Parisienne

Parisienne Chophouse Improves Efficiency and Reduces Errors

Having built a legendary reputation in the kitchen, one-time 'enfant terrible' of British chefs, Marco Pierre White, became the youngest chef in the world to achieve the ultimate accolade of three Michelin Stars in 1994. The latest addition to his enviable collection of world-class venues under The White Star Line banner is the Parisienne Chophouse, London. Located in Knightsbridge, its style transports you to a traditional French Brasserie, both in decor and with its range of classic French dishes.

When such high quality is produced in the kitchen, it is important that this excellence is supported by a restaurant management system of the same stature. There must be no doubts in the minds of the managers that they can rely on the system to perform many of the day-to-day functions of a busy London venue. Parisienne Chophouse General Manager, JC Slowik explains,

"All Marco's restaurants use the Squirrel restaurant management system now because it is so user-friendly and automates many processes that traditionally took a long time to complete. When you are as busy as the Parisienne Chophouse, you must be able to rely on your management system, which is why we chose Squirrel."

The Parisienne Chophouse has 40 staff, of whom 20 require access to its restaurant management system. Some of the staff, including Slowik, brought their system experience to the new venue. "We used the Squirrel system at The Belvedere [Holland Park] and it was very easy to use," he says. "It is very important to us that our business runs as smoothly as possible. We understand that mistakes from human error can happen, but with a system like Squirrel, it becomes a less regular occurrence."

The Squirrel Restaurant Management System, sold & serviced by Squirrel's UK distributor, offers complete automation of full-service restaurant operations, including Point of Sale, Credit Card Processing, Labour Cost Management, Time and Attendance, Food and Beverage Management and Data Transfer capabilities to other software applications.

Impressive Functionality

Squirrel provides impressive functionality, not least with its in-built credit card system, which is a huge improvement on previous systems, as the Parisienne Chophouse's accountants, Harrison Brooker, testifies. "One of the advantages of Squirrel is that it's an all-in-one system. Compared to others, this design is a major breakthrough for the restaurant industry. Reducing the error risk is always difficult, but Squirrel manages this by automating many functions that would normally be prone to human error," explains Harrison Brooker's Systems and Financial Controller, Anthony Said. "Other systems will provide a console and a separate credit card machine and details of the transaction have to be entered manually between the systems. This process has been negated by the all-in-one design of Squirrel. It automatically produces the bill when the table number is entered and once the credit card is swiped through the system, the transaction is charged to the card and a receipt is printed for the customer to sign."

Whereas many management systems are location-based with the terminal's location dictating its functionality, Squirrel provides an all-in-one system that is the same for the front of house as the back of house. The only difference is which functions each individual user can access with, for example, only managers able to perform refunds at the Parisienne Chophouse. This makes the system very easy to control, financiallysecure and eases the pressures of the back office staff. Anthony Said continues, "We can run a wide variety of reports which can be consolidated into one email report that you can receive as often as necessary."

Innovative Insight

"Squirrel has the usual accounting functionality, but also includes reports such as Void, Promo, Waste and Sales which are used every day, providing an invaluable insight as to what is happening in the restaurant."

Reliable Information

Slowik adds, "Squirrel also allows me to cash up very quickly. It takes less than four minutes to close the day - at one o'clock in the morning I'm extremely grateful for this. I get one email report at the end of the evening and I know it contains everything I need. I can rely on the information I receive and know at the end of a sixteen-hour day that I can't make a mistake because Squirrel does the thinking for me."

Improved Customer Service

Another important feature is how Squirrel can improve customer service by providing the front of house staff with the ability to solve most customer queries. Slowik explains, "We have four ways that we can track an individual customer bill. Usually, customers will call without very much information to hand, but we can search for the table number, the credit card number, the time they were in the restaurant, or the bill number. The amount of time this saves the staff is immense."

Future Plans

Looking to the future, the Parisienne Chophouse already has plans to enhance its systems. This is likely to be done in line with the other Marco Pierre White restaurants, to maintain the equilibrium. Slowik concludes, "At the end of the day the restaurant trade is prone to a high staff turnover. We need to be able to easily transfer staff between restaurants and know they will be ready for service as soon as possible. I have proved that this is possible myself, having been based at The Belvedere before the Parisienne Chophouse opened. What I had learned there I could use in the new restaurant without needing much additional training." Squirrel's ease-of-use is clearly invaluable in such a busy environment, where time is always of the essence.