Christmas thoughts...

THINGS YOU CAN ONLY SAY AT CHRISTMAS

1: I prefer breasts to legs.

2: Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.

3: Smother the butter all over the breasts.

4: If I don't undo my trousers, I'll burst !

5: I've never seen a better spread!

6: I fancy a little dark meat for a change.

7: Are you ready for seconds yet ?

8: It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it ?

9: Just wait your turn, you'll get some !

10: Don't play with your meat !

11: Stuff it up between the legs as far as it will go.

12: Do you think you'll be able to handle all these people at once ?

13: I didn't expect everyone to come at the same time !

14: You still have a little bit on your chin.

15: How long will it take after you put it in ?

16: You'll know it's ready when it pops up.

17: Just pull the end and wait for the bang.

18: That's the biggest bird I've ever had !

19: I'm so full, I've been gobbling nuts all morning.

20: Wow, I didn't think I could handle all that and still want more

Tis the "Season to be Jolly"...

Well as Christmas fast approaches I thought it would be a good idea to share a heart warming quote I recently came across on another blog…

It is from a small little restaurant in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the South of France.

The owner affectionately known as “Chef in heels” overheard a local French customer say

"Dommage il faut allez chez les Anglais pour bien manger"...

Translated:
“Such a shame we have to go to the English to eat well!!! (meant as a compliment).

So one in the eye to the French!!!

Fish & Chips – reign supreme…

Those of you who know “Pappa Cod” well will know I am a big fan of the establishment “Chez Fred” in Westbourne, Bournemouth.

I have long said this is the epitome of what good fish and chips should be and it still continues to impress.

The owner Fred Capel once a chef himself has built up and enviable business that delivers consistently good well-sourced fresh fish and properly cooked chips but also I have to say really does understand the value of building a database of customers and the marketing it does with them.

The “little sprat” really loves this place especially their “sprat pack – kids menu” not only for the colouring competition and fishy related quiz questions etc but without fail each year for the past 3 years she has been sent a birthday card with an invite to claim a free meal… as long as she brings an adult with her. Simple but exceedingly effective to get us all back again…

Every table also has a customer comment card that is so well worded it makes filling it out a real pleasure. On top of that the fish and chips is really the outstanding feature. Even when they get it wrong (a nearby table on a recent visit complained their fish was undercooked) they dealt with it swiftly, professionally and in a sustainable way ensuring the customer felt truly valued.

It impressed me so much I left my glasses behind on the table and when I returned to collect them 30 minutes later I very nearly reordered my meal… but that would have just been greedy…

Little Chef - nothing has changed

It was a cold wet November evening and feeling in need of a break on a journey around the M25 on the way to the south coast we pulled into the car park of a Little Chef on the A3.

It has been many a year since walking into one of these establishments and it was like going into a time warp. It seems like time had stood still with a menu gargantuan in size appealing to all possible markets.

Any way our simple choices made were delivered promptly and the resulting items ordered were edible and fulfilled the need.

It was however the surroundings that seemed to have changed little in the last 20 years with an almost totalitarian feel to it, chairs with a leatherette covering were uncomfortable and had clearly seen better days few were not damaged by exploratory fingers.

The final nail in the coffin was the smelly toilets that welcomed you on arrival and ensured you left as quickly as possible… the crap in the bowl was the final straw… it might be their 50th year in existence but they really do need a makeover and revamp to bring them into the new millennium!!!

I think I will give them a miss for the next 20 years and see if things have improved on my next visit!!!

A Bonus… to give or not to give that is the question?

I had a situation recently where a candidate was offered a job with a good basic salary then enhanced by a bonus scheme.

What’s wrong with that I hear you ask?

Well in all honesty nothing really. However, a discussion with the candidate got me thinking.

A bonus is all well and good but it only achieves its desired effect if it is actually achievable. The incentive it offers mean nothing if the person it is designed for feels it becomes a bigger issue than just doing the job they are employed to do properly. Thus the bonus only becomes worthwhile when it is not such a big issue.

On starting a new job there is a great deal to focus on and in some respects depending on what the issues have been prior to the new person starting. Making a bonus part of the package can be come a big negative.

Perhaps the solution should be to make the bonus something that kicks in a bit further down the line once the person has settled and then really make it something they can achieve.

I guess anything above and beyond a basic salary is not to be mocked but there is a strong case to perhaps question the validity of a bonus scheme from day one.

Pure genuis...

For those of you who know “Pappa Cod” you might put me down as an endangered species but I am trying to embrace all that is new hip and “with it” in terms of technology and the “new media”

I am pleased to say I have come across some good uses of what is now deemed to be the new way of communicating… "Facebook" is a modern phenomenon that has caught the imagination of a younger generation that shows no fear.

The “Hospitality” business has yet to embrace this fully but I am pleased to say I have seen some good uses of it though.

One place in particular stands out YPolyn a small rural restaurant in South Wales is using Facebook to build a database of customers who they can communicate with quickly in a very targeted way.

They are creating what is effectively an exclusive club as access to it can only be achieved by signing up to Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carmarthen-United-Kingdom/Y-Polyn/15605940141Polyn/15605940141

I'm amazed more serious use of this medium has not happened yet but I guess it will only be a matter of time as the industry wakes up to what possibilities lay out there for them.

On another note YPolyn seems to be well ahead of the game by registering the cleverly named http://www.creditcrunchlunch.co.uk/ domain name as long ago as May 2008...

Pure marketing genius but then again I would expect nothing less from the stable of Wright and Manson…

http://www.ypolynrestaurant.co.uk/

Jamie Oliver...saint or sinner?

The current offering of Jamie Olivers latest TV programme "Jamies Ministry of Food" is getting its current airing on UK television.

Yet again he seems to have found the spot with its content and aim to try and get a group of "non cooks" to take up cooking and then pass it on. A simple idea that seems to have caught the imagination of a nation now happy to live off processed ready meals and junk food.

Much has been said about his use of expletives but really does the "public" not realise by now what it is all about being a chef...

You have to take your "toque" of to him for yet another winning formula...

All the meat right down to the bones...

Welcome to the chefs net blog... we have finally got our act together... Pappa Cod just needs to think about what he wants to say...