Chef Forum banner

Owner will not hire GM

615 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  redchef300 
#1 ·
We have been explaining to him for months why we need a GM. He has a friend doing part time computer input and a small degree of bill paying. We are a small fine dining restaurant. We have been open for over 2 1/2 years. We get great reviews for food, but crappy reviews for FOH. The servers set their own schedule and have no supervision. To save on money, the owner wants to put white butcher paper on the table for Sat/Sun brunch. We have nice china and our average brunch meal is $25-$35. We have a small BOH staff. Executive chef, sous chef, 2 line cooks, pantry cook and pastry chef. He has the chef doing many things that a manager would do. Answering the phone, solving issues for the FOH. Ordering and checking order for alcohol. We don't have anyone to do that either. The owner does nothing. He has never worked in a restaurant. Is there anything we can do to show the owner how badly we need a GM? We have missed so many occasions for good special events, that would bring in extra money. He keeps saying we don't have to money. But he is paying for his car, and sponsoring his bicycle club through the restaurant. On many occasions he has hired "a friend" (female always) to work as a hostess. One night of work and they never come back. Any ideas??? 
 
#2 ·
I work in somewhat similar situation. I am fortunate to have owners that have worked in the business for 20+ years and that they do listen to what we feel we need most of the time. We do have a FOH manager but she gets spread between 7 restaurants. It is difficult to get the owners to see the benefits of doing certain things especially if it does translate to profits on paper right away. A fine dinning restaurant with butcher paper may look good on paper  but how many guest will see that as tacky and not come back. If I saw that I would feel like they are cutting corners here and where else are they cutting corners. If the food was great and the service was awesome I could also overlook things like that. Sounds like the chef is taking on a lot of extra responsibilities and I have seen chefs seek other opportunities after awhile because of being over whelmed and not getting support from the owners.  I would think the owner would want to have a good FOH and be there to shape the team.  I try to focus my attention on the issues I know I can influence. I am lucky I have a good FOH staff and they know that good service will keep the guest coming back and how it effects the money they make in the future. In the end the restaurant will be as good as he wants it to be and the effort he puts in. Sounds like he doesn't put much effort in and the sales or staff retention will reflect that. It is not an easy issue to solve. It seems like the BOH is trying really hard to make it work. I wish you the best of luck.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top