Executive Chef | Cluster Executive Chef | Culinary Director | Fine & Casual Dining | Michelin-recognized | Middle East
Once I was invited by my friend to review the menu of his restaurant in Dubai. He insisted it had to be redesigned because it “wasn’t making money.” After spending a week inside the operation, it became clear: the menu was only the tip of the iceberg. But the real issues lay much deeper. The most common pitfalls I observed and that many restaurants face: - Menus created without a clear view of margins, leaving food cost uncontrolled or above the acceptable threshold. - Production and logistics processes that silently drain resources. - Departments - kitchen, service, marketing, finance - working in isolation, with no unified or transparent plan. - A brand identity too weak to keep guests coming back. - Teams overloaded, leading to turnover and declining consistency. This is why the role of a Chef today goes far beyond cooking. Beyond culinary mastery, ingredients knowledge and awareness of trends, a Chef must develop a strategic perspective on the restaurant as a business. Seeing the bigger picture, aligning with the COO, the marketing team, and the owner - this is what makes goals transparent and transforms scattered efforts into a clear roadmap. A restaurant is an ecosystem. And only through a strategic lens can a restaurant be turned into a profitable and growing enterprise.
Deepak Yadav
1mo
True
Mohammad Abu Ali
1mo
Michael, spot on. I’ve walked into many restaurants where the “menu problem” was only the surface the real bleeding was happening underneath. From experience, the cracks always look the same: no costed recipes, no scaling, no portion control, and teams cooking from memory instead of discipline. That’s not just inefficiency it’s chaos disguised as creativity, and it silently kills profit and consistency. Today, a Chef who only cooks is already outdated. The modern culinary leader must read margins as fluently as flavors, connect the kitchen with purchasing, logistics, and marketing, and enforce systems that make excellence non-negotiable. Without that, even the most beautiful menu is worthless. For me, the menu is a weapon, not a decoration: Built with ruthless attention to margins and waste. Aligned with brand identity to hook guests and bring them back. Backed by SOPs and training that ensure every plate is the same, every time. A restaurant is a battlefield of details. And when the Chef sees beyond the stove — when every plate leaving the pass carries discipline, vision, and numbers behind it that’s when a restaurant stops surviving and starts dominating
Harris Liaqat
1mo
Agreed and many restaurant owners often feel that such detailed nitty-gritty isn’t worth their time and won't make much of an impact on the outcome. In reality, however, these small details can make a world of difference when viewed in the bigger picture. I only wish more owners valued these details as much as they do to great looking, tasty food and marketing. What's the point of great taste and marketing, if there's no system involved in scaling it without hiccups?
Nadler Richard
1mo
I'm happy when I apply at certain places I offer to consult also because having that eye for what you just explained is plus and it's very much needed in most kitchens today .
A chef today must be a strategic leader—aligning operations, cost control, branding, and unity for profitability
K.V. Simon
1mo
Every system requires strategic management by competent professionnel.
Hospitality Heart. Marketing Brain. F&B Marketing ➡ Customer Experience & Retention Marketing for Restaurants & Service Brands | Digital Marketing • Email Marketing • UGC • Events
1moIt's easy to focus on what's visible, like a menu but the real issues are always the hidden processes and misaligned systems.