Culinary Consulting

Who We Are

We are a cohort of hospitality and food industry specialists with a shared passion to see these industries and their owners thrive. Our focus is on your profitability using strategies, systems and support designed for successfully guiding you through the unique challenges you face in these exciting industries.

 

Our Services

Menu & Recipe Development

  • Menu and recipe development for any business looking to create, update or diversify their food and beverage offering.
  • By taking into consideration your price point, location, available production space and staff we create delicious dishes that are tailored to your needs in a standardised format, which maximise the profitability of your food cost.
    • Conceptualization
    • Ingredient Selection
    • Recipe Testing and Refinement
    • Cost Analysis and Pricing
    • Feedback and Evolution

Culinary Staff Assessment & Training

We offer individual candidates as well as brigade / team assessments and training. We believe that the person with the right attitude and right skills are what every business needs for success. 
 
Our pre-employment assessments and post employment assessments includes –
  • Criminal, credit and CV checks.
  • “Soft skills” such as team player, personal readiness for the workplace, etc.
  • “Hard skills” which are the actual skills needed for the positions people are being employed into.
  • Training that would be required to cover knowledge gaps with existing staff.
  • All categories of staff including – commis chefs, chef de partie, sous chefs, executive chefs, bakers, pastry chefs, sommeliers, baristas, mixologist and general bartending, waiters, etc.
 Our pre-employment training and post employment training includes –
We offer onsite training, especially when we are working with clients:
  • On our proprietary “Return to Profitability” client contracts;
  • “Menu” Contracts.
  • Addressing skills and knowledge gaps which the Skills Assessment indicates is required.
Our off site training is done by our training sister company, Ulwazi Hospitality & Food Industry Training Academy,  based in Johannesburg CBD and includes –
 
CATHSeta and FoodBev Seta accreditation. 
Training compliant for corporate Skills Levy Refund Training & Enterprise and Livelihood Development Training for BEE and other compliance scorecard ratings. 
Short courses for skills gaps

Implementation, Training

Menu designing is a skill that many take for granted and often is left to staff without due regard to the crucial aspects of a business. Our approach is that we design menus that are specific to each client. We take a holistic approach that includes the following assessments and due consideration:

  • Brand identity;
  • Existing staff skills & infrastructure;
  • Customer profile and current attitudes towards the culinary offerings at clients;
  • Profitability;
  • Supporting point of sale and systems.

Our standard 4 week process involves the following –

  • Comprehensive briefing by clients on the brand and strategy
  • Current menu including par levels, suppliers and food costs
  • Staff assessment
  • Establishment infrastructure, design and layout
  • Due regard to food, alcohol and beverage options for establishment
  • Presentation of 3 rounds of suggested menu changes
  • Implementation of menu including –
    • Vetting suppliers
    • Upskilling staff to new menu standards
    • Recipe and plating / serving cards
    • Updating point of sale system for accurate reporting

Workflow Design & Optimisation

Without due regard to workflows and infrastructure, the best menus can result in the biggest losses (both financially and staffing). We pride ourselves on understanding the core needs of optimal profitable operations and implementation optimization that includes –

  • Assessment of sections (from back of house to front of house) to identify where and how sections need to be changed to optimise staff and clients’ safety, customer satisfaction and
  • Assessment of computer and other operating systems including point of sale, standard operating systems and procedures that impact negatively on the overall operations including staff rostering, floor plans for service, etc.
  • Standard operating procedures on our proprietary platform that covers everything from cleaning schedules to closing and opening procedures.

Brand Development including Taste Brand Kit

Within our skilled cohort of professionals we offer more than simple brand development where logos, colours, and other elements of corporate identities or corporate brand kits are devised. Food establishments need to have the same level of guidance when it comes to food, alcohol and beverage offerings. With this in mind we offer the additional service of creating a Taste Brand Kit. This becomes the client’s “go to reference” as they create and change menus ensuring that the seafood restaurant with the wine list doesn’t morph into pizza, sushi and seafood restaurant with more alcohol on offer than a major liquor merchant.

A Taste Brand Kit includes:

A “Taste Board” that include a guideline of flavour profiles, herbs and seasoning profiles, cocktail and drinks taste parameters, and other food component specifics

A “Food Board” that includes guidelines composition of plates, presentation of plates and drinks,

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