The Labor of Love

                During this week I was reading an introduction of a book called "Kitchen Con", the phase that caught my eyes is "The Labor of Love". On that time I just feel cool about this phase without know the real meaning of this phase until today. Today is a Labor day as everyone know. Most of the people have a day off but the restaurant did not. I began my day at the City Thai restaurant by filling a bucket of ice to get ready for the customers. After that I went to the front house to help my waitress to clean up all the chairs and statues. When every preparations already set into place, I received a phone call for a to-go order. Everything just as calm as a wave. About 2:30 customers start coming in continually to whenever we close. I did not have a break at all. Every waiters work constantly like there is no break. We were working without knowing the time have rapid moved. We greet We seat We take orders We served We check We pack We give a bill We settle We clean And We prepare for the next round~~ That's what we do for the routine. Others might think this is an easy thing to do but believe me it's not easy as you see. It's required a lot of skills to handle this especially when you are still in high school. For today at the City Thai is very busy especially when I'm still new to this profession. Everyone don't even have time to drink just a glass of water. Please think about it for a second…… How is working in the restaurant is called " A Labor of Love" ? ………… Any answer? From my perspective as you can see today is just another holiday that I can just relax at home but I choose to be here at the restaurant even how tired I am. The Culinary Art profession is all up to you and you choose to be here working so many hours because you have passion with this particularly careers. Because I love to take care the customers to feel welcome and relax. Love to surprise the customers with a delicious taste of food. Love to share and exchange experiences with customers but also the workers as well. love to set the same goal as your friends. Love to be rounded with people. And love to create a fantastic environment. We are the LABOR OF LOVE because we willing do anything at any times for our customers.

Spaghetti Salad

Woke up in the late morning and making brunch for myself. I decided not to go hard core cooking but yet my dish still have a rich taste of flavors. I fried spaghetti and make special sauce with pork, fish balls, and shrimp balls. Here's the result of my creation!

Fourth Interview Questions

1) Why you choose to manage a restaurant ?

2) What is your accomplishment in restaurant industry and how you can do that?

3) If restaurant represents a part of your body, what part it would be and why?

4) Why do connection is important in restaurant industry?

5) Do you feel an honor to pursue this career and why?

6) If you have a time machine to go go back when you choose your career, would you like to change
that and why?

7) Why do you want to work in restaurant industry?

8) Why do we need to have a good relationship with the other owners?

9) Why do we need to have a good relationship with the customers?

10) What are possible way to make your restaurant successfully and stable?

11) How can you pick your companionship with other restaurant?

12) How could you make sure that your friend, another owners, spread how awesome your restaurant is?

13) How much could you help other restaurant in managing process and why?

14) When all the problems come, how can you prioritize to solve it?

15) What is your limited of managing your restaurant?

16) When you are working at the restaurant, how can you manage time with your family?

17) Since you chosen to manage the restaurant what are your commitment?

18) How can you make sure that you have your responsibility along with passion?

19) How could you apply your passion in the working our at your restaurant?

20) What is your recommendation about a new owner who want to own a restaurant and why is it important?

21) Since your restaurant become successfully do you have any plans to open the new one?

22) If you can choose the location for you restaurant, where would you want to open it and why?

23) Would you prefer to open ethic or fusion restaurant? Why is that your choice?

24) What you think is the most effective way to advertising your restaurant? and how come?

25) How can you ensure your advertising is using in a beneficial way?

Blog #17: Third Answer

1) What is your EQ?

         "What factor most influences to a customer in returning to a Thai cuisine?"

2) What is your third answer?

         Lastly, connection with people is the key to have a customer returning to a Thai cuisine. People in this meaning are not only customers or employees but it's also including another restaurant's owners. You might not wondering why is that. Having someone help your business or make it successfully is great but how can you make it efficiently stable. When the other restaurant owners can help you with, that's how you make your business stable. They are like your friend-enemies. Keep them even closer. They can spread your links faster than you even can realize it. It's your desire to want them to talk good or bad about your restaurant. Having connection will help your business successfully grow. 

3) List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• When the states officers come to check in about the payment in the restaurants, your friends, another owners, can tell you ahead of time so you can prevent on time.

• When you have a problem with a food that you are make to a customer, you can ask them how do they do in their restaurant.

• The social network is spread widely. Nowadays, people just check on yelp to decide what they want to order or try.   

4) What printed source best support your answer?

• Audrey C. McCool and Barent N. McCool, "The Social responsibility of the foodservice industry: The need for action regarding the obesity crisis" ( June 8, 2010). Caesars Hospitality Research Summit. Paper 1

5) What other source supports your answer?

• Wajeetongratana, Prateep. "Firm Performance of Thai Cuisines in Bangkok, Thailand: Contribution to the Tourism Industry." Waset.org. International Science Index Vol:8, No:9, 2014 Waset.org/Publication/9999174, 2014. Web. 2014.

• Fickenscher, Lisa. "Thai Town Grows on Ninth Avenue." Crain's New York Business, 25.34 (2009): 1.

• Jain, Neha. "Strategic Management." Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 17.1 (2013): 89-90.

• Reich, Allen. "Should Strategic Market Management Replace Strategic Management as the Planning Model for Restaurant Decision-Making?." Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 5.1 (2002): 23-43.

6) Tie this together with a concluding thought.

          Connection might seem less important in a restaurant but unfortunately is one of the most factors that influences people to return in a Thai restaurant. Connect to make it work!

Blog 16: Answer 2

1) What is your EQ?

          "What factor most influences a customer in returning to a Thai restaurant?"

2) What is your first answer?

         Making customers feel at home is one of the factors that influences a customer in returning to a Thai restaurant. The customers are essential to making your restaurant business move forward. There are five ways to help customers feel at home in your restaurant, such as greeting and welcoming them, being constant with your food, having a reasonable price, creating a good environment, and meeting sanitary standards. All of these elements play a role in making the customer feel comfortable to dine in at your restaurant.

3) What is your second answer?

          My second answer to my essential question is you should have passion for and be responsible to the restaurant industry. These two things will always go together. Passion is falling in love in what you do. It's important to follow your own heart. Passion is also the willingness to improve your working habits. Customers can often feel how much effort an employee puts into their job. If the employees don't want to work or serve, how will they provide satisfactory service. Only passion isn't enough. That's where responsibility comes into play. A restaurant owner must have focus and be on top of his responsibilities. Passion is a motivation but responsibility is concentration.

4) List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• When I was working on my first component, I learned that passion in baking kept me inspired to do better all the time. Sometimes, I would cry and almost give up in creating Thai Tea cupcakes but responsibility helped me to complete my work.
• I have been observing and helping in a Thai restaurant for about three and a half years. I was willing to do anything that they needed me to do because I wanted to learn everything. I didn't mind going to work every day of the week. I even wash dishes in the restaurant as well.
• Being responsible can be about updating the inventory, being organized, and being flexible. 

5) What printed source best supports your answer?

          My best resource is DiFillippo, Steve. "Chapter 1: Passion." It's All about the Guest: Exceeding Expectations in Business and in Life, the Davio's Way. 10th ed. United State: Copyright, 2013. 1-20. Print.

6) What other source supports your answer?

• DiFillippo, Steve. "Chapter 2: Set The Tone." It's All about the Guest: Exceeding Expectations in Business and in Life, the Davio's Way. 10th ed. United State: Copyright, 2013. 21-37. Print.
• Bourdain, Anthony. "Chapter 2: Food Is Sex" Kitchen Confidential. 1st ed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2000. 19-24. Print.
• Fickenscher, Lisa. "Thai Town Grows on Ninth Avenue." Crain's New York Business, 25.34 (2009): 1.
• Rowe, Megan. "Restaurant GM Inspires Passion for Excellence." Restaurant Hospitality, (2013): .
• Sanson, Michael. "Strategic Moves, Passion Build Strong Restaurants." Restaurant Hospitality, (2014): .

7) Tie this together with a concluding thought.

          Most restaurant owners understand how to move their own business forward but sometimes they do not realize that "Passion" can play an important role in inspiring them to move in a positive direction for their own career.  If you have passion but don't take action, your dream will not go any where. That's why passion and responsibility always go along together.        

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1) Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

          For this independent component I want to do more research on the third answer for my essential question. My EQ is " What factor most influences a customer in returning to a Thai cuisine?" I'm thinking "Connection & Advertisement" are the key for my third answer. I decided to create a magazine about Old Town Pasadena including my cuisine. This magazine will discuss different foods of my cuisine but yet also describe what alternative activities there are when you come to Old Town Pasadena. In this magazine I will talk about Thai food as I learn how to make it. Telling my own experiences will make my magazine more alive. Not only that, I will add a story of a successful restaurant owner. The magazine will be a visual advertisement. I'm thinking of creating an Instagram account, as well.  

2) Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

          I will hand out my magazine  that I create. I can show what I have done on Instagram as well. Of course, I will keep updating the Senior hour log.

3) Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

          Personally, in my Senior Project topic I have to learn from my own experiences. Every thing I have been researching is information about how to deal with this profession in real life. It's learning by doing it. Never stop to learn in this career otherwise you will be way behind and can't stabilize your own business. I'm hoping this independent component will allow me to explore the marketing field which is one of the most important factors in keeping your own business moving forward. I will expand my knowledge in real life about how to improve my own business by having a connection with others and advertising the business.

4) My senior project log hours: Click here.

Independent Component 1

• Literal:

• "I, Papitchaya Sutthisoonthorn, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 60 hours 15 mins of work."

• Cite:
  
  
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/vanilla-cupcakes-recipe.html : For the cupcake bases that I started with. (I adjusted it to suit my own recipe.) 
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cream-cheese-frosting-recipe.html: For cream cheese frosting (I adjusted it to suit my own recipe.) 
• Inspirational videos: 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xze8atBaVEY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyrWIF5EtzA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8SYhPFLYEA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7osrDuO_j8
• People who helped me:
• Marissa Jasso
• Sara Baggia
• Stephanie Pinedo
• Employees at City Thai
• Mrs. Chutima Amnat
• Mr. Chukiat Navasu
• Mrs. Sunee Navasu

• Here's the link to my independent component log: click here.

Note: My part "e" explanation is included in section: Literal, Interpretive, and Applied.

          The goal of my first independent component is to create a "Thai tea cupcake" to sell in the restaurant where I mentor. I will list everything that I have done, learned, and applied to my senior project. During the 60 hours of my independent component, I did a lot of processes to just get one beautiful cupcake. I researched how to make a cupcake and what ingredients were needed. It took me three hours to find a reliable recipe that I could adjust. After that I went shopping for the ingredients and tools that I would use to make a cupcake. It took me quite a long time just to get them because this is the first time I ever baked anything from scratch. There are so many brands of each product. How would I know which one was good? Could I just observe the products or would I need to ask other people around. This process is similar to when the owner chooses where he could open his own restaurant. The key to opening a successful restaurant is location which correlates to the ingredients which are the key to create a successful cupcake.

Ingredients for the starter.

Inspired stubbornness product!

          My first round: Yes, now is the time to bake my first cupcakes from scratch. I decided to bake a vanilla based cupcake with butter frosting. When I did that I just randomly put everything in the mixer; it was a mess. Sorry, Marissa Jasso for making your stand mixer dirty and thank you for letting me borrow that tool which helped me  succeed in this independent component. I was not aware that every ingredient has their own unique properties such as, you have to slowly blend all the dry ingredients first with number one speed just to mix it together. I learned that in order to make a better dessert or food item a person should know what the ingredients do and how problems that may arise can be fixed. In the same way the restaurant manager needs to understand his employee, the chef needs to understand his food, the dishwasher needs to understand his machine, and the waitress needs to understand her customer. If people in the restaurant don't know how to work in their profession, the restaurant may be a step behind from succeeding. This is what I presented during my first lesson plan. Collaboration is the key. 

    
         Making the first cupcake: When I was following the directions for making a vanilla based cupcake, I couldn't follow the instructions. I began to question most of the ingredients like, "Are you sure that's the right amount to put in to make a cupcake?" and, "Who would share an amazing cupcake recipe to the public?" So, I decided to change or substitute some of the ingredients which I shouldn't have done my very first time. I admit that I am very stubborn when it comes to my creation. I can't just follow the rules or do something that most people do or even keep it the same style. What I changed in these cupcakes is I reduced the butter and sugar because I feel like there was too much in the original recipe. I also added M&Ms to the base cupcake because just tasting the softness of the cake is not enough. For the butter frosting, I did not use the food coloring because fresh strawberry is healthier and gives the same color and smells great. Thinking outside of the box sometimes can be good. It expands variety in food that we all love but sometimes not following directions can hurt your end result, as well. Everyone has their own way of working in a restaurant. The recipe represents the role models who have been working in this field for so long. We can follow them but we also have to see if this method will fit well for you or not. We are able to classify which ones we want to follow. Working with others gives us opportunities to learn what the best skills are in each of your role models and we can adapt them to our own style. Never stop learning because the world still has many things to invent or discover. 

          Testing the cupcakes: Once I had a finished cupcake, I passed them out  to my families and my friends for recommendations and comments. Most of the people said they were in love with the base cake but not so much the frosting. I asked them what they didn't like about the frosting. They said there was some weird combination in the taste of frosting but they really couldn't tell what it was. I told them,"It's probably the vanilla extract with the strawberry". They said, "yes, that's right". See, this is an example that creativity has some pros and cons. Before I tried the second round I did some more research about how to know when it would be time for the cupcakes to be ready. Believe it or not this was the first time that I feel the researches are essential to my project. Besides that I watch videos about how to pipe the frosting. 

 6 Flavors shall we try

I'm ready to do my second trial which happen to be on my birthday party! Sara Baggia was very generous for giving me a best recipe for vanilla base cupcakes. I reduced the size and ingredients to one third because if something happen I can just throw those away and not wasting that much ingredients. This is a pretty good idea to reduce it because trying out somethings always have an enormous possible error. People who working in the restaurant have developed time and supplies managing skills. The employees have to find a way to shorten the time as much as possible but yet everything still efficiently produced. The owner is not only managing his employees but also managing a supplies in the restaurant such as doing inventory. For this second time I came up with 6 flavors of mini cupcakes which happen to be Thai tea, Corn, Berries, Peach &orange, Almond with chocolate, and apple with honey.  This idea was created when my mother and my father came to visit me. So I would like to something that is symbolic of the three of us. I decided to make all of the flavors that we all like. During I come up with this idea, everyone thinks I am crazy to make such weird flavors. If you keep the same tradition that everyone did then what's new? Having everything the same throughout the seasons. What's the challenge? This idea is to be able to apply this in the restaurant as well. Theme and food in restaurant is affect of deciding to come to the restaurant. Even though you have an crazily amazing dish that people want to eat it everyday. Let's face it, how many times will you eat the same exact meal in two week period? Twice is an enough of a number for me. So which mean If I like their food I only visit their twice in half of the month. How can the restaurant become successfully with that? Instead of that try to invent more food that people will like and come to eat throughout the year or you can make it into season. Not only increasing the customer's loyalty but also save your money when you buy supplies following in the season. I brought to the party and I start to see people's eyes are focusing on the cupcakes the most. So, I told everyone that they can serve themselves and after that I explained what all of the different kinds of cupcakes were that they saw. Everyone love it and they brought some home as well. Of course, there is still some error in the cupcakes. That's when researches are come into play. 

Now, It's time for Winter holidays such as Christmas and New years. I asked my mentor for allowing me to pass out my "Thai Tea" cupcakes to the customers and he approved it but this whole idea was a nightmare. I baked a 200 cupcakes a day before Christmas. It was horrible to the products but what I found is incredible to describe. I have found a love of my life. I can't even believe myself that baking can make me feel I have met a right person and easily fall in love with. My heart start racing, my face start blushing, my body is heating up. I heard a song called, "Clock", it's a Thai song. The chorus said, " a minute may enough to know each other, an hour may enough to like each other, and a day may people connect and fall in love." The reader properly think that I'm over exaggerated. I am not I just letting my passion to become purpose and one day it will be my profession. The passion will help you to focus and ready to learn a new skills in your working habits. When you have a passion working in the restaurant, you will try to find the way to improve the systems and learn just how to serve customers. Every mistake you have made will become your reminders for the next situation. 

The first set I did it came out great because I take my time and experience in love. This time I created a Thai Tea cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting with my own invented recipe. I also have to make a Thai Tea on my own as well. For the rest of the set I was mixing and baking with talking to my family in Thailand with a serious problem which all of the cupcakes that I made that time is just horrible. This events make me believe that all the food that we make need love into it. Everyone suggested to make the base more fluffy so I had to do more of my research. I tried to make a Thai tea crepe to test how to able to be fluffy and what are the trick. I found that you have to sift the flour to make it fluffy and soft. What I learn from this is there are many ways to a on answer but if you don't try how you are going to discover or know which is the best method. Similarly, there is a hundred ways to serve a customer but which way is the best to use for your own personality. My final product! YAY! Now it's become to my last try before the independent component is due. I passed it out during my Lesson 2 presentation. It's turn out quite well. One of my first suggested that could you make into a bigger size? The others asked me that they can be my tester for every experiments for my dessert of food. I felt so proud of myself that I made it. I personally make a food or dessert just to give and see other people reaction about my food. I'm not really too obsessed to eat my own food and my friends told me that's just crazy. I love to see when people react to my food. That's how I found and feel my happiness. Food is a creation in art. I have learned a lot from this component about how to manage a business and passion in what you do.