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Vegetable Melange posted:I'm a consultant. Hey, me too! :FISTBUMP: Of course, I don't work in food... Anyway, posted this last week in the general questions thread, didn't get a response. Squashy posted:SO, my buddy with the Pizza shop... finally wants to start cooking his own soup! This is a big deal, he buys all his food frozen from a pizza supply shop; the only cooking that he currently does is frying burgers on a flattop. The recipe I posted is yummy, but it's way too time consuming. I've since experimented with simpler recipes, but haven't quite nailed it yet. Any advice/recipes/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Jul 23, 2013 14:01
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Skinny King Pimp posted:With the roux, you know it's done enough when you can't smell raw flour anymore. That was the foolproof test at one of my old jobs when we would make beer cheese soup. As soon as it starts smelling at all toasted, start ladling in your liquid and you should be good to go. Yup, when a roux is done is just something you learn from observation and practice. Naelyan posted:Good stuff. Thanks, I already figured some of that out, but it's always good to get such a thorough reply. I have abandoned the roux, for the reason below. Chef De Cuisinart posted:Always thicken with corn starch, you can be gluten free, and it doesn't scorch like flour. Yup, that was the first change I made, as he has a nice little niche business in GF pizza. Also, I used Knorr veggie cubes instead of chicken stock, so he can sell it as Vegetarian AND Gluten-Free. So, no opinions on using processed poo poo cheese? My latest attempt used 16 oz of Velveeta (one half of a "loaf"), and 8 Oz of Cabot extra sharp cheddar. This provided a nice cheesy flavor, without tasting too much like processed cheese. If there is no "durability advtange" to using the Velveeta I'll skip it, but for now I want something that can be reheated a few times without breaking.
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Jul 23, 2013 21:27
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Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but how badly does a restaurant get screwed when you use those restaurant.com coupons? Example: my corporate perks group at work sells me a coupon for $25 worth of food for a $3 fee. I go to the restaurant, and as long as my bill is at least X, they take the coupon and knock $25 off my bill. How much money does the restaurant get back? I'm assuming that they aren't made whole, but Restaurant.com must send them something, right? And maybe the corporate perks program kicks some money to Restaurant.com?
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Nov 23, 2013 14:05
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Wroughtirony posted:You're probably right. I have a lot of excuses not to work (We can live on my husband's salary, I am not super psyched about leaving the industry, I have health concerns that weigh heavily into choosing a job) but none of those things are as significant as the fact that I can't just sit around the house all day being useless or I'll go back into a depressive death spiral. Oh, he is 100% right. Do you have any idea how many people want that office job right now? And 98% of them have a Bachelors or higher. My GF is in the exact same boat right now. Specially here in the Boston area, having no college degree drastically reduces your job prospects. Also, she has had two major surgeries this year, so she hasn't been able to work much, and it's driving her insane. Right now she could be working 60 hours week cooking, but she can't stand on her gimpy foot for more then an hour. So, I've been teaching her how to be a consultant (I do analytics and business process engineering). She actually landed a consulting gig helping some folks down in Florida start up a new restaurant: recipe development, food sourcing, nutritional calculations, etc. etc. At some point they going to fly her down to hire and train the staff. This has been a great transition, because she doesn't have to stand all day. So the work isn't as steady, you have to file taxes as self-employed, and you have learn a bunch of the consulting "soft skills", but she is making WAY MORE money then she ever did being directly employed. More importantly, shady business owners used to "hire" her for basically the same work, but give her the low pay that most food-service workers typically earn. Rebranding yourself as a consultant is a great way to move up, but its an entirely different mindset that you have to learn. This could be an option for you, given that you don't have to worry about health care bennies.
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Nov 26, 2013 14:08
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brick cow posted:How does one break into a consulting gig? I think that'd be perfect for my skillset. What is the strongest, most frequently used tool in the consulting toolbox? Telling stories. You need to be constantly, consciously, crafting the narrative... all the world is a stage. brick cow posted:I've posted a bit about marketing in here lately but marketing truly is the whole package top to bottom and I know it. I spent two years being the guy they'd send to failing stores as "officially the assistant manager but the RGM can't fire you and you're responsible for turning this place around" guy. And I was drat good at it. I've also consulted privately to a couple places for free because I ate there and happened to think they weren't getting the business they deserved.  Good work, keep telling that story, honing it.What is the first rule of Consulting Club? Be like Cesar Milan. Calm, Cool, Assertiveness. I'm not joking here, as a consultant you need to project a strong presence, and can't lose you cool. Regardless of what they want from you, what they are paying you for is Calm, Cool, Assertiveness. You don't have to have all the answers, you just have to have the confidence that you will help the client figure them out. If you want to learn about process, go watch Gordon Ramsey's restaurant turn around shows (the ones where he yells less). The man has no compunction laying boiler-plate solutions on those people, because that is what they need. But they also need a kick in the rear end to do the right things. It doesn't matter if the client is a failing mom and pop resturant or a top five bank, that dynamic works the exact same way. brick cow posted:Admittedly, one was a terrific failure because they wouldn't change anything. Welcome to the club! This will happen over and over again, don't let it get to you. You can lead a client to water, but you can't make him drink. Good luck! EDIT: Thanks for the interesting discussion on restaurant coupons and business development, that sounds like very fertile soil for doing marketing consulting for restaurants. Which reminds me, one of my college buddies does marketing consulting for a guy in Philly who owns 4 ChickFilas, so don't discount fast food places as a potential source of clients. Some of those fast food guys own like 20 stores in a region, and are way more likely to outsource things like marketing. Squashy Nipples fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Nov 26, 2013 |
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Nov 26, 2013 15:25
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Holy poo poo, be careful with that Flexeril... my GF could barely walk upright when she was on that.brick cow posted:My question is how to get in with the owners of new places or is there a somewhere to post where people are looking for help? For example, how did your girlfriend get in with a company states away? YAY, the hard part! Selling the work is often harder then doing the work, in part because you often figure out most of what you need do during the sales process. I've been both a one-man-shop and an agency employee, and when you are by yourself, selling and doing all the work simultaneously is a difficult balance. Short answer: relentless self promotion. Business development is a non-stop process, which fits in to the whole "constantly crafting the narrative" point I made above. Clearly define the value you are adding: tell the client what you are going to do, document what you are doing while you do it, and attach that to your bill as a reminder. When you are starting out, your projects will be smaller and more specific, so make sure you pitch the next project well before this one is over. Referrals are key, specially with small business owners, but you also need a strong online presence: blog, Facebook, twitter, Linked In, etc. etc... Right now I'm an agency man, and I can't lie, it's nice: health care, vacation time, and I get paid my full salary between projects (known as "time on the bench"). My GF has been leveraging her Facebook page and her years of blog posts to find clients, but she also has me for a safety net. If you are just starting out, and don't have a partner to lean on, it's a difficult row to hoe. Good luck!
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Dec 5, 2013 18:20
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Tell me a little about restaurant supply stores? Does your restaurant get everything delivered, or is someone taking regular trips to a store? Context: I'm fooling around with starting a meat pie business on the side. The girlfriend is a chef, but she is having some foot surgery, and can't stand all day. I figure she can sit at a table and roll out pastry. My buddy has a pizza shop that only operates from like 10-10, so I can get in there in the morning and use his ovens to bake stuff. He has a pizza supplier, and a beverage company, who both deliver, but he buys a fair amount of his food from Restaurant Depot. He gave me his card so I could go buy some stuff. I've never been in one of these places before, and I was shocked to see that it was geared towards restaurants that don't actually cook much; the vast majority was pre-made food and convenience items. The only decent selection they had was meats and cheeses. The spice selection was terrible; I do better at the Indian Market in Quincy. And the prices weren't great? On things we could directly compare, the prices at Restaurant Depot were pretty much exactly the same as at CostCo or Marketbasket. Even on bulk items!
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Aug 31, 2014 14:24
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After spending 4 hours in a pizza shop baking pies, I have even more respect for you folks who work in kitchens. Holy poo poo, I could never do that ever day. I literally can't take the heat; once all the ovens are on, the flatop is going, and the fryolator is bubbling, the heat is loving unbearable. If I had a kitchen job, I'd spend half the shift hiding in the walk in freezer.
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Sep 2, 2014 12:25
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Republicans posted:The Restaurant Depot I frequent is huge, well-stocked and overall has better or comparable prices to Cash & Carry and Costco, but it's also relatively new so maybe the one in your area is smaller in size/selection. Is yours also roughly the size of a Costco warehouse with a massive walk-in cooler/freezer section taking up about 1/3rd of the building? I've been back a few times now, so I know the layout better. It's a brand new one, laid out exactly as you described. Again, good selections of meat and cheese, but there were a few things I was expecting to find and didn't. I guess I just wasn't expecting such a strong emphasis on take out supplies, which take up about half of the building.
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Sep 2, 2014 12:28
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Hey Boston-area goons: My buddy with the pizza shop is opening a second store in Quincy three months from now, and he badly needs employees. Like, he needs FOUR managers, and he needs to start training them right away. http://www.unchainedpizza.com/join_our_team He wants people who work hard, but he is a fair boss, and he will never steal from you (which, sadly, is pretty rare in the food service biz). He also has health care, too. No real cooking, though, just pizza and a flatop.
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Sep 29, 2016 15:53
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Anyone know of any good, CHEAP sources for buying these in bulk: -Kappa Carageenan -Vegan Lactic Acid powder Google is failing me.
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May 15, 2017 16:27
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ulmont posted:What price point are you considering CHEAP? A fair point. Cheaper then what I can find on Amazon.
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May 15, 2017 22:57
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ulmont posted:In searching I couldn't really beat Amazon, around $30 / lb for kappa carrageenan and around $25 / lb for lactic acid. Yep, that's pretty much what I came up with. I was just hoping that someone had a source that sold like 55 gallon drums of the stuff.
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May 16, 2017 19:46
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Anyone have any experience with pizza delivery systems? My buddy has two pizza shops, and he wants to invest in heated delivery bags, where they have a ceramic disk that you plug in between orders. Something like this: http://www.rediheat.com/ Personally, I think that it's not a great idea. -too expensive -takes up more room in the shop (you need to have a dedicated staging area to plug them in) -the bags don't fold -more poo poo that can/will break I also think that plain old insulated bags work great, as long as you pack them and close them up properly. The only time I see it being useful is for double/triple runs in the winter time.
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Jul 6, 2017 13:03
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Shooting Blanks posted:Has your friend had complaints about pizzas arriving cold? Not really, maybe only one of two. But he is pretty dedicated to customer service, and knows that one bad pie can kill off a steady customer. Lots of competition in the pizza biz. I think the issue is that the quality of the drivers varies, and he doesn't trust all of them.
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Jul 7, 2017 19:34
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Shooting Blanks posted:This is all assuming he has a modern POS that lets him track who is delivering which orders Yes, he does. It's super integrated, which is how he knows exactly how much the driver performance varies.
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Jul 7, 2017 19:45
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