As Steve Boeger, Executive Chef of Hendersonville (N.C.) Country Club, reflects on the past year, he counts three important lessons learned.
Over the past 10 months, I have asked myself and my team how we measure our success in the midst of a pandemic? Is it member satisfaction? Food or labor costs? Creating an outlet of positivity to numb our current COVID state? Is is exceeding expectations or just listening? Or is it something else entirely?
Before COVID, being a club chef was demanding, but the benchmarks for success were clearly defined. Mid-COVID, success looks a lot different.
Today, I am in my office writing this blog while listening to holiday music being broadcasted from loud speakers. I don’t think I have ever had time to actually listen to these songs. The “holiday music” I’m used to is made by pots, pans, plates, and people making noise in our kitchen here at Hendersonville CC. As is the case for most clubs, December has always been our biggest revenue month of the year. This year, it looks a lot different.
So much has changed. And so much is still uncertain. But as the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about what lessons have I learned about myself as a chef over the past year that will carry with me as we move into a post-COVID era.
1. Listen and Hear.
I am listening more to my members and my staff.
I always thought being the Executive Chef meant I had a responsibility to share my knowledge of cuisine, flavors, and techniques that I have learned from my professional experiences, traveling, and from my mentors and colleagues. This might sound funny to many of you reading this, but sometimes my members don’t want a locally sourced and milled baguette with the perfect rise. They want Wonder Bread with pimento cheese.
Food has a magical ability to bring back memories and a dish like that might remind my members of a simpler time, of a safe time, when they were a kid eating that sandwich with Granddad watching the Masters played at Augusta National. Being able to bring that back for my members is so much more valuable to me and to the mission of the club.
I have learned so much about people during COVID. Not just members or staff, but food purveyors, delivery drivers, farmers, fisherman, foragers, and growers. We are all human and each of us plays an important role in the success of this operation.
Let’s say we are doing to-go lobsters and we’ve sold 150 lobster kits. If my ] purveyor doesn’t communicate with their buyer, or if that facility in Maine has a COVID outbreak, what sort of trust will my membership have in me and my message of safety. Trust is so very valuable—especially now. Listening to other’s struggles and searching for solutions is critical.
2. Have Compassion.
My AM sous chef, Hans, called me one early March morning. Hans stands 6‘1″ and is Peruvian and Swiss with a thick accent. He spent most of his life on the coast in Lima. He is an outstanding cook and a remarkable human being. He told me his mom was not well. A week later, he told me his mom passed away. She was in a hospital by herself and her 58 year old son couldn’t even say goodbye or pay his respects.
I recognized the suffering that Hans was going through and I wanted to help but I didn’t know what to do. This type of situation isn’t in any culinary or cookbook I have on my shelf.
Hans asked to take a few days off. He said he needed some time. I told him he could take whatever he needed. He called 4 days later asking if it was okay to come back. He wanted to work because it took his mind off of what just happened. He said he wanted use his talents to make others happy.
I was blown away.
Compassion is a tool all chefs must to possess. It can’t be just in your knife roll. It needs to be on your tool belt so you can access it every second of your entire career.
3. Gratitude.
I have seen chefs at every stage of their career lose everything. Through COVID, I’ve watched chefs lose even more. How fortunate I am to still be standing and selling out of Prime Rib as I finish writing this blog. I owe it to my staff—both hourly and management—for their perseverance, trust in me, and their compassion. Without this team I would be alone professionally and I couldn’t achieve the success of the current operation nor could I lead us into a post-COVID world.