Good Chef Manager

Behind every successful restaurant is a good chef manager. Quality food may not be enough to sustain a thriving food establishment. Management of the kitchen is essential to producing an operation that delivers consistently excellent food in a timely manner to customers. A good chef manager understands the components needed for success. This includes catering to the customer, managing the team responsible for specific areas of the kitchen, sharing knowledge with staff, bringing together various teams within the restaurant and maintaining high safety and sanitary standards. 

1. • Know your customers and what sells well at your restaurant. Allow flexibility and creativity with your menu, and change it based on what customers prefer. Try out specials and new items, and allow flexibility when customers have special requests or ask for items not on the menu. Cater to your customers and maintain a consistent, high-quality of food served.
     
   • Implement and organize food stations with capable staff who understand timing and how a food line operates. Recognize when someone cannot keep up with the pace and make changes to keep the line running smoothly. Offer support and step in when areas are not producing food in a timely manner or when it does not meet quality standards. Determine which staff member does well in a particular station. For example, a new or slow cook may be best at a salad or appetizer station, while an experienced sous chef should be responsible for menu specials.
     
   • Share your knowledge with your staff, including your food knowledge, cooking skills and recipes. Ensure both kitchen and wait staff are fully trained on menu items, timing and how to deliver orders to the kitchen. Eliminate confusion by closely managing the process, which entails the wait staff providing an order to the kitchen, the kitchen cooking the order and the wait staff then delivering the finished product to the customer.
     
   • Meet regularly with your team. Occasionally, include front-of-house management and wait staff in your team meetings. A good chef manager understands that all of the areas of the restaurant must work together, as team players, to contribute toward a successful restaurant. If management and wait staff are on the same page as the kitchen, food will be served quickly, and operations will run smoothly. Chef managers recognize that teamwork is critical to the overall success of the establishment.
     
   • Maintain safety and sanitary standards in your kitchen. Be prepared for a Department of Health inspection at any time. Set standards in your kitchen to comply with safety regulations and conduct internal inspections to ensure your staff comply with these standards. Check food, food cases and freezer temperatures several times daily to regulate proper safe food temperatures.