Thursday, April 28, 2011

Situation


People that have problems in restaurants in bad time? and the solution providers.
Understanding the art of confusion, it is always the unknown that drives people forward or backwards and there is always someone out there that has a solution for you. If that person knows how to fix the problem why do they not use it? They will inform you about their expertise, like restaurant consultants who come in, write down all your problems and produce a file of solutions. Anyone can do that.
I was approached by the proprietor of a restaurant in regards to this theory. I stated that it sounded good and that they would be paid after they make their theory work - the consultants disappeared. In hard times difficult decisions have to be made and these decisions are all different, depending on the circumstances – in my experience the high end of the market, catering for approximately 20% of the general public, the middle which caters for 30% of the market and the lower market has the rest.

In recession times the top restaurants usually has a 30% drop because they are the first to feel the pinch. The mistake we make is - we don't believe that. You have to be careful as spending is not as free as in the good times, if you push a little harder for sales on the high market, you will lose them. The middle market will automatically drop the high cost products. These are some of the problems that should be looked at in regards to profit and sustainability of staff.
Be realist the general public wants to spend less, this is were experience has the advantage, by producing excellent product that are cost effective, and rearrange the staff roster that suits best, this is done by management.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Professional waiter, the real way to learn


Is the understanding, of knowing what you are doing, and expressing it correctly, giving a lot of explanation that only confuses you, is not necessary, the minimal literature with pictures is the best way, accompanied with the right and knowledgeable advice to start with? If you break down what has to be done during services in a dinning room, you can learn this between 2-4 weeks depending on how much time you put in to it, (means ready for work) the largest amount of waiters around started at this level and after six months they learned while working, about all the food that they are serving in that particular restaurant that they are working in, and as they move along from restaurant to restaurant they learn more, only about food and wines, the basic service remains the same every where you go, if you want to find out all about restaurant training go to. www.Training-4-Hospitality  you will find it very worth while.

Basics


All my life I have managed and owned restaurants and function centres. In my early days I was a fanatic in the art of French cooking and for twenty years I studied French cooking, then a few years later I went back and invested time in only Italian cooking as this is my background.
I worked in Hotels and restaurants and managed them; I was in demand because of my abilities and knowledge in the kitchen and dining room. In my restaurants I always trained my own chefs; I gave cooking demonstrations, one of my main regular clients was AGL - Australian Gas Light Company – They continuously came back as they were very impressed with my skills and knowledge in the field.
When I started the demonstrations I actually spoke to the audience and invited them to join me or ask advice/ comments on the topic at hand; the questions were never ending and in mt audience there were always chefs.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Preparation


It is important to be ready when applying for a position in hospitality, always look clean and tidy, full of life happy and with a smile, when questioned regarding your ability and your knowledge, it is vital to have the right answer. Don’t try to fool a pro, as I have been there; so have many others and they will see very quickly you do not have the knowledge required.  
I have produced a manual with the knowledge of the complete art of service, not just bits and pieces to confuse, more so to teach. I have all the elements required e.g. setting tables, creating serviettes, how to understand food and menus so that you can explain food to your guests.
Wines, the varieties  are easily learned if explained properly. Through grape variety it is easy to understand what all wines are so that you can understand when people are ordering wines, you know what they are asking for and why.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Manual for waiters

I have just finished editing my manual on training waiters/servers and bar service, it is a manual that will teach everything a professional waiter/ barmen needs to know. I received hundreds of thousand clicks and emails from all over the world, the number one discontent is classes and how much they cost and it teaches to little. They are correct.
To teach a person how to set a table and carry plates takes two hours, to teach how to explain food i.e. specials, they need to have the knowledge of basic food production, which in my experience doesn’t get taught enough. As a student in the hospitality industry, if you are not taught the proper way and method to explain food, anything else you may have been taught previously is rendered useless. My complete manual is $1.00 in total, have a look at my website 
www.training-4-hospitality.com.au then leave me your feedback.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Welcome

Hi my name is Giuseppe I have been in catering all my life, and have an incredible amount of knowledge that I would like to share, regarding food, beverage or service.

I have had nearly 200,000 hits from all over the world and quite a lot of emails about financial hardship from people who want to join the industry, so I have decided that instead of talking about it I will do something about it.

Do you want to know about cooking, recipes or how to run your own function?

Are you interested in hospitality?

Anything that has to do with wine or food?

Please feel free to ask, I am here at your disposal.

Regards

Giuseppe