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questions for owners n head chefs plz

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  brandon odell 
#1 ·
Hello all so im a first time head chef at a place where the owners do not have a food background.my question is do i have to make food that the owner thinks is good or food that the guest n myself think is good.my reason im confused is two fold A the restaruant was struggling before my addition and i mean handily and i feel like if they knew good food they wouldnt have to hire me they could execute it themsevles.and B i ofcourse have bonuses tied to food sales and i wanna give myself the best chance to get those bonuses.i think my best chance to get them is by doing my food.if im wrong please let me know!thanks group
 
#3 ·
The first question to answer is "what kind of place are you".  four star continental dining, pizza joint, mexican place...etc. 

So whatever the answer is you will be doing that kind of food and you should do it well.  

You might have meant "When I make the food the restaurant serves, the owners don't know what tastes good and I do''.  

A bit more background on the situation would help. 

Who came up with the original recipes? 

Both you and the owner need to be brutally honest about what the food tastes like and you need some objective proof that it is the recipes that are to blame. If the original recipes were not being cooked as written, then the owner can claim they remain potentially good if you do them correctly.  If there are no sales records based on the recipes being cooked as written, then you have less to back you up. 

     If the recipes have been done correctly and sales have continued to drop, then you have an argument. 

If that is the case, your position can be "let me adjust the recipes and give me three months to improve sales based on my recipes." Then you make sure the adjusted recipes are as good as you would like to believe before serving them. 

The owner does not need a food background to insist on consistency. And recipes can be ruined by improper technique. So do the recipes as written every time and do them well.  Then see what you have to talk about.
 
#4 ·
Here's what you do:

You continue with the current menu, but you "tweak" it here and there.  Nothing serious, just a few touches.

You get permission for a daily special, may be even two or three (mains, apps, dessert)

You keep track of what is selling.  If tuesday's special sells great, you repeat it the next week, and the week after that.

The  owners usually pay attention to what is selling, if stuff sells well and customers ask for it, they will keep it.   Usually.  But if the menu was "designed" by the owner's wife or grandma, you  might have trouble changing it.
 
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#5 ·
Here's what you do:

You continue with the current menu, but you "tweak" it here and there. Nothing serious, just a few touches.

You get permission for a daily special, may be even two or three (mains, apps, dessert)

You keep track of what is selling. If tuesday's special sells great, you repeat it the next week, and the week after that.

The owners usually pay attention to what is selling, if stuff sells well and customers ask for it, they will keep it. Usually. But if the menu was "designed" by the owner's wife or grandma, you might have trouble changing it.
This is well said, but I'll add this: sadly, food that you like is irrelevant. Look at types of food that sell well in the area and make notes on your costumer feedback.
 
#7 ·
Wow thats great feedback and i appreciate it all guys!to say a lil more about the situation its a diner but upon interviewing n since choosing me they said they want me to bring "better than diner food"to the place.thats ok by me as my career has been mostly fine dining.ive changed the entire dinner menu i guess the problem comes when i try to touch the lunch menu.they sorta bristle. And as Arugula mentioned the place has a bad rep.i mean we get killed on yelp but A im naive enough to think i can change that and B its my first head chef job so i really wanna gain this experience... On a side not i apologize for any typos im on my cell phone typing and its 1am honestly im jus leaving my head chef celebration party ;)
 
#8 ·
Restaurants are a business. Businesses sell things to make money. If a business doesn't sell what it's customers want, it won't make money. Ultimately, you have to cook what the owners want you to cook because they are the owners and they pay you. If both you and the owners are smart, you'll both swallow your pride and realize the only opinion that counts is that of the customer. You'll realize that no matter how good your food is, you still have to have a market to sell to that likes that type of food to make money, and the owners will realize that you are the food expert and that they hired you to figure out what the customer wants. The trick is being humble enough to realize that there is a difference between you thinking you know what the customer wants and you actually researching what the customer wants and providing that. Most owners and chefs simply assume they know what the customers want, and ultimately just end up serving what they want to themselves anyways.
 
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