Friday, November 14, 2008

Foodservice Case Study -- Laverne & Shirley Show

Many of you are probably familiar with YouTube and if not your students definitely are into it. It can be a wonderful -- free -- resource for educators to do video case studies with students to underscore points made in almost any culinary arts or hospitality class that I can think of to support interactive teaching.

For example, below is a YouTube video of a clip from a Laverne and Shirley episode where they worked in a diner. If you have worked in a restaurant you can definitely relate to what it is like when the front of the house and back of the house are overwhelmed with orders from hungry customers and the system breaks down. I know it took me back to some crazy moments when I worked as a line cook and kitchen manager when a much younger man.

The video clip (which was brought to my attention by a student in my large intro class) shows Laverne and Shirley trying to work in a diner as a singular cook and server, which is reminiscent of the Waffle House or any small scale family "greasy spoon" that is sparsely staffed. This particular video is not only entertaining but provides for a great classroom discussion that could start with a simple question, such as, "If you were called in to manage this operation, what would you do to fix the system to better process customer orders?" There is no telling how much students might see, or miss, when given the chance to apply foodservice management principles so give it a whirl. The video can be accessed by visiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7oHvQu-dc4

If you choose to use this video, or are doing something similar in your class, please share with our learning community by responding to this post.

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