Tag Archives: cooking

February 12, 2016 · 11:37 am

Delivering

This Foodie Friday, we’ll return to the land of Top Chef.  Not only is it my favorite show on TV (House of Cards isn’t really TV now, is it?), but it almost always inspires broader thinking about business for me.  Last night was the conclusion of the annual restaurant wars competition in which two teams of contestants have 24 hours to conceive and execute a restaurant.  The losing team (and they really did deserve to lose) made some key errors, from which I think we can all learn a couple of things. 

First, their menu had no focus. Some of it was Asian inspired, some of it was Italian, some of it was influenced by the chef’s ego and nothing else.  There was no cohesiveness to the meal.  Any restaurant – and any brand – makes a promise.  I like this explanation:

A strong brand promise is one that connects your purpose, your positioning, your strategy, your people and your customer experience. It enables you to deliver your brand in a way that connects emotionally with your customers and differentiates your brand.

With no focus to the items being served, there was no connection – emotional or otherwise – to the diners. The next issue was execution. As incoherent as the menu was, had the dishes been prepared extremely well and had the service been spectacular, the dining experience might have been saved. Unfortunately, most of the dishes the losing team served were awful, led by a salad of strawberries, pickled cucumber, roasted beets, and arugula with a strawberry champagne gazpacho. The gloppy “gazpacho” was more like a desert sauce and the judges hated this dish. There was a pork belly served in a consomme that apparently was almost all vinegar. You know there is a problem when every shot of someone tasting it shows them looking like they’d just bitten into a lemon.

Great execution can make up for many flaws.  That too is part of delivering on the brand promise.  I’ve certainly been to restaurants where the food was just ok but excellent, personable service and reasonable prices made it someplace to which I’d return.

It’s one thing to make a promise.  It’s quite another to deliver.  Are you doing that?

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December 18, 2015 · 11:52 am

Bad Corn

It’s Foodie Friday! With the new season of Top Chef in full swing, I thought I’d use something that happened on last night’s episode as our topic this week. If you’re a fan of the series and have not yet watched the latest episode, mild spoiler alert!

Public relations of high-fructose corn syrup

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The chef who was eliminated last night made a dish that contained a corn and chorizo hash as an accompaniment to the protein, shrimp. When facing the judges, the question was raised why she chose to cook the corn. The judges thought that some crisp, cool corn would have complemented the shrimp, which was served outdoors (on a golf course!) in the heat. The chef’s reply was that the raw corn seemed overly starchy and she didn’t think it would have been any better raw than cooked. Her hope was that cooking would transform some of the starch. She was then asked the obvious question: why use the corn at all if you weren’t happy with the quality of the ingredient? Which raises our business point.

We often get handed inferior ingredients in business.  These can range from the dead weight employee who is unmotivated and less skilled to the messy financial plan.  The right answer isn’t always “let’s see what we can make out of this.”  Sometimes we need to find different ingredients or change our initial plan for the ones we have.  We get into trouble when we plow ahead, inflexible and wearing blinders.  Markets change, consumer tastes change, and stuff happens.  That doesn’t mean we should constantly be changing course, but it does mean that subtle adjustments are as much an ongoing part of business as tasting and seasoning is a constant part of cooking.

I rarely go to the market with a complete list.  I like to see what looks good with a general plan in mind about what I feel like cooking.  I try to approach business the same way – have a plan, but find the best ingredients and be ready to adjust.  I mean, who wants to pack their knives and go based on a bad piece of corn?

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November 25, 2015 · 11:20 am

Getting A Few “F’s” And Being Happy

A roast turkey as part of a traditional U.S. T...

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This is our final screed until Monday.  I’m going to enjoy the Thanksgiving break and hope you can do so as well.  The post below was written the day prior to Thanksgiving in 2008.  It’s still very appropriate, whether your gathering is 20+ people like ours, or just 4 of you enjoying the day and one another.  It’s not the size of the family (everyone who comes is family to me!) that matters or even if some members are missing.  It’s giving thanks for what you have and sharing the day with some people who matter to you.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a lot of work in my house – maybe in yours as well.  If you’ve been reading along, you know that the menu planning, shopping, and prep work has been going on for several days and today (Wednesday) is the biggest of the prep days.   Tomorrow is focused on bringing all the pieces together, hopefully at the same time, and entertaining the horde that will descend.  I like to think of those pieces as the three “F”s. It’s also important to take a few seconds and reflect on them.  What?  You thought I meant the various dishes we’ve been wrangling up here?  Nope!

  • “F” number one is Family.  It’s the thing for which I am most thankful and the thing that has literally saved my life over this past year as I’ve made some pretty big life changes.  Having them here at this holiday is a labor of love and I hope they’ll all keep showing up for many years more.
  • “F” number two is Feasting.  We do ask everyone to bring something – an appetizer, wine, or a dessert, usually.  Obviously it’s not because it lightens the work load very much but because it makes them a part of the process.  It’s OUR meal as a family and our shared celebration.  The word “feast” comes from the same root as “festival” (yes, it’s also the same root Seinfeld used for “Festivus“) and we try to make it one.  All those days of prep come together in a 45 minute orgy of eating.  This holiday is very much like Christmas or Hanukah in that way – you prepare for quite a long time and then it’s over way too quickly.
  • “F” number three is Football.  This is America’s national sport and we’re very much a sports-oriented group.  I’ll never forget my Uncle Harry who would sit with us every year and watch the games.  “I don’t understand,” he would say, “they all fall down, they all get up, they do it again.  What kind of game is this?”  It could be paint drying – the point is that it’s a family ritual and through it we bond.

Hopefully those three pieces come together tomorrow in your house or wherever you’ll be as well.  Enjoy them!

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