Is the Catering Industry in Crisis?
October 5, 2007
After many years now in the catering industry as a chef I have seen plenty of changes. Like all changes some are good and some bad. Different styles of cooking; Nouvelle Cuisine, Cuisine Natural, Molecular cooking, the change from meat and three veg to more picturesque plates, the a la carte dinning and so on. The availability of products throughout the world has never been better.
Where as the quality of staff is on the decline, and has been now for sometime. The days are gone when as a chef you would gladly [work]work[/tag] until all was done no questions asked, when the chef would give you more work to do and you thought that you should be going home!!! Home was a place of rest for a few hours, these days the workers just want to get home asap, mind you the majority of people are paid by the hour, you would think that they would try to do as many hours as they could. I must be thinking wrong.
We used to work as long as was needed for a basic wage, no bonus or extra or overtime, what was overtime, that was just normal. Today I do think that the catering staff are so much better off, but they just do not appreciate it or even understand how lucky they are. Apprentices receive tool allowance’s, how will they ever respect there tools if they are given them!!! I agree that the pay is poor for what the staff do, and that we get the short end of the stick all the time, which is definitely not fair. Our job is very stressful and being a service industry you often get looked upon as a nobody. But we only have ourselves to blame ( and the government, but those idiots we can’t change ) the public always want to pay less, hence the prices can’t be to high so we (the staff) can’t earn more.
Everybody can cook (well so they think) and with that in there mind think they know better, and wonder why they should pay for the service. Prices for commodities are constantly on the increase, and not just a few cents either. When you go shopping I bet you say that’s gone up and that, and so on. Isn’t it true. Now spare a thought for those out there working in restaurants and other hospitality outlets trying hard to please the customer every single day with a good product and service, all for what???? Take a good look at the state the industry is in, and then think hard about it, why?
Now how can we change it? Well we must first pay the price for good food, pay the price for good service, pay the price for good staff. To get good staff is hard, believe me I know, I have worked alongside some of the best chefs in the world and thats no bull, I have also seen some crap out there that make believe there way through the industry. What’s this incentive of cash to entice people into the industry. I honestly think that the whole training systemis wrong and in desperate need of a revamp. We can not expect to employ good staff if we send them to poor quality motels and pubs or fast food outlets to gain their knowledge. Wakey - wakey people.
Restaurants should also not be a teaching ground. How would you like to be served by, cooked for, by an apprentice or somebody learning, at your cost, then pay full price, top dollar for it. Question, would you give your brand new $70′000 car into the garage for an apprentice to look after it? I don’t think so. But you wouldn’t mind if it was an old car that was less worth. Just think about that, the apprentice gets to work on an engine that is the same as the other just older, and can learn and make mistakes and then when ready he can move on to bigger and better vehicles.
Like our industry the young chefs should start out in a large hotel or a place with plenty of good quality staff, so they can be taught properly without jeopardizing the establishment. You might be in a place without a large hotel or great restaurant with chef hats and Michelin stars, easy answer, move to one if you want to learn, don’t expect it to come to you. Apprentices should not be looked upon as cheap labor either, it is our responsibility to train these people ready for the future, but obviously in the correct environment. As for the TAFE, well I am surprised if they learn anything with the attitude of the teaching staff. The students should be made to feel the importance of an apprenticeship not just turn up if you want to!!!! how can we qualify them if they don’t go through the hard yards. They need to understand and earn respect from the other’s in the industry, because as an apprentice you have seen and learned very little.
I know , I was once an apprentice. So now that I have woken up the brain cells within you, have a good think about what you have just read and next time you dine out, next time you turn up for work, next time you go to TAFE, next time you get asked to do that little bit extra, next time you pay the bill, next time you service the car, so next time remember………..
Technorati Tags: chef, staff, overtime, cook, Prices, restaurants, hospitality, industry, training system, motels, apprentice, hotel, chef hats, Michelin stars, TAFE
Horseradish
October 1, 2007
Recently I ordered some Fresh horseradish. I wanted it so I could grate it over one one of my dishes on the new menu instead of using the bought processed product and getting an inferior outcome. Having never had the pleasure of this fresh product in my hands in Australia before now I was very pleased to receive it, only to be amazed at the price. $44- for this amount. One kilo. We all joked about setting up a horseradish farm and then got back to work.
The horseradish itself was great and had the desired effect that I wanted. Good job I require only a small amount!! The smell which will clear any sinus problems is strong distinct and fresh. It brought back memories of my first experience with fresh horseradish. When I was starting my trade back in the Hilton in London. I was on the cold larder section and cleaning out the fridge was one of my jobs as a young commis chef. As you would expect, I was very inquisitive and wanted to know everything. On finding this large jar of unlabeled produce I proceeded to open it.
Picture this, I am crouching down in-front of an under-bench refrigeration unit unscrewing this container in front of my face, deep breath taken on opening and out for the count I was. The fumes from the grated fresh horseradish had knocked me out. There I was lying on the kitchen floor (only for a few seconds mind you) before I was whisked away to see the on-site nurse, we did have 105 chefs in the hotel when I stared back in those days of the huge brigades and a nurse was constantly busy with all the staff and guest needs. (5 star ofcourse.)
Technorati Tags: Fresh, horseradish., sinus, Hilton, grated fresh horseradish
New Menu, Chef’s needed
July 30, 2007
First of all I must apologise for the lack of content over the last few weeks. Once again it is time for a new menu. Being winter I have added a few cold weather dishes. Often winter is not the easiest time to play with ideas on the menu as the cold weather keeps customers away. So I have decided to add a few dishes that I know will sell well with the locals. Also we are about to go through a rough period without staff. It is always great to have a fine tuned team but what tends to happen is that after time they need a change. As is the case with my brigade. From having 8 chefs on the books now down to 4, so things are tough but it will turn around again as it always does. Quality chefs are very hard to find probably due to the poor teaching within the industry and from the taffe or college. It would be nice to find a young chef these days with a great attitude to work. Full of enthusiasm and passion for food. If that’s you, do not hesitate. Give me a call 07 4933 7878
Busy Week
July 1, 2007
Weekend Herb Blogging #88 is upon me.
I have had such a busy week that I almost forgot to get online to my blog. Today is Sunday the first of July which means stock take, and yes you guessed it I have been at work since 7am, first doing breakfast for the wedding guests from the reception that was also catered for by us last night. Then the counting, weighing etc of all the kitchen produce. (We do it each month by the way). Anyway all that aside I have now relaxed after a hot soothing shower so onto the blog I am, 10.19 pm, what do I see WHB from last week oops. Not a very good apprentice am I leaving it to the last minute. Not only did I manage only to read half of the entries from last week and I did leave a comment for you, I found them very interesting, I really have my work cut out. Hence the apprentice…as I don’t like to miss out I will try to do an entry real quick.
How Hard Is It To Get Some Bread
May 24, 2007
This little rant came about just yesterday. How hard is it to get some bread? Let’s find out……picture this, I’m at home at about 9am when I receive a call from Monika whom is at work doing the breakfast then morning tea scones & spinach parcels and then lunch assorted sandwiches for one of our conference groups. The call was to let me know that all of the fresh bread that was delivered had got used and that I should consider getting more today before I came to work that afternoon so as to have it for breakfast the following morning. Ok fine. Delivery usually gets to us about 7.30am a bit too late for those early risers. A great thought came to me. Read more
Technorati Tags: Culinary terms, Bordelaise, chef
Coffee Machine
May 18, 2007
Today we received our brand new “Boema” coffee machine, and I’m looking forward to sampling the goods later. But first, a few tips on your research before you go ahead and purchase a coffee machine. Ensure that you have enough space, sounds silly but it is true they do come in various sizes & power 10, 15, or 20 amperage, you won’t be able to just plug it in and go. Read more
Mother’s Day
May 14, 2007
After another busy Saturday night with a wedding for 106 in the conference room & 82 in the a la carte restaurant it was back in the kitchen for the wedding breakfast followed by Mother’s Day brunch. Having had a week of last minute event’s what could be more fitting than rain on Mothers day. Jude deciding to Read more
Staff Turnover
May 8, 2007
I have managed to upload some photos & the movie does actualy play.
This bloging does require some serious time investment, please don’t forget that I do have to run a very busy kitchen, which at present is going through some staff turnover. Read more
Technorati Tags: chef
New Menu
December 4, 2006
What a busy weekend. First Saturday night then Sunday lunch. The beautiful weather at the moment must be enticing more people out for lunch. It was a quick fire 90 people.
It is time to create a new menu. We try to achieve this four times a year. This is very challenging as we try to create a menu that one is appealing to the customer, two is interesting for us chefs, three feasible to prepare in our kitchen, four has a balance of produce, five the season of the year with availability. Some chefs change just the dishes that are no longer possible to make due to out of season produce and price, others because they are not popular. We will be changing 90 percent of the items. So if you have a favourite dish please come in soon for your chance to sample before the change. Also on that note if any of you have a special wish for this new menu please don’t hesitate to let me know and we will try to accommodate your wish.
Big Tables
November 12, 2006
Well what a week. Busy with conferences and a la carte. One chef down but still pushing on. Tonight Saturday was a relatively easy one all things considered. The wedding was simple and ran smoothly, only 86 with pre dinner cocktail food followed by one main meal alternate drop. The restaurant was fully booked and all was going great until the two big tables hit. One suffered unfortunately, they had to wait, and were a little upset about that, understandable. Hope it was worth waiting for anyway. Big tables are just a pain, they are often “messy”. We are now coming into the festive party time and that means big groups, some with set menus, which are great but you do get the ones that chose to go a la carte. So it’s head down and into it. The boys let off some steam with some serious cleaning with water every where, all good. Time for a cold beer now. 
Check out the clip from tonights Saturday service click the link video action…….
