Korsha Wilson, Author at Open for Business

A Day in the Life: Pastry Chef Kate Holowchik of Lincoln + Capo in Boston

In a new series, we’re bringing you into the world of hospitality professionals as they go about their shifts and share how they get it all done.

“Between the two restaurants there’s always something to do,” laughs pastry chef Kate Holowchik. She’s in charge of running the pastry and dessert programs at both Lincoln and Capo in South Boston. Lincoln is an American tavern specializing in comfort food, and Capo is an Italian neighborhood restaurant serving pizzas and pastas. Holowchik loves to create desserts that she describes as “fancy fat kid food” like peanut butter Ritz cracker donuts, homemade pop tarts, or ricotta zeppoles. “I try to keep my style as approachable as possible,” she says. She also creates custom cakes for private parties that are held at the restaurants.

We caught up with Holowchik to find out what a typical Friday is like for the pastry chef.

9AM: “I get into the restaurant at eight or nine to get ready for our Friday service at Lincoln. Fridays are my busiest days because we do a ‘Brunch Test Kitchen’ menu, and it’s kind of like our brunch menu but with a twist because we get to try different things. The menu has dishes like fruity pebble pancakes that don’t make it to the regular brunch, lunch or dinner menu and guests can’t get them elsewhere. When I get in, I’ll glaze the donuts or our homemade pop tarts and make sure that my pastries are ready for service.”

9:30AM: “At this time, I’m making sure that we’re all set for service. My kitchen is at Capo so I have to walk over to Lincoln with all of the pastries for brunch. The marketing manager will usually take some pictures for Instagram and we have the staff taste through the menu so they can describe it to guests.”

10:30AM: “I stay at Lincoln through the first part of brunch service to make sure that everything is okay and then I go back to Capo and start to get ready for dinner service. I begin by going over my par sheet for the night. Capo hasn’t had a pastry chef before so I’m creating systems from scratch. We also do lots of private parties so I make sure that we’re set up for that.”

3:30PM: “In the afternoon, the sous chef will come and ask about orders that I might need for the next day. The sous chef team is so great at Capo and Lincoln. At some restaurants, the savory side of things overshadows pastry, but here we work together as a team and support each other.”

4PM: “Staff meal is ready at this time, and I’ll try to come upstairs from the pastry kitchen so I can eat with everyone.” [Read more…]

Restaurants and Influencers: What You Need to Know Before Partnering with an Influencer

Oozing egg dishes, over the top milkshakes, and rainbow everything — Instagrammers love to share pictures of what they’re eating with their followers.

Instagram accounts that focus exclusively on food can amass hundreds of thousands of followers and receive thousands of likes on each post. Just take a look at accounts like @FoodBabyNY and @New_Fork_City and you’ll see how popular food pictures are on the social media app.

It’s no surprise that influencers, or accounts that have thousands of followers, are now partnering with chefs and restaurants to share pictures of their dining experiences with their hungry followers. Restaurants are even inviting groups of influencers in for a meal in the hopes that they’ll share a picture of a dish with their hungry followers. These partnerships can be beneficial to both the restaurant and the influencer when done right. Here are a few things to think about before partnering with an influencer.

How can you insert yourself into the existing conversation?

“Facebook is a gathering of friends, Twitter is a cocktail party, and Instagram is a billboard,” says Chris Coombs, chef-owner of Boston Urban Hospitality Group, which runs four restaurants in Boston. Coombs has opened a second location of Boston Chops, his modern steakhouse concept, and the dining room was designed to be “social media-friendly.” There’s an “Instagrammers table” with lighting under the tables and overhead to assist social media savvy diners with getting the perfect picture of their meal, as well as meat-centric props for diners to pose with. “This is just part of the evolution of how diners eat now,” Coombs says. He says that when he works dinner shifts in the kitchen and looks out into the dining room, he’ll often see guests using their phone to get a picture of their meal before they eat it. “ It’d be irresponsible of me to ignore the fact that our guests love to use social media to share our dishes,” he explains. Adding social media friendly touches to his dining room allows him to insert his restaurant into an existing conversation.

Work with influencers who are already fans of your restaurant.

At Social High Rise, a social media consulting firm that works exclusively with restaurants, influencers have to already be fans of the brand to be considered for a partnership. “For us, an influencer is someone who is already preaching the gospel of our clients,” says Mark Sorenson, CEO of the California-based company. “When they speak, they create conversations and people speak back.”

Do your research on your influencer before you agree to partner with them.

Before inviting an influencer into your restaurant, it’s important to do your homework on how they interact with their followers and how engaged they are, Coombs and Sorenson both say. “Just because someone has thirty thousand followers doesn’t mean that they’re engaging them or that they’re local,” Coombs adds. Instagram, in particular, is full of so-called influencers that have paid a third party company for likes or followers. It’s better to find an influencer with followers that comment and share posts. “Don’t be fooled by faux Instagram accounts. If it seems like bots with fake names are most of the followers on an account, they probably are.” [Read more…]

Chef Simone Ferrara of Hotel Viking Shares 4 Tips for Planning a Holiday Buffet Menu

The holiday season is one of the busiest times of year for chef Simone Ferrara of Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island. The hotel has two restaurants, One Bellevue, which does a special holiday menu, and Top of Newport Bar and Kitchen. Ferrara is the chef de cuisine and estimates that he and his team will serve 400 covers between both restaurants and the to-go orders that they offer for guests who want to enjoy their meals at home. This year, the team has decided to serve a holiday buffet, holiday prix fixe, to-go orders, and in-room dining. It’s a big undertaking — but chef Ferrara is happy to do it. “We’re very proud to serve people who want to spend their holidays with us and all of our staff,” he says.

For many restaurants, the holiday buffet poses a lot of specific challenges. What dishes should be included? How can you be sure that your kitchen is ready and equipped to handle refreshing dishes? What do you do with leftover product? Chef Ferrara talked to us about how he plans holiday menus and the advice he has for other chefs on how to avoid the pitfalls of planning and executing a holiday buffet.

Cost is key.

To start, chefs need to think about when planning a buffet is cost, Ferrara says. “The first thing we did was we costed all of the menu items for our buffet and prix-fixe,” he says. That allowed him to understand which dishes on the buffet spread are the most expensive and what items are the least expensive. Then he could lay them out in a way that made sense for his bottom line. For example, sea salt-crusted prime rib is served on an action station because it’s easier to control the cost of it if staff is designating the portions instead of guests serving themselves. Sides, like mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables, have a lower food cost so guests can help themselves.

Balance classic holiday items with signature dishes.

Creating a menu that blends the classic dishes that guests expect while still incorporating some unique touches was a bit of a challenge. “The way that we do that is we narrow down the classics and add a twist,” he says. “Like our sweet potatoes that get torched on top to add a bit of crunch.” The menu also differentiates itself from other holiday offerings by including dishes that speak to the restaurant’s New England locale. “We offer our lobster ravioli and other seafood items because we have great local seafood,” Ferrara says. He also thinks about his buffet spread and if it can be enjoyed by all kinds of guests. “I think about dietary restrictions a lot when planning,” he says. “Are there vegan and gluten-free items that guests can enjoy?” Making sure that these options are available means that there’s everyone has a good experience.

Stay organized.

Being organized through menu planning, ordering, prepping, and executing is vital, Ferrara adds. He prints out prep sheets for each day of service so that he and his team can stay on top of it for the buffet. Printing them also gives him a list to cross-check at the end of shift to make sure that everything is on point. Running a service that will do 400 covers requires him to keep track of a lot of different orders and prep lists. “It’s all about organization,” he says. “Make sure your teams reacts well and knows what they’re expected to do.” [Read more…]

Boosting Restaurant Employee Morale: How Gia SanAngelo of Untitled and Studio Cafe Keeps Employees on Point

The dwindling summer means it’s time for the last push of one of the busiest times of year for many restaurants. When you and your team are slammed shift after shift, it can be hard to inspire staff to consistently create memorable dining experiences and execute service at a high level — but it’s crucial and has a big impact on your guests.

It’s a common dilemma: How can you keep employees engaged and happy when the pace is frenetic? Increased sales are, obviously, good, but it’s important to remember that with the more sales come months of long days and nights for everyone, and it can be easy to forget some of the little touches that boost staff morale. However, taking the effort to do so is key to maintaining the customer service for which your restaurant is known.

Gia SanAngelo is the general manager of two restaurants, Untitled and Studio Cafe at The Whitney Museum in New York City, and the summer months mean an uptick in customers and events. “Untitled and Studio Cafe offer two unique dining experiences,” SanAngelo explains. “Studio Cafe is best enjoyed as a casual lunch or snack while visiting the museum. It also has a great terrace that is perfect for enjoying a drink with a view,” she says. “Untitled, open for brunch, lunch, and dinner, is everything that you want in a fine dining experience — but without all the fuss.” Managing both of these outlets while keeping staff top of mind means thinking about the experiences that they offer and how to maintain the same level of service and hospitality as in the slower months. Below, San Angelo shares tips for boosting employee morale and keeping staff motivated.

Always Communicate Any Changes to Staff So They Can Be Prepared.

“As a management team, we spend a lot of time planning to make each summer season, or ‘patio season’ as we refer to it, better than the year before,” she says. “We ask ‘Whoever wrote the rule…?’ for just about everything — uniforms, menu offerings, table layout, and etc.” Each summer, the team introduces a new aspect to service and that works to gets everyone excited for the coming months. “Once we put together our plan for the season, we do our best to communicate everything to the team with as much notice as possible.” Keeping everyone in the loop matters because it makes everyone feel at ease with the changes and gives them time to embrace them and have confidence when speaking to guests. “The year, for example, we made a change to the table layout and spent ample time making sure the whole team felt comfortable with the new table numbers before patio service started.” Changes like these make it feel fresh and different for your staff, which will keep them engaged.

Use Pre-Shift to Maintain a Key Part of Service.

The main concern when it’s busy is making sure that both restaurants are still executing the highest level of service. “Our main focus during the busy season is to maintain all of our service standards despite the busier pace,” SanAngelo says. The management team uses pre-shift gatherings to really emphasize what the team should be focusing on. “We spend time at meetings talking with the team about the most important aspects of what we do.” Use your time with staff to discuss and refocus your team’s hospitality efforts. [Read more…]

5 Tips for Working with Restaurant Stages from Chefs Gabriel Kreuther + Luigi Petrocelli

Since the early days of the kitchen brigade system and toques, stagiaires, or interns, have been part of fine dining kitchens, helping chefs and line cooks execute prep for dishes while learning how to work in a professional environment. Today, stagiaires still function under the same premise: inexperienced cooks get an opportunity to sharpen their skills by working in a kitchen with more experienced chefs. The mention of interns or stages can make someone recall a story about peeling potatoes or carrots in a basement for hours on end, but for chefs who see interns as a part of a healthy kitchen environment and want to make sure that they’re offering young cooks as much as they’re getting in return, there’s more to working with restaurant stages.

Gabriel Kreuther, chef and owner of the fine dining restaurant in Manhattan that bears his name, says that at any given time, his restaurant kitchen works with four interns. “We have two for the morning/lunch shift and two for the dinner shift,” he explains. “Pastry would have their own stages, usually one per shift that want to specialize in sweets or pastry and chocolate work.” At Hearth, chef Luigi Petrocelli and his team work with one stage at a time and make sure that stages are incorporated into the team culture. “We are not a giant kitchen and it’s easy for them to feel a part of the team.”

The stagiaire and chef relationship can be beneficial to both parties if both are clear about what is expected and what’s allowed. Here, chef Kreuther and chef Petrocelli share what they’ve learned about working with interns and what advice they have for other chefs on how to build an internship program that works for your kitchen.

Think about what you want them to walk away with.

The key to working with interns or stages is to understand that you have an opportunity to help a young cook learn specific skills and that means dedicating the time to working with them in your kitchen. “I want them to see that in this industry — and that we all care deeply about what we do, and each other,” Petrocelli says.

For Kreuther, it’s about giving young cooks a first-hand view of the hard work that it takes to make it in the restaurant industry. “I want to provide a true insight on what our industry is like,” he says. “I want to show the importance of respect, organization, timeliness, teamwork, and cleanliness.”

Set expectations and be there to help them achieve their goals for their time in your kitchen.

It can be tempting to give interns or stages small tasks that don’t impact service much because they’re inexperienced, but it’s important to trust them enough to let them take on important tasks. ”Don’t put them in the basement picking herbs,” Petrocelli says. “Hold them accountable for things with an understanding that they are learning.”

“Part of being a mentor to an intern is being there to help them if they make mistakes,” says Kreuther. “Encouragement and mentorship are the best support to get them closer to their goals if they are willing to listen and take the advice,” he adds.

Make sure your staff is prepared to work with the interns.

It can be intimidating for a new cook to step into a kitchen, so you want to make sure that your other cooks are aware that they’re expected to treat an intern like a part of the team. “When you’re out of your comfort zone, if you’re surrounded by positivity and passion, you can take everything you want from that experience,” Petrocelli says. But it’s not your job to hand hold, and it’s important to let them meet and interact with the staff in their own way. At Hearth, Petrocelli gives interns space to interact with other line cooks. “Becoming acclimated to the culture is something I leave partly up to them. I have talks and guide them, but learning how to deal with new people, new tasks, in a hectic environment is what this industry is all about. Ultimately, it’s a team working together, so it’s important that they see each other that way.” Kreuther recommends letting interns be a part of daily lineups and meetings so they feel like they’re a part of the kitchen.

Working with interns can also be a learning experience for your cooks on how to be a better team player. “I always tell all my cooks that they are essentially the chef to a stage,” Petrocellis says. “If you show them a task and they do it wrong, it’s your responsibility. It is good for the more experienced cooks to learn how to deal with those situations as well.” [Read more…]