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So let's talk about what you need to know about the wonderful, dynamic,
challenging, fun world of the restaurant business. The first thing I'd
like to tell you is it's an amazing business, unlike almost any other
that I know of.
In the restaurant world, you source and receive raw materials. You take
those raw materials and you transform them into a beautiful, delicious
product that is highly perishable. You take it and sell it to people
who come to your restaurant, and they take that beautiful product and
put it inside their bodies. You give them an amazing experience. You
treat them well. You care for them for a period of time, and I believe
that in a short period of time, you make their lives better.
Another thing you should know about the restaurant business is that it's
a team sport. It requires everyone to work together, the dining room,
the kitchen, the people who are washing and cleaning, the people who are
receiving the goods. It's a team sport within each part of the
restaurant, between each part of the restaurant, and with outsiders.
It's a team sport with your vendors, with the farmers who grow the food,
with the wineries that produce the wine. It is a team sport that
involves all sorts of collaboration between different types of people
and different skill sets.
Your going to have to be really good at relationships to be good at the
restaurant business. Relationships with your staff, with your
colleagues, with your industry colleagues, relationships with your
vendors, relationships with the community that you're a part of, and
obviously, relationships with your guests. Your guests need to know
that you're interested in them and in making them happy, and you're
going to have to sustain relationships through all sorts of stress and
difficulty and challenges and, yes, good times and fun as well.
One more thing I would say about the restaurant business, it is really
hard work and it is really fun. It's hard work. It's perhaps,
breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. It is physical work. You're on
your feet. You're moving. You're dealing with sometimes unhappy people
that you have to make happy. You're dealing with speed often, stress,
all sorts of challenges, in terms of what happens in the physical plant
of the restaurant or between the personalities on the team. It's really
hard work, but it's also a lot of fun. I can say that for me, not
sitting at a desk all day, but moving and being in the fray, and being
part of the excitement is a very energizing experience and a lot of
fun.