Restaurant Operations

Restaurant ManagementRisa McCann

Key TermsFront Of The HouseBack Of The HouseProductionReturn On Investment (ROI)

Restaurant OrganizationThe success of any food-service establishment

depends on many factors, including the quality of its operations.

The Legendary French chef, Escoffier, was the innovator of organized kitchen “brigades.”

With these brigades the duties became assigned and the restaurant divided into Front of the House and Back of the House.

The RestaurantThe front of the house – “the face of your

restaurant” is the area in a hospitality establishment that guests view, such as the entrance and dining room. There is only one chance to make a good 1st impression!

The back of the house - is the area in a hospitality establishment that guests usually do not view, including all areas responsible for food quality and production, such as the kitchen and receiving, office, and storage areas.

The General ManagerThe General Manager (GM) is responsible for the

overall management of front-and back-of-the-house operations

They create:– Budgets, payroll, cash flow – Employee: hiring & firing, wages, schedules,

training & supervising– Assign & delegate tasks and responsibilities to both

FoH and BoH –Works with FoH and BoH managers; Opening &

Closing managers

Front of the House (FoH)Services usually include:

1.Initial impression: exterior appeal, cleanliness, parking, and valet

2.Greeting: welcome greeting and fulfilling seating preference

3.Taking and transmitting orders: introduction and presentation of specials, upselling, and confirmation of customer orders

FoH

4. Serving Food: delivering foods, refilling beverages, and presenting dessert specials

5. Presenting Bill: accepting payment, thanking the guest, and inviting the guest to return

6. Preparing for next guest: clearing table, resetting, and restocking

FoHEach member of the front of the house

staff is responsible for providing guest with a positive dining experience.

The positions include:–Assistant Manager: assistant to the

General Manager, may be responsible for opening and closing the facility

Managers

–Opening Manager: unlocks the establishment including all storage and walk-in-areas; they make sure the proper staff is available for each shift–Closing Manager: the last to leave the

restaurant and checks security, sanitation, and preparations for the next day’s service

Staff Positions

• Host/ Hostess: stand near the entrance, provides initial greeting, seats guest, answers phone, takes reservations, gives accurate wait times to guests, thanks guests when they leave; sometimes serves as cashier &/or To-Go server; calls for taxis; keeps front area clean and tidy; observes guests(drunk guests, disorderly conduct, impatience)

• Cashier: handling money and returning change to guest; may prepare bank deposits

Hostess Terms

Overbooking – Hostesses are often given a number of guests or covers to take reservations for. This number can sometimes exceed the number of available tables. This is done knowing that not all guests will show up for dinner at the reserved time. Overbooking allows a restaurant to insure all tables are taken at all times.

More hostess terms

Open Seating – guests are greeted and told to choose their own seats; customers are seated on a first come – first served basis; “Sit down somewhere!”

Residence time- 90 minutes is the average time spent from seating to leaving by a party of 4 people

FoH StaffServer: Ambassadors of the restaurant! They

explain the menu, offer suggestions, describe Daily Specials, know what items have been “86’d;” take guests’ orders, deliver order, handle complaints appropriately; possibly clear tables, present the check; perform sidework; notifies Hostess when tables become available

FoH StaffBusser: assist servers in clearing the tables,

cleaning and resetting tables, sometimes pour water, serve bread and deliver food; bring dirty items to BoH and clean items to FoH; sweep & mop, trash removal; bathroom cleaning & restocking

Bartender: assist with all drink orders; serves food at bar; keeps a cash drawer; does necessary sidework; must be certified by TABC

Back of the HouseThe staff in this area of the restaurant is responsible

not only for food preparation, or production, but also for • Safety• Sanitation• Cost control• Purchasing• Storage• Receiving• Control for the restaurant

BoHBack-of-the-house staff performs

these tasks:• Plan menu• Prepare food and beverages• Determine product specifications• Develop purchase orders• Obtain bids and quotes

Additional tasks

• Select and contact vendors• Place orders or award contracts• Receive and inspect deliveries/

shipments• Store and issue products• Evaluate service and products

Kitchen Manager

• KM is responsible for the business end of the BoH; receives & processes deliveries; schedules & supervises employees, keeps records; checks to make sure BoH is following health dept. guidelines

Executive Chef• Executive Chef –reports to the GM, and

oversees the daily operations of the back of the house responsible for the food end of the BoH; writes recipes, ensures quality of food ordered & prepared; assigns tasks of Food Prep staff; hires and supervises all kitchen staff; supervises the food production;

• He is a trained professional cook that plans the meals at the right price

Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade• Sous Chef: Sous means “Sub or below” in French; “sauce

chef” assists the executive chef as the trusted assistant; oversees the quality, consistency, and presentation of all items produced by working with and assisting the line and prep cooks as a floater & supervisor

• Prep Cook: assists in a specific area of the kitchen; this staff member performs mis en place, which is the French term used for preparing the workstation for the shift. He chops raw material into usable foods for line cooks and stocks ingredients line cooks will need; cleans and portions fish and meat

Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade

• Line Cook – Heart of most restaurant kitchens; many have no formal training, but years of experience; often work 2 or more stations: grill/griddle, fry, and sauté stations; Must keep track of numerous orders at once and know when to start orders, how to cook it consistently and get it to the server appropriately

Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade• Garde-Manger: makes all garnishes that are

used in preparation of food; makes platters and display items for buffets or other special presentations

• Baker: makes all breads and cakes, usually starts their shift earlier than rest of the staff

• Pastry Chef: prepares sweets, cakes and desserts; works closely with the baker

Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade• Expediter: communicates the orders at the

Expo or the pass through; insures all dishes are cooked to be completed at proper time along with other dishes on a table’s ticket; final plate check ; ensures efficient pickup of completed orders; link between the front and back of the house staff.

• Steward: oversees china, silverware, tablecloths, glassware, linen, menus and small items (salt & pepper shakers)

Escoffier’s Kitchen Brigade

• Dishwasher (Plongeur) –considered the lowest but certainly very critical to overall successCleans and restocks all dishware, flatware, glassware, food preparation equipment; ferries all garbage and trash out to the dumpster; clean and sanitize the floors and kitchen mats; resets all equipment for the next day

Chef’s Uniform• Toque is the tall chef’s hat. Executive Chef’s

wear toques with 100 folds because a chef knows there are 100 ways to cook an egg!!

• Chef’s also wear Floppys.• The black and white checked chef pants are

worn because they conceal stains. • The double-breasted chef coat is made of

thick cotton that is somewhat protective against spills, splashes and burns

Guests’ Satisfaction

Food quality and guests satisfaction remain the critical factors for every type of restaurant facility

Both the front and back of the house staffs must work as a team to ensure that a restaurant maintains the standards necessary to compete in the hospitality industry

Production and other operations

Efficient production helps control portions, waste, and therefore costs!

Purchasing includes not only paying for a product or service, but also the selection and obtaining of the product.

More operationsInventory – the most commonly used

inventory system is FIFO (first in - first out); this system allows older items to be used before most recently delivered items.

PAR - the PAR amount of each item that the restaurant wants to keep in stock; this system ensures the restaurant does not run out of an item

Return on Investment (ROI)ROI is a calculation used to determine the ability

of a product to generate profits. Pizza has a high ROI.

Increasing Profits• Restaurants can increase profits by reducing costs

and increasing efficiency through applying portion control, monitoring usage, and controlling breakage of dishes and other equipment

• Profit amount can increase by improving customer service and opinion, raising the prices, by selling more items, and/or better marketing & advertising

Cost of Sales

Costs of sales measures the costs of products consumed by the guest. The most common costs are food cost and beverage cost.

Food-Cost Percentage

To calculate use the formula: Costs of Goods Sold / Sales x 100 =

Food Cost Percentage

Example: $2,000/ $6,000 x 100 = 33.3%33.3% Food Cost Percentage

RULE OF THUMB: Keep food costs below 30% to be profitable, kitchen labor costs should be 15% or belowof food sales

Calculating Food-Cost Percentage

Food Sales for the period $6,000

- Spoiled Items ($200)- Employee Meals ($300)- Complimentary Meals ($500)= Cost of Goods Sold =$2,000

$2,000/ $6,000 x 100% = 33.3%33.3% Food Cost Percentage

Point-of-Sale System (POS)• Many restaurants use POS systems which are

computers joined to cash registers. The system is programmed to the specific needs of the restaurant. It is a touch or bump screen.

POS capabilities• Print guest checks, send orders to appropriate

station in the kitchen or bar, track the orders, monitor the timing of the orders & alert kitchen staff when to fire it up,

• Process credit cards, reconcile charges• Track sales of each server, serve as a time clock for

employees• Track empty tables, store reservations, calculate

occupancy time• Run reports: most popular item sold, inventory, PAR

levels, send orders to suppliers, track liquor sales

Accounting Terms

Budgets measures–Fixed costs- which are items that are

constant regardless of volume of business (rent, taxes)–Variable costs- which are expenses

that fluctuate, based on volume

Accounting Terms

Balance Sheet• Compares what an operator owns

(assets) to what he or she owes (liabilities)

Income Statement• Visually displays the income received,

the costs of sales, and expenses on a monthly or annual basis