Compensating the Cook/Chef

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GoodScout

GoodScout

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We have reached the point that we have enough private dinners, summer farm-to-table dinners, and wedding rehearsal dinners and receptions that we need to hire a qualified cook or chef to handle dinners (we don't want to be doing breakfast at 5am and then staying up til 10pm cleaning up).
We don't have (nor do we want) a full restaurant, but we've begun discussions with a very nice and qualified cook for a local restaurant that just closed up shop. We want to bring him on board, but are trying to figure out how to structure a compensation package. We could just pay him hourly, but we'd like to incent him to grow our food business (short of opening a full-time restaurant in our dining room).
His former restaurant had a popular brunch, and we think locals will support a twice-a-month brunch that would happen after our regular guests have eaten breakfast and are checking out. We've told him if he can bring that on-line we'd be willing to share some of the profits with him.
Does anyone have a cook on staff? And how to you compensate him/her so that both you and they make money?
 
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there.
 
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
 
Anon Inn said:
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
.
Click to expand...
We seem to have found a rhythm by limiting the nights we do more than one course. We are full time innkeepers, so I would say there is no way we could do this and another job.
What I will say is that finding a way to add meals in the evening has had a huge impact on the experience and has REALLY put the squash on the, "it's in the middle of no where- where are we going to eat" deal breaker. You can almost imagine one partner suggesting us and other saying, " Is there anywhere to eat?" Now the answer is, "They have meals on site" as they are clicking the reserve button. Sometimes business is about removing the barriers that keep people from booking. In our case, this was a big barrier.
Sorry if I got a little off topic PS
 
happykeeper said:
Anon Inn said:
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
.
Click to expand...
We seem to have found a rhythm by limiting the nights we do more than one course. We are full time innkeepers, so I would say there is no way we could do this and another job.
What I will say is that finding a way to add meals in the evening has had a huge impact on the experience and has REALLY put the squash on the, "it's in the middle of no where- where are we going to eat" deal breaker. You can almost imagine one partner suggesting us and other saying, " Is there anywhere to eat?" Now the answer is, "They have meals on site" as they are clicking the reserve button. Sometimes business is about removing the barriers that keep people from booking. In our case, this was a big barrier.
Sorry if I got a little off topic PS
.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Meals on site has been good for us.
 
happykeeper said:
Anon Inn said:
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
.
Click to expand...
We seem to have found a rhythm by limiting the nights we do more than one course. We are full time innkeepers, so I would say there is no way we could do this and another job.
What I will say is that finding a way to add meals in the evening has had a huge impact on the experience and has REALLY put the squash on the, "it's in the middle of no where- where are we going to eat" deal breaker. You can almost imagine one partner suggesting us and other saying, " Is there anywhere to eat?" Now the answer is, "They have meals on site" as they are clicking the reserve button. Sometimes business is about removing the barriers that keep people from booking. In our case, this was a big barrier.
Sorry if I got a little off topic PS
.
Click to expand...
Yes it has been a good thing for you...being so far from other places folks could eat. There are however many health dept. codes that will not allow this without a commercial kitchen. We cannot serve anything other than breakfast here in VA. Personally I would never want to spend my time doing lunches or dinners but that is me. Breakfast was more than enough for us to do.
 
happykeeper said:
Anon Inn said:
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
.
Click to expand...
We seem to have found a rhythm by limiting the nights we do more than one course. We are full time innkeepers, so I would say there is no way we could do this and another job.
What I will say is that finding a way to add meals in the evening has had a huge impact on the experience and has REALLY put the squash on the, "it's in the middle of no where- where are we going to eat" deal breaker. You can almost imagine one partner suggesting us and other saying, " Is there anywhere to eat?" Now the answer is, "They have meals on site" as they are clicking the reserve button. Sometimes business is about removing the barriers that keep people from booking. In our case, this was a big barrier.
Sorry if I got a little off topic PS
.
Click to expand...
I did dinners until my knees told me I was an idiot. I was charging $25 per in the late 90s until about 2009 when I quit that. I do still do lunches once in a while but that is ending because I my supplier cannot get the bags any more. In May I have a dinner and a lunch as an inn-to-inn I forgot to update but that error is now corrected. Do not want to work that hard.
 
EmptyNest said:
happykeeper said:
Anon Inn said:
happykeeper said:
Hmm.. We are only partly qualified to comment... We have tried to figure out how to afford the cost of a back up for me in the kitchen and the numbers for a qualified Cheffy type cook make it a bit of a challenge. We decided we would have to bring on someone to train who we could afford at an hourly rate.
What I can share is that another inn on island did dinners with an outside person and in order to make it work, a three-course dinner was $68 per person. Our 3 courses is $40 going to $45 soon. Not sure how to justify higher numbers yet. Maybe volume can chop that cost.
At the end of the day, this upselling has impacted our bottom line favorably and I am not sure I would want to farm out that profit to create an incentive for an outside source. Of course, we serve dinner at 6:30 pm so we are out of the kitchen by 8 pm ish. Not sure if I am making sense there..
Click to expand...
We are in a rural area with a very small population.
One neighboring inn here hires an hourly person to help with the cooking for large groups, but does not hand it off. We offer $35pp 3 course dinners, I do the shopping (or harvesting), prep, cooking and table waiting, and plan menus that will accommodate timing it all. but I've never had to do more than three parties in one evening. I would find that very difficult on a regular basis. Another neighboring inn here does $60+ pp. I have another 30+ hours per week job, they don't, so a difference in what we offer. Our dinners are when the guests request, but they have to give me the time well in advance.
When I 'retire' I may offer more meals, and will have to re-think menus/prices, and help. With more volume, one would likely need at least one wait/bus/dogsbody person in addition to the chef. And one would need the temperament to effectively delegate those tasks. A shared vision of what the dining experience should be would be a must.
Our neighboring inn at the $60+pp price offers a set meal at a set time, at a communal table. They pre-sell the dinner so as to have enough customers to do it. The couple are former caterers in a large city, and have the chops to deliver a top notch experience. They do all the work themselves, and price so that its worth it for them to do, but they constantly wrestle with 'too expensive for locals, too far for the well-heeled city folk'.
.
Click to expand...
We seem to have found a rhythm by limiting the nights we do more than one course. We are full time innkeepers, so I would say there is no way we could do this and another job.
What I will say is that finding a way to add meals in the evening has had a huge impact on the experience and has REALLY put the squash on the, "it's in the middle of no where- where are we going to eat" deal breaker. You can almost imagine one partner suggesting us and other saying, " Is there anywhere to eat?" Now the answer is, "They have meals on site" as they are clicking the reserve button. Sometimes business is about removing the barriers that keep people from booking. In our case, this was a big barrier.
Sorry if I got a little off topic PS
.
Click to expand...
Yes it has been a good thing for you...being so far from other places folks could eat. There are however many health dept. codes that will not allow this without a commercial kitchen. We cannot serve anything other than breakfast here in VA. Personally I would never want to spend my time doing lunches or dinners but that is me. Breakfast was more than enough for us to do.
.
Click to expand...
It's the same here. We had to request it in our special permit and spend to add a commercial kitchen.
Now since I enjoy the art of dinner, that part is easy.
 
Back to the original question: What do you pay your cook?
 
The inn I am currently at has two part-time chefs (weekday and weekend) and they make in the $12 to $13 hour range. I understand from my friends who run restaurants that is typical around here. You might try an hourly rate for normal stuff, but add bonuses based on revenue for new food events that increase your business.
 
I think a lot depends on your location - ie where I am we have just broken 136 restaurants with 5 more in the pipeline - just would not be worth me trying to compete with that
- however we do pack up breakfasts which frankly are easier than real ones and what i call emergency cooking ie bacon butties and omletts for starving orphans ie people too late for conventional restaurants - we also microwave dinners for people we like.
mind you - $13 an hour! that's a bargain! a cheap breakfast chef on an hourly rate is at least $14 here with agency people (ie if you only need them now and again for a function or something is at least $22.
 

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