We’ve all been there, sitting in a lovely restaurant but the food is just not up to scratch, restaurants up and down the world are making easily rectifiable mistakes when it comes to their cooking. From ingredients to the equipment used in creating your dish, with simple changes you will be able to see a great improvement in the quality of your cooking.
Ingredients.
When running a restaurant from a business mindset it can be easy to get caught up in how much profit is made, this can lead to cutting corners when it comes to the quality of ingredients that are used in a lot of restaurants cooking. There is no question that the high-quality ingredients make for a delicious meal and with proper research, you can source the ingredients you need at a reasonable price. Local, smaller suppliers are likely to offer competitive prices for bulk food orders and if you stay loyal to the company you can build a mutually beneficial business relationship. Smaller suppliers tend to have better quality produce so you can not only improve your restaurant’s food standard but increase revenue.
Equipment.
The equipment you use to cook is vital to creating a quality meal, if you don’t have the right tools for the job then it can be hard to cook efficiently and effectively. Much like the cost of ingredients being an issue chefs will often lack the necessary catering equipment to do their jobs effectively. Of course, the money has to come from somewhere but saving money and upgrading your kitchen can make a big difference to the quality of food and how efficient the kitchen runs. McFny offers some of the best cooking equipment to fully equip your kitchen and provide chefs with the necessary tools to make delicious food.
Presentation.
How a dish looks can be just as important as taste, particularly within a more upmarket restaurant the customer is paying for the experience and this includes how appetising the meal looks. Chefs often overlook the need for good presentation but it is important to remember the investment the customer is making in your ability to make their dish look just as good as it tastes. The dish could taste amazing but should you make the mistake of plating it up poorly, it can put the customer off as it doesn’t look as appealing to the eye. To combat this I would recommend monitoring the food that is being served and reinforcing the importance of aesthetics to restaurant staff.
Cooking Times.
Something that chefs often make the mistake of would be the cooking times, ensuring food is cooked at the correct temperature and for the correct amount of time is vital for creating a high-quality meal. Serving under or overcooked food is unacceptable when the food is being served to paying customers. Cooking issues can be down to a variety of things from oven settings to leaving the dish under the service lights for too long, chefs must be proficient in recognising when the food is perfectly cooked in order to create a professional meal.
Flavour Combinations.
A final mistake that many chefs are making, particularly in recent years would be the over-complication of flavour combinations. With the increased popularity of weird and wonderful restaurants, it can be easy to want to follow in their tracks and whip up something unconventional. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t and as a chef, it can be hard to critique your own work. To help stop anything too strange being served, ensure all of your recipes are tried and tested by your team and ensure it can be replicated over and over to ensure you are serving uniform quality meals.
