Good day to All!
As most of you know, or I should say, all of you who read last week's newsletter, Ralph and I were invited by Laura, Peter and Shane to work a Friday night at the Red Barn. This is probably the most generous act, that a fellow business person has ever afforded me. Laura, fully knowing my intention of opening a similar business model 15 miles from her doorstep, invited me in to show me, how they have perfected delivering fried chicken and seafood in the manner that they do.
When we first arrived at 4:30 pm, things were just starting to pick up and Laura said to me "You are going to hear your name tonight more than you ever have". l had no idea what she meant. I handed Laura a bag of 15 China Dine-ah t-shirts that she had requested and she quickly got her crew together and they were changed into China Dine-ah t-shirts right before your very eyes. Yes, they put them over their existing shirts! Ralph and I were handed Red Barn t-shirts and proudly changed into them. Ralph and I did go out back to take off our existing shirts. I don't think Ralph wanted to overheat, but I had a long sleeved shirt on and it looked kinda funny.
By 5 pm, things were heating up and I was standing there, really not sure what to do, when I heard my name hollered from the bagging area. It was a tray and I was told to take it up front. There was a long line waiting to order and I handed the tray to one of the staff in the front. I observed her using the intercom calling out the first name, and thought to myself "I can do that". Back to the rear I went, "Norm!" another tray and another slip. I went up front, sheepishly pushed the intercom button and called out the name and waited. I was told to put the tray down, put the slip under it and the people would come up and get it, so back I went. "Norm", another tray and another slip, to the front, on the intercom, back to the rear. Then I heard " Can I get in there?" for I was standing in front of one of the large Pepsi coolers, I soon learned that the cooler contained cole slaws for the family meals, freshly cut vegetables for the fried veggie entree, and cheese sticks. I'd like to think that I'm a fairly quick study, and after a couple times of moving, I started getting this stuff when asked! I now had two jobs - whoo!
I was so impressed with the operation, mostly by the processes that have been perfected over the last 30 years. Staff in the back ie. Shane at the fry station, Sara and Micah at the breading station, and Mindy and Josh at the bagging station, who all seldom, if ever, left their work areas. I know for a fact that Shane and the two breading station staff never did leave their station the entire night, from 4:30 to almost 8 pm. They would call out whatever it was that they needed, whether it be chicken, seafood, breading, packaging, labels, etc. and it was delivered to them by a couple of young men dedicated for that very purpose. Ralph was helping these two young men, anticipating and getting ready what was needed next. When the call came out, the food appeared like magic!
The staff taking incoming phone orders (Barbara and Alicia), the staff taking in house orders at the front counter, ie Peter and others that evening, the staff running cash registers (Jennie and Paula) and a staff member taking orders at the take out window, all worked in sync, getting order tickets back to the breading station where it all starts. Tickets in black were "to go" and tickets in blue were "eat in". Laura was in the back doing specialty items, such as lobster rolls, and other grilled items, while all the time, keeping an eye on the entire operation. Every once and awhile, she would come over and rearrange the long line of tickets ready to be processed.
At the height of the evening, with everything running in precision like a Swiss watch, Laura would shout out a command as if she was anticipating a situation.
One thing that comes to mind was writing the names on the back of the tickets as well as the front. This becomes very important when the people up front are looking for an order, all packaged and prepared that they can't find. The only other place it could be was next in line to be cooked. In order to validate this, they must be able to see the name on the ticket, so it makes sense that the name is on the back also because that is how they are looking at it coming up to it from the front.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I am so impressed with the operation that Laura and her staff have built. I have eaten there many, many, many times over the years and always wanted to see the operation run from "behind the scenes" having the curious mind that I do. Now I can say I have, thanks again Laura, I will forever be indebted. And just so you all know, Laura will be coming out to the China Dine-ah Too and working a shift with us.
We hope to see you all on Easter Sunday. We are open from 7 am to 6 pm, special Easter hours. and if I don't get a chance to wish you a Happy Easter in person, I do so now. Thanks for all of your support and for the friendships that we have built.
Norm p.s. We have introduced a new special on Thursday nights along with our "All You Can Eat Chicken". We are calling it "Thirsty Thursdays" and are offering $2 beers and glasses of wine for $3.50. Great way to jump start weekend after a hard week at work.
Laura Benedict, owner of the Red Barn & Norm
Ralph Arbour and Norm at the Red Barn