Customer Reviews

The Chef's Commandments: Maximize Your Kitchen's Profitability, Building and Maintaining a Successful, Profit-Driven Restaurant

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Author and chef J.A. Mendez is the best friend a new restaurant owner never knew he or she had. In this book, Mendez shares professional and personal insights only someone who's truly been in the kitchen trenches would have, and does it without resorting to empty business school platitudes or corporate-speak. If a new restaurant owner or manager really wants to know how to overcome a stumbling block or improve overall profitability, these ten "Chef's Commandments" should provide real-life answers and time-proven advice from someone who knows how the food industry really works.

The individual chapters cover issues ranging from menus to marketing, staffing to sanitation, and everything in between. I myself used to work in the food industry, and I could not find a single piece of advice or insight which did not ring true. Some of Mendez's advice may come across as shocking or brutally honest, however, which could have the benefit of shaking up complacent restaurant owners and their staff. This book also contains real stories submitted by real restaurant owners, and their experiences can be very eye-opening indeed.

This book is not perfect by any means, but I believe the fact it was written by a real chef who has spent over 20 years in the food industry gives it some definite street credibility. If a new restaurant owner really wants to benefit from the wisdom of a food industry survivor, he or she should consider reading this straight-shooting book first.

This book is written by a chef in an easy to read style and covers everything a new restaurant owner needs to know about running a successful restaurant. Not only is food costs, sanitation and menus and catering covered but there are also sections on employees. This book contains many helpful hints for anyone working in a kitchen or thinking about opening up a place - big or small - that will be serving food. A must read.

I found this book to be "smart" in that it looks at the restaurant world from the perspective of maintaining profitability by giving customers what they want and by maintaining quality levels, etc. (There is much more to the book too, of course.)

It's readable too, with a nice, down-to-earth writing style. It's refreshing to read a book on a business/financial subject that isn't presented in a dry, boring style. There's a lot of great information here, and enough flair to keep the reader engaged.

The tips for the new restaurant entrepreneur are priceless, but these commandments translate to higher profitability for any business. A must have for anyone in the restaurant business. Wonderfully written, easy to read, informative, and entertaining, I highly recommend this book!

I'm not in the restaurant industry, but eat out a lot and so loved reading it. I learned so much about what goes into a great restaurant -- and what can go wrong when the "commandments" aren't followed. The writing style is clear, easy to read, and entertaining for the lay person. I highly recommend this book!

This book was informative, however if you've worked in restaurants for a long time some of these tips will seem second nature already (such as why you should have a security bell on your backdoor to avoid burglary, or that incentive programs will help cut down on theft within the staff). It's a very simple, short read. My main complaint with the author was that by the end of the book you feel that everyone you'll ever hire is going to steal from you in one way or another. Useful information to think about, but I hope that after reading this book someone with little experience in restaurants doesn't think that their entire staff is going to be comprised of petty thieves and con artists.

Something relatively few people know about me: I'm a most excellent cook (even if I do say so myself)... That's what drew my attention to this book.

But, like many an old country cook, I tend to run everyone out of my kitchen, which is probably the most essential distinction between a cook and a chef. As this book states, a chef is a leader who has to run a kitchen full of cooks. Yet there is more to it than being the conductor of a culinary orchestra. The kitchens most modern chefs run are in restaurants, and restaurants are businesses.

I've seen many businesses of many kinds, started by talented and skilled practitioners who'd been successful working for someone else, crash and burn. Why? Because being great at what you do isn't nearly sufficient. You also have to understand the business-side of the operation. And that's what this book is about. It covers not only the fundamentals common to all successful businesses, but also many aspects specific to running a profitable restaurant kitchen. An essential reference to those going into the business, and an interesting read for anyone who dines out.