Young Athens chef trying to explore food.

[ThuurstonM]

Good morning all. My name is Antwon and i work at Porterhouse Grill in Athens, Georgia. Our menu is static with the exception of soups, catch of the day, special salad/appetizer, and a chef's special. In a different city these would be the places where one would showcase their creativity and also how their mind and approach to food works. The challenge here is the ongoing struggle between the never changing menu and the olde southern customer who just wants steak and starch, the struggle between a limitless amount of possibilities versus keeping food cost in the low thirties, and the struggle of wanting to experiment and a frugal, frugal, frugal, did I mention frugal owner? Some very exciting things are about to happen in food and it would be unfortunate to miss out based on demographics...what can be done to make specials resonate with clientele without stepping on toes or insulting(dumbfounding) repeat and new customers?

A steakhouse is a steakhouse but why be a robot? We have other product to move and semantics shouldn't be a factor, in my mind, to an enjoyable experience.

[Lan4Dawg]

we have eaten at Porterhouse on several occasions and you are correct--it is boring--and our last two visits were disappointing which is why we do not return. There is a niche for a great steak house in Athens and I wish Porterhouse would fill that niche. Five & Ten proved that "cutting edge" could work in Athens so one would think you could branch out some what.

You are stifled by being in a "college town" in addition to the other problems you mentioned. The first step to achieving greatness would be to up-grade to prime beef (that was part of our disappointment the steaks kept getting worse instead of better). The second would be to do some unusual appetizers or perhaps considering wild game. The possibilities are endless and good luck.

[joiei]

Hi ThuurstonM, welcome to eG. There are enough people with ideas in these parts, keep asking questions.

Can you do speicals to try and expand the palate of the menu? If so, work on some apps and some different meat presentations. I know your in a small southern college town, but work on trying to go beyond what is expected in that town. There is some pretty good music happening there, so there should be some good food also. I would say for inspiration, go to Atlanta. I wouldn't try to overwhelm them at first, be creative. Coming from a small southern city, it mostly does not take much to impress the pants off of them. Do different things with grits, stuff they have never seen and wouldn't see.

Best of luck.

[chefATL]

You might want to go see Lamar at East-West Bistro. He does some great food too.

[ThuurstonM]

You might want to go see Lamar at East-West Bistro. He does some great food too.

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Thanks Chef. I actually worked there for a year and a half and I'm just making the switch from line cook at east west and I'm up for a possible shot at sous for Porterhouse in a about a month. I have a good understanding of the scope of food from presentation down to the nutritional aspects. So I'm using my home kitchen as atest kitchen and I'm going to present some ideas to my head chef once I've got everything at a functional level.

[joiei]

You might want to go see Lamar at East-West Bistro. He does some great food too.

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Thanks Chef. I actually worked there for a year and a half and I'm just making the switch from line cook at east west and I'm up for a possible shot at sous for Porterhouse in a about a month. I have a good understanding of the scope of food from presentation down to the nutritional aspects. So I'm using my home kitchen as atest kitchen and I'm going to present some ideas to my head chef once I've got everything at a functional level.

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good for you, go for it. You will learn more doing this, it is a valuable experience.

[whifflechef]

You are in a tough position but one that I beleive is becoming more and more typical. Your restaurant issue as far as creativity is concerned is sweeping the nation from major cities all the way down to small towns. The constant expansion of upscale casual chains with cookie cutter menus is crushing the creativity of the small restaurateur by numbing the palattes of consumers. But that is another issue and a longer discussion.

As a chef / owner who now has a place that is very creative but started out with the same frustrations i would do a couple of things.

First I would talk to your chef about the ability to be creative. In order to experiment you need to have product and your chef is obviously numbers conscious so he/she might not be willing to stray from the norm with orders, especially perishable ones. It will be very frustrating to start work on a project and have the chef look up and deny your needs.

Second, a frugal owner is a good thing. You are entering a business where every penny matters and a low food cost can be the difference between staying open and closing doors. The low thirties is pretty acheivable and standard throughout the industry; wait until you work for someone who wants it in the twenties. Besides he/she might have some good tricks or techniques that would benefit you in the future. Also, being cost conscious forces creativity through utilization, a way to keep cost down.

Third, a steakhouse is a steakhouse. It is an opportunity to perfect cooking skills, every steak, veg and potato cooked perfectly, no broken sauces, etc. I know it sounds cheesy but a super creative dish will taste like crap if it isn't cooked right and there are a lot of people out there who forget that. If you do get the job it is a great way to learn management skills as well. A chef who knows how to manage will free up hours of time in the future, time that allows experimentation.

Lastly, I think you are right about the direction of the culinary world right now; but then again it has always been a world in motion and every generation breaks new ground with young cooks who have the drive to learn. Every restaurant and everyone you work with will have something worth learning. Set your goals and decide on your path, then make sure the restaurant your at is a step in that direction. But keep in mind that there will definately be some broken sauces, so to speak, so learn from them and move on.

[chiantiglace]

I am not really sure how the place is set up, but why not catch notice from your consistent customers by changing non-essential items. If you know 20 people are going to bitch about you replacing their prime rib with grilled salmon entree, try changing its accompniments. If its all getting baked potatoe and vegetable medley, try changing that for instance. Set up a menu (different style so customers automatically know to look for changs) and change what comes with the featured item. If you get good feed back on how much they liked the marinated asparagus over the broccoli they are used to eating, that just gives you an edge for the future of biggere changes/experimenting. Besides, if someone gets mad over a side dish they still won't be as mad as they would be over the loss of a favorite 'cut'.

The upgrade sounds like a pretty good idea too, to prime.

I still think if you put out consistently 'killer' soups and appetizers, maybe even desserts, you will gain a clientel that will want some experimentation on the entree side.

It is one hell of a ladder to climb, but if you are willing to take the time I say these are your best choices.

[RyuShihan]

Another idea would be to trim down your menu of less viable items and maybe adding a small 10 item Tapas menu that rotates. You can use items around the house to make stuff or bring in items and see how they sell, it keeps you from commiting to alot of product.

Edited June 21, 2006 by RyuShihan (log)

[ThuurstonM]

I am not really sure how the place is set up, but why not catch notice from your consistent customers by changing non-essential items.  If you know 20 people are going to bitch about you replacing their prime rib with grilled salmon entree, try changing its accompniments.  If its all getting baked potatoe and vegetable medley, try changing that for instance.  Set up a menu (different style so customers automatically know to look for changs) and change what comes  with the featured item.  If you get good feed back on how much they liked the marinated asparagus over the broccoli they are used to eating, that just gives you an edge for the future of biggere changes/experimenting.  Besides, if someone gets mad over a side dish they still won't be as mad as they would be over the loss of a favorite 'cut'. 

The upgrade sounds like a pretty good idea too, to prime.

I still think if you put out consistently 'killer' soups and appetizers, maybe even desserts, you will gain a clientel that will want some experimentation on the entree side.

It is one hell of a ladder to climb, but if you are willing to take the time I say these are your best choices.

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how is the culinary treating you? I had a friend go through a couple of years ago and he seemed to benefit from it. I'm doing the independent study through the ACF but with working all the time it's difficult. Is cia tiugh to get into? And do they offer financial aid?