Executive Chef’s Role In Managing A Hospitality Enterprise – A Case Study On Hilton Hotel

Role of Executive Chef in Managing Front and Back House of Operation

Question:

Discuss About The Hospitality Enterprise Managed By The Chef?

Hilton Hotel is one of the famous hotels in Sydney with its high end restaurants. Hilton Hotel has dining restaurants for its customers and it provides great quality service. This paper will analyze the interview of an executive chef of the hotel. The restaurant is famous for its various famous dishes which are available at an affordable price to the customers. The chef manages both the front house of operation and back house of operation. There must be proper communication between the front house and the back house which has to be managed by the chef. It is also important to analyze the cost of operation so that it will benefit both the management and the customers. The customers must be provided better service at an affordable cost (Karatepe et al. 2014).

An executive chef of Hilton hotel will build the reputation for the hotel by maintaining by managing, developing and training the team members of the kitchen. The chef manages the kitchen brigades and provide them necessary training. Hilton is one of the leading hospitality company which is operating globally. The chef has the ability to implement new plans and bring changes in the food so that customers will be attracted to try out new cuisines (Molina-Azorín et al 2015). An executive chef of Hilton hotel also tries to bring innovative ideas so that it yields profit oriented results to the hotel. The chef is able to convince others and should possess excellent cooking skills so that it becomes easy for his colleagues to admire him or her (Sachs et al. 2014). Moreover, the chef can also confront various challenges and work co-operatively in the group. The chef is also able to fulfill the demands of the customers and provide them the right cuisines of their choice. The chef also mentioned that he frequently visits the customers and ask them about the feedback and tastes so that they can bring improvement and change the taste of the food (Benavides-Velasco et al. 2014).

Front of house operation refers to that part of the restaurant where all the staffs works especially outside the kitchen. This is generally the public area of the restaurant.The chef has mentioned that to maintain and attain profitability, it is important that the restaurants can generate the food costs between 28% and 35% without hampering the quality. The food cost can affect the bottom line of the business if it is too high. The chef has also mentioned that it is important to prepare the menu in such a way so that it can be easily altered. The chef has mentioned that they must also know the options or the alternatives which are available so as to satisfy the customers. They always try to provide the customers related or alternative cuisines so that the customers do not get disappointed (Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés 2015).

Cost Control Measures for Improving the Bottom Line of the Business

Back of house operation includes that part of the restaurant which is not visible to the public. It involves the kitchen and the storage room in the restaurant. The chef has mentioned that it is necessary to streamline the waste reduction. They always use written recipes so that the proportion or the amount of spices or seasonings is proper. Moreover, the chef has also mentioned the importance of weekly inventories so as to keep a track of the food that is wasted and adjust the inventory accordingly. This has also helped them in identifying the losses of the restaurants and improving the order process. The executive chef also has to manage the other kitchen staffs and take important decisions. They also have to bear the responsibility to preparing special menus for festival seasons. The chef also has to take care of various administrative tasks and hire the kitchen staff according to the specialization (Ali and Amin 2014).

The food and beverage establishments involve huge processes which are associated with receiving, storing, purchasing the raw materials. The chef has mentioned that at each stage of operation, there are certain cost control measures which will help in mitigating the problems. The chef has highlighted the role of standards which is vital and necessary to make comparisons or judgments. Maintaining standard and quality of the food is the vital responsibility of the chef. Moreover, there must be certain standard procedures which are necessary for preparation of the food items within limited cost. Several steps must also be taken to improve and maintain hygiene conditions. Proper training is provided so that it becomes easier for all the employees to understand their duties. The most important aspect of cost control which has to be followed by the chef is to prepare the operation budget which will help in giving a forecast of the sales activities and the overall business volume (Gin Choi, Kwon  and Kim 2013).

It has been found that the executive chef of Hilton hotel has tried to maintain cordial relation with the employees as well as the customers. The chef has overcome the various challenges and provided quality food to the customers. As this industry is facing steep competition with its other competitors, it is necessary for the chef to maintain the quality of the food in an affordable price. It has been found that the main role of executive chef is to implement new ideas and plans so that it will improve the business of the hotel. As the head of the kitchen, the chef must also monitor the activities of the employees so that they provide the necessary training to the employees and thus it will help in improving their business as well as customer satisfaction (Jani and Han, 2014). The chef must also take care of various kinds of administrative tasks. There must be mutual trust and respect among the employees so that they can provide the best services with quality food to their customers. It has also been found that the chef must prepare the menu in such a way so that it can be easily altered if any particular item is not available. It is also important to track and manage the inventory cost so as to control and reduce the food wastage. The chef can also raw materials on credit so as to reduce costs. To stay in competition with its competitors, it is necessary to change the menu of the restaurant and include their traditional cuisines in festive seasons. The executive chef must take care that the kitchen brigades serves food to the customers at an appropriated time. If they do not do that, it is the duty and responsibility to look into the matter and solve the problem. Emphasis must also be provided to cost control materials (Saleem and Raja 2014). There are certain cost control measures which are to be taken by the management as well as the executive chef. This will help in improving the quality as well as standard of the food. Moreover, direct interaction with the customers will help the chef in knowing their demands and thus it will help the hotel in improving the performance. The back house cost control measures will the chef in identifying the losses of the restaurants and improving the order process. The chef must also prepare the menu in such a way so that it can be easily altered. The chef has mentioned that they must also know the options or the alternatives which are available so as to satisfy the customers. It is also the responsibility of the chef to take care of reduction of wastage of food. The food must be provided in proper quantity so that people do not waste it. Thus, it is important that an executive chef carries out all the duties in a responsible manner ((Leung et al.2015).

Reference List

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Benavides-Velasco, C.A., Quintana-García, C. and Marchante-Lara, M., 2014. Total quality management, corporate social responsibility and performance in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, pp.77-87.

Gin Choi, Y., Kwon, J. and Kim, W., 2013. Effects of attitudes vs experience of workplace fun on employee behaviors: Focused on Generation Y in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(3), pp.410-427.

Jani, D. and Han, H., 2014. Personality, satisfaction, image, ambience, and loyalty: Testing their relationships in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 37, pp.11-20.

Karatepe, O.M., Beirami, E., Bouzari, M. and Safavi, H.P., 2014. Does work engagement mediate the effects of challenge stressors on job outcomes? Evidence from the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.14-22.

Leung, X.Y., Bai, B. and Stahura, K.A., 2015. The marketing effectiveness of social media in the hotel industry: A comparison of Facebook and Twitter. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 39(2), pp.147-169.

Molina-Azorín, J.F., Tarí, J.J., Pereira-Moliner, J., López-Gamero, M.D. and Pertusa-Ortega, E.M., 2015. The effects of quality and environmental management on competitive advantage: A mixed methods study in the hotel industry. Tourism Management, 50, pp.41-54.

Nieves, J. and Segarra-Ciprés, M., 2015. Management innovation in the hotel industry. Tourism Management, 46, pp.51-58.

Sachs, C., Allen, P., Terman, A.R., Hayden, J. and Hatcher, C., 2014. Front and back of the house: Socio-spatial inequalities in food work. Agriculture and Human Values, 31(1), pp.3-17.

Saleem, H. and Raja, N.S., 2014. The impact of service quality on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and brand image: Evidence from hotel industry of Pakistan. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 19(5), pp.706-711.