Fine Dining – The History and Staff Structure of the Industry

Lorri Mealey (2014) a restauranting expert defines fine dining as that which offers the finest food and differs for every individual due to the varying expetations and perception of it.

Fine Dining came to light post French revolution and over time it has developed into a completely separate industry which is distributed throughout the world. The main improvements of this industry involve aspects such as the distribution of goods, significantly more efficient cooking appliances and safer storage facilities. These improvements have revolutionized this industry and adapted it dramatically since the medieval era.

‘Restaurer’ originates from the word restaurant, which actually comes from the word ‘restore’. Besides the fact that this industry started to come about in ancient times, it was after the French revolution where it became recognized; this was due to the development of individual menus and pricing as well as other modernizations which were brought about by certain individuals who are believed to have founded this section of food service. Firstly, a man known as Boulanger, wrote on a sign outside of his establishment “Boulanger sells restoratives fit for the God’s” which is said to be the first actual proof of fine dining in modern terms. Also a more forgotten restauranter, Martin Roze de Chantoiseau opened a business in Parid in the year 1766 and he claimed to “only serve foods that either maintain or re-establish health.”

The staff structure in the fine dining industry is extremely complex and can be split into a hierarchy of several layers. In the bigger establishments, which provide fine dining such as hotels, the general manager would be situated at the top of the hierarchy.  It is their job to ensure that the business is running smoothly and that everyone is undertaking their job to the best of their ability. They may also have assistant managers in order to help organize the other staff more closely to ensure a successful service is delivered. In the back of house, a head chef is appointed who is in charge of not only the other kitchen staff but also the menu organization and costings based on location, pricing of delivered goods, quality of food and type of restaurant. 

Other supporting staff members who ensure that the overall standards of the business is delivered include servers, runners, bartenders and hosts on the front of house service along with a pastry chef, chef de cuisine, line and prep cooks and a chef garde manager. These positions all ensure the success of the service through the quality and speed at which the food gets delivered to the guest. (On the Fly, 2013)

Mealey L, (2014).  How to open a fine dining restaurant, AboutMoney. [Online] Available at: http://restaurants.about.com/od/restaurantconcepts/ht/How-To-Open-A-Fine-Dining-Restaurant.htm (Accessed 15 November 2014)

On the Fly, (2013). “Restaurant Roles and Job Descriptions” Information and Inspiration for the Pro. [Online] Available at: http://blog.foodservicewarehouse.com/restaurant-roles-job-descriptions/ (Accessed 17 November 2014)

How Safe Is Our Food?

How safe is our food? Recent studies have shown that in fact, food that is provided for us by various brands on store shelves may not be as safe as we believe. It has recently become evident that there are dangerously high levels of arsenic in rice and rice products.

                           One of the world leading food safety experts ‘Andy Meharg’ describes the evidence as “shocking” as arsenic is one of the most toxic poisons and high level exposure over time can lead to cancer and heart disease.  This naturally occurring inorganic arsenic is controlled in the water we drink but those standards do not apply in our food.

                           Morland Snaders investigates further into this through a channel 4 dispatches Documentary ‘Rice: How Safe is our Food’. He visits Bangladesh, where most of the people eat rice at least 2-3 times every day and it is a major part of the diet in their population. Doctor Fariba Masud currently treats around 101 asenic patients per year in her clinic in Bangladesh, the patients possess dark spots on their hands and feet and suffer severe swollen limbs which become infected easily. It is believed that 1 in 5 deaths in Bangladesh are associated with arsenic.

                          Doctor Diane Benford who works at the UK Food standard agency explains that new regulations are currently being negotiated to reduce the arsenic products sold in our superarkets. The suspected new restrictions could be something up to 100 parts per billion in products for children and 200 parts per billion for adults, which is believed by Andy Meharg to still be far too high particularly for children as he would say about 50 parts per billion for children. Doctor Benford strictly states that once the new limits are created, any product which exceed them will be “withdrawn from sale”

                           One of the main cause of concern with this issue is the high amount of young children who currently eat/drink rice products. Many parents are still unaware that rice milk can be dangerous to young children and many still use it for weaning and for children who are lactose-intolerant as an alternative to powder milk. Some brands such as ‘Tesco’ until recently, did not advertise on their rice milk labels that it is not suitable for young children.

                           Professor Erik Millstone who is based at ‘The University of Sussex’ and who is in charge of making sure that all of our food is safe demands that we need to “PUT CONSUMERS FIRST!” by monitoring the levels of arsenic more closely in all rice and rice products. He also exclaims that “when higher standards are imposed, companies are able to make the changes’ which he believes are essential, particularly for young children who are the most vulnerable.

                           In the USA it is belived that high levels of arsenic can be linked to a person’s IQ.  Professor Gail Wasserman who works at Columbia University, agrees with this link and says that the findings that they have found are “consistent with the rest of the world”. A girl named Carrington Brennan is aware that for many years she was was drinking contaminated water which contained high levels of arsenic and now she sruggles with her memory and has a low IQ.

                         In the lab, many scientists tested the levels of arsenic in different types of rice. It was found that basmati rice had the lowest levels of arsenic of 40 parts per billion but scarily the French red rice contains an astounding 310 parts per billion which exceeds the recommended amount currently debated for our daily intake. Taking into account all of this evidence from various researchers, it could be said that this is a very important issue and it needs to be addressed immediately. At home rinsing rice and using basmati rice will help keep the arsenic levels at its lowest, however, we need to rely on the big brands to make sure that rice and all of our food is safe. (Sanders,2014)

Reference List

·      Sanders, M (2014) ‘Dispatches’ Rice: How Safe Is Our Food [Online] Available at: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/on-demand (Accessed 10 November 2014)

Technological Advances in the Hospitality Industry

Technology is one of the most prominent aspects of our world which impacts greatly on the economy we live in today and it is through the advancement of technology that we have structured how we live our day-to-day lives. This has affected the hospitality industry excessively and in order to maintain a successful business, many hotels have had to change aspects of their hotel in order to keep up with the needs of modern society.

Technology has already impacted greatly on this industry and some of the big hotel chains such as
Marriott have now started to incorporate guest rooms, which cater especially for people who enjoy modern technology. These room types include facilities such as a ‘Guestroom Digital Assistant ‘, which allows the guests to personally adjust the air conditioning, turn on and off the lights and also allows the guests to research into the hotels facilities with a simple tap of the screen.  Other facilities, which are being used in these types of rooms, include digital security cameras built into the Guestroom door and even ‘Walking Alarm Clocks’, which roll around the floor when the alarm begins to sound.  This recognition of the changing world from hotels could be considered smart, in order to promote their hotel to customers and stand out from their competition. Despite this, it is a costly endeavor and would be almost impossible to be able to provide all of the guestrooms with this type of technology.

Although technology is needed in many businesses in the hospitality Industry, it has been debated widely as to whether it is completely necessary in such environments. Many customers “value the person-to-person interaction” (Harteveldt, Forrester Research) and if an establishment which focuses on providing customer service incorporates too much technology, then they are not producing a friendly, personable and welcoming atmosphere which many establishments pride themselves on. This could be an issue at the front desk of a reception in a hotel, for example, if a hotel company were to change their check-in procedure so that guests simply have to use a machine in order to access their room key, it could take away the amiable atmosphere created for a guest upon their arrival at the hotel.

 In the foreseeable future, there are further technological advances, which may be eventually introduced into the hospitality industry. Many ideas have been discussed and various hotels are currently looking into how they can reach out to the customers more efficiently for example through mobile phones, whereby, guests would be able to book a reservation via SMS text messaging. (Amadeus,2008) There is even discussion about a possible headpiece with a built in camera which would be worn by the reception staff and will be able to access the guests information simply by facial recognition.

It is evident that technology is impacting greatly on the Hospitality Industry and it is inevitable that this will continue to happen for many years to come. Technology is needed in this Industry as we rely on it enormously, as it has become a necessity for the majority of humanity. However, this industry requires a warmhearted approach to all guests and this is accomplished most successfully through a sociable approach between the Guests and the Staff within these types of establishments.

Reference List

Amadeus, (2008), The future of the Hotel Industry: next month, next year, next decade – a blueprint for the future of the hotel industry. Amadeus Reports [Online] Available at: http://arcres.com/arcrates/users2/news08/Amadeus_hotelindustry_future.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2014)

 The JLS Agency, (2007),  Youtube, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LWSkZkjr8&spfreload=10%20Message%3A%20JSON%20Parse%20error%3A%20Unexpected%20EOF%20(url%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8-LWSkZkjr8) (Accessed 21 October 2014)