Page 8 - Running a Great Shift Learner Guide 1.1
P. 8
Running a Great Shift Learner Guide
Plate Grading
Lesson 2 00:03
Overview
Every plate has a purpose, every time it crosses the stainless.
We can sometimes get caught up in production of food, rather than quality. Plate grading is a simple teaching system for
evaluating the quality of food that your team creates.
The goal is consistently better food through increased awareness and the elimination of visual QSAs. A visual QSA is a
recipe or quality error that can be seen on the plate.
Key points for success:
Keep it simple; there are only 4 points to memorize and there’s no need to add more and over-complicate
Consistent coaching that’s immediate and positive; grade plates as soon as they’re placed on the stainless (i.e.
“the pass”)
o A common mistake is to wait to grade each plate until the whole order is prepared
o Remember that the quicker we can provide feedback, the more powerful it is
Recipe viewer is a fantastic resource; not only does it include the recipe for each dish, but there are pictures,
videos, key quality points and finesse points to help ensure every dish is perfect
FOH managers and the rest of the FOH team are empowered to plate grade
Plate grading should happen for every plate at the start of the shift, before it’s busy. This “sets the bar” and reminds the
team of what’s most important: food quality. There will probably be a point during revenue when it’s too busy to plate
grade and that’s okay! If you’ve done a great job of plate grading in the beginning of the shift, the quality should maintain.
However, you should still ensure that our guests are receiving excellent, quality dishes regardless of the level of business.
Plate Grading Defined
The Window position verbally rates each plate as it’s placed on the stainless. There’s no need for decimals (i.e. 9.5); keep
it simple! Each rating defines a specific action that’s outlined below. Through this consistent feedback, we improve the
quality and presentation of our dishes.
Rating Definition Action
Praise the individual and the team
10 Outstanding food.
Praise should be specific and enthusiastic
Excellent quality that only requires Call out the “9” plate
9 a quick fix. Can be fixed in less Fix the plate
than 5 seconds. Coach the team member on how to achieve a 10 next time
Send back to the team member if it will not push ticket
Excellent quality that requires a times into the next stage; otherwise fix yourself
8 longer fix. Requires more than 5 Coach the team member on how to achieve a 10 next time
seconds to fix. After revenue, coach the team member if s/he had repeat
“8s”
Remake the entire plate
Unacceptable quality. If we were to Coach the team member on how to achieve a 10 next time
serve the dish, the guest would be
7 Retrain the team member on that dish after revenue
disappointed. This is a long fix, so
service will probably be disrupted. Ensure a FOH manager speaks with the table if there’s an
interruption to service
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