The office desk was buried in thin curls of adding machine tape. A current copy of Urner Barry's Yellow Sheets was on the desk. Lenny, the older brother, asked me: "Can you get rid of all this paper?" I told him I'd help. We discussed a plan to buy a computer, printer and an inventory package. Our goal was to setup a control system to handle the portion control operation and link portions to POS data.
Out in back of the restaurant were two enormous walkin freezers. They were loaded with cases of meat and fish. Lenny is an expert buyer and his former butchering background is a big plus. He follows meat market prices daily and makes large buys from Chicago suppliers when he feels the time is right. The shipments come direct and he pays the freight. The freezers are completely organized and do not resemble the desk in the office in anyway.
Just off one freezer, a team of workers sliced steaks and cryovaced each portion. Trim was handed to a second team grinding 2 way chuck for burger patties. Patties were made in two sizes and boxed immediately. Each box of steaks and burger patties held a specific count.
In the back, another team thawed shrimp and placed 5 each in small monkey dishes. They arranged 24 dishes on a sheet pan. The sheets were fed to tall carts on rollers.
Lenny told me he preferred the line team in the restaurant be totally focused on speed. He did not want any portion control taking place inside. All weighing takes place outside. Every menu item requires a preportioned center of the plate ingredient.
We designed our system to handle the flow of carts, trays, and portions. Yields were calculated on every production activity out behind the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, every menu item count was compared to actual portions consumed. Variance reports were produced.
In the course of examining reports and analyzing variances, we designed other simple control tools to track movement from freezer to prep and from prep to the line. These transfers were examined weekly.
As the system became a full fledged operating tool, Lenny freed up desk space and opened a second high volume restaurant.
From my experience on this project, I developed a strong bias toward focusing on 25 to a maximum of 50 raw ingredients for ideal usage control. Lenny convinced me to avoid scales on the line. Anyone serious about controlling meat and fish usage would be wise to follow his lead.
