he restaurant industry has always fascinated me from the outside. A high-end kitchen is memorizing to watch and it is natural to wonder what goes on behind the scenes. During the summer following my senior year of high school I decided it was time to get a look at the restaurant industry from the inside. I got an internship at Major Food Group, one of the premier restaurant groups in New York City. Below are some tips I learned that you can follow that helped me land a second internship with Major Food Group the following summer.
Respect the chef’s time: Chefs have extremely limited time and have to manage every second perfectly to ensure customers get their food on schedule and have a great dining experience. Time is even more of a factor when the chef is trying to manage online ordering, while preparing food for customers in the dining area. When I had to explain online order modifications to a chef, I would always write down what I was going to say before communicating. This method saved us both time and made sure we got the order right!
Don’t ask too many questions: I was tasked with digitizing the recipe book that one of the chefs kept on a tiny notepad. The handwriting on the notepad was always messy and sometimes I could not tell how much of each ingredient was supposed to be included. As crazy as it sounds I was told to just make my best guess for ingredient quantities if the writing was unclear. I could ask questions but every time I did the chefs grew increasingly frustrated. I decided to just work on it independently and live with the results.
Amazingly, by looking at pictures of the food items on Yelp I was able to identify some of the ingredients that were missing and I made notes on each recipe that the chefs could check at their own convenience. I received a lot of praise for finishing the task because I was able to complete it without asking too many questions.
Be Professional and Respect Customers’ Privacy: It can be tempting if you are in a restaurant with celebrities or successful business owners to approach them and make conversation. Do NOT talk to them. I saw Leonardo Di Caprio at one of the restaurants and asked my boss if I could say hi. She was not thrilled and made it very clear that it was unprofessional to approach him. Unfortunately, I did not get my picture with the Wolf of Wall Street, but I did do what was best for the restaurant by respecting his privacy.
"In the restaurant industry you have to prove that you are capable and invested in the success of the restaurant." - Gabriel Rogoff
Ask For More Work: I always asked for more work and got the opportunity to do tasks that were not initially part of my internship, including a competitive analysis of the catering market for the opening of a new restaurant location. This can be a key factor in your development as a whole.
Follow directions to the letter: Some directions that my boss gave me made very little sense at first. For instance, I was often instructed to clean counters even though the surfaces looked perfectly clean. I learned later that it was very important to continuously scrub the counters because it gives customers the impression that the restaurant is well maintained. Even though everything might not make complete sense to you at first, you should go along with directions anyway. There is a reason behind everything you are asked to do.
Hopefully these tips help you as you pursue your career in the restaurant industry. Learn as much as you can and always ask for feedback. Good luck!
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