Overcoming the Cauldron of Chaos

Poorly performing food service operations can be described as “cauldrons of chaos,” and as anyone who has worked in food service knows, there are certain characteristics that make the profession a particularly challenging endeavor.

Detail Intensive.  Every aspect of food service is detail intensive.  Every recipe for each food item or drink requires the exact amount of a variety of ingredients.  Each food or beverage item is served on or in its own special plate, bowl, ramekin, or glass.  Every cook and bartender must know how to prepare and present the various items on the menu. 

Servers must know the daily specials, what ingredients are in various dishes, and how to suggest accompaniments to a meal, such as an appetizer, bottle of wine, or dessert.  Servers must also know how to set tables, how to present and open a bottle of wine, how to prepare and serve a cup of tea, and what brands of beverages are available from the bar and on and on.  The amount of detail that must be mastered by prep workers and servers is immense and contributes to a burdensome training requirement for staff.

People Intensive.  Food and beverage preparation and service takes a lot of people.  The higher the level of quality, the more people it takes.  Only a small portion of the work in a kitchen has been mechanized.   While pre-prepared food products can reduce preparation time, they are seldom used in high quality private clubs.  While point-of-sale systems have helped speed communication from the front of house (servers) and the back of house (prep staff), multiple courses must still be plated by hand and carried to the dining room. 

All soiled dishes, flatware, and glassware must be cleared from tables and taken to the dish wash station for cleaning and sanitizing.  Pots, pans, and cooking utensils must be cleaned and returned to the cooking line.  A large amount of refuse and garbage must be collected, bagged, removed, and properly disposed.  Kitchens and all equipment must be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized each day.

Knowledge Intensive.  Food and beverage knowledge is an accumulation of information as old as recorded history.  Cooking techniques and food products from around the world, along with special proprietary recipes and processes make for an endless body of knowledge.  In club operations with diverse menus, a wide range of food and cooking techniques must be mastered.  These establishments will also have a large stock of spirits, wines, beers, and liqueurs, all with distinct flavors and tastes to complement any food. 

Manufacturing Plant with Consumer on the Premises.  A food service operation is a manufacturing plant.  It receives raw products in the form of food and beverage stocks and transforms them on the premises into a consumable product – a menu item or cocktail.  But what distinguishes food and beverage operations from other manufacturing plants is that the end user of the product comes to the “factory” to order and consume the goods.  Satisfaction or dissatisfaction is immediate and can create challenging moments for staff.

Small Margins for Error in Preparation.  Many cooked or mixed items have a very small margin for error.  If the wrong quantity of baking powder is put in a batch of biscuits, the results can be catastrophic.  The same applies to cooking time and temperature.  One moment of inattention can ruin a custard or sauce.  Diners are quite specific in wanting their steaks cooked rare, medium rare, medium, or well-done.  Preparing menu items within the parameters of recipes and member desires is a continual challenge.

Determination of Quality Subjective.  With most manufactured goods, the quality standard or specification is determined in advance and customers buy the product by experience or reputation.  If satisfied, they continue to buy the product.  The manufacturer may periodically alter the product and issue a “new, improved” version, but these changes generally fall within the range of public expectations. 

In food service, on the other hand, the determination of quality is highly individualized.  Two people at the same table may order the same items, prepared at the same time by the same staff, but one hates his meal, while the other thinks hers is great.  Couple this subjectivity with the great variety in individual tastes and it becomes a continuing challenge for chefs to prepare exciting, innovative menus that will appeal to a broad spectrum of tastes.

Food Service is Time Sensitive.  Every item on a menu has a different cooking or prep time, yet any course for a particular table must be prepared and served at one time.  This requires the preparation staff to make constant judgments about when to start or “fire” a particular item. 

In addition to the varying prep times for different items, most diners have an expectation of prompt service with little delay between courses.  Lastly, food is expected to arrive at the tableside both fresh and hot.  An item that sits under a heat lamp too long will be overcooked and unappetizing. 

So, the kitchen staff that is so impacted by time relies on a different staff – the servers – to pick up the food promptly and get it to the table quickly.  If the server was only serving one table this would be relatively easy, but wait stations can include many tables, all at different points in their meal service.

Volatile Business Levels – by the Minute, Hour, Day, Week, and Season.  The à la carte portion of a food and beverage operation is highly volatile.  Despite the best efforts of management to forecast levels of business, the number of meals served on any given day and at any given meal period can fluctuate widely.  This volatility makes it difficult to order and prepare appropriate levels of food and beverage stock and creates an ongoing challenge for scheduling staff.

Within the same meal period, business levels can vary from moment to moment.  Sudden rushes of members arriving at the same time can significantly impact the smooth flow of food preparation and service.  A large party arriving unannounced or earlier or later than its scheduled reservation can also impact the operation.  As a result, food service operations frequently get slammed, that is, experience an unexpected rush of business.  Fortunately, most food service employees have an overdrive that they can kick into when necessary. 

The constant flux in business levels and the resultant challenges creates an environment that often borders on controlled chaos.  All these factors contribute to high stress levels in a busy food service operation.  Those employees who do well in this environment are often adrenaline junkies – people who thrive on the stress and flux of a rapidly changing operations.

Diners have Different Expectations.  Just as every person has his or her own sense of taste, many diners have a different set of expectations for a club’s food service.  Some want a quiet and relaxed meal in an unhurried setting, others want to eat quickly to go on to something else, others want a particular menu item, others want seafood, or fresh salads,  steaks, special meal deals, or low fat or low carb offerings.  While many eating establishments try to limit the customers’ expectations by appealing to a limited niche of the market, private clubs don’t have this luxury.  They are expected to be all things to all members.

Food Service has Many Complementary Components.  By its very complexity, food service has many complementary components.  A meal can include many courses – before dinner drinks, appetizers, soup, entrée, salad, dessert, wines to accompany each course, after dinner drinks, coffee or tea, and liqueurs. 

The various components come from different sources – the bar, the kitchen, the pantry, and the wine cellar.  The server must coordinate all the various components to ensure that each arrives at the appropriate time during the meal service.

Food Service Offers Many Choices.  While most operations offer set menus and accompaniments for the menu, the diner still has a wide array of choices.  Examples of choices include domestic and imported beers and wines, wines from California or Washington State, red and white wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines, fortified wines, choices of salad dressing, regular or decaffeinated coffee, various types of teas, bottled water, brand name sparkling water, choice of vegetables, choice of starch, a wide variety of condiments, and on and on. Each choice adds complexity to purchasing, storing, preparing, pricing, and serving.

Business Impacted by External Influences.  Business levels in a food service operation are often influenced by external factors.  A member’s decision to dine is often made in conjunction with other activities such as business, shopping, recreation, entertaining and special occasions, visitors and house guests, spur of the moment decisions to forego preparing a meal, and, of course, the weather.

While a well-run club food service operation will attempt to forecast business based upon past history and upcoming events, the level of business for any given meal period is subject to many factors outside the control or knowledge of management.

Fast-Paced, Physical Jobs.  Food service is typically a fast-paced, physically demanding job.  Prep staff, bartenders, and servers are on their feet for their entire shift.  Carrying food stocks and trays of food requires strength and agility.  The hot environment of the kitchen can sap a person’s strength, while servers must negotiate the industrial environment of the kitchen and the show environment of the dining room.  Eating establishments frequently get slammed with unexpected levels of business and must set and maintain a blistering pace.  One no show or sick employee can seriously impact the quality and efficiency of service.

Preparation is Key – Mis en Place.  Given the high levels of volatility and unpredictability in food service, the key to successful operations is thorough prior preparation.  This fact was not lost on the early French chefs who pioneered modern food service management techniques.  The French phrase mis en place, interpreted to mean “everything in place” or “the preparation is ready up to the point of cooking,” encompasses the ideal of having all ingredients ready to go so that all that remains is to combine and cook them. 

The concept of mis en place has naturally been extended to all areas of food preparation and service so that all employees – cooks, servers, bartenders, etc. – have completed all necessary preparations and are ready to handle whatever level of business shows up to dine.

Need to be Friendly, Courteous, and Accommodating under Pressure.  Amid all the stressful, controlled chaos of a food service operation, servers must remain cool, collected, and provide a friendly, courteous, and accommodating attitude toward members.  Clearly this requires people of uncommon temperament, ability, and personality. 

Teamwork and Timing are Essential.  Other keys to successful food service operations are teamwork and timing.  Teamwork is critical because there are two distinctly different groups of employees involved in food service – those who take orders and serve the food and those who prepare it.  Servers must ensure proper communication of all orders, accompaniment alternatives, special requests, and cooking temperatures to the kitchen.  The prep staff  must ensure that all items for a table are prepared according to the order and at the same time. 

Without close cooperation and teamwork this system of dual staff will break down resulting in poor food quality and service.  The fact that the work environments for the two staffs are so radically different usually means that employees in the two different areas tend to have different personalities and dispositions. 

Just as timing is critical to executing football or basketball plays, timing is an ever-present issue in food service.  The efforts of the two staff must be well-coordinated and the necessary timing only comes about from training and experience, as well as excellent ongoing communication. 

Bottom Line.  Given the complexity, timing, pace, and detail of food service, coupled with members’ expectations for consistent, high quality, and excellent service for each dining experience, the club’s food service team must be highly organized, well trained, and led by dedicated food service professionals.  When well done, what they do every day is awe inspiring  . . . and when considered in its entirety, is nigh on miraculous!

Excerpted from Food Service in Private Clubs – A Holistic Overview of Management Best Practices

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