By David Scott Peters

www.therestaurantexpert.com

Why is the Expo so important?

The expo sets the pace and flow of your kitchen! The expo is critical to your shift running smoothly and making sure neither your front of house (FOH) nor back of house (BOH) falls down.

Keys to a great expo

• The expo is the ONLY person who communicates with the wheel or lead line cook.

• The expo needs to know fire times and line processes, or who does what and how long it takes.

• The expo should follow the pace (courses) of each table and ensure servers are not rushing or lagging tables.

• The expo needs to be organized and be able to project his or her voice.

• The expo must be quick and deliberate and people have to be able to trust him or her. If there is no trust, efficiencies plummet.

• The expo must be able to anticipate orders and notify food runners or servers before the food is ready so hot food is hot, cold food is cold, etc.

• The expo must refuse items if they are not to specifications.

• The expo is the eyes and ears for the kitchen and voice for the service staff.

• The expo must be clean, organized and calm under pressure.

• The expo must know all table numbers, person numbers and server sections.

• The expo needs to remind servers of their duties.

• The expo needs to have a proactive personality and be a problem solver.

• The expo needs to push the team to move faster. A great expo knows when the kitchen can put the pedal to the metal and move faster when necessary.

If you want to take your restaurant to the next level and know that every one of your busy shifts will go off without a hitch, you need to identify FOH people who understand steps of service, know the menu inside and out, are neat freaks with strong organizational skills and are calm under pressure and then train them to YOUR standards. Next thing you know, you’ve got yourself a quarterback who makes both the FOH and BOH look good.

David Scott Peters is a restaurant expert, speaker, coach and trainer for independent restaurant owners. He is the developer of SMART Systems Pro, an online restaurant management software program helping the independent restaurant owner remain competitive and profitable in an industry boxed in by the big chain restaurants. He is best known as the SMART Systems guy who can walk into any restaurant and find $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door… Guaranteed! Learn more at www.therestaurantexpert.com/rdspos.