More on Fiori Restaurants

The Caesar Salad will be the same every time you eat at Fiori Restaurant in Echuca.

Michale Fox runs Fiori Restaurant in Echuca and was continually frustrated by the variables in the restaurant business that cannot be controlled – chefs, apprentices, cleaners, waiters, casual staff, quality of food, presentation of meals, etc.

Michael had read Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth Revisited and then went to work on his business to develop a business that works exactly the way that he wanted it to.  To add structure to working on his business, Michael started working with Your Business Works and the E-Myth Mastery Program.

One of Michaels main frustrations was the inconsistency in meals.  For example, the Caesar Salad was made with coddled egg one day and raw egg the next.  Customers who loved the Caesar Salad one week, were disappointed the next.

To overcome this frustration, Michael sat down with the head chef and his senior staff and used the Key Frustrations process and followed the 7 step process.  The outcome from this meeting was to hold the “big cookup” and the development of the Fiori Restaurant Kitchen Guide.

The Big Cookup

The chefs, apprentices and trainees were all asked to come in early one morning to cook up every meal on the menu.  The ingredients of each meal were agreed on and written down.  The way to prepare the ingredients, cook the meal (if required) and present them were also agreed upon and once again written down.

 The local professional photographer came in to take a photo of each meal when it was completed and ready for presentation.  Each photo was then mounted on to a Menu Card and on the back of a card the notes on the ingredients and how to prepare and present the meal were typed.  All the cards were then placed  into the Fiori Restaurant Kitchen Guide.

 The creativity of the chefs has not been taken away, every four months they review the menu and add or subtract meals.  Then the challenge is to train and work with the team to ensure that the meals are produced as planned at the review.

 The trainees and apprentices now prepare meals to the Fiori standard whether the owners and chefs are there or not.  In fact, the kitchen team feel much better about themselves because they know what to do and how to do it now.

 As Michael’s wife Maryanne commented “Now the staff look at the picture.  If the meal doesn’t look like the one on the Menu Card they return the meal and make the adjustments to do so”.

 The result  is that Fiori Restaurant is winning more customers, has increased sales and has been listed in The Age Good Food Guide for two consecutive years.

 Michael estimated that working out this one frustration is worth anything from $35,000 in the

short term to over $100,000 in the longer term.

 If you are ever in Echuca, don’t forget to try out Fiori Restaurant (Phone: 5482 6688).