Listen To Your People

Your extreme, most whiny, customers may be your best friends. I speaking metaphorically, but the literal may be true as well. In extremes you will find valuable information. It’s like when someone explained the bizarre fashions, that you see on the runway, to me. I would always think “Who would ever wear that? How do you even pay for the show?” That was when someone explained to me it was bits and pieces, fabrics, collars, cuts, that were sold. Not that I understand the fashion industry other than that they are very good at recycling, but I do now at least understand that extreme edge of fashion, since my fashionista interpreter showed be a picture of a runway dress and then a picture of it’s carnation as a department store dress.

It’s sort of that way with extreme customers. They may sound like trouble makers and rabble rousers that you can’t take seriously, because they are acting absurdly, but there can be a truth buried under that Tourette’s syndrome. We opened on less than a shoe string and served our food in to-go boxes as we had planned on doing only to-go in the beginning, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to cut it, if we wanted any business. We got waitresses before plates and had a customer come in and order a salad then loudly proclaim to the dining room, if it came on Styrofoam he wasn’t going to pay for it, knowing full well that we didn’t have plates. Well I was tempted to send the salad in one of our stainless steel,16 quart, mixing bowls, they’re bigger than the bowls Jethro used for cereal on the Beverly Hillbillies, but opted for the bowls we had bought to heat things in. We were happy if we got a table when we opened, so I wasn’t risk their having a sense of humor about themselves, I find few customers do. What this told me was that we had to squeeze some more blood out of our stones and buy some plates. If he was willing to be that rude about it then other people were thinking it and not saying anything. Some things aren’t going to be pertinent such as, the red beans are hot. Of course they are! Red beans are a Cajun dish served with Andouille sausage. They’re spicy.

I learned you can’t force people who were raised on country music to listen to hard core jazz. You may like the music you’re playing, but you’re not buying the food you’re selling it. I would have people who were jazz aficionados come over and talk to me about jazz when we first opened. They were amazed at my collection and that I was playing it in the dining room. The other 98% of the people hated it, even my own wait staff. Out with the Fusion and in with the greatest hits collections, middle of the road pop, bluegrass, and country. At least I didn’t start with my vast Latino collection, though I do throw one in every once it a while. I considerate Latino music some of the happiest music on the planet and I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t love it, but apparently there are some that don’t. Go figure.

I won’t pulverize you with examples, but you get the idea, if someone says something, even in a boorish manner, don’t let your ego, or your musical tastes, get in the way of learning something that might save your restaurant.

Throwing Out the Rice

It is impossible to be so perfect with your food prep and predictions that you never have to throw food in the trash. This hurts on a few levels, especially if you’re a hands-on owner like myself. I’ve spent time preparing that food, as well as money. We work Thursday through Monday and do eat leftovers on our weekend, which is Tuesday and Wednesday, this has the double duty of checking the quality of our food in addition to feeding us, but you can only eat so much. We’ve taken to making care packages for our friends on Monday afternoon so the food doesn’t go to waste. But the one thing that bothers me the most, and I throw out every day, is rice. We do have a very good rice cooker. It’s an Aroma 8-cup and I highly recommend it, it will genuinely keep your rice fresh for hours, but there is always some left at the day and if it isn’t a big day for rice dishes I can end up throwing out a whole pot. I will stand there and eat a couple of spoonfuls just so it won’t all go to waste. I know you might think, “Well rice isn’t that expensive.” but every time I throw it out all I can see is those images of starving children so grateful for just a cup of rice. The restaurant has been open for over three years and I still think about it almost every day.

What you want to do is keep track of your food sales, not just the amount, but what is selling and when. Like I know that on Fridays I have to prep a lot more catfish than on Thursday. With things like fish that have such a short shelf life this can be critical to your success and profitability. Another thing to consider is what to keep in a steam table and what to heat to order. Once something has been in a steam table for a while it’s time for the dumpster. Heating to order might slow you down a bit, but if it saves you from throwing out a lot of product you might want to give it a try. Keep an eye on that menu too, if something is continuously getting tossed then it’s probably time to 86 it from the menu. Here’s a question where did the phrase 86 come from. I have worked in restaurants for more years than I care to remember and have used that saying since the beginning and have no idea where it comes from. If you know, fill me in.