I spent most of my career in the food and beverage business. That included a liquor store, a retail gourmet food and wine store, three restaurants and event planning. All of these businesses had one thing in common: organization and attention to detail was of paramount importance.
Over the years of my life, I have had to admit and accept the fact that I have more than a little obsessive-compulsive disorder. But for me, what is a disorder for some turned out to be a blessing and a plus, because when you are running these kinds of businesses, attention to detail is paramount. If someone is paying you a lot of money for your product and/or services, you cannot forget anything, fail to keep all your needed products in stock or serve anything that is not in keeping with what your customers ordered. Doing the same thing, the same way all the time is necessary to be successful in these businesses. You can’t have a customer's food taste one way today and another way tomorrow.
I hate when I have a great dish at a restaurant that is so good I go back to have it again, only to have it prepared differently. Veronica and I went to one of our favorite restaurants a few months ago and did something we rarely do: We ordered the same dish because we both love it so much. It was chicken francese. They previously served it with the sauce in abundance on the bottom of the dish so that with each forkful, the sauce is a perfect match for the battered chicken. But on this occasion, they put the chicken on top of the side dish, which was angel hair pasta, instead of serving it on a separate side dish like this dish is always served. The result was that the pasta soaked up all the sauce. The pasta was good, but the chicken, which was supposed to have the sauce as a complement, was totally dry. Neither one of us finished our food. We took it home and had to make our own sauce the next night in order to enjoy the lemon butter sauce that makes this entry so delicious. We haven’t been back since.
People are also reading…
One of my mottos was, and still is, “Under promise and over deliver." Another is, “A place for everything and everything in its place." In the food business, it’s referred to as “mise en place” (pronounced "meez an plahs"), which translates to “everything in its place." In a busy kitchen or most businesses where you have employees, each worker must be able to easily find every kitchen tool and ingredient that is needed to make the food on the menu. If any staff does not put all the items used for every dish in the same place every time they are used, you wouldn’t be able to quickly and efficiently prepare the dish without delay, and your customers would leave and go someplace else they can enjoy their food in a reasonable amount of time without excuses for long delays while the chef looks for what is needed.
In addition, before the chefs start cooking, they do all the slicing, dicing, washing, peeling and all the other prep work that is required for every dish so that once they start to actually cook, all they have to do is combine the ingredients and cook the food, which usually takes only minutes.
The same principle used at home allows us to cut way down on the time to prepare our meals, and makes it so much more enjoyable and stress-free to prepare our dinner. In addition, I always clean as I go so that I use the same tools again and again while I cook one meal, rather than taking out clean dishes, spatulas, tongs, pots and/or pans for each dish. People who don’t follow this simple routine will dirty a lot more items that will have to eventually be cleaned and then put away. It’s so easy to simply rinse these items as you go and reuse them for the same preparation work instead of having your counters full of items used only once.
Bob Leonardi and his wife, Veronica
In our businesses, we posted the following “golden rules for living," which we used as golden rules for staying in business:
If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else, get permission to use it.
If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions.
If you follow these simple, logical rules, it will make your days much more easily controlled so you can enjoy your food and your life without constantly looking for what you need.
Salute and buon appetito!
Bob Leonardi was born and raised in Weedsport, but spent summers on Owasco Lake in Auburn. After graduating from St. Lawrence University, where he cooked for other students to earn extra money, he moved to Florida and started a fine wine and gourmet food store. In a matter of a few years he added a restaurant, upscale catering and event planning to his business, which he ran in Fort Lauderdale for 15 years. He bought and restored Green Shutters restaurant in 1999, running it for 12 years in the spring, summer and fall while being an event planner in the winter. During that time, he was also a food critic and wrote a column for a newspaper called the South Florida Social. He has written his column for The Citizen since 2005 and can be reached by contacting The Citizen or via email at raleonardi@roadrunner.com.
https://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/leonardi-organization-consistency-are-crucial-to-good-cooking/article_d99f0b37-0960-51da-99f3-1a5582ebd819.html
2021-11-25 12:00:00Z
CBMikAFodHRwczovL2F1YnVybnB1Yi5jb20vbGlmZXN0eWxlcy9sZW9uYXJkaS1vcmdhbml6YXRpb24tY29uc2lzdGVuY3ktYXJlLWNydWNpYWwtdG8tZ29vZC1jb29raW5nL2FydGljbGVfZDk5ZjBiMzctMDk2MC01MWRhLTk5ZjMtMWE1NTgyZWJkODE5Lmh0bWzSAQA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Leonardi: Organization, consistency are crucial to good cooking - Auburn Citizen"
Post a Comment