Successfully Run Your Culinary Operation
So It's NOT Running You.
Transform from burnt out and overwhelmed to organized, systemized in the office, and highly productive in the kitchen
with Beyond the Food: Mise en Place for the Executive Chef.
Do you feel like your culinary operation is running you? As an Executive Chef, you were likely promoted based on your ability to cook. But, if you’re lucky, cooking makes up only 20% of the job.
So what about the other 80%?
The Executive Chef position should be seen as an EXECUTIVE role, not that different from a CEO. Primarily, it’s a leadership role requiring executive function. The role requires the skills to effectively manage time, budgets, a staff, build a culinary culture, organize, communicate, lead, and motivate your team. These essential skills are often overlooked and rarely taught, yet they comprise 80% of the job's responsibilities.
That's what Beyond the Food: Mise en Place for The Executive Chef covers- the other 80% of the job. This mission of this program is to transition you from feeling frustrated with staffing and exhausted from constantly running in operations to becoming systemized, organized, and highly productive. This way, you can focus more on mentoring your team and return to doing what you love- creating in the kitchen.
The 5 Pillar Process
1. Boundaries
2. Baselines
3. Expectations
4. Leadership
5. Execution
You will build 2 principle tools that will allow you to run, manage & administrate your operations:
1: The Culinary Program Playbook
So you have your standards clearly defined, using a brand approach to SOP’s, employee attraction, onboarding, evolution, culture development, expectations, management & production.
2: The Executive Chef Score Card
So you can measure what matters most to you and make the micro-adjustments necessary to run your operation on databased decisions.
Beyond the Food is for you if:
- You feel like your culinary operation is running you
- You can’t take a day off without emergency calls
- You feel like you are carrying the program
- You’re trying to focus on higher level work but are constantly getting pulled into line level operations
Join to Receive Lifetime Access
MASTERMIND GROUP COACHING SESSIONS
Join our Live Mastermind Group Coaching Sessions once a week with Chef Gerald L. Ford, CMC. These calls are designed for you to get access to support, guidance, and answers.
PRIVATE COMMUNITY
This is a resource to ask other Executive Chefs questions, share your work, and support others.
Beyond the Food is approved for 30 ACF CEHs.
Success Stories
“I have implemented the calculator and better job descriptions for what our kitchen needs.”
CHEF DERRICK CONNOR
“We are getting better organized; communicating better; setting standards; building a foundation for future growth.”
CHEF RANDY PYREN
“I'm becoming a better chef and leader. I'm communicating my vision to the team and guiding them to achieve these goals. As a team, we are more proactive and approach the day with purpose. This will create a better culture and lead to a better club.”
CHEF DAVID VLACH
“The club’s never had a system, everything was “shoot from the hip.” Now we do. I’ve changed the SOP’s, made the job descriptions clearer, and defined processes for my team.”
CHEF BRANDON GROSS
“I’ve introduced the ‘Culinary Playbook’ across my team, which has significantly inspired them and established strategic alignment. Now, my team sees what the expectations are and the ‘Culinary Playbook’ acts as a guide for them to ensure their success in their outlets.”
CHEF ANDREW VAUGHN
"I thought I had a fairly good culinary program written. I had recipes, spreadsheets in excel, prep sheets. I was missing out on the lives of my two children because I was always at work.
Now, I'm “predictable” to my staff, I implemented systems and am now the “general” running a professional kitchen with more time to spend with my family."
CHEF BRANDON GROSS
About
Chef Gerald L. Ford, CMC
One of 73 Certified Master Chefs and former Captain of the National Culinary Team USA, Chef Ford had stops in Michelin Starred Restaurants, The Moulin de Mougins and Eleven Madison Park. Over his career, Master Chef Ford has established himself as a professional who is focused, driven, innovative and organized beyond obsessive.
During his 30 years in the food service industry, Master Chef Ford was part of the opening team at The Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle, NYC. He also served as part of the opening team of several restaurants in New York State and worked for the Four Seasons & Ritz Carlton Hotel Companies. For the last thirteen years he has been working in Platinum-Level Private Clubs in the role of Executive Chef, Culinary Director, Executive Sous Chef & Sous Chef.
Earning medals at the highest level of international competition and the Culinary Olympics, Chef Ford has proven his resourcefulness and honed his leadership, leading and developing the best chefs in the world.
If you are an Executive Chef ready to transform the bustling chaos of your kitchen into a well-oiled machine tuned for efficiency and excellence, click below to book a call with Chef Gerald L. Ford, CMC to see if Beyond the Food is right for you.
