A production job
Lesson 5 of 6 · Hotels and restaurants
Lesson summary
A menu change is the job where two copies of the same fact stop agreeing. The agent prepares each document from one set of sources. A named person checks it against the real product and signs.
Give the job as one row in the database Tasks to Kitchen office, with the head chef as Reviewer. Write the instructions and the acceptance criteria.
Read the open question of the agent first. An empty cell with a reason is a correct result.
The head chef checks each line of the draft allergen matrix against the product label and corrects the wrong line on the page.
For the costing that used an old price, the head chef selects Return for changes, writes what should change and selects Send back.
The agent sends the pack again. The owner decides the price.
The head chef signs the matrix with a name and a date on the page, then selects Accept.
Later, Guest desk can draft the menu posts and the photo brief from the signed pack. The owner approves them before publication.
Try it now
Write the brief for your next menu change: the sources, the target and what done looks like.
English transcript · same language as the video
The menu changes in three weeks. Nine new dishes for autumn. This is where mistakes start. The new price is on the printed menu, but not in the till. The allergen sheet still shows the summer dishes.
One change touches many documents. So Ines gives it as one job.
The task is a row in the database Tasks: autumn menu pack for nine dishes, ready to sign. Ines gives it to Kitchen office, with Tobias as the reviewer. The instructions name the sources: Tobias's recipe specs, the supplier price list and the supplier specifications. The target is a food cost of thirty per cent. Due Thursday.
And what done looks like. A costing for each dish. A draft allergen matrix. A menu description for each dish. And a list of every place that must change: the till, the printed menu, the website, the order guide and the staff tasting notes.
Tobias chose the dishes. He cooked them and tasted them. No agent did that.
On Thursday, the pack arrives on a page in the folder Menu and recipes. It starts with one open question. The brioche bun is bought in, and there is no supplier specification for it. The agent did not guess. It left those cells empty and said why.
Now Tobias reviews. He does not read the matrix on the screen and nod. He takes it to the dry store, and he checks each line against the label on the product.
He finds one. The draft says the gnocchi with pesto contains gluten and milk. But the pesto is bought in, and the label on the tub lists cashew nuts. Tobias adds nuts to the line.
He finds a second thing. The lamb costing uses the old price. Monday's invoice shows the new one. Tobias opens the task and selects Return for changes. He writes one line: use the invoice price for the lamb. Then he selects Send back.
Kitchen office sends the pack again. At the new price, the lamb is over the target. That is a decision, so it goes to Ines. She raises the price by one pound. The agent does not set prices.
Then Tobias signs the matrix: his name and the date, on the page. In the UK, a food business must tell its guests about fourteen allergens. A business that gets this wrong can face prosecution. The signature belongs to a person.
And at the table, the person in charge answers the guest. An agent never tells a guest that a dish is safe.
Tobias accepts the task. The agent did the arithmetic and the lists. The chef did the cooking, the checking and the signature. In the last lesson, you take this Space and make it yours.
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