Behind the Slice

The Sink is Leaking, Who Are You Going To Call?

It is the evening during our dinner rush and we just realized that our sink is leaking. Not just a minor leak but to the point where we are changing pails to capture the water. Since it is late we figured that we would not be able to get someone to come over. We can not leave it like this over night as there would be a flood. Our staff thinks they could fix it ourselves. So we look under the kitchen sink and try to see what we need to get. They take the piece out and I run over to our local hardware store to replace it. Here is what I buy.

We actually fixed it and the sink works great without any leaks. This type of situation has happened often. There has been leaks, refrigeration not working, problems with the pizza oven, a/c over heating, and other equipment not working. Over the years we try to see how the items are fixed when a repairperson comes in.There have been some items that are more problematic which is usually with the refrigeration.  You just need to be ready and also check equipment on a regular basis.  I guess it is part of the restaurant business and it has made be more handy with repairs at home. 

Your in the Restaurant Business, Be Prepared for Schedule Changes

It was early in the morning and I had the morning and afternoon off. I was getting my twin boys ready to go to the public library. We were already in the car when I got a phone call that one of my staff members was running late. At this point I needed to quickly find someone to cover the shift. We would be opening soon and it was a bit late so I went straight to our pizzeria.  I felt bad for my sons since now we had a change of plans.  They have gone through this before and we try to make the best of it.

You will often hear how running a restaurant can have large time commitments. The days are long while arranging a schedule along everyone's hours can be very difficult. All of the weekends and holidays you are preoccupied since this is  your most  busiest time. So in all honesty you really do need to have your passion in this business to flourish. I quickly learned how to cover every shift from cooking to making pizzas. We are fortunate enough that we do not have many emergencies but some do happen. This time it was not that long that we stayed at the restaurant though my twins were getting a little impatient.

 

Overall, they been good with me and seem to understand. I would take them in with me sometimes for emergencies when they were younger as you can see in the pictures below. The positive part is that we try to make a fun day of it by making our own individual pizzas.  That is the nice part about a pizzeria, children do love making their own pizza. 

 

 

Let's Have a Pizza Party!

It is just so wonderful to see children in the delight of making pizza. Out of all the items that children can cook pizza seems to be an all time favorite.  Our second location is large enough to accommodate big groups. We recently added birthday parties and cooking classes for children. This has really been an exciting event for us as we all have so much fun with the different groups that come in.

Most of the parties are done prior to when we open so that the group has use of the full restaurant. Below is the most recent group that came in.  They had an instructional class where we discussed the components of a pizza followed by supplying them with all the ingredients to make their own pizza. After they ate pizza we had them decorate fresh cookies that were baked and they left with extra pizza and their chef hats. Overall, it was a wonderful class.

We have adjusted these parties according to the needs of our guests and we realized that even though this is not usually what we do it is something that allows us to provide a great service to our customers. Actually, the original idea came from parents who suggested that we offer these types of parties. We are pleased that we took their advice. 

 

 

 

This Cake is For You ! Staff Recognition

One of the most important aspects of any business is the quality of employees.  I am always impressed with companies that really place an emphasis on the value of staff. I really believe that employees should be treated well and feel appreciated. We try to do this by our daily interaction and recognition of work well done.
We also try to take the time to celebrate individual special moments. The most popular one we do is staff birthdays. This was started a few years ago by us purchasing a cake and having "Happy Birthday" written on it with the name of the person. We would place candles and sing  "Happy Birthday", later the person would take home their cake.
I did learn after a while to stay with the same cake that was most popular rather than changing it since everyone seemed to like getting the chocolate layered cake and it became more of a tradition. Just the other day we had three birthdays on the same week so here I was ordering three cakes.

I did get attention at the store as this was the first time that we had so many birthdays close together. For us we have found that these cakes work best and our staff really seems to love getting them. This is well worth the investment and it has given us a way to further show our appreciation for our employees by recognizing their special day. 

You Found a Hidden Staff Talent: A Six Step List To Have Them Showcase It

As you get to know your staff you may come across a skill that they have which could be of benefit for your business. When we find a skill that could be useful for our restaurant we really try to encourage it. We especially try to do this in the summer months where we have more time to develop new ideas. These are the months where we are a little slower and also have more staff that is willing to work extra.
By talking to your staff and noticing what there extra interest are you can gain more insight on what talents they have that they can offer for your establishment. Once you have identified a talent that you can utilize in your business here are five simple tasks to promote it that we have found helpful in our restaurant.
1.  Clearly explain the task and how you want it performed.  Here we would sit down with the person and discuss a schedule with what the objections are and when they would be working on along with the hours involved. We also would list these hours on their schedule form and provide it with a description of what they will be doing. Example: Anthony Tuesday 4:00pm to 6:00pm Video Filming of Scottsdale Restaurant.

 
2. Try to define an end result.  What will the product look like? This is especially important if it is something that is not normally performed in your business. We usually write it down and discuss it with the employee prior to them performing the job.

3.  Establish time-lines for the job to be completed. Here you want to make sure that there is an understanding of when the job will be performed and when it will be fully finished.  We place the hours on our staff schedule and also give the employee a list of hours and a designated day of completion.

4.  Allow the employee to have responsibility and authority of the completion of the job assigned. For instance, with the video filming of our restaurant we did allow the overall decisions of filming to be left with the employee. We did provide an outlook of what we would like to see and what our end result would most likely be, but the overall project was within the person's own delegation to complete.

5.  Provide Feedback and Recognition: During this process we try to give our own feedback that is both constructive and corrective. We also give positive recognition for taking on this type of task. We hope to build confidence in them and also show them how we are sincere in being appreciative for what they are trying to do.

6.  Provide Clear Communication on What the Employee Shall Receive:  Here you need to be clear as to what they will receive for the completion of the hours involved in the task. We usually discuss a payment for the hours worked and also give them recognition for what they have done. We hope that they feel rewarded as well in doing what they truly do enjoy and showing us their talent.

Our most recent project was with our oldest son Anthony. He has been working for us but truly enjoys filming videos. Now we have him film short videos for us to place on You-Tube and to later promote on our website. We are able to showcase our restaurant and customers while also enabling him to practice what he really loves to do. 

He made our introduction video which is on our website Redendos Pizzeria and we have received positive feedback from his work. Currently, he is working on showcasing our Scottsdale location as the prior video was from Scottsdale.  I am so proud of him! I wonder how other businesses have allowed employees to show their talent as I am sure there are many different ways to do this.

Oh No Another Staff Member is Leaving!

In the restaurant business you have the opportunity to meet some great people. There also can be a significant change of staff if you employ seasonal help and students. We have always tried to treat our staff well and provide a great work environment. Fortunately, most of our staff stays for longer periods of time and when they leave it is mainly for relocation or if they are going away to college.  Even though throughout the years we have seen staff go it is still hard each time it happens.

We have really tried to maintain a great work environment and show our appreciation for the staff that we have. Some of the things that we  is to provide gifts on various holidays throughout the year, provide individual birthday cakes for each employee, and have staff holiday parties. Their suggestions are taken into account and we also try to thank them for their work when possible.

Just this past month we ended up saying goodbye to Davina who was working in our Scottsdale location.  She just purchased a home in Phoenix so the commute to work would be to long for her. We enjoyed having her work for us and will truly miss her.

Here she is pictured with her boyfriend Tom as she came to visit us and give us this bottle of wine called Mad Housewife (the lady on the bottle looks just like her). I thought it was so kind of Davian to write us a note on how she enjoyed working for us and to give a gift of wine.

Over the years we have enjoyed having former employees come back and visit. I am so thrilled that they really like to stop in and tell us how they are. In some ways many of them feel like family and it is nice that at times they treat us like that as well.

The Fun Behind a Chef's Tour

I often get asked if I feel lucky to be married to a chef and I have to admit I do. The great dishes that can be put together from our home kitchen is amazing. He is a fantastic chef and has made meals from just a few items that we have laying around.  Just the other day our children were commenting on how he could put a great meal together in the time it took us to set up the table. 

Last Friday he was invited to a local chef's tour to visit downtown Phoenix. The tour was the idea of Christopher Gross with the assistance of Terry Madeksza.  We arrived a few minutes late since we were trying to get our restaurants in line for closing in the evening as we would most likely be late from the tour. Unfortunately, we missed the group as they had just left on a trolley from Christopher's Crush Lounge.

We went to the first stop which was Hanny's.  This was such a neat restaurant. I especially liked the slicer at the bar and the vacant elevator that you could walk inside and look down or up as the floor and ceiling were made out of glass. We met the group while having great appetizers and lemon drops. To join the group we left our car (hoping we would not get a ticket if the meter ran out) and joined the trolley to proceed to the Ruby Room. I especially remembered the shots and velvet paintings on the walls.By the time we went to Sens the chefs really started to get along. Soon Aaron May was signing his autograph on James Porter's chest.

The selections of drinks and food were well planned out. At the PastaBar we sat at a long table to a wonderful meal that was great. We continued to The Roosevelt where we had a nice selection of appetizers.Our next stop was the Lost Leaf where it was interesting to see how the bar was an actual kitchen as the place was a restored house. Our last stop was Conspire to get coffee and it was a nice way to end the evening.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sloan Burwell who was very knowledgeable of the dowtown area and the establishments that we went to.It was so enjoyable to be able to talk to her as we sat together at certain times in the trolley.  Actually, she wrote a great recap of the tour at the Chow Bella blog. She really did an excellent job in describing the evening. 

A Memorable Way to Promote Your Business From Networking

The other week I had gone to a chamber networking event where we practiced our elevator speech to each other by sitting in groups of two and eventually changing partners. This was similar to a speed dating type of set up. During this time we also exchanged business cards. I have in the past kept a notebook where I try to keep track of business cards that I get. I have found this to be difficult in finding the best way to sort and refer to them for future use.
Now the other day my staff had told me that someone had stopped by the restaurant and left a package for me. When I opened the packaged this is what I found:

There were two notepads and two "while you were out" pads printed with the company name Print Time , four customized notepads with my full name on them, and a business card from Steve Halter.  He was one of the business contacts I made from the chamber networking event.  I thought the gesture of leaving the products that he made was a great idea. Two days later he called to confirm that I had received the items and mentioned that he can assist with any printing needs that I may have in the future.
This was so unique and a memorable way to follow up with networking contacts. I was very impressed and will consider using this company. Now I am also wondering how I could apply this same type of idea in following up with my contacts beyond filing business cards. I now realize being creative and thoughtful is much more memorable.  Do you have any ideas on this?

Giving Back to Those Who Donate Blood

We recently participated in our local blood drive sponsored by the Noon Kiwanis here in Fountain Hills. Margaret Davis and Liz Smith do an excellent job in coordinating the event and having large amounts of participants. For the two days that the blood drive takes place we provide small versions of our Roman Empire Spinach Salad. They are dropped off and prepackaged with dressing on the side. After someone has donated blood they are welcomed to have a salad to take with them.

 

We have done this a few times and really enjoy it. The original idea came from a customer who asked for a spinach salad after they had given blood. They mentioned that their doctor suggested to have some spinach after donating blood in order to obtain more iron. We thought why not provide salads for all of the people who donate blood in our community. So we coordinated it for the next blood drive and it was well received.

During the last blood drive,  Sara Goodnick was kind enough to make this video of  Fountain Hills Noon Kiwanis Blood Drive .  It was nice to see how a community gets together in providing for others. We are looking forward to the next blood drive.

Restaurants Support Local Golf Tournament

This past weekend we participated in a local fundraiser for our community. The event was the Fountain Hills Community Foundation Golf Tournament that raises funds for local charities in the area. The Fountain Hills Community Foundation provides this event annually. It was a day long event held at FireRock Country Club in Fountain Hills.

This was my first time participating in a golf event and I was amazed by the amount of preparation needed.   Prior to the event there were weeks of advance planning. The other directors from the foundation had already provided such a well organized format for the tournament. They really dedicated their time to organize a memorable day.

For the event we provided raffle tickets for free pizzas along with a small item for each golf bag that was given to the golfers. The bags contained peanuts, a Slim Jim, and a $5.00 gift card to our restaurant. We decided the gift cards would be more valuable to others rather than a discounted coupon. The peanuts and Slim Jim were a last minute addition that seemed to work out well. These bags were prepared by our staff days prior to the event.

During the day of the tournament there were volunteers who assisted in various tasks. The day started early with setting up the registration table and placing all the sponsor signs on the holes. Everyone seemed to work well together and things ran smoothly.

  Overall, the day went fantastic along with raising funds for the foundation. In assisting with this event I learned how much goes into preparing a large fundraiser and how there are so many committed people who give a large amount of their time for others. I was even able to have my husband be of assistance as he checked in on the volunters stationed at the contest holes.

The golf tournament went well and the golfers seemed to have a great time. There were three contest holes and the event lasted almost five hours with a continuation of a dinner reception and raffle drawings. I learned how a golf tournament works and how a groups of people working together can do so much in raising funds for others.