Essays on Food and Beverage Operations

lance — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:26:43 -0500

Whitney Werner, CEC

Chef Whitney Werner, CEC, is executive chef at The Beach Club in Santa Monica, Calif. and president and co-founder of Club Culinary. He is president of the American Culinary Federation's "Chefs de Cuisine of Ca Los Angeles" chapter and president of Les Amis de Escoffier Society of California. Chef Whitney, a speaker and educator who provides consulting services to membership clubs and the hospitality industry, can be reached at: chefwhitney@clubculinary.com

Food & Beverage Management

lance — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:17:22 -0500

Welcome to F&B - Check out Chef Whitney's Essays on F&B Operations while your here. Go ahead and set up an accout so you can make comments. We have some ideas for what we are going to cover in this area, and we would like to know what you would like to see as well. Post a short comment today and let us know.

If the Chef Is Always on the Computer - Is the Club Getting Their Money’s Worth?

chefwhitney — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 00:33:42 -0500

If the Chef Is Always on the Computer - Is the Club Getting Their Money’s Worth?

Gone are the days of the Executive Chef that teaches everything by example without memorializing by picture or recipe. You often hear people say that you’re not a true chef if you have to use a recipe. This is only true with a small portion of the kitchen such as sauces, dressings and some other routine items like mashed potatoes. For example, the beloved comfort food, fried chicken, must have a perfectly measured seasoning mix for the same signature flavor every time. The chef’s computer is a vital part of today’s chefs’ tools. Schedules can be saved for reference next year when configuring staffing needs for big events such as the Fourth of July or New Year’s Eve; employee contact information and daily events can be input into Outlook or a similar program and synced into a palm pilot for quick reference at home or on the go when a party is increased the day before the event and extra labor is needed; recipes can include pictures to ensure the dishes are consistent; menus can be updated by the chef daily for the most cost effective and style reflective execution; templates and past documents of various club events (committee menus, special event menus, and event budgets) can be stored for quick reference to aid the chef in planning and executing new event menus. The internet may be used to search for recipes of a dish requested that is not known and can also be an effective way to converse with members about their upcoming parties. The reasons go on and on, but the final analysis is that a chef’s knowledge of technology and fluency in recipe programs, Word, Excel, Publisher and the Internet is an absolute must for a club chef. This is why today’s club chef must be a “super chef.”

Club Culinary - Food & Beverage Management

Essays on Food and Beverage Operations

Food & Beverage Management

If the Chef Is Always on the Computer - Is the Club Getting Their Money’s Worth?