METHODICAL MAGIC AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY Vice President Jeff Kellen tells us how The Cheesecake Factory gets it done
Showing his Late Show audience a special edition book that stands 3ft high by 4ft wide Stephen Colbert recently joked, “It’s almost as big as the menu at The Cheesecake Factory!” Known for having over 250 dishes, The Cheesecake Factory is synonymous with choice, the casual dining concept that “…destroys the veto vote,” says Alshaya’s Vice President of Casual Dining, Jeff Kellen. There are three menus at The Cheesecake factory; one just for kids, another so special it’s trademarked Skinnylicious and the main menu. The range of item categories itself is large, you’ve got Specialty Drinks, Small Plates & Snacks, Appetizers, Specialties, Lunch Specials, Glamburgers, Salads, Sandwiches, Eggs & Omelettes, Friday & Saturday Breakfast, Cheesecakes, Desserts and Beverages! Phew! And, when you look more closely, as Jeff Kellen points out, you can see so many cuisines; European inspired items, Northern American favorites, super tasty Southern Cajun offerings, dishes which travel down through Mexico and options that venture across to Asia. These cleverly curated culinary plates span dietary lifestyle choices too; pescatarians, ovo-lacto vegetarians, and meat eaters can sit and enjoy a meal time together. Could this be the original flexitarian menu? This is certainly a menu that flexes at any rate, especially as every single dish is made from scratch. It’s tough enough to successfully cater for when your picky uncle and surly teenage cousin are coming to Friday family gatherings at home! The Cheesecake Factory has to deal with customers who all want, what they want, to a consistent standard and at the same time, with great customer service. How does The Cheesecake Factory do it? Jeff divulges some of the restaurant’s secrets, and it is not just team work, but the size of your team that matters. While taking bazaar Studios on a tour of the Grand Avenue location, which launched The Cheesecake Factory in Kuwait in 2012, Jeff pops his head through to the kitchen’s line-up section. It is hours before the first customer would even think of stepping in and ordering anything, but there’s already a row as far as you can see of staff chopping, slicing, and dicing. Literally like a factory, each person is responsible for their own section, readying the ingredients for whatever combination of dishes that may be ordered by hungry patrons throughout the restaurant’s lengthy opening hours. It is ‘combinations’ that gives us another clue as to how this ship sails through the demands of the day so well. A set number of ingredients can combine to make a number of dishes, in the same way that the numbers 0-9 can combine