Any tips for first time expediter?
So I found out ill be expediting this week and I have never really done it before, any good tips so I don't fuck up hard?
Posted Sep 29, 2015, 3:09 AM UTC
917
Grow an extra brain
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This is the correct answer.
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Keep extra towels handy!!!
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As a expo it's your job that every plate goes out the way it should. Know every dish on the menu. If you get a ticket and it says "pasta primavera- no carrots" then it better not have carrots. It's your job to control the flow of the line. Think of it this way, you are the last wall of defense before food goes to the table. You should be checking every single plate that goes out. You might even have to fire orders. It's a important job so don't slack. I suggest taking a menu home and studying it.
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its also really nice to remind your cook when you fire that table. Fire this this and this, No Carrots!
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You control the flow, don't let the flow Control you
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I did a bit of expo and heres what I picked up along the way that might help:
1. Keep your cool. If you get crazy, it goes down hill from there. The FOH is relying on you just as much as the back of house. I can't stress how important the communication is with BOH is which brings us to -
2. If there is a "Main" or Head Chef, communicate with them before running to other cooks. He or she is the voice of that kitchen, you tell them what you need and they will do it.
3. Don't let the servers boss you around, you are the man/woman. You are expo. You are keeping the flow smooth. If they start running plates to tables that are incomplete (if you push the tables out as wholes and not as-per-ready), tell them sternly to never do that again. You say what goes and when.
4. Keep a notepad (a servers pad works well), a pen and a sharpie or magic marker near round. It comes in handy.
5. Don't let plates go out a mess. If the food looks like slop, don't let it go. That's just a given.
I'm kinda tired right now, so thats all I can muster up. But if I think of anything else I'll let ya know. Hope all goes well!
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Keep a note pad and pen on your person. A 3"x5" spiral-bound one kept in your breast pocket works well. If someone tells you something that's complicated or confusing, write it down. This goes for someone explaining your job responsibilities, giving you special instructions, a message for the someone, etc.
It's really easy to forget things while you're training, especially if you're asked to remember a dozen things at once. Having the information with you can save you having to run around crazy trying to find someone so they can tell you something for the second time.
And if you get a reputation as a person who only needs to be told something once, you'll look like a gunslinger.
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The funniest/most effective expoing I've ever seen was when our sous would jump up there on a week night if we got hit hard (normally he would be on the line, expoing from there, but if it got busy he would jump up)
We had a lot of irate and high strung servers who would often panic at any sign of stress/weeds. They would come back to the line demanding X,y or z and everyone would just stop cooking and stare. Literally like in the Santa clause when tim Allen says there's no such thing as Santa Claus at the North Pole and all the elves stop working and stare.
Just imagine 5 line cooks and the sous just staring it you. Then the sous would address you, as Bernard did to tim Allen, and tell you to go back out onto the floor, think about what you need, then come back and calmly relay which tables you would like fired.
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Don't yell, it doesn't help.
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Ask the Chef, what he or she wants from you. Make sure you know how the dishes are supposed to look and finally make sure the waitstaff knows who the boss is, do not let them run rough shot over you.
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Clear and sound voice. You don't need to speak 100 words a second, slow things down a little and make sure everyone who needs to know what they are doing know what they are doing. Make sure if you ask a question, you get an answer. Don't worry about being too 'hard' on people. There's nothing worse then a leader who is being a little bitch and getting pushed around. You're the boss, you're in charge. Things are going your way. This does not however, give you the right to be a snarky cunt. The most important thing is standards. Youre he one sending the food, you're the one who's standards matter. If something isn't right, you tell the person right away. Hammer it to them that it's not good enough. You're now the face of the restaraunt.
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Relax, stay organized, and don't let the servers just grab shit:)
I see thats a big problem quite a bit, they grab shit but don't take chits.
Sign all your tickets when they go out. Starters at 42 went at 8:15, they shared 2 starters in 4 people. the 2nd course takes 12 minutes? don't wait for the busser to clear the table to fire, ask a few minutes after the plates are dropped how they are doing at 42, if they didn't touch the plate yet and they are chatting wait to fire, are they attacking the food fire that shit
Or they grab plates and just go without informing you causing you and the kitchen to panic thinking plates are missing.
The worst.
Relaxing is probably the biggest part, or if you are not relaxed act like you have it under control. If you lose control the servers lose control which puts more stress on everyone in the back and it can create a giant free-for-all style clusterfuck. If you look like you have your shit in order (even at times you are in the weeds) and stay calm things will always work out better than yelling and creating confusion.