The Secret Ingredient
Chef Travis Myers recently made a presentation to our Lewis and Daggett team on his "secret ingredient." Chef Myers has quite a resume’. He is currently the Executive Chef at the popular River Birch Lodge.
Myers is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York City, one of the premiere cooking schools in the world. Raised locally, his passion for his profession clearly shows. Certainly cooking is part of the passion, but passion for the The Secret Ingredient is just as strong.
To the surprise of the audience, The Secret Ingredient is hospitality. Chef Myers defined this as caring service you can see and feel. His presentation on hospitality was customer focused and applies to any field, business, or endeavor. He focused on five rules for hospitality he learned in the New York restaurant industry:
- Care for each other - We have to be able to first care for and take care of each other in order to do our best as a team in taking care of our guests.
- Care for the guests - Our guests are our customers and clients. We need to make them feel like we are on their team.
- Care for the community - Being involved in the community - not just giving money, but really being involved - makes everyone feel a part of our team.
- Care for your suppliers - Those we do business with are part of our team and we are important to each other’s success.
- Take care of your shareholders - The "shareholders" are all who walk through your door. Take care of them and you will succeed.
This was a great presentation and it was very quickly apparent that hospitality is always a formula for success. Quite honestly, Chef Myers’ hospitality rules were very descriptive of our L & D Team values.
We thank Chef Myers for sharing his fascinating stories and life lessons. May we all remember The Secret Ingredient each day!