January 2008 Blog Posts (196)

In yesterday's blog we discussed the importance of having a comprehensive marketing plan for your restaurant and ended by saying if you haven’t already done so, take the first step and start building a database of your customers.

Today I want to share with you how to avoid, the…

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I recently discovered Montgomery’s Cheddar over Christmas, and what a gem this cheese is - everyone should have on their cheese board!



Cheddar has a bad reputation due to the bland supermarket prepacks. Montgomery’s is a million miles from that, sure you’ll pay a lot more, but it’s worth every penny! It’s crumbly, beautiful in colour and smells fantastic! It’s worth getting out your finest red wine and making an occasion of it!



James Montgomery's cheesemaking at his farm in… Continue

In the San Francisco area? Why not join the Locavore campaign here and show your customers that it is possible to source ALL your produce within a 100 mile radius!

And if you're not in the Bay area it's still possible with the help of localharvest.org

Its finally over, turkeys have been eaten, presents have been unwrapped and the last glass of champagne is gone. As a server working at a restaurant located at a very busy mall, I have already felt the change of seasons. For the last…

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When I was a young whippersnapper, attending classes at Ryerson University, what was then and still is called “one of the best hotel schools in North America", the marketing professor gave us an interesting, but quite challenging assignment.…

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The National Restaurant Association Chef Survey is out and is pretty interesting read.



The National Restaurant Association conducted an Internet survey of 1,282 members of the American Culinary Federation in October 2007. Chefs were given a list of 194 food items, beverage items, cuisines and preparation… Continue

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I would like to start the year talking about Marketing - its a commonly used word, whose meaning is often confused by small business to have the more restricted meaning given to words like advertising or selling.

But you see, Marketing, is a broad, all encompassing term, which includes a lot more than advertising or selling. A well known expert in the field, Peter Drucker said – “Because of the nature of business, it has just two functions…

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Articles

• April 15, 2009 | Social Media B2B | Social Media B2B
• August 28, 2008 | Food Widget Tracks Industry Trends | QSR Magazine
• July 30, 2008 | Presenting a case for business use of social networks |…

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Eating out is about entertainment too. Granted, finding a mouth-watering filet mignon or burger might be enough, but the environment helps, right? I mean I have to down that filet in a beautiful setting, not in a fleabag dive. It’s the visual, aural, taste and smell that does it for me when eating out. Perhaps I’m naïve, but could there be any renewed viability of restaurants or bars built entirely around ultra popular entertainment properties or…

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(from zen.co.uk via MediaWeek)



Coca-Cola has had a few false starts in 'social media', not long ago ending "The Coke Show", a video-centric platform that was intended to engage consumers and support user-generated content. Most recently, the company opted out of Facebook's Beacon program amid controversy over tracking user behaviour without permission. Now the company's MyCoke site will direct… Continue

In my history of dining, chain restaurants have fallen into the realm of a curse upon the world of food. Over salted, over sweetened foods on plethora, with a "turn and burn" mentality had kept me from ever being a huge fan of Chain Restaurants.



However! I have finally had an amazing experience at a chain restaurant.



In South Reno, at the Summit Sierra mall, there's a quaint little chain Italian restaurant: Johnny Carino's. The service was immaculate, not only did the server… Continue

I saw this today and it resonated with me. It was a loud and clear image that the party was over. At least for 2007. So, what's in store for 2008?



I tend to be a little passionate when it comes to planning and goal setting. I tend to use the time over the holidays (while escaping the family for some quiet time) to clean up my office, sort through some long over-due email, cleanse the database and write my goals for the next year.



I… Continue

I picked this up from AP...

A Florida man was about halfway through a plate of steamed clams when he chomped down on something hard — a rare, iridescent purple pearl. George Brock and his wife, Leslie, had been

spending a day at the beach Friday in…

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Did you attend a New Year’s Eve party last night to bring in 2008? My wife and I attended a posh party at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. If you haven't been there, it's our town's attempt to compete with Vegas and/or L.A., but it's nowhere close. Many call it an eyesore, but it has become a popular local hangout. It was packed. We opted for the $99 dinner, dancing, open bar package vs. the $35 Nikki Beach meat market with no open bar, no dinner, no…

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