Front and back of the house not for you? Try corporate HQ

Cable cooking shows glamorized the culinary field and attracted a whole generation of celebrity chef hopefuls. Yet restaurant industry opportunities go beyond the kitchen and the dining room.

As our professional networking groups demonstrate, restaurants offer opportunities for internal auditors, quality assurance specialists, marketers, and more.

“The industry now has a need — and a demand — for a greater variety of talent,” says Kevin Bechtel, senior vice president of purchasing and menu development for Shari’s Café & Pies, a family dining concept in the western United States. “You have to look for it all: purchasing, legal, HR."

Even real estate. Laurie Burns joined the restaurant industry in the late 1980s after receiving an MBA in real estate and finance. Her first job: scouting new locations for Taco Bell. Today, she's chief development officer for Darden Restaurants, which operates more than 1,500 restaurants, employs more than 150,000 people and serves more than 320 million meals a year.

The influx of non-traditional roles isn’t only opening various career options for those already in the industry; it’s also pulls in people who might never have considered a restaurant career.

Large companies such as Darden Restaurants and McDonald's seek a new breed of talent: people who know precisely how to tap into the latest tech to improve customer experiences.

McDonald’s, for example, recently opened a new tech hub in San Francisco. “We’re looking for Silicon Valley’s best when it comes to digital and IT,” says Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, vice president of global media relations and issues management, McDonald’s. “The nature of the global business environment and our customers’ 24/7 digital lifestyles are driving this initiative.”

Have it your way

When I order a pizza, I want it with shrimp and pepperoni with extra sauce on the side. It’s a request that earns me odd looks, but it is really a great combination of flavors. When I order other types of pizza—veggie, hold the mushrooms, or all meat, hold the ham—I want my pizza served the way I like it.

A recent visit to a Neapolitan-themed pizza restaurant had limited options for toppings, only offering traditional pizza of the Italian region of which they hail. That’s not my style and I felt extremely restricted and therefore, my experience was not what I wish it could have been for this new establishment.

In an article by the Nation’s Restaurant News, “Restaurantsplay with customizable bowls,” the ever evolving mindset of the “have it your way” meal has a new rendition—a bowl. A bowl filled with all the ingredients you want with nothing you don’t is designed to capture those finicky eaters, many of which are millennial diners that have grown up having food served to their particular tastes. 

“I’ve had a burger bowl on my menu since the restaurant opened in March 2007,” said Phil deGruy, owner of Phil’s Grill in Metairie. “Particularly when it comes to low carb diets and the number of times people request a burger with no bun, it was really something that I saw as a no brainer and it’s a stronger seller.”

Many restaurant concepts have gotten on board, from fried chicken and Asian to Mexican—Taco Bell is now competing with Chipotle’s burrito bowls with great success. It’s safe to say the bowl has hit the mainstream consumer, offering versatile servings and modern comfort with a fresh taste and flavor.

“The Cantina Bowls are bringing more women into the restaurants,” said Greg Hamer, owner of B&G Foods, which operates more than 50 Taco Bells locations in Louisiana and Texas. “One of the locations in Texas is located next to a health club and has not had the sales volume of our other stores, but the release of the Cantina Bowls has increased traffic and sales for that location.”

Can you think of any other Louisiana restaurants that sell on the “have it your way” concept?