It’s certainly time to start planning for Christmas in the Kitchen, October is already upon us and it will be here before we know it. Christmas is a time where many of us flood into restaurants for our work Christmas parties or go out to celebrate with our friends and most loved ones. If you run a good restaurant you are undoubtedly going to see an increase in custom over the festive period and it’s important that you are prepared for this. Working in a kitchen can be stressful enough as it is without any added pressure, so here at Personnel Solutions we have put together some tips to ensure that your head chef and your kitchen staff can cope with what is about to come.
Consider Your Menu – Start thinking about what food and drink you are going to offer over the festive period. You will want to make sure that your head chef and the team know the Christmas menu inside and out. It might be a good idea to start doing some test cook offs to check that your chefs are able to cook the food to the highest of standard. This is also a fantastic opportunity to get some feedback on the food, why not ask some of your regular customers for some honest opinions on whether they think your Christmas Menu will be a winner.
Look at your staff numbers – Are you going to need to take on any temporary chefs or relief chefs to support the Christmas festivities? Many restaurants will take on temporary chefs to keep things running smoothly and to keep up with the increased demand.
Use Social Media – Okay, so we can expect that over the Christmas period your bookings and footfall will increase but to maximise this opportunity why not start to promote your new menu and start getting those bookings recorded so you have some sort of idea of how much stock and how many staff you will need for each day.
Good luck with your planning!
