Expert Advice on Hospitality Topics

Part 1 of 3: Establishing House Drink Recipes

A bartender makes a good drink with originality, panache, speed and skill - but a great drink starts with the boss. You determine the drink menu, you determine the recipes to be used and you set the price and make the rules. Your staff just follows your lead. In many bars, it's left to individual members of staff to know the "standard" formulas for cocktails and mixed drinks. Everyone is supposed to know that a Tequila Sunrise has one shot of tequila, right? Or is it two? Maybe it's a shot and a half... Profits are too hard won to just throw away alcohol when your staff crosses their wires about your drink recipes. Some easy steps to ensuring standardization of your house recipes include:

• Recipe lists. Make sure when you take on new staff they receive detailed recipe lists to take home and look over before they start their first shift. It doesn't cost you a lot to photocopy a few pages of text and give them to your staff, so make sure there's no excuse for them not to know as much as they can before they start mixing on your dime.

• Recipes on display. Ensure that there are either laminated index cards or recipes listed behind the bar at all times so that any member of staff - even emergency fill-ins and temps - can see exactly what is needed to prepare each drink - no more, no less. Below is an example of a recipe card and the information it should contain:

• Cocktail menus. When you leave cocktail menus on tables, make sure that each one shows exactly what is in the drink - not just the ingredients, but the ounce amounts of each. This will not only serve as a more informative drink menu to your customers, but will also allow them to more accurately measure what they've consumed over the course of the night.

• Premium ingredients. If you use premium or middle-shelf ingredients in your cocktails, make sure that your cocktail menus make a point of that fact by showing the brands used. There's no point in hiding the fact that your base spirits and liqueurs are of a higher quality than those of your competition, especially because your liquor distributor might chip in for some of the cost of printing if they're being marketed in your literature in this fashion.

• Accuracy. Make certain that the cocktail and mixed-drink recipes give a clear indication of what glass is to be used, what garnish should be used, for how long and on what setting any blended drink should be blended and what brands of alcohol should be used for their creation. If you leave anything out, you can bet someone will get it wrong - and with alarming regularity.

• Bartending recipe computer programs. For example, Interworlds Software's "BarBack for Windows" can tell your staff how to create a drink even if a customer asks for something ridiculously obscure. BarBack includes over 10,000 different drink recipes, as well as information on glassware, ingredients, mixing methods and garnishes. Rather than taking away from the skills of your staff, insightful programs such as these actually complement their skills to ensure your customers get exactly what they want in the quickest possible time. BarBack can be downloaded at www.barback.com .

There are many ways to curb cost. Here are a few ideas:

• Inexpensive fish. Turn your customers on to seafood alternatives and lower your food cost. Consider using some alternatives such as Tilapia, farm-raised salmon, fresh-water perch, Alaskan halibut, mahi-mahi, shark or skate. Skate, for example, can be purchased wholesale right now online for $1.62 per pound. The secret, of course, is to make certain it is fresh.

• Shelled eggs. Consider buying shelled eggs if your restaurant uses more than three cases of eggs per week. This will reduce the amount of cardboard and other packaging that must be disposed or recycled. Shelled eggs are often packaged in 5-gallon buckets that can later be reused for cleaning or maintenance.

• Condiments. Use refillable condiment dispensers instead of individual condiment packets for dine-in customers.

• Cost-Watch Web site. This site, www.cost-watch.com, helps restaurant management control labor, utility and food and beverage costs. It also offers regional reports to compare expenses and food costs in similar restaurants as well as price trend forecasts. It is a great resource for purchasing managers.

• Join a barter club. Bartering allows you to buy what you need and pay for it with otherwise unsold products, such as food and beverages or even catering services. Almost anything and everything can be purchased with barter services. Nationally, over 250,000 businesses are involved in barter. Check out these Web pages:

• Similar ingredients. Include menu items that are essentially made with similar ingredients as others on the menu. For example, a shrimp cocktail and shrimp pasta are two very different meals, but the ingredients are similar. These ingredients are simple, inexpensive and don't take up a lot of storage space. Having five or six other pasta sauces to offer also loads up your menu with choices without excessively increasing your inventory. This will not only allow you to buy in bulk and keep costs down, but will also lighten the load on your kitchen staff.

• Bread baskets. The potential for waste in bread baskets is large. Most of these come back from the table partially eaten at best. You may want to consider giving bread baskets only if requested or you may want to cut down on the amount served. You should also consider including packaged items since these can be reused. Some operators are now serving bread only by request or they are serving one roll or breadstick at a time from a breadbasket with tongs.

• Substitute premade items. Substitute premade items for some items you have been making from scratch. You don't have to sacrifice quality to do this; many premade items are good. You can also start with a premade item and add ingredients. For instance, you can buy a premade salad dressing and add blue cheese or fresh herbs. Using these items will lower your food and labor costs, and you can still put out a quality item.

The perpetual inventory is a check on the daily usage of your main entree items from the freezers and walk-ins. This is for tracking expensive items, such as meat, seafood, chicken, cans of caviar, etc. When completed, the perpetual inventory will ensure that no bulk products have been pilfered from the freezer or walk- ins. Computer software programs and some POS systems will track this information for you. The following is an example of a Perpetual Order Form:

• List all the food items that are listed on the Sign-out Sheet and Yield Form. In the "Size" column, list the unit size in which the item is packaged. The contents of most cases of food are packed in units such as 5-pound boxes or 2-pound bags. Meat is usually packed by the number of pieces in a case and the case's weight. The size listed on the perpetual inventory must correspond to the size the preparation cooks are signing out of the freezer and walk-ins.

• In the "Item" column, enter the number of each item listed. For example, if shrimp is packed in 5-pound boxes and you have two 50-pound cases, there are 20 boxes. Enter 20 in the "Item" column. Each number along the top corresponds to each day of the month. At the end of each day, count all the items on hand and enter this figure on the "=" line. Compare this figure to the "Amount Ordered or Defrosted" column on the Preparation Sheet; these amounts must be the same as the total number of each item on the "-" line. If there were any deliveries, place this total on the "+" line.

• Theft. Theft can occur when someone removes a box of shrimp from the case, for example. The person then reseals the case with the other boxes to hide the gap.

• Check the invoices every day for the items delivered that are in your perpetual inventory. Ensure that all items signed off as being delivered are actually in the storage areas. Should there be a discrepancy, check with the employee that signed the invoice. The number of items you start with (20) plus the number you received in deliveries (5), minus the amount signed out by the preparation cooks (1), must equal the number on hand (24). If there is a discrepancy, you may have a thief.

• What to do if you suspect theft. Should you suspect a theft in the restaurant, record the names of all employees who worked that particular day. If thefts continue to occur, a pattern may develop among the employees who were working on all the days in question. Compute the perpetual inventory or other controls you are having a problem with at different times of the day and before and after each shift. This will pinpoint the area and shift in which the theft is occurring. Sometimes, placing a notice to all employees that you are aware of a theft problem in the restaurant will resolve the problem. Make it clear that any employee caught stealing will be terminated.

Purchasing Kickbacks and Gifts

Unfortunately, the food service industry is notorious for kickbacks. It is even more unfortunate that these kickbacks or gifts are essentially paid for by you in the form of higher prices. Here are some ideas to help keep kickbacks out of your store:

• Purchasing and receiving must be done by different employees. The person ordering should not be the same person receiving and checking the items.

• Kickback policy. Develop a general policy and list it in your employee handbook that employees cannot receive anything for free from a vendor or potential vendor.

• Change positions. People become complacent over time; move positions around.

• Check on prices of expensive items like meat and seafood yourself.

The purchasing department is the linchpin when it comes to reducing costs. It is much easier to control costs in this area than anywhere else in the operation. The bottom line is that astute buying techniques offer the best opportunity for a business to increase its overall profits.

• Monitor market trends. An upsurge in popularity of a certain beverage can lead to increased competition amongst vendors. Play them off against each other occasionally. Negotiate. You have nothing to lose!

• Welcome new ideas. Purchasers should always be on the lookout for new ideas and new ways of reducing costs. Don't close your door to sales rep­resentatives. They may genuinely have something of interest to your establishment. Consider their promotional discounts.

• "Opportunity buys." Don't rule them out. Take a look at items that may soon be discontinued or overstocked merchandise where a supplier has simply miscalculated demand. You could make big savings.

• Cooperative purchasing. Consider "pool" purchasing with other enterprises. It can give you added purchasing power.

• Change purchase unit size. Buy drinks in larger volumes. This can trim costs considerably, particu­larly in the case of liquor purchases where sell-by dates tend to be more generous.

• Place multiple orders. Consider buying your full range of drinks from one wholesaler. It may offer you amazing reductions, especially if it's keen to do business with you on a repeat basis.

Keep Purchasing Procedures Simple

Whatever the size of your operation, certain repetitive purchasing procedures are unavoidable. At the very minimum, a buyer has to complete a purchasing requisition, a purchase order, a shipping instruction, a receiving report and carry out some form of quality control. Purchasing procedures, however, exist for a good reason. Save time, effort and money by simplifying them.

• Change your attitude. Instead of viewing purchasing procedures as an irritation, think of them as a support system. Accurate documentation in this area has rescued many a business  from the jaws of liquidation.

• Concentrate on basics. Buyers should always have adequate purchasing procedures in place. The key, however, is to avoid overkill. If a certain procedure in the buying cycle is irrelevant to your establishment, get rid of it. A written requisition, for example, may not be necessary if you regularly "call off stock ordered on a contract basis. Adapt and be flexible.

• The purchasing requisition. Save time. Establish a pared-down requisition procedure that identifies ongoing requirements and automatically triggers the purchasing cycle.

• The purchase order. No skimping here! The purchase order is a legal contract between purchaser and vendor. Even in small organiza­tions, the purchase order needs to be put in writing. Get it right. It can save time, hassle and money in the long run. A computer-generated purchase order considerably reduces human error.

• The shipping instruction. Keep it simple. This piece of documentation is merely a confirmation of instructions from the buyer to the seller. Whether handwritten or computerized, the shipping instruction needs only to contain simple information. It should include the purchase order number for the shipment, and it, too, should be numbered for record-keeping purposes.

• The receiving report. Again, simplify. Although an important document in the purchasing cycle, it only needs to contain basic information: the quantity and condition of the merchandise, whether the merchandise tallies with the original purchase order, a record of stock shortages, the recipient's signature and the date of receipt.

Define Your Purchasing Duties

It is all too easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day activities of purchasing. Remind yourself, occasionally, of your areas of responsibility. It helps you to focus on doing a good job.

• Don't lose sight of your overall goal. Your responsibility, as a purchasing manager, is to maximize value so that your establishment gets the most for its money. No more, no less.

• The cycle of duties. Always bear in mind that a purchaser's areas of responsibility cover an entire cycle of activities: identifying the needs of the establishment, planning, sourcing merchandise, purchasing, receiving, storing and issuing.

• Control. Effective management and control of the purchasing cycle, with a constant eye on costs, is your number-one duty.

• Dealing with vendors. The purchasing department (even if you are a one-man band) is responsible for all external dealings with vendors. The purchaser should be able to handle all vendor-related queries.

• Avoid taking your purchasing problems onto the "shop floor." Front-of-house personnel will not appreciate interruptions while they are trying to please customers. Apart from emergencies, keep all purchasing queries for later.

• High standards. It is the purchaser's duty to make sure that all merchandise purchased is fit for its purpose and of a consistently high quality. High standards = good value.

The quality of the merchandise purchased sets the tone and standards for the whole establishment. Don't leave quality to chance. Mistakes can be expensive. Word spreads fast and you want a good reputation!

• Be up-front about quality. Make a conscious decision to purchase "quality" merchandise at the stage when the goals of the business are being established.

• The products you are buying must be suitable for their intended use. Studies have proven that the more suitable a product, the higher its quality. Make sure that the quality of any product measures up to the needs of your establishment.

• Quality must apply throughout the establish­ment. When it comes to quality, don't concentrate on alcohol beverages alone. Of course the types of wines, spirits, beers and liqueurs you sell are all crucially important; but don't forget the non­alcoholic beverages, such as quality coffee and soft drinks. Consumers in this sector of the market are a discerning and vociferous bunch! Something as simple as a poor cup of coffee can drive a customer away, never to return.

• Don't compromise on quality. Don't be distracted by poor-quality "offers" or bulk buys that you think, on the spur of the moment, might just "do." They won't. You'll end up regretting the purchase.

• Evaluate each product's quality in relation to cost. The most expensive product is not necessarily the best product for your enterprise. When making purchasing decisions, there is no need to sacrifice quality.

• Look at quality from a clientele perspective. What level of quality do your guests expect? Meet their requirements.

• Review your vendors for quality. Do you suffer from wastage due to poor quality products? Assess the quality level of potential vendors by first asking for samples. Document quality specifications to vendors. It is important to avoid misunderstand­ings.