Training Your Off Premise Chefs How to Roll Out New Items Bonnie Kravitz, Executive Pastry Chef Daniel et Daniel
how we train our off premise chefs The majority of our off premise chefs are also our in house chefs This is a fairly new process for us. We are learning as we go! start by bringing on new hires to events where they can be small hands to help out. They get a feel for how our events are run and a general idea of what the processes are at an event We first teach chef manned stations and hors d oeuvres. Under the supervision of a senior chef We then move them on to bigger more important tasks like heating food and setting up buffets and sweet tables We then bring them on to sit down dinners where they can learn the set up and procedures for these events. Learning how to set up a line, sort and count plates and the general set up for plated dinners
Once we build trust with the new hires and they start to get a hang of the events and know our food our next step is to have them run small cocktail parties. They are sent out the menu and event package to give them time to ask any questions and aquire any pictures/instructions for items that may be new of unique to the event
What are other companies doing to train their off premise chefs? This is a journey that we are embarking on so I reached out to Footers Catering in Denver and Wild Thyme in San Diego to see how they train their off premise chefs.
Footers Uses a training metrics checklist. Great way to keep track of where you off premise chefs are in their training. There are prerequisits for each next training step. For example Metrics include: Packing and loading out an event Setting up an appetizer station Setting up a different plating stations Setting up a buffet/dessert station/carving station Checking in with clients and being a point of contact
Lead Event Chef Training Metrics In Progress Checked of Load-out Prerequisites Signed off bronneysam Bam Nat Dylan Tessa Bryce Greg Bryan Michelle Steph Kira Melinda Alden Lauren Pack out event's food Event above 250 guests TR/NT Pack event truck at Footers Event above 250 guests JS/DW Hold a preteam meeting at the shop 5 or more chefs JS Arriving On-site Prerequisites Signed off bronneysam Bam Nat Dylan Tessa Bryce Greg Bryan Michelle Steph Kira Melinda Alden Lauren Drive truck to and from event Above 100 miles JS Lead the unloading of a truck Total staff of 15 or more JS/DW Organize truck into mobile kitchen Event above 250 guests JS/DW Lead a chefs meeting with all chefs notes 8 or more chefs JS Culinary Event Jobs Prerequisites Signed off bronneysam Bam Nat Dylan Tessa Bryce Greg Bryan Michelle Steph Kira Melinda Alden Lauren Set-up bussing station 2 Events, Photo submission to Jason JS/DW Set-up and lead chef appetizer section 2 or more chefs JS/DW Set-up and lead chef salad section 2 or more chefs JS/DW Set-up and lead buffet station 2 Events, Photo submission to StephJS/DW/SZ Set-up and lead family style plate-up 2 Events JS/DW Set-up and lead 4-stack plate-up/assign pos 2 Events, 5 or more chefs JS/DW Set-up and chef attend a carving station 2 Events, Photo submission to StephJS/DW/SZ Set-up and chef attend an action station 2 Events, Photo submission to StephJS/DW/SZ Write Fireguide and Run Truck Event above 250 guests JS/DW Be the BOH point person for the FOH lead 2 Events JS/MS Set up a Dessert Diplay 2 Events,, Photo submission to Shel SA/BT Breakdown Prerequisites Signed off bronneysam Bam Nat Dylan Tessa Bryce Greg Bryan Michelle Steph Kira Melinda Alden Lauren Check-in with client post event with FOH lea2 Events JS/DW Organize and lead bussing station to get pacevent above 250 guests JS/DW Lead Pack out of the truck 2 larger events, 5 stars from Wareho JS/DW Fillout Food Checkout Log 2 Events JS/DW Unpack Truck at Footers putting away every2 Events HC/TR Lead Chef Test Prerequisites Signed off bronneysam Bam Nat Dylan Tessa Bryce Greg Bryan Michelle Steph Kira Melinda Alden Lauren Be the sole leader of an event decided by ChAll Above in Green, Pass/Fail DecisionJS/DW/AL 2018 Chef Kit Passed Lead Chef Test JS/ST
Fantastic way to encourage chefs and give them points to work towards. Clearly marks and keeps track of their training Can be customized to work for any position on your team Even a great idea for your in-house staff
techniques you can cross train your chefs so that all your plates look amazing and consistent Some off premise chefs may not have the fine plating skills Piping is something a lot of people are not good at, I do piping classes Simple garnishes that look complicated but aren t to plate Piping and sauce swooshing (we do demos and let people practice) Dessert plating is always a difficult point I found even with our own in house chefs who aren t trained in pastry. When I am on site I will have someone else run the dessert plate up under my supervision. That way I can guide them and jump in to show them the right way of doing something. These are skills that they can then transfer to other desserts and plating.
Roll outs 2 roll outs per year: spring summer and fall winter Usually do any where from 10-15 new hors d oeuvres, 5 new starters and mains a few stations, 5 plated desserts and 5-10 mini desserts Every now and then we will do an overhaul of a category that has been around for a while and needs some updating (eg. Breakfast items or sandwiches, grab and go items) Out with the old in with the new: we remove past items that haven t sold well or that have been around for too long
How we roll! Brainstorming sessions with our menu committee (comprised of sales and chefs) Look for recipes and test out some ideas Go back to the committee and narrow down the choices of what we are going to roll out Create a work sheet for our kitchens and work out recipes Pick two days and split up items Hire a photographer to come take photos of all the food for our look book We involve the all kitchen teams in production which helps to get everyone interested and helps train them on the new items and future roll outs
Food is presented to all sales team and explained. Our inspiration, what kinds of events we have designed the item for (ie. Buffets, sit downs, drop offs etc ) We get feedback from the sales team as well as our kitchen team on taste, sellability, look etc.. And how we can tweak the item We do a recap and go back to our menu and recipes and fine tune and remove anything that didn t work. Sometimes things get saved for later seasons sometimes they get scrapped all together
Tools for our off premise chefs Rollout look books Powerpoint presentation gives them chance to ask questions File sharing for pictures. We use shared drives so that we can access tasting pictures and notes in the kitchen and on site Get everyone involved in the recipe testing Teach one and pass it on: teaching helps people learn more about what they are doing
Station check lists sundae bar food items icecream (2 flavors) fudge sauce marshmallow sauce cherry compote turtle crumbs red velvet meringues crushed peanut butter cups station equipment ice cream scoops (2) small dishes for toppings spoons squeeze bottles bain marie for sauce bottles bain marie for ice cream scoops
Station set up guides Footers plate up set up chart 4 Stack Plate Up HOTBOX Food to chaffers 8 Plates to Expo Table 8 Plates to Tables
Recipe binders Each recipe gets an allergy alert Eg. contains nuts, vegan, vegetarian etc A picture is printed and inserted into the sleeve with the recipe A packing list of garnishes needed and amounts required for each garnish or piece of the dish
Recipe sample
Getting everyone trained Involving people in the whole process helps train them on new items They can then go on to teach another chef We rotate people on our tasting teams so that different chefs are aiding our leads on tastings, that way more people get familiar with the products.
Questions and contact info Bonnie Kravitz, Executive Pastry Chef Daniel et Daniel Email: bkravitz@danieletdaniel.ca