Dean Small's Page

You stand there and look at all the ingredients before you in your restaurant business kitchen and draw a complete blank. Nothing comes to mind. Granted, you could go home and watch the Food Network for a week, but where can you truly find inspiration?

When you have to develop daily specials and monthly specials and each one has to be stellar to sell out…and it would help if they happened to be delicious. What do you do when the bowl of imagination is empty?

The…

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Do you remember the highly popular ice cream parlors of the 1960’s and 70’s? Most reflected an 1890’s Victorian Era décor but featured lively music and vibrant (almost wild) employees. There was luscious food and deserts that would be considered both wonderfully self-indulgent and grossly unhealthy by today’s food watchdogs.



The most popular of these restaurant businesses was Farrell’s. In 1963, Robert "Bob" Farrell opened the first Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Portland, Oregon.… Continue

No matter what size your restaurant happens to be, these simple, low-cost steps will save water and help cut costs. Last year in our newsletter, we told you about restaurants that were cutting water usage up to 54%. That is a major savings in use and money.



Encourage employees to conserve — Train your employees to use water

conservatively. Post water-saving measures and more important…results. Consider a program to reward water-saving efforts by… Continue

If you can’t seem to find an angle to out maneuver your competition try this: Create an Amazing Guest Service Strategy!



If you ask 100 restaurant owners how they would rate their guest service our bet is 97-plus percent would say good. When it comes to creating amazing guest service, good is the enemy of great.



Amazing and “Over The Top” guest service is a direct result of thee restaurants ability to consistently deliver those “moments of magic” where the ordinary… Continue

Do you ever remember Grandma pinpointing the amount of saturated fat those baby back ribs? Or grandpa refusing to eat something because it had tons of cholesterol? Long gone are the days when people ignored food labels. Today health-consciousness has invaded every nook and cranny of the media, and therefore, the restaurant business. We are bombarded with tips on how to eat better, how to lower this, increase that, and avoid the other… But even though food consumption restrictions have… Continue