Chef Chatter
Chef Chatter: How to deliver on new hospitality demands
Matt Harding, executive head chef, Piada Italian Street Food, talks about the importance of take out, and his experience within the food industry to back up the simple facts of profitability that comes with carry out.
September 28, 2018
Editor's note: Chef Chatter is a series featuring chef-authored blogs. If you'd like to write a Chef Chatter blog, send your idea to Cherryh Cansler at editor@fastcasual.com. Click here and here for past installments
By Matt Harding, executive head chef, Piada Italian Street Food
Showing genuine hospitality is one of our core values at Piada Italian Street Food. Essentially, that means we're in the business of taking care of people.
When we opened our first store in 2010, genuine hospitality was about taking care of guests within the four walls of our restaurants. But now, we're on a mission to prove that everyone deserves a memorable experience — no matter where they choose to enjoy our food. And this has made us rethink everything.
We took a long hard look at our brand, our processes and what our Guests were telling us about their experience with Piada and dining experiences as a whole. Today's consumers want to eat a meal in their kitchen, but they don't feel like cooking. They prefer to eat in the coziness of their home with Netflix in the background. Or, they are craving a power bowl at work and have just enough time on their lunch break to drive to the closest Piada and drive back to eat at their desk. As lifestyles changed, we needed to meet Guests where they are now.
At Piada, we mapped out three distinct ways to create a next-level carryout experience: speed, convenience, and accuracy. These three players are what our Guests wanted to see us do, even if they didn't know it. We had to be fast because their time is valuable. Our process needed to be convenient to fit into their busy day. And our attention and discipline needed to increase to serve Guests exactly what they wanted because they would not want to drive back to fix an order. We all know that feeling when you open your salad at home to find it arrived without dressing — it's a mini crisis.
Earlier this year, we made meaningful investments in technology that cut the lead time for carryout orders by 60 percent. One example of how we optimized technology to serve our Guests faster and better is the way our systems process chits, or the order forms. When a Guest makes a special request, like swapping a dressing to make their meal vegan, this is now called out in larger font on the chits. Meal orders are now also printed in the order of how the team member will build the meal in our prep line.
These strategic changes to the chits significantly increased our speed, convenience and accuracy when processing carryout orders placed online or on Piada One, our mobile app. It saved our staff time from reading through an order before preparing it and attempting to remember the modifications as they moved down the line. Additionally, it saved both our staff and Guests time and frustration from any errors caused by missing the note. It's funny how this simple change has made a huge impact when building the same delicious menu items.
Next, we installed grab-and-go shelves to remove unnecessary wait time. As soon as the meal is prepared for our carryout Guests, their name is clearly written on the to-go bag and is placed on a shelf in our Express Pick Up area near the cashier. This addition especially helped our third party delivery drivers who didn't want to or need to wait in the Guest line. And let's be honest — sometimes you just don't walk to talk to anyone. These shelves have helped our Guests get in and get out with a great meal without any hassle.
Lastly, we have implemented a new process that allows for a more thorough check of each order so we get it right the first time. Every time. This has been rolled out in each of our stores before an order hits the Express Pick Up shelves. With carryout guests, restaurants only have one opportunity to win them over, create a memorable experience and earn loyal customers. We don't take any risks when it comes to genuine hospitality.
Many will say that restaurant adaptations for to-go and delivery options are fueling laziness or taking away from personal interactions that are had at the tables in dining rooms. In fact, we are cutting our dining room size nearly in half to increase the size of our kitchen to accommodate for the rising demand of carryout orders. But, we hold a different perspective. In the get-whatever-in-one-click environment, consumers are optimizing their time and money to get what they want for the lifestyle they seek. With so many choices of food available to them with ready-to-make meal kits, delivered groceries and third party delivery apps, we are grateful for every time they choose us, and we think they deserve an exceptional meal.
I've been in the restaurant industry for over 35 and have experience serving customers in 26 countries. We understand how to show thoughtfulness in-person, and we inherently know how to wow somebody who walks in the doors. Carryout and delivery is a different beast that we are embracing with open arms. We are learning how to master this experience because we owe it to our Guests to treat them thoughtfully. Every time.
Photo by iStock
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