Archive for the ‘John Palino from The Kitchen Job’ Category

The Operation

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Hi Everyone.

 This post is about The River View Bar and Grill in Hellensville.

 This is a classic case of  “ The operation was a success but the patient died”.

Andrew (Owner) left his wife over in Australia, came to New Zealand and tried to set up and run The River View Bar.

When I first met Andrew, he seemed to be very stressed and totally at a loss. His business was just about to collapse and he couldn’t get his wife to come back with him.

 After the TV makeover was finished, he became inspired, refocused and started working at building the patronage of the restaurant. He was a changed man and we could all see it.

When the episode of  “The Kitchen Job” aired, Andrew found some fame with the local single ladies who have made sure to contact him for a date. I can at least feel confident that I’ve helped him in his love life.

I ran into him late November at the Restaurant Show and he was feeling on top of the world.  He told me that he was doing well, the month of December was booked out with parties and he was even looking at opening another restaurant down south.

I’ve advised him to just focus on one business and do it as best he can before he spreads himself too thin.

It’s very common for some restaurateurs (or small businesses) to use the success of the first business, grow confident then try to open more of the same.

Running two or more businesses requires a new set of skills. It’s not as easy as it might look and trying to do it without the right set of skills can lead to the loss of all the businesses.

I went and visited Andrew after a little while. He was still working hard; he decorated the restaurant a bit more and was trying out some new dishes.

He was being proactive but I feel that he needed to work on his marketing skills.  When you are the owner operator of a small business, you need to be able to work on all the aspects of your business. Marketing yourself and your business is just one of them…

Last time I went to visit Andrew, the restaurant was closed (the patient died) and Andrew was nowhere to be found. I am guessing that he decided to go back to his wife in Australia… Good luck to him and I hope he does well.

Thank you all for following my posts.

Best regards

John Palino

3 Comments »

John Palino’s favorite Recipes: very addictive Buffalo Chicken Wings

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Now I am going to give you one of my most delicious recipes.

Buffalo Chicken Wings.  These can be very addictive when done properly.

(If you’re worried about the oil . . . you can bake these instead.)

INGREDIENTS

oil for deep frying
55 g butter
60 ml hot sauce
1 dash ground black pepper
1 dash garlic powder
0.6 g paprika
0.4 g cayenne pepper
2 g salt
10 chicken wings

DIRECTIONS

You cut the wing into two sections.  Cut it at the joint.

Heat oil in a deep fry pan to 190 degrees C.  The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep.

Making the sauce:

Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended.  Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

Fry wings twice

First time is to cook them through.  Fry in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat until parts of wings begin to turn brown.  Remove from heat, place wings in bowl and set aside when ready to use.  These can be done up to a day in advance.  Remember to refrigerate for food safety reasons.  When ready to serve, put the wings back into very hot oil until golden brown.  This time it is to crisp the outside and warm the inside.  Remove them from the oil when done and put them into a mixing bowl. Add hot sauce mixture into a frying pan to warm up when warm toss the wings and sauce in the bowl to coat them well.

When fully coated remove them to a serving dish and serve with a blue cheese dip and fresh celery sticks.

Blue Cheese Dip

INGREDIENTS

235 ml mayonnaise
230 g sour cream
1 onions, finely chopped
3 g dried parsley
115 g blue cheese, crumbled
Garlic salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, sour cream, onions, dried parsley, blue cheese and garlic salt.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

5 Comments »

Lou Lou at the Beach and those coloured plates . . .

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Hi Everyone.

Today, I’m going to update you on the progress of Lou Lou at the Beach being that I just had brunch there last weekend.

I know many of you are dying to know if the gorgeous new white plates are still in action . . . or did Lou Lou bring back that brightly coloured series of crockery?  Do you think she should be using the infamous coloured plates or the white ones to show off the colour of the food?

Well firstly, let’s recap on that episode of The Kitchen Job that told the tale of this restaurant’s makeover.  You may recall that the owner Lou Lou needed to reduce the staff numbers or the amount of hours they worked in order to remain viable.  It was decided that the owner’s daughter Holly, a recently trained chef, would reduce her hours at Lou Lou at the Beach, and come to work for me at Sal Rose.  It was a great opportunity for her to work with my crew, build her confidence and experience, and to learn more about the restaurant service.

I believe it’s important for young comers to the industry to experience different restaurants, different service styles and food types.  Holly agrees that she gained valuable learnings from the experience, which would always come in handy.

The plan was that as soon as Lou Lou’s got really busy again during the peak summer months,  Holly would go back and work for the family business there, she would then be able to apply the new things that she had learned.

Not too long after the show, summer arrived and Lou Lou at the Beach did indeed get very busy.  As planned, Holly stepped up to the challenge and back into the business.  With increased confidence she has been assisting in the kitchen at Lou Lou’s.

Which brings me to another issue that most owner operators who aren’t qualified chefs would identify with.  It’s almost impossible to hold on to a chef and to control what and how the food comes out from the kitchen.  The minute you raise certain issues, they can get defensive and walk out.  Lou Lou knows this very well and she had to have a permanent ad looking for a chef for her restaurant throughout the summer.

Anyhow, I went back to Lou Lou’s a week ago with a friend of mine for brunch.  We did enjoy our food.

I couldn’t help noticing a cat hanging around the place though.  This is not a good thing to do.  Pets at home can be very clean and well behaved, but in a restaurant they can be a real problem such as affecting people with allergies!

And now back to those infamous colour plates . . . yes, I noticed that Lou Lou has indeed decided to bring back the color plates . . . and to re-hang more of her colourful paintings on the walls.  This can sometimes create an unnecessary clutter of colors and features.

Not every restaurateur would take all the changes we propose during the making of the show; the most important thing though is that they follow a different direction from the one that led them astray.

The fact of the matter is, Lou Lou at the Beach still has a good vibe and the food still good.  (I think it was Holly who cooked our meals.)

So if you are ever over that way in Eastern Beaches or off to Howick, take a ride over and enjoy the ocean and a bite to eat at Lou Lou’s . . . and let me know if the cat is still there!

We wish them all the best.

Well, thank you all for following these posts of mine.

Take care.

John Palino

8 Comments »

Haleem’s Indian Restaurant – “The Kitchen Job”

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Hi Everyone

Thank you all for your feedback.

In this post, I’d like to share with you the story that has unfolded after the episode of Haleem’s Indian Restaurant was filmed last May.  Especially after it was aired on TV3.

First, some background on the business and the episode:

You may recall that the owner Haleem (the chef) with his hard working wife, Ayesha, waitress Mamta and Happy the assistant Chef were all working towards having a successful Indian restaurant.

Haleem and Ayesha were originally working very long hours. This alone can hamper the success of any business. So, taking Monday off was essential for both owners and I’m glad they listened to that advice.

Haleem then hired a chef from India and started opening for lunch. The quality of food however started to go south, and the extra wage cost was strangling the business.

Mamta, the ever attentive and knowledgeable waitress moved out of the area and had to quit. She was a great asset as her hospitable personality really enhanced the restaurant’s concept.

Then sometime around November Haleem and Ayesha’s children moved over to Australia with their grandmother and uncle.

A few weeks later, Ayesha also moved to Australia to be with the children. Haleem stayed behind working and preparing the restaurant for sale so that he can join his family and start again across the ditch.

The night the show actually aired, there was an influx of viewers willing to give the restaurant a try and help get this business on the right path.

Haleem found himself facing a new problem. He had too many bums on seats, not enough food to go around and not enough staff to do the job properly.

He then called me and asked for my help. I managed to bring back Mumta and ended up serving tables myself, as I felt a bit responsible for this sudden, unexpected success…

I am very familiar with restaurants having problems attracting diners but when I saw Haleem struggling to handle a full restaurant I become more determined to help him sell this fantastic eatery. Enter my friend and successful restaurateur Rohit.

Rohit owns a number of Indian restaurants in New Zealand called Shahi, and was my expert helper in this particular episode.

I managed to broker a deal between Haleem and Rohit.

Rohit purchased the restaurant and changed it to “Shahi Indian Cuisine”, Haleem is joining his family in Australia, Mamta is now working for Rohit and the people of the neighborhood still have a great Indian restaurant they can be proud of.

This is still a win win situation and a valuable lesson to everyone involved.

I have to thank all the people who have made a genuine effort to help Haleem and thank you for your interest.

Please feel free to post a comment or to ask any question.

Next time I will share with you the story of  RIVER VIEW BAR & GRILL in Helensville. Till then, take care.

John Palino

www.johnpalino.co.nz

4 Comments »

John Palino Host of “The Kitchen Job”

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Hi everyone,

First, I would like to thank you all for watching The Kitchen Job series on TV3.

In the next few weeks I would like to fill you in on the progress of each restaurant from the show.  I would also like to share with you some of the recipes I have created for the restaurants in these series.

It was a great show to work on and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to help people and to give them the necessary tools to succeed in their business.

The restaurant business is a very difficult and demanding industry to be involved in. There are so many variables and anything could go wrong at any moment.

Once you’ve created the appropriate atmosphere for a friendly hospitality venue, plus  designed a menu, prepared the food, then hired and trained the staff, you’re all ready to go.  But even then there are still no guarantees that you will have customers walking through your door.

People who do this job well make it look easy.

Once your customer flow begins, the hard work has only just started. It takes a lot of time, effort and experience to stay on the top of such a business. You need an artistic flair but also good business acumen. After all, this is an investment that needs to make profit to stay viable.

That’s it from me for this week, have a great one.  Just remember you too can help the industry.  First by going out dining as often as you can, and second by informing your host if anything is not up to your expectation.  It’s a good way to help the industry and hopefully have a better experience on your next visit.

Next week I will let you know a bit about Haleems Indian Restaurant and how it’s been going for him so far.

Please feel free to ask anything regarding the show or the industry in the comments.

Regards

John Palino

www.johnpalino.co.nz

23 Comments »