Restaurant manager: duties, responsibilities. How to run a restaurant?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

A restaurant is a place where people go to relax, where they can relax, taste delicious gourmet food, listen to good music. But for some, a restaurant is a job. A restaurant manager is a difficult, responsible profession that requires a lot of diverse knowledge.

Some facts from the history of the profession

Food establishments have been around for thousands of years. They were in ancient China, Rome and Greece. There are references to various kinds of establishments where one could eat in Russia. But they were intended mainly for people who passed by the settlements.

It wasn't until the 18th century that food became a cult in France. To maintain the rituals of eating, the first restaurants were equipped. At the same time, their own traditions, rules appeared, which subsequently spread everywhere. It has become natural for restaurant owners to pay special attention to their guests.

Hotel managers (headwaiters), which most often housed establishments, were engaged in organizing a comfortable stay and quality, and in some restaurants, gourmet food. Therefore, it can be consideredthat the first manager of a restaurant is a maitre d' (a familiar word today, regarding restaurants, but a slightly different meaning).

The essence of the profession

To understand the role of the manager in the development of the restaurant and its popularity, you need to know the essence of this profession. A restaurant manager is, one might say, a person who has made his dream come true. Very often, the manager becomes the one who managed to come up with, find money and build an institution.

Therefore, he acts both as the creator of the concept, and as the one who promotes the restaurant to the market, and as the owner who cares about the prosperity of his offspring.

This profession is the pinnacle of a career, and in order to reach it, you need to work in an institution in positions of a lower rank in order to know all the processes from the inside. It is important to have the right education.

The way the restaurant is positioned in the market largely depends on the restaurant manager. He decides on the location, size, design of the restaurant premises. An important role is played by his decision on culinary proposals, as well as on the composition of the staff, the ability to communicate with customers of which depends on the success of the restaurant as a whole.

Managing a restaurant combines a wide range of knowledge and skills. Here you need to be a marketer, and an accountant, and a psychologist.

Main Tasks

The professionalism of the manager determines what his restaurant will be like. He must be able to organize the work of employees so that the outputturned out to be a great product.

The ability of a restaurateur to create the right advertisement for the establishment will allow you to host good guests.

A restaurant manager must be able to keep accounting records, because this is a guarantee of safety.

For him, there should be no small things in his work, often they determine everything. And only by being able to solve these problems, you can ensure the success of the restaurant, keep its image at a high level, which is the main responsibility of the manager.

Main Functions

Managing a restaurant is a complex business, because nothing can escape the attention of the manager. He must be a good mentor for his staff and a model in all production, and often even in life issues.

At his workplace, the manager must:

• carry out work with staff, recruit and distribute responsibilities;
• control the financial activities of the enterprise by analyzing the sales and costs of the restaurant;
• deal with government services;
• provide the institution with the necessary equipment;
• keep in touch with suppliers;
• carry out the formation of pricing policy, menu, wine list.

The financial well-being of the enterprise largely depends on the manager's ability to cope with the above functions.

What you need to know

There are three types of restaurants. These are premium, mid-range and fast food restaurants. Working in a top notch restaurantof course it will be different. Therefore, the manager of such an institution is selected with at least five years of experience in this area, with a higher education in the profile. He must be able to read the wine list, know haute cuisine, have experience in recruiting employees for the enterprise.

Slightly less of a requirement for a middle-class restaurant director. Here it is recommended to appoint a person who has 2-3 years of experience in a similar institution.

There is a more democratic approach to candidates for the position of director of a fast food restaurant.

Based on the tasks that the future director will have to perform, he must know the ways to solve them and have successful experience in this.

Employees of chain restaurants receive a good store of knowledge, since training here is at a fairly high level.

It would be nice if the future manager is familiar with restaurant software.

Training for restaurant managers

Working in a restaurant, in addition to skills and abilities, also requires an appropriate level of education. Often even experienced managers who have not undergone special training cannot solve financial issues, have difficulties in managing personnel, and are poorly versed in legislative acts.

Therefore, the speci alty "Management of the hotel and restaurant business" is very popular and in demand today. In many universities you can get a good education in this area. Of course, budget places are also offered, but they are few. Most of the training is done on a commercial basis.basis.

Specializations are offered in the economic and organizational direction. And you can take restaurant manager courses. This is for those who already have a good experience in the restaurant business, but would like to get an education as well. There are also many suggestions here. If desired, there are plenty to choose from.

How to become a restaurant manager

The restaurant business is currently developing rapidly. This allows young people with ambitions who want to build a successful career to grow in a profession in a few years. Having come to a restaurant as a simple waiter, it is quite possible to become a manager in 5-6 years. Of course, this will require a lot of effort. You need to work hard, learn the restaurant business, follow the emergence of new trends.

According to the advice of well-known Russian restaurateurs, it is better to start in some hotel restaurant that is part of the European chain. Since there is good training, in a very short time you can achieve significant success in moving up the career ladder. Anyone who has gone through such a school, starting from the bottom, knows very well how to run a restaurant.

Career prospects in Moscow

The restaurant industry is moving by leaps and bounds throughout Russia, not bypassing, of course, the capital. And there is room for improvement here. When compared with the countries of Western Europe, Russia and Moscow are lagging behind. So, in Europe, in big cities, there are 150 places in a restaurant per thousand people, and in Moscow only 25. Another flaw is that more than halfestablishments are located in the center. Therefore, very soon they will appear in residential areas and everyone needs a restaurant manager. Moscow gives a chance to those who wish to build a successful career in the restaurant industry.