CHEF SAMBRANO Food Articles Video Recipes
Okay restaurant owner, or future owner, I'm going to give this to you straight, you'll not only need a staff and nice menus. You'll need insurance to cover your ass in the event some asshole wants to sue you because you made fun of his fat nose when his boogers came flying out into his seafood ramen. He wants to sue your ass, he wants to litigate, you hurt his feelings awwww! Now he can't sleep, he's an emotional wreck! Ha ha ha, this can happen, so tell me how the f... k are you going to cover your ass? Insurance bubba, you'll need Liability Insurance, call an insurance company or a few and get some quotes.
Also look into how your business is going to be structured, ask an attorney for this part, it gets tricky with lots of paperworks, such as, are you setting up as an LLC, Limited Liability Company or a corporation. An LLC protects the partners or member of the LLC against a law suit, it can protect your personal assets in the event a suit is brought upon your LLC.
Insurance is key when owning a business or anything, you would not think of driving your BMW without insurance right? Same goes for your business, you got to protect it with the right insurance. Remember, I could be a patron in your Buddy's Grill and Bar, and you had 1 dollar draft Wednesdays, I walk in, and there's a wet spot on the floor and I take a mean ass flop. Oh I'm okay, but oh yeah, ah my neck is tweaked, I'll go to the doc, and oh yeah, ah he says I can't work now for life.... sweet, I hire an attorney and sue you. Well, now what? You'll need insurance to defend or to pay me off or something, you'll have to face the suit if it is brought upon you, and if you were in a cave the last few decades, attorney fees are quite high these days. So I hope you'll have the right liability insurance.
There's other insurance you'll need to look into, but for now, this is good enough.
Ron
It does not matter if your restaurant is in Las Vegas, Nevada or in India, you the owner should know some serious terminology especially if you've never managed a restaurant before, and you aren't Donald Trump with his connections to fast financing. You will probably need to be in your dig many hours, overseeing every aspect of the business, after all it is your baby, and even if you've hired a GM, you need to oversee him or her. So talk to some other GMs or owners and get some tips, you'll need a crash course. And in this blog post I'll go over some terminology that's totally relative to running a restaurant. Okay here we go.
ACTUAL USAGE- This means the amount of product and the supplies physically used in a certain time period. Put it this way, if you used 50 pounds of potatoes in a week, then your actual usage of potatoes would be 50 pounds for a week. This is for of course taking your inventory seriously. Ha ha, you thought this shit was all glam didn't you? Yeah you did, you saw Mario Batali kicking back all styling, but it's not all kick back buddy, it's work! If you can't handle this, get out of the biz now! Or don't even try.
BACK OF THE HOUSE or (BOH)- Simply put, this term means any area where customers do not access or see. Such areas are, your office, storage room, break room, and of course where the foods are prepped and cooked the kitchen. If you don't know this one, man you are really messed up buddy.
BREAK EVEN POINT- Here's an illustration I'll draw for your mind, or something like that. Imagine you are running a lemonade stand, and it costs you 30.00 dollars in supplies and man power a day to run it. You hit the break even point when you sell enough lemonade to cover the 30.00 in expenses, after you hit that, all the other sales is your profits. You see, if your dig barely breaks even, you'll be... how should I say this... you'll be out of business in no time, ha ha ha ha ha ha.
BUILD-TO-AMOUNT- Otherwise known as Par Level. Okay I'll make it simple. Everyday your staff or the leader of say the kitchen will have to do some ordering of food products. Okay let's take for example, mayonnaise because I love mayonnaise, my favorite condiment. Every day, your cooks use 5 gallons of mayonnaise, you should have at least another tub of 5 gallons or a little more as a backup. You get the idea. In other words, you just don't order what you need, you order a little more in case you need it, not double the orders, but just a small percentage of backup. Same goes for everything else, like rice, if your kitchen is cooking 10 pounds a day, make sure you got a few pounds for backup for the week. And this gets tricky when the next few days become dead all of sudden without warning, now you'll have extra inventory. Hmmm, not easy eh? Ha ha ha ha ha, and you thought you were gonna be Chef Ramsay chilling in Hawaii with a Mai Tai in his hand, nope! ha ha ha ha.
Okay till the next blog post
Ron
I'll do a few blog posts called SO YOU WANNA BE AN OWNER OF A RESTAURANT? I'll just delve in the realities of being an owner of a restaurant, especially in these trying times of a shaky fickle economy, after all, owning a restaurant is business, and you won't be immune to the forces that have shattered many corporations in the past 5 years or so. But look up and be positive, you want to own a restaurant.
Hopefully you'll know what kind of food you'll be serving up, and who the target market is going to be. Now you need to figure out who's going to play the key roles in the operations, I mean to say, who's going to be in charge of the front of the house, like greeting customers, taking orders, and serving, and also collecting the payments for the foods you'll be selling. And who will be in charge of the back of the house, meaning the setting up of the food production area, who's going to order, and keep track of the inventory, who's going to set up the day to day kitchen duties? Who's the head chef? Who's the line cooks? Who's your prep crew and dish or utility people? Are you going to hire out the heavy duty cleaning jobs like scrubbing the kitchen floors when it's all built up with gunk? Or are you going to pay your crew extra when the time comes, because my friend you future restaurant owner, all these maintenance tasks needs to be done. Imagine you don't clean the hood, you keep your grills caked with heavy grease, it may cause a fire, I've seen it happen. Cleaning is a day to day task, but the heavy cleaning, like the grease trap has to be sucked up by an expert, all of these things needs to be addressed.
Oh there's no glam my friend in owning a restaurant, do not be fooled by those celebrity chefs on the Food Network, there's a bunch of pee ons that do the dirty work so they look marvelous, in the real world buddy boy, forget glam, and think sweat and stink come the end of the night. That's exactly what I said, kitchen work? Stink! Front of the house? Sore feet, sweat and stink! Ask any hard working waitress, she'll tell you, "Are you kidding me? I love my job? Get real!" Okay some do love their jobs, but deep down inside when they're busting tail all week, it's not the job they'll say they'd die for. Same goes for cooks, ask them if a better gig comes along, like a valet job that fetches several hundred a night in tips, I'm telling you restaurant owner man, those cooks will be gone in a heartbeat! Cooks are the dogs of the operation, they tend to be more day to day, live for today, kind of personalities, so you'll have to deal with their attitudes because in every bloody kitchen I've worked in, cooks are or could be psychotic! Sorry, you'll be dealing with a wide and broad range of screwed up personalities.
Okay, I hope you're not running away from your dream. Seriously come back and sit down, I'm not done yet. Oh...I hope you've worked in a restaurant before.... yes? Ah was that a yes?.... Ahem... I can't hear you.... Oh... you did not....Okay... we got a big ass problem. If you haven't even worked in a restaurant before, .... I really can't help you there, you mean nothing? Not even a few months on a summer vay cay at Mc Donald's? No. Okay. Let me see. Okay you know business I hope, I mean what it is to be in business, like you are not to be in business to be a tax write off understood? You are here to make bank! Okay... this is getting hard for me to explain because you haven't worked in a dig before.
First things first, hire managers that has lots of experience. Hire a general manager that's been in the restaurant business for many years, make sure he or she understands everything about the business of running a food service operation, and I mean everything! I'm just blown away that you never worked in a.... never mind.
Get the GM down, he or she is your first round draft pick, go over what your concept is, and listen to he or she, if they got experience in turning a profit where they worked before in the past, they'll be your most valuable player. Work together to hire the rest of the staff, your chef, supervisors, cooks etc. And the front of the house, wait staff, bar staff if applicable. Man you see what happens when you go into something blind? Lots of work buddy!
Now your GM will no doubt have a bunch of ex-employees that want a gig, a new refreshing gig, you see in the restaurant biz, everyone knows everyone else, or close to that notion anyhow. So you get the GM, have him/her talk to people in the business, if it's a good GM, trust their instincts, they'll get a good crew for you, from the head waiter, down to the dish washer. Okay, that's just one phase.
Just keep this in mind. I'll blog something else soon, or a continuation on this subject.
Another new Italian Restaurant in Lahaina, right in our hood. A very tasty place to eat, you can smell the Italian seasonings emulating from the place as soon as you park your car, or walking from either direction. Located close to Foot Locker and Office Max, this is what the Foodie Gods were planning for us locals.
I love Italian food, as soon as I walked in I was greeted by Jody the part-owner of the joint, and I did notice that she was busy. She explained that by being new, and just opened, it was hectic. I saw my friend Joanie with her boyfriend in there mauling on huge slices of pizza, and Italian Delight, that's the name of the dig, has pizza by the slice. As I watched the chef toss the pizza dough, this was really unique, why? Because I can tell that the owners love what they do. Really the food is not fancy, it's like Italian home cooking, you can tell when food is good, you caaaaan smellllllll it!
So I ordered a Spaghetti w/ Sausage, it came with a Garlic Knot, and some parmesan cheese in a ramekin. The prices are very reasonable for what it cost to run a food establishment, and the portions are real in proportion of the price. My meal was about 15 bucks plus tax.
So if you come to Lahaina, and want a great home cooking with Italian as the roots, Italian Delight is a new dig that I hope makes it in the future. I was always for the small business owner(s), all of the time. I want to see more small businesses open up, not just any business, but businesses owned by people that are in business because they are passionate about what they produce and ultimately sell to the public.
Part Owner Jody jams on the phone taking to go orders. The menu is perfect, not confusing, and it has everything you'd want if you're an Italian food aficionado
335 Keawe ST. #211
Lahaina Gateway Shoppping Center
808-662-0077
Open 7 Days a Week Lunch/Dinners
N.Y. Style Pizzas by the slice 2.75 to 3.75
16" Whole Pizza 18.95 plus additional toppings from 2.25 to 2.50.
White Pizzas w/ Mozzarella 18.95
Calzones/Stromboli 11.95 to 13.95
Pastas from 14.95 Spaghetti from 8.95 to 14.95
Cold Hoagies and Wraps from 11.95 to 13.95
Pasta (penne, rigatoni, ziti or spaghetti) Pupus, Salads, Hot Subs, the got it all! Ask for their daily specials.
Dine in or take out.
"Mama Mia, this is Pizza!"
What's a Stramboli? Basically it's a square pizza dough with toppings and cheese, rolled up, or think of it as a turn over pizza, or a pizza roll.
Thanks For Visiting Ron S.
Here I sit in my sister's office in her lovely home she shares with her husband, here on the island of Maui, it's a rather warm and sometimes cool Summer evening, I was contemplating watching the t.v. David Letterman is on, and he's got the greatest rock band for his so-called orchestra. I love that show more than Leno.
I was thinking what to write, and since this is a food blog I figured I'd give some info for people that want to start a restaurant, some things you may look for when searching for that perfect location. There are a lot of information from just using Google or Bing, you'd be surprised to learn that there's countless restaurants up and running with all of the valuable equipment needed to store, prepare, cook, and serve your potential customers.
You may see an ad that is displayed like this: FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD GRILL AND BAR for sale; 85,000.00 Seller Financing available. Heavy foot traffic, located across of big box retailers, successful for 15 years, owners will retire. 2 weeks training, 5 days, 8 hours a day.
If you see this, go check it out, and interview the owners, ask them what their cash flow was like, ask if you can see proof in numbers too, let them know you are seriously interested in what they got. No, you aren't guaranteeing that you'll buy the joint, but you are seriously interested, and it is in their best interest to converse with you if they want to sell their baby, don't come across like a jerk, be friendly.
Number one, it says they been in biz for 15 years, that's a long time, research them, ask their diners what makes them so special. If you go there and study them, and every day they got a line out the door, this is a future money maker, I mean in contrast to a restaurant with zero lines? You got the picture? Take a tour of the place, ask to visit the chef and the kitchen crew for a few minutes. Check out the front of the house, observe the menu, the kinds of people there. And there's big box retailers across the street, that's gold man, that's heavy duty traffic. Think at this point like a true Capitalist! Sorry, if I had the money and this place rocked, I'd be thinking "Cha Ching!"
So you did your recon, it looks great, but you want to add on to the menu your own little twist, cool, ease into it, don't buy the place and change the whole menu and look of the place, especially if the owner has a fan base. Maybe you figure you'd make his Grannies Roast Chicken differently, you don't like the taste. But listen to me and don't be an idiot. Listen, if the patrons there love his Grannies chicken, do not mess with it. If the POS registers good numbers on this item on his menu, leave it be.
Now you see that his Seafood Pasta looks pretty shabby, and it doesn't twirl your beanie, and you see the POS register hardly with a blip of the seafood pasta, go right ahead and redo it, and make sure that the customers know that you re-did that dish, highlight it on the menu, place a placard on every table, with something like this: "Try The Seafood Pasta, creamy lobster sauce, fresh herbs, and generous slices of thick garlic bread." That's all you need, let them know that they gotta try it, maybe have a batch of it, and give away free sample plates of it. If it's a hit, pat yourself on the back. The customers will appreciate that you've kept the original hot sellers, and that you want them to sample your new inventions. You are bridging the gap from the old owner to you, the new maverick in town.
If the logo is well known, and they sell shirts and ladies tank tops, do not mess with the logo. What you may do, is slowly make changes to the logo, maybe erasing Chuck's name with yours, but keeping the main body of the logo in tact. Imagine when a pro football team leaves one city for another and they keep the name. One example is the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, they kept the Ram on the helmets, but they removed Los Angeles because the team is currently in St. Louis. You get the idea?
When looking at a business that's successful, and you want to buy it, keep in mind what they are known for, and if they sell it like hot cakes do not mess with it, that car ain't got nothin wrong with it, don't fix what's not broken.
Observe the surrounding area, what's located behind the restaurant, do you need more lighting for security reasons? Protecting your customers and employees is important. Have a contractor friend come along with you to eyeball the premises, maybe you want to redo the bar and some of the dining room because it does look worn and tired, some wood and tile may need to be replaced, check the electric outlets, wiring, is it fire safe? How safe is the gas line? Is the fire extinguishers up to date? Just give it a look, have it inspected before you sign your life away. Hire an attorney to draw up and go over any negotiated statements in writing. Hire an accountant to go over some numbers, look at your liabilities, from the very start, project when you'll turn a profit, have a business plan written out, even if you do have money, having that plan to show other investors in the event you got the capitalist fever and funds needs to be raised quickly, that plan is key.
Hire a marketing specialist to help you get people in there, for instance, if that place is 60 to 80 percent full during lunch, you want that place up to 70 to 90 percent filled. If you serve breakfast, and it's only filled at 40 percent, something's wrong, market, get that word out you own the joint, and have the chef create interesting breakfast, keeping it real and simple, great egg dishes, hot organic coffee and tea, awesome biscuits and gravy, eggs Benedict's, cereals, fresh fruit, maybe a weekend brunch from 10 am to 2 pm. Marketing and advertising is keys to having your sales bloom. If you're selling 25 corned beef sandwiches from 11a to 1 pm, try a new goal to get that 25 average up to possibly 30. Practice marketing that sandwich, and advertising that sandwich. That's what the big boys do, like Mc Donald's, Burger King etc., despite their large funding, you can do that in your local area. Pass out coupons, 2.00 off entrees, with a picture of that corned beef sandwich on the coupon. The more people see, it becomes ingrained in them.
Okay that's enough for now, you get the picture, use a great restaurant to make you profits, build on it, and expand. Get a business plan written out, get a team together, an accountant, a legal advisor, a contractor, and run your ideas to others and see what kind of responses you get.
Good Luck Ron
Dairy free Green Mayonnaise/Salad Dressing is a cool looking condiment on the dining table, it is filled with richness like a mayonnaise should, and has the green and fiber from the natural ingredients. This is a simple recipe, and if you have a blender, all the better, this mayonnaise or dressing will be made the modern way, less work for the home chef.
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 natural or organic large egg
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
About 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1/2 cup organic spinach leaves (fresh)
Roughly 1/4 of fresh basil
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1. Place the egg, lemon juice, mustard in the blender.
2. Pulse then start on low speed, slowly adding in the olive oil.
3. Add in the parsley, spinach leaves, and fresh basil, it should be turning into a thicker product. Add more oil if needed.
4. Adjust with sea salt and pepper.
Cover in a serving bowl, and refrigerate, use the same day.
Time to continue on salads, today I'll speak about gluten free salad dressings. Why? Maybe you have a disorder when consuming gluten, gluten the stuff in wheat flour that holds it together, so gluten is found in lots of dressings because flour is used as a thickener, but here I'll show you a simple recipe using all gluten free ingredients that makes it good for anyone that cannot consume gluten, like a possible guest at your dinner party. In fact we do not have to have any eating disorders to enjoy a gluten free meal.
GLUTEN FREE FRENCH SALAD DRESSING
Takes about 5 minutes to prepare and about the same amount of time to finish.
1 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil, or virgin olive oil, get what you can
3/4 cup brown raw sugar, or a little more for sweet
1/2 to 1/3 cup of gluten free ketchup
1/4 cup Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar or a few more teaspoons for bite
1 tsp. gluten free steak sauce
1 tsp. minced shallots
1 tsp. minced parsley
Directions: Mix all of ingredients in a medium stainless steel bowl. Place in an airtight plastic or glass container and refrigerate.
New Nomato Ketchup, zero tomatoes, made with organic veggies, this is a good product to use on any meal that calls for ketchup and you are a gluten free eater. Retails about 7.00 for a 10 fl oz. bottle.
Mr. Spice Organic Gluten free/ Salt Free steak sauce, another good item to have in your arsenal for cooking gluten free. Retails around 6.00 per a 10.5 fl oz bottle.
BRAGG Apple Cider Vinegar a product used by many health conscience chefs and home cooks. Once opened store in the fridge, organic and all natural, it is also good taken each morning with water to clean out your insides.
