonny's I am totally amazed that people actually eat that food but look at the number of cars in the parking lot.
Like I said above you need to survey your customers
Good LUck

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by digitalkym

How do you tell a chef he needs to change some of his cooking style. I'm a food and beverage manager that loves to cook and is respected for my cooking. A while bck I think I made a mistake on a hire. A lot of his food is good and his presentaion is out of this world. But so many of his entree sauces are sweet....very sweet. He's from the south and says that's the way it's done. I've told him he needs to lay off the sugars and he has toned it down, but not enough. Last night it was a chicken dijon. A sweet chicken dijon. His lasagnas and any red sauce is also very sweet. He takes a lot of pride in his cooking as he should, but how do I get him to listen without threatening his job.

You make an appointment to sit down with him after service or on his day off. With the beer or wine on your nickel you say, "We really love your presentation, and most of your food is great. But about those sauces ... How do I get you to listen without threatening your job?"

BDL

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by digitalkym

How do you tell a chef he needs to change some of his cooking style. I'm a food and beverage manager that loves to cook and is respected for my cooking. A while bck I think I made a mistake on a hire. A lot of his food is good and his presentation is out of this world. But so many of his entree sauces are sweet....very sweet. He's from the south and says that's the way it's done. I've told him he needs to lay off the sugars and he has toned it down, but not enough. Last night it was a chicken dijon. A sweet chicken dijon. His lasagnas and any red sauce is also very sweet. He takes a lot of pride in his cooking as he should, but how do I get him to listen without threatening his job.

You make an appointment to sit down with him after service or on his day off. With the beer or wine on your nickel you say, "We really love your presentation, and most of your food is great. But about those sauces ... How do I get you to listen without threatening your job?"

BDL

[oldschool1982]

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze

You make an appointment to sit down with him after service or on his day off. With the beer or wine on your nickel you say, "We really love your presentation, and most of your food is great. But about those sauces ... How do I get you to listen without threatening your job?"

BDL

Dang BDL....That was good!

It's a job I don't envy. I can say that the statement of "that's the way it's done" is always a double edged sword. There are times it is true but then......

For the record Southern cooking is not overly sweet. Yes there are dishes that can be but that's not the norm.

One way or another you have to get him to change the method or all you'll have is madness.

The one on one approach always worked well for me on both side of the coin. I like to be reasoned with or talked to at the very least. Clear, concise, tangeble opportunities and areas for improvement are also important. Another thing is to make it all about the guest. That's what it's all about. Profits, losses, success and failure all hinges on the guest. Make any decision about the guest and every employee should fall in. If not then that's the wrong emploeyy for the position. This also helps to remove the personality or personal opinion from the mix.

[digitalkym]

It's definately all about the customer. Our banquet food always receives compliments when the plates are picked up. I will start asking if they enjoyed their dinner. His plates are clean but we don't hear the compliments, and like I said his food is beautiful. I will sit down with him and we'll do some talking and hopefully it helps.

[GhettoRacingKid]

not that i have an epxerinceb ut if i was the chef. I would jsut want you to be flat out open and honest.

Like Bour said. a glass of wine or what ever and start wit ha few compliments and then just bring it up. and tell him you know he has toned it down but he needs to go alittel bit fartehr down.