In the kitchen, in most restaurants, the phrase ‘mise en place’ has been known to come up from time to time. This French term for ‘set in place’ is uber valuable for all of those working in the kitchen. Making sure you have everything you will need for that evening’s festivities is important if you…
Category: Portland Restaurants
Management Presence
Since starting this blog, I now must endure story after story of poor experiences in restaurants by friends and loved ones. My students tell me that I have ruined eating out for them, because they spend all of their time looking around at all of the mistakes taking place. Not my fault! You can’t blame…
Corkage Fees
I know I have beaten this dead horse quite a bit by now, but just let me remind everyone once again, I was a waiter for many years. It is important to me that you know where I am coming from when I post some of these controversial subjects on my blog. This didn’t actually…
Counter ‘Service’?
I’d better be careful here. I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I am a front of the house guy. Yes, I’ve worked in kitchens, but the bulk of my experience has been out in the front. I still believe all of the things that I did during my waiter days. Every customer…
That Mess in Front of Your Restaurant
Customers connect everything they see to your restaurant. They don’t care that they are only walking through your parking lot, or on the street by your place, they will hold you responsible for anything they see that they judge to be messy or unacceptable. Jack-in-the-Box I had a whirlwind three day stint at Jack-in-the-Box when I…
That $1 Tip
This is a tough one. Like I have mentioned before, I am a front of the house guy. I made my bones getting tips at Beverly Hills steak houses and West Hollywood trattorias. The absolute last thing I want is for people to stop being generous with their gratuities. Ahh…New York Lately, I have found myself taking…
Managing Employee Conflict
Let’s face it, there is no way you can end all of your employee conflict. Human beings are human beings after all. The trick is to minimize it. Front of the house vs. Back of the house I took a minute to think of all of the restaurants I have worked over the years, and…
Restaurant Marketing
Everyone (except those with masters degrees in marketing) is confused by the whole marketing thing. Including me. But let’s sort this one out together. First of all, marketing does not mean just going out and spending a bunch of cash on T.V. or newspaper ads. Quite simply, it is figuring out who your customers are,…
A Good Manager
Not often, but occasionally I am accused of coming across a bit cynical, maybe a little too negative. I am not here to argue that point, but rather to combat that idea by putting out a more positively-toned post. Don’t get used to it. I don’t mean to point out only the faults of Portland…
Eat it. Don’t Tweet it.
Yeah, that’s right, eat it don’t tweet it. I suddenly find myself in an awkward position. These recent years I have found myself making fun of people who can’t seem to simply enjoy their food, they need to take a picture of it and share it with whoever is following them on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat,…
Tell Your Server
Okay, the last thing that I want customers to do is start complaining about their dining experiences. However, if you are having a problem with your meal–your meat is over done, your fish is under done, there is a piece of glass in your drink, a bug in your salad–let your server know! Customers, for…
Location Location Location
Location means so many things. Not just what your realtor tells you. In an earlier post, I talked about the ten reasons why restaurants fail. Let’s talk about the first one on that list: Location. Location People often hear that word without really knowing what it means. Especially restaurateurs. Yes, location is very important, but…
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