One of my favorite moments was an insanely crazy service. We broke the record for covers that dinner service. No man was left down, everyone pitched it, everyone helped. When that last ticket cleared the pass we all started laughing and high-fiving each other. We had many nights of ass kicking but that one stands out to me the most because of how much of a team we were and the joy and gratitude we got from working together.
Great story, thanks for sharing. You used a proven system to deal with a high-pressure task, and the result was satisfying and team building. I have tried it thousands of times and I relate 100%
Great piece. To the people on the outside, the military reference can be off putting. To put this is perspective to non-industry folks, there are restaurants that operate with this system but do not call it a brigade. In the Chez Panisse universe, where I worked most of my career, we never called it this. In fact, we never even used the term "Chef" all that much, preferring, even taking pride in, addressing by name. But make no mistake, this system was still present and for good reason. In high performance spaces whether it be a restaurant, hospital, or law firm, accountability is needed from the ground up and the buck needs to stop with someone. For all the grief people on the outside give this system and like to point out that "the Chef takes all the credit" remember- when things succeed, yes, the chef gets a lot of credit and good ones turn around and give that credit to their team. But when things do not succeed, the chef takes all the blame, deservingly so, while protecting their team from blame.
Thank you, and thanks for the comment. Yes, the term “brigade” is outdated as a definition. I see it as an operating model, but the terms surrounding it, like its military history, make it a compelling point of attack if you want to put forward a critique of power structures. We have to be able to differentiate between the operating system and the culture. While the two are connected, they are also not the same.
One of my favorite moments was an insanely crazy service. We broke the record for covers that dinner service. No man was left down, everyone pitched it, everyone helped. When that last ticket cleared the pass we all started laughing and high-fiving each other. We had many nights of ass kicking but that one stands out to me the most because of how much of a team we were and the joy and gratitude we got from working together.
Great story, thanks for sharing. You used a proven system to deal with a high-pressure task, and the result was satisfying and team building. I have tried it thousands of times and I relate 100%
Great piece. To the people on the outside, the military reference can be off putting. To put this is perspective to non-industry folks, there are restaurants that operate with this system but do not call it a brigade. In the Chez Panisse universe, where I worked most of my career, we never called it this. In fact, we never even used the term "Chef" all that much, preferring, even taking pride in, addressing by name. But make no mistake, this system was still present and for good reason. In high performance spaces whether it be a restaurant, hospital, or law firm, accountability is needed from the ground up and the buck needs to stop with someone. For all the grief people on the outside give this system and like to point out that "the Chef takes all the credit" remember- when things succeed, yes, the chef gets a lot of credit and good ones turn around and give that credit to their team. But when things do not succeed, the chef takes all the blame, deservingly so, while protecting their team from blame.
Thank you, and thanks for the comment. Yes, the term “brigade” is outdated as a definition. I see it as an operating model, but the terms surrounding it, like its military history, make it a compelling point of attack if you want to put forward a critique of power structures. We have to be able to differentiate between the operating system and the culture. While the two are connected, they are also not the same.