"Salmonella, Anyone?"

The following is a letter written to the powers-that-be. Who terminated my employment after a somewhat tumultuous ride, a magical mystery tour if you will. It is submitted for your viewing pleasure:


"Hello *****"

I was notified Wednesday night of last week that I didn't make the grade. After running shifts in restaurants for thirty years, I was stunned to learn that at ***** I was unfit for the job. Too laid back; employees would run over me; no sense of urgency; misplaced priorities; ***** is like no other animal-I would get eaten alive; etc. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Why did I feel this way? I was G.M. at Piccadilly Cafeteria for 26 years. I ran shifts. I had sales in excess of $3 million per year. We made most of our food from scratch. And I mean scratch. Not ***** scratch. Even though there are similarities. I managed a staff of over 60. We were always in the top ten in sales and profit. At the Atlanta Airport, I began managing 3 bars on Concourse E. Had no bar experience-didn't even drink much for that matter.

I immediately surveyed the situation at Images ( one of my bars ) which was a casual dining concept. ( 80 seater ) I immediately added staff to the dining room; installed another Micros; added kitchen staff; and began weeding-out the problem employees. I also had weekly meetings with the management staff, who had no direction or sense of purpose. Soon remedied as we began working together and with a purpose. And sales increased and check average increased over one dollar the first month I was there. Why? Suggestive selling and selling large beers vs. small beers which netted a dollar more. And perhaps they began ringing up all of the sales.

My experience! Liability running a shift at *****? From the outset when I arrived at *****, I was perceived as laid-back. Which I am-can't change my personality. But I was stunned to find my training store to be far different from the idealized training I had just received in *****. I know there's a difference in "real world" and "text book" operations-I've been in the business 30 plus years, but I was surprised to say the least.

My first day training on the grill I noticed the wait staff was more interested in talking and having fun than in taking care of the guests. Food sat in the window without anyone caring. And while preparing the trays to be taken out, the wait staff continued to talk with each other with no regard ( in my opinion ) for the guests. I had never cooked "eggs" before, so I was busy trying to learn the grill and the codes for the tickets and the staging of the order so it would all come out together. I struggled with this but did end the week manning one of the egg stations, when we had a $1700 hour, a record from what I was told.

My first Saturday there, I was told by Stevie, while Tom sat in, that I had to step it up a notch. That I had no sense of urgency. I questioned this, because I have always thought of myself as having a sense of urgency when it came to the guests. I also thought how can you tell me this when I haven't seen any semblance of urgency from the staff or the management team. At some point that week I asked Tom how long food should sit in the window? His reply: "one minute." And what do I do if this isn't happening? "Tell me," he said. Frankly, I was shocked to see the lackadaisical attitude from the servers.

I also noticed, while working on the grill, those first few days the buildup of grease on, under, and around the grill area. The filter machine wasn't working, as well, and I mentioned it to Tom or one of the associate managers. The night I worked "night maintenance" I took the hose and thoroughly cleaned the back up area. The tiles behind the mixing bowl ( where the dumplings are made ) were yellow. The tiles underneath the table was never cleaned on a regular basis. I sprayed chemical on the tile and rinsed it with the hot water. And cleaned around the kettles, the floor, under the biscuit ovens, etc.

Another area that was never cleaned was the potato peeler.The first day I worked in backup, I showed Tony how to lift up the bottom and clean the sides. His response: "I never knew that lifted up." And during night maintenance Kartez and I had to scrub thoroughly the dining room floor. Why? Because when the 4 tops were exchanged for 2 tops, it was noticed that the floors down the sides of the floor and in the corners were never cleaned by the night maintenance. It took me and Kartez hours to scrub the floor. Having to empty the mop bucket repeatedly, because the floor was so dirty.

I was also shocked to notice the dishes coming out of the dish machine. I was familiar with a 180 degree final rinse as opposed to a 140 degree one. While learning the grill, I had to go through many dishes each time I needed to plate an order. The servers had to go through 5-6 coffee mugs and glasses to find one suitable for serving it to the guests. The same with the dishes at the server's station. Many times I picked up dishes with grits stuck to the bottoms of the bowls. Being a coffee drinker, I went through many mugs to find one I could use.

The rack that held the dirty pans and dirty dishes was cleaned sporadically. Maybe 3-4 times I was there. And I initiated it once. My thinking was: I'll see the things that are wrong here and attempt to fix them, but because I have little clout, I will look to fix them at my new store.

Which was my bone of contention from the outset. Even though I had 30 years in the food industry, I was regarded as a neophyte, as if I had never served my first guest. Maybe I rankled the status quo by questioning some of the procedures or lack thereof. Stevie still thinks I worked in "fast food." His last parting words of wisdom were: "***** is different from fast food. You have to sustain an intensity all day long." And he also told the staff that fateful Wednesday that I would not be there to spoil them after today, because I was going to *****.

By spoiling them I think he meant I was always there to handle their problems with guests. Either with their orders; helping to bus their tables; comps issues; remaining calm in the face of adversity, etc.

I bonded well with the staff. Some said they were sorry to see me go. Servers, cooks, dishwashers, etc. But I think we enjoyed a professional rapport. One new employee, Jaime, thanked me continuously for helping him get "out of the weeds" one night when he was really struggling.

I have always been about quality. I have always been considered a "food man." I would always notice the brown kernels of corn; the hard biscuits; the dried-out pinto beans; the mushy apples; the stiff mashed potatoes; the soupy mac and cheese; the black green beans; and fix the problem. By throwing away the mushy apples, adding milk to the potatoes, water to the pinto beans, etc.

A guest once told me his pintos were mushy. And he found that to always be the case in this store. And his wife liked beef stew but didn't like it here, because the potatoes were huge and not cut the right size. The beef stew and mac and cheese were never made correctly consistently. The stew was always an afterthought-because we didn't sell much-but the macaroni was a popular item. One guest, while placing her to-go order, asked me if the mac and cheese was runny today. If so, she would order something else.

My last couple of weeks at the store, I was alerting the management staff of what I had accomplished, because I knew I was on the "hot seat." I told Tommy that I had walked by the backup cook who was ready to prepare the baked chicken and noticed the chicken in the obligatory red blood. That I had told him to wash the chicken before preparation.

Tommy told me that I had created a health hazard. Salmonella would now be in the sink, on the walls, and on the floor.

My last two nights there, I corrected a familiar problem. The broccoli-cheddar chicken was always overcooked. And the broccoli was always literally burned or black. My last night, the broccoli-cheddar chicken was served the way it was supposed to. And I suggested to Tommy ( the night prior ) that we should cook off some fresh broccoli and repan the chicken. His response: "We can't cook any broccoli and leave the pan as it is."

One guest had alerted me to the problem earlier in the week when she complained apologetically that her broccoli-cheddar chicken
was burnt ( broccoli ) and the chicken was cold. I immediately went to the kitchen and found the oven to be off. ( mechanical ) I prepared her another order which she took with her. I did use [ the manual ] in addressing the problem.

I am excellent at handling guests issues. And some of the regulars said they may drop by and see me in *****. I handled many guest issues while in ***** and always wrapped them up rather nicely. And touched many tables. And bussed many tables.

In closing, I wanted to tell my side of the story. My first encounter with my d.m. was negative. I was too laid back. I had no sense of urgency. I didn't check to see if a guests' table had received their drinks. I told him a ticket was not ready to go out and didn't get it ready. I didn't check the food.

When I did check the food on his second visit, I was admonished for 10 dirty tables in the dining room. And that I should have anticipated their "getting up." I didn't have the [ medallion ]. I had taken a few minutes to check the food, ( it was 2 p.m. ) and I had remembered what happened on the last visit.

I had told Tom a few minutes earlier that the grits were not seasoned with salt. So I was considered derelict of duty. Salt in the grits was small compared to the ten dirty tables. I agree. However, I was checking all of the food and not just the grits. And was not officially in charge of the dining room.

I wanted to work for *****. I put a lot of effort into it. You put a lot of effort into me. I wanted to tell my side of my experience. I have always been about the quality of food. In training, I wrote down: "Quality of food increases sales." I may have been perceived as having no sense of urgency; however, I disagree. I took care of the guests; and I took care of the staff. And incapable of
running a shift?

Sincerely, v.c.