Category: Opening Journal

Started writing shift notes with my sous chef. I e-mail him with my notes, and then he replies with his, in a MS Word document. Shift notes should be concise, and feedback should be constructive.

We implemented “shift note” to gather information on food prep and cooks’ performance and issues arose from delivery or a piece of broken equipment. We then use shift notes to gauge our own performance in managing the restaurant as well as to anticipate any future problems.

Shift notes are non-negotiable for me. Restaurant operation is a chain reaction; a clear and concise communication saves time and helps avoid roadblocks. For example: if any menu item is low on inventory, relate this information in the shift to help prioritize the next day’s prep list.

First official day off in a while, finally catching up on some reading. Don’t have resolutions made for 2020 (and neither have I made any in the past), just want to work on my reading comprehension and give myself the liberal art education that I traded in for a math degree in college.

Have to drink more water.

There is a fine line between copying others and learning others’ strengths. The former might lend a short-term success, while the latter gives a substantial return on investment in the long run.

Happiness is the by-product of hard work and humility.

Hard work is the by-product of trust in the process.

Humility grounds my own ego to trust the process and work hard.

I don’t deserve happiness if I don’t work hard and have humility.

Sleep deprivation leads me to crave certain things:

• spicy Chinese food
• fried rice
• glass of pinot noir or Barolo
• ice cream: pistachio, vanilla, coffee

Encourage others with my own passion. If it doesn’t work, at least I’ve tried.

Learn his or her aspiration and set him or her up for success in that direction.

Here’s an idea: a voice recognition system for food delivery

Why?: “swiping” is not effective and practical when you have grease hands (rub your hands with EVOO and then try using Tinder…let me know how it goes), and most of the delivery platform wants the kitchen staff to swipe a tablet when an order is complete.

How it works: Using voice recognition in placing an order through our app, and the kitchen will use voice recognition to confirm for a pickup.

Here’s a simple script:

1. Ms. Lee speaks into our app on her phone: hi, I’d like a plain pizza, a coke, and a side of garlic knot. My address is —–, my credit card is —–, good bye.
2. Kitchen prepares the meal and then tells our POS system: Ms. Lee’s order is ready. Voice recognized by our POS and signals for a courier to show up.
3. The courier shows up and delivers the food.

We already have the technology to make this happen. Our friend, Siri, and a distant cousin, Alexa, are ready to help out.

Not convinced “swiping” is here to stay.

Glad to see our bread production is ramping up steadily.

A x20-batch recipe gives me about 112 pita bread, which is about a whole day worth of pita if we become busy.

A x2 time pizza recipe gives me about 70 pizzas, which is fine for now…would love to be able to produce 100+ a day.