Hot take: I just hit 5000 plates plated in a single dinner rush and it made me question our whole plating style.

We've been doing this fancy, time-consuming swoosh for every single protein for years, but hitting that number last night made me realize we could cut plating time in half with a simpler, cleaner look that might actually let the food speak for itself... has anyone else done a big shift like that after a crazy busy night?

3 comments

3 Comments

colesanchez3mo agoMost Upvoted

Man, we swapped to a simple dot of sauce and a sprinkle. Saved our butts and the reviews got better.

kai60212d ago

Whoa hold up, I gotta push back hard on this one lol. That 5000 plate night is exactly why you should keep the swoosh, not ditch it. You think simplifying is gonna make things faster but you're just trading one set of problems for another. A simple smear or dot sounds easy until your Saucier has to bang out 500 identical smears while keeping the rest of the station organized. That uniform look that everyone here is praising? It gets boring as hell for the customer and for the team plating it night after night. Plus when a plate is simple, every single flaw stands out like a sore thumb. A little swoosh or a herb nest hides small mistakes and gives the diner something fun to look at. You hit 5000 with that style, your crew can handle it. Don't dumb down the whole menu because of one busy shift.

barbaraschmidt3mo ago

Feel the same way after we did a thousand covers last Saturday. We used to do these crazy herb nests and stacked everything sky-high. Now it's a smear, a protein, a pinch of salt. Honestly, it looks better and the line isn't sweating bullets. Sounds like you and colesanchez are on to something, ditching the fussy stuff. My old chef would cry, but my feet are way happier.