Category Archives: food

Learning Not To Cook

Toque

It’s Friday and the topic, of course, is food-related. I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day and he mentioned that his business used to remind him of a cook and a couple of helpers but now it’s a big kitchen and the cook has become a chef. As we kept talking, it was obvious to me that the guy had NOT become a chef – he was still a cook and that’s the business point I want to make today.

I hear lots of folks complain about chefs (most of them celebrities now) who have six or ten or more restaurants. “How can they run the kitchen from 1,000 miles away?” is the common question. But they can because they’ve learned not to cook and that’s what my friend’s boss needs to understand. Continue reading

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Filed under Consulting, food, Helpful Hints

BYOB

Tempranillo varietal wine bottle and glass, sh...

Friday already?  Time for weekend goodness!  But before that, our Friday Foodie Fun post which this week is about BYOB.  In food terms, it’s bringing your own bottle, which can be a great thing if the restaurant permits it and doesn’t charge you an exorbitant ransom or, as they call it, corkage.  I mean seriously, unless the restaurant is actually serving wine and you’re drinking your own instead of buying off their list, a fee to open your bottle (which I’m happy to do, by the way) and provide some glasses seems petty.  But that’s not the BYOB I want to discuss today.  The one I’m thinking about is Believing Your Own Bull$#*. Continue reading

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Filed under food, Helpful Hints

The Kitchen

Kitchen at Yuba/Sutter Camp and Juvenile Hall,...

The end of another week and another food-related screed on Foodie Fun Friday.  We were out to dinner last evening at a Venezuelan beach food place I’ve written about before.  We happened to be seated in a place (it’s tiny) where I had an unobstructed view of the kitchen.  The space was minute and 4 cooks and a dishwasher were all scurrying around.  The occasional visit by a server would add to the clutter.  And it was hot – the air conditioning didn’t make it back to the kitchen – you could tell when you went to the register (near the kitchen) to pay.  The conditions weren’t great although the food was.  And that, of course, got me thinking about business. Continue reading

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Filed under food, Helpful Hints, Reality checks