4 Feb 2013
Hello World.
I begin this post as one who lives in the world as a chef/cook; as one who resides in a city by the great shellfish bay Chesapeake; and as one who grows apples in the foothills of the Alleghany Mountains of West Virginia.
A little while ago, I was writing an interesting introduction to my world of consulting, referencing the popular conception of ribald chicanery and stern truth telling doled out by Gordon Ramsey with his retinue of producers and cameras. I had to confess that my world is not all that, but it has its poignant moments...
And then my first draft of these thoughts flew away with a misplaced stroke of the keyboard. Now I go forth with these thoughts, and hope to reclaim the lost glory.
The people I work with who make and serve food are a great bunch of people. The days often start early and just as often they run late. We all know you must have a plan, and a back up for that. There are sure to be unexpected challenges to be met in the course of every day, and like every line of work, a team that has your back makes the day. Getting every member of the team on the same page requires clear guidelines, enforced with fairness and candor.
I'm not sure exactly where to head with this story, but I'll begin with this: tomorrow begins with the task of consolidating an inventory database for use as a bid/purchase platform for a 3-restaurant dining group. The chosen data base is Chef Tec. We will be using a dedicated server located in the office of one restaurant to consolidate information. This information, including recipes and bid information will be exported into each of the other 2 profit centers and then accessed remotely and independently by logging in to the server. I'll let you know how it goes in future posts.
Wednesday morning I will head down to NAFEM for the industry gathering of minds, contacts and equipment offerings. I will let you know what I find in sunny Orlando, Fla.