Hospitality Influencers

When I first started out in the industry back in 1995, I had a part-time job as a catering assistant in a food kiosk called the ‘Ranch House’. It was a ‘tex-mex’ themed small business selling burgers, tacos, burrito’s etc.

As a Chef, you're up against many challenges throughout your career. These are 5 big problems I think we face as Chefs.

Recruitment is a big issue. It needs to be done correctly within a workplace to ensure you hire the right staff, and they are retained for as long as possible.

We’ve all heard how important social media engagement is to keep your brand at the forefront of everyone’s feeds. Restaurants are busy establishments, and it can be difficult engaging online and in real life (which should continuously be happening during service).

How can you get off to a great start in your chef career? Being a chef can be a tough career with long (and often unsociable) hours, and you'll often be working when your friends with 'normal' jobs will be out having fun.

Creating a menu for some can be a nerve raking experience. You are putting your skills and knowledge of food out there for everyone to see and taste. A menu can be a make or break of the establishment and the menus creator. No pressure!

Having a great team in the kitchen is really important in our line of work. I believe that building a great team itself is a team effort.

When I started my career as a chef as you can see from my profile (click here), I took a different route than most. I joined the military and learned my trade there, not from a college or a culinary school.

You've heard of the saying 'the customer is always right'. In the world of hospitality, particularly at the front line of service, this is paramount in ensuring your customers receive a great experience. Everyone knows that people will shout about bad experiences far quicker than they'll dish out praise, and in our world of social media, negative feedback travels so much further - and faster!

How can you offer the best customer service? Customer service is all about communication - how do you communicate with your staff? How do your staff communicate with your guests and with each other?