We Teach the Finer Points of Service

I am so jealous of all of you that have taught or are teaching student run restaurants.  We opened today for service after having one week of orientation for the students last week. Today was the Monday section and we learned how well we did on orientation with a crew of students in the front of the house and back of the house.  I was pleased that we only had 14 reservations (6 parties) to get the kids some practice before we start to fill up on a regular basis.  All in all it went well.

HOWEVER, it was the finer points that we could not have possibly covered due to time constraints and other hiccups that reared their ugly head today such as no carbonation in the soft drinks.  The kids could not make up their minds as to which hand to use to set down plates or beverages and then take them away.  Where to stand when not engaged in service.  Which way do we want the plates to be set before the customer?  Where are the cut flowers for the tables?  When to return to the table to inquire as to the quality of the meal.  So it goes (stolen from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five).

What I learned today is that what I need to teach is the FINER POINTS of service.  Sure, we reviewed with servers how to approach the table and what to say throughout service through to clearing the table.  Yes, we worked with students on cooking the menu items in the back of the house.  But where we fell down today was all the little things that add up to the big thing we call Stellar Customer Service.  And that is what we will spend the next 15 weeks doing -- the FINER points so that when students leave here we hopefully have corrected the bad behaviors they learned someplace else or taught them to do service correctly from that point forward.

I LOVE IT!

Research Study in Culinary Arts

Here is a letter from Glenn Mack, Doctoral Student at Nova Southeastern University and President, Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta.  He is doing research on culinary arts education and you can be a part.  I am sure he will be happy to share his findings when he gets his dissertation signed, sealed and delivered.  Please participate in the survey as the findings will benefit our profession.

Dear Culinary Educator,

When we speak of professionalism in culinary arts, what do we really mean? This research attempts to narrow our industry definition and ultimately find effective ways to teach, measure, and instill professional values and behaviors in the workplace and the culinary classroom. Your responses are a valuable contribution to our field. Thank you for your dedication to our craft.


This survey should take no more than 5 minutes, with only 4 questions and a handful of demographic options.
Phase 1 questionnaire: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22CTYEWY37S

All survey responses are voluntary and confidential. Answers are anonymous unless you wish to identify yourself through your email address. I maintain no database of those who have completed the survey.

Thank you so much,

Glenn R. Mack, Doctoral Student
Nova Southeastern University
President, Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta
404-353-8405 grmack@nova.edu

IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE STUDY before agreeing to participate contact Glenn or review an explanation of the research, preliminary results, and contact information may be found at http://mackpar-culinaryprofessionalism.wikispaces.com/

It's That Time Again!

Now that the Corona Light fueled vacations have come to an end it is time to get back to the business of teaching!  I could not be happier to be back now that I have rested body, mind and spirit.  I enjoy my time away from campus with the family but find it hard to keep the thoughts of the upcoming school year out of my head.  I love teaching, what can I say.  I cannot wait to step back into the class or lab and look into the faces of the industry's future and do my level best to prepare them as best I can to meet the challenges that await them upon graduation.

For those of you dreading the return of the students to campus to start the school year, however, I gotta ask, "What's up with that!?"  If teaching does not define who you are and what you do for a living perhaps it is time to go back to industry or go be a "fire watcher" (for those familiar with Caddy Shack).  And this is not something that can be hidden from the students, they will know if you are not dedicated to your craft because you will be easily compared to those who are jazzed up about teaching like so many in our learning community.  So if dreading the return of students perhaps it is time to do some soul searching.  Find that spark that used to be there when first teaching and fire it up for the sake of our profession and our industry.  The kids depend on it!

Preparation for Fall Classes

As many of you know I am an avid reader and consumer of print and digital information pertaining to teaching and learning and this beloved industry of ours.  I am always trying to keep up with news and information that effects the industry and discover new ways of teaching or simply improve those methods I am using now or have in the past.  But this blog post has to do with one of the greatest preparation methods I use over the summer to prepare for fall classes and that is do to NOTHING WHATSOEVER related to teaching and learning.  I even left behind a fascinating book on college teaching I shared at the ACF National Convention during my workshop on fun, engaging and innovative assessment methods.  I will resume reading the book and share in an upcoming blog post.

I just returned from a week of vacation to western NY to visit family and friends and eat those foods that I loved growing up as a child and young adult. If you are from that area you can relate to a "white hot", Grandma Brown's beans, and sweet corn which I enjoyed on several occasions.  You can also relate to the Friday night Haddock fish fry complete with crinkle cut fries, cole slaw, and a dinner roll.  All of which are found among the beautiful lakes, rivers and streams that are nestled among rolling hills that can be found in the Finger Lakes Region where I was born, just outside of Rochester, NY.  As I consumed such delicacies I did not give a single thought to what I do for a living.  I even did that which is the hardest to do when dining out -- NOT critique the quality of the food and service I was subjected to along the way unless it was horrid, which it never was.  I just simply enjoyed the blessing of being alive and healthy to go and do as I pleased with my family.

I find that these breaks rejuvenate body, mind, and spirit and allow me to take a fresh look at my teaching when I sit down before the computer, as I am doing now to lazily prepare for the fall.  I feel alive again and ready to get down to business in a few weeks.  I hope you have been able to do the same.

So the message for today's blog post is that sometimes the greatest thing one can do to prepare for fall classes and be a better teacher is to do absolutely nothing at various points during the summer if one has the luxury to do so as I just did with my family.  Give yourself permission to do nothing, too.  You will find great rewards in the pursuit of not doing and simply being!