ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - September 3, 2004

After nearly a perfect week in Chicago, I am finally off the road for a couple of weeks. August is usually a slower time so I don't know what happened this year ... but I'll take it!

Excuses Revisited
The past couple of weeks I have been ranting a bit about excuses. On the plane home today, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes that may be a good way to tie up this particular thread. It comes from Paul Williams in his book, Das Energi:

"At the depths of despair, nothing matters. I can't do anything, got to get out of here, walls falling in, throw me a rope. I can't move, can't stand it, nothing, throw me a rope ...

"And one day, like any other day, tired of waiting for help that never comes, MAKE a rope, tie it to a rock, throw it up, pull yourself out and walk away ..."

A note from the Doc: Who's running your business?

Get it Right
I am sorry, but when you modify a classic recipe, you have to re-name it. If you put chopped tomatoes and sliced olives in your Caesar salad (as someone served me recently), you must list it as the (Yourname) Caesar and let guests know that it is a variation on the classic presentation. If you surprise them with something they didn't expect ... or want ... you risk losing not only credibility, but their patronage as well.

Likewise with a Cobb Salad. The classic recipe calls for chicken, blue cheese crumbles, chopped hard-cooked eggs, crumbled bacon and avocado on a bed of lettuce. You could offer a Shrimp Cobb, Crab Cobb and the like without the risk of misleading anyone, but if you add or delete ingredients that change the original recipe, you have to say so ... or look like a rookie.

It is almost as egregious an error as I made back in a summer job during my college days when I offered a special on Steak Tartare ... and asked guests how they would like it cooked! Talk about looking clueless! (If the joke escapes you, the problem is that Steak Tartare is served raw.)

You cannot call yourself a professional and make amateur mistakes like these. All it will take is a little research and a willingness to put in the extra effort. Be a pro. Do the work.

Click here for a good resource for finding (and checking) recipes.

Hope for the Best
Send some positive energy toward our colleagues in Florida. It looks like they are in for a rough weekend.

The Perpetual Question
What did you learn from your staff today?

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