Consistency
Consistency is the key of any good restaurant. Customers expect the same dish every time no matter how long it has been since they last had it. It is also not possible for the Chef, to cook each menu item every single day. Because that work must be done by someone else and because the reputation of the establishment rides on the work of prep cooks, line cooks and Sous Chefs, it is critical to introduce and use standardized recipes.
Quality and Consistency are the two most important characteristics for a good restaurant or any food service operation. I was known for that while I was in the restaurant business. Now that I'm teaching culinary students it is something that I talk about often. I share my good and bad experiences of quality and consistency. And the students share their good and bad experiences as well. This highlights the importance of these traits. Also, I bring up many examples about the choice of quality that makes the restaurateur and customer happy and then the importance of maintaining the consistency. Yes, standardized recipes are a big key to achieve this. And you must add quality training of each employee. That will help to ensure that the SOPs are followed as well as giving an employee a security in doing their job correctly.
Consistency is the key to any hospitality success. The customer comes to expect the quality they have received in the past.
somyot,
Indeed, consistency is critical to success. If a customer has a particular dish that they enjoy ordering and find that it is different or inferior during their next visit, this can result in a loss of repeat business in the future.
Jae Gruber
Edna ,
I agree that quality and especially consistent quality is extremely important. You are sharing some great angles on this topic. It seems that the students are relating well to the topic since they are sharing their experiences as well. When instructors find a way to make a topic easy to relate to student life, it deepens the understanding of the topic.
Jae Gruber
When i teach my class i talk to my students about consistency i tell them this is one of the most important part of the day to day production.
Philippe,
Consistency is truly one of the things culinary instructors must underscore with their students. It is important for students to realize that when they work for a food service establishment as a cook, very rarely - if ever - will they be able to put their own spin on a dish. They will have to replicate the dish that the Chef created for the menu.
Jae Gruber
I also reinforce consistency in the academic classes that I teach with the group projects we work on and with general grading. I've found that linking consistency to everything I do and expect from my class helps us embrace and understand its overall importance in the industry.
Dawn,
Consistency is very important in the classroom. Reminding students of the importance of consistency will certainly help them in their future profession!
Jae Gruber
I was interested to see in the reading the mention of students putting their own "twist" or "spin" on recipes/concepts. The number one commentary I get when a student is creating a restaurant concept for a project or reproducing a recipe in lab is that they are going to open a "_____" and put their own "spin" on it.
I cannot stress enough to these students that technique education and consistency are tantamount to success.
