Leadership in the Restaurant Environment of Antonio\'s

Leadership in the Restaurant Environment of "Antonio's" in San Francisco

From Rocco's televised reality-show restaurant to Anthony Bourdains' tales of a Kitchen Confidential, it becomes clear that leadership in a restaurant environment can often be diffuse, complex, and highly emotional in its nature. Rather than having a stringently gradated hierarchy of control in its environment of leaders and subordinates, a restaurant many be owned by one individual, backed financially by another, and managed daily by different individuals at different times of day, depending on whether it is lunch or dinner time. The food industry is service-oriented as well, adding an additional element to the mix, that of the often hungry customer. Moreover, the waiting staff so crucial to the eating establishment's success, and the ability of the hosts and hostesses, may vary. All of these individuals have differing degrees of tenure and loyalty to the organization. Thus, many potential personal neutralizers to the establishment's central control may exist of the ownership of the organization amongst the staff.

Antonio's," an upscale restaurant located on 7959 N. Blackstone Ave Fresno CA is an Italian restaurant that is dominated by a family environment. By having a close-knit and intensely loyal wait staff and owners and financial backers whom are largely connected to the family that owns the establishment, the frequent diffusion and quality control problems so endemic to the leadership environment at a restaurant is circumvented to a great degree. The menu of the establishment, and other variable inventory costs such as food and wine, are closely managed by individuals with a financial interest in the establishment as well as those who simply have an interest in collecting a paycheck at the end of the week.