So we have been in the process of getting ready to roll out a new menu. It’s exciting and tedious. The exciting part is of course the testing of new items. Make it the first time and it’s needs more salt, less salt, more onion, no onion, some of this, some of that, etc. Once you have decided on the items you want to add, then it’s time to test them on the customers by putting them on special and getting customer feedback. Then the tedious part begins. Costing and typing. Sure, you start out with the basic recipe that gets typed in, but nobody has time to make all the little changes you make along the way. Now it’s time to finalize all those recipes and get the final cost.
But then, you have a fellow manager who has ‘issues’ to say the least. Unhappy with your job, move along, easy peasy one would think. Not for this one. Instead, she went on a sabotage spree and wiped out the entire database with the standardized recipes plus a few other things. We had ALL of our recipes typed and thankfully printed. Now you might think, so, what’s the big deal, type out those 30 (40, 50, whatever) menu items out, except that those 30+ items have recipes within recipes. Salad dressings, sauces, marinades, rubs, spice blends, and on and on. So what should take a 70wpm typist a day or so to type, takes a whole lot longer, especially when you are down a manager for a couple of weeks and then training the new one, then vacation time for everyone.
After several months, we are FINALLY at the point of getting ready to send the menu to the printer. Of course, then you have more fun on the horizon. Getting the staff familiar with the new menu and then rolling it out and bracing for the customer backlash when their favorite item (the least popular on the previous menu) has been axed.
I’ll be glad when it’s done so I can quit being Typist and get back to being Manager.
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