All In A Days Work: Quality Assurance

No matter how much we would like to be called a networking point or events business, Myst is still essentially an FnB operations that serves food, drinks, desserts and the like. As such our KPI's fall solely under one criterion:

Customer Satisfaction.

I'm not sure how people think. But then again, this guy is starting to look freaky.

One of our friends did advise us on referring to customers as guests - and it is something I really find interesting and applicable - simply because, by addressing our customers as guests, we automatically push up their statures at least by a little. Being in service line, it is only logical that we should treat our customers with utmost respect, thus they are guests. Little things in our patterns of thinking - but I realised that after spending some time addressing them as guests - I actually began to develop a little more respect for the people who dine in with us. And that is certainly a good thing for just about any field in actuality- because I believe the most important element of a business deal or partnership is satisfaction for both parties.

Well, we have other KPI's under the main criterion of course. Amongst them includes, quality of service, quality of food and beverages, quality of the environment and the like. Quality assurance in FnB is of course, ensuring quality of the dishes we serve, and drinks we make. Other aspects such as quality of service is more subjective - though there are base principles to refer to as well.

In ensuring that the quality of the kitchen is maintained, I myself (as the supervisor of the kitchen - I also develop the recipes for the menu) have to constantly conduct quality checks on the dishes coming out from the kitchen. In simple English, its called picking food (not with my fingers of course! Ahm) or in Hokkien (as it is always funnier this way) - 'nie chai'. Kids, don't try this at home - Or you might just lose your dinner :p

Leftovers: The bane of FnB

Then comes the bane of FnB, a taboo not to be uttered under the worst circumstances: Leftovers! And substantial amounts of it! I understand that everybody has different tastes, so there is a slight possibility that our excellent food and drinks did not quite match the guest's palate. On the other hand, the much more likely scenario (as our crew are well, bumbling !@#$ - Hey, I do respect them a lot - its just that they lack .... technical ..skills) is that some 'idiot' just screwed up the recipe or cooking procedure. At this point, I am informed by the server that the guest did not 'eat up'. Then there is only one thing left to do - Become a recycle bin lo..


Yes, yes.. I know the dangers of hand and mouth diseases. One of my crew even asked me if I could get AIDS by eating infected food ( -.-"). Well, lets just sat I guess I am willing to sacrifice my life for the future of Myst :P But what to do? I need to know if the food was up to standard bah.. Maybe we might have some sort of food testing technology in the future to determine the 'deliciousness' factor of a dish >.<. Disclaimer: When tasting leftovers, we still observe the golden rule: Do not do anything to to the food which would make you not want to eat it yourself. If were still willing to taste it - at the very least its from the untouched parts lah!

There was a time I was sharing this with a friend, and when I thought about it from the third person's perspective, we just bawled over on the floor laughing. Seriously - imagine the supervisor chowing down on just about every plate (and then downing it with a half-finished drink) than has more than a nibble left behind by a guest -.-

Ah.. well.. there is a always a price to pay for excellence. Hey, not every item left behind is bad! I actually realised how great our food was at times - so don't blame me for finishing good leftovers!

Sarawak Bloggers: Gathering of the Tribes

On the 15th Jan 2011, we had our first opportunity to meet up the Sarawak Bloggers and some of their members in person via the event called Gathering of The Tribes, somewhat of a Tribal and Tattoo convention held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching over the weekend.

Here is a summary of the event by our representative who managed to get an invitation for the event.

We hope that this would be the beginning of many more events, activities and programs with our partners and affiliates as we build our community around us! A big thanks to the Sarawak Bloggers for providing us the opportunity to be there!

Prologue: Reworking History Pt. 2

After completion of the physical works (About 2.5 months in total - particularly due to minimizing labor costs vai DIY) to get the outlet operational - then came the daunting task of pulling everything together - Implementing a system of operations for the business, and to ensure that it is one that can also generate sufficient income and eventually be profitable to further develop the idea.

This post is a little bit more of the step-by-step procedures to get a FnB outlet into operations - and also the interesting bumps we encountered trying to implement them. Talking about business, it reminds me of a time when we purchased a door sign reading something like this:

Somehow or somewhere we actually developed the business model after these principles LOL.. Oh well...

Generally, FnB operations doesn't seem quite complicated, but then again:

The general sections in an FnB outlet would be something similar to Bar, Kitchen, and Front. We had to then address each section individually:

FRONT
Scope: The serving area, hand wash basin, restrooms and basically everywhere a guest is allowed to access


The front's sole purpose is literally to serve guests well from arrival, seating guests, serving them the menus, receiving orders, moving orders to the kitchen, serving out dishes and drinks, presenting the bill, and finally sending off guests as they leave and cleaning up the dining area. Not that complicated, but in practice we certainly do have numerous little blunders here and there, especially in keeping the front row organized and avoiding a mess of dishes and orders.

In simpler terms, the front is the cushion between guests and well, the management (or staff). It cushions any incoming assaults from the guest's end and vice-versa (Yeah... we do try counter attack a lot too) - all while serving with a big smile whether they like it or not. Quite crucial actually, considering that the front is all that the guests will experience.

BAR
Scope: The cash register, serving counter, drinks making counter, and also chillers and freezers for the bar

Moving on to the bar or drinks making section, this sections runs the responsibility of keeping guests happy while the kitchen struggles to prepare the food to fill their empty stomachs. Shall the kitchen be delayed - we stuff them full of water, juices, milk, and various sweet stuff - hoping that it will keep their cool, and also add on to the 'fullness' of their meal :P

KITCHEN
Scope: The whole food preparation area, and storage for stocks.

The kitchen has only the sole purpose of churning out food as fast as they can, under any conditions whatsoever - whether the stock pot is full or not, whether or not there is meat in the fridge, whether or not there are any onions left (yeah, you get the idea). While doing so, they are required to juggle the 3 ends of the equation: Fast, Good, Cheap >.< As much as we would like to force our guests to choose only TWO, unfortunately we still require their 'moneh', so as the common saying goes:

Fast, Good, Cheap, and A lot!

Well, that was the easy part - planning that is.. Hell came when we tried to implement the menu and put it into operations where we had no choice but to slash nearly a quarter of our proposed items due to operational issues -> Storage space, active stock capacity, preparation time, and more importantly the capacity for the crew to duplicate the preparation procedures accurately.

Other issues came to fore - right down to little petty squabbles between crew members, issues with simple personal hygiene and cleanliness and well, we had no choice but to address them one by one. Things grew pretty complicated quickly, especially with the limited number of 'heads' to keep sections managed well.

There were fun quirks though - During our training for the crew, there were times the kitchen sent out fried rice in the shaping bowl and guests complained of eating from a flower pot, not to mention drinks tasting worse than your grandma's healthy juice concoction and waiters bumbling over themselves trying to serve out dishes and take orders.

A recent shot of the crew - yep were still goin

Somehow, we made it - at a cost of course, simplified as 'training expenses' - oh well, money can still settle a lot of our problems after all.. With the first week over and clear - the message was clear - its either to make it succeed and build the dream, or let go and let it fall with a big hole in our pockets. Sometimes we do wonder why its worth it all after all. Many of us could continue living easier lives off the 'makan gaji' with our educational background. But I would guess we have a bigger idea in mind while its still possible.