January 2009 Blog Posts (117)

Non-Operator COOPETITION in the Restaurant Industry

Have you heard the term Coopetition? If not, you'll hear it soon. It is causing quite a stir in the marketing circles.

So in case that you are not familiar with the term, let's start by defining coopetition. If we look at Wikipedia, we find the following definition:

"Coopetition or Co-opetition is a neologism coined to describe cooperative competition. Co-opetition occurs when companies work together for parts of their business where they do not believe they have… Continue

Added by Jose L Riesco on January 31, 2009 at 11:03am — 3 Comments

Think Like an Owner: Identifying the Characteristics that are Important for Ownership-like Thought in the Hospitality Industry

Think Like An Owner FIU Review.pdf

(To read the article select the web link above)

Three members of the faculty of The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University have had research published in the FIU Hospitality Review, Volume 26, Number Two, Fall 2008… Continue

Added by Jeff Elsworth on January 30, 2009 at 12:24pm — 3 Comments

Peanut butter is stuck in my craw

If President Obama is contemplating what to do with accommodations at Guantanamo Bay after the suspected terrorists exit, I move it be used as a motivational retreat for FDA officials. A waterboarding re-enactment, a little sleep deprivation, maybe a luau or karaoke—then a come-to-Glory debriefing about what the hell happened with the peanut butter situation.

Unless you’ve been blindfolded beyond radio range in a sealed cave near the earth’s core, you’re probably aware our designated… Continue

Added by Peter Romeo on January 30, 2009 at 6:00am — 5 Comments

Churros the delectable dessert

Churros are a popular Spanish dessert that has become popular around the world. This snack derives its name from its shape, which resembles the horns of the Churro breed of sheep reared in the Spanish highlands of Castilla.

One can often find churro stands in Spain, where these delicious snacks are prepared on customer’s requests. Some tiny shops are called churrerias. Alternately, churrerias can be portable trucks or wagons that are used for local festivals or events.…

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Added by Wine and Food tube on January 29, 2009 at 5:04pm — No Comments

The Modern Culinary Dilemma

Hi everyone! I'm new to FohBoh and am currently out of work. My background and experience opens up to me many different avenues and facets of today's restaurant industry. But I've come to a crossroads where my heart and my needs are at opposite spectrums.

I live in NJ and it seems as though the profession of Chef is diminishing. I met with a Chef of a national theme restaurant last week, she doesn't cook at all anymore. I didn't get into details of why she left the white tablecloth scene… Continue

Added by Brandon Wilborn on January 29, 2009 at 1:50pm — 2 Comments

Organic wine & food matching: Gemtree Shiraz & Korean style barbecued shortribs

Randy Caparoso is an award winning wine professional and journalist, living in Denver, Colorado. For a free subscription to Randy's Organic Wine Match of the Day, visit the… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on January 29, 2009 at 10:27am — 1 Comment

Does the Culinary degree really matter?

First off, I'm not saying that culinary school is a waste of time. Education is never a waste. I don't regret my education, I enjoyed learning, even it wasn't for the Culinary field.

I can understand an employer seeking a culinary grad if they've been burned too many times by some Mel's Diner chef. But if you have a substantial amount of progressive experience with reputable institutions, then why push the "you're not a culinary grad, do you even know how to cook?"… Continue

Added by Brandon Wilborn on January 29, 2009 at 10:09am — 8 Comments

Chef Auditions: How to prepare for them?

Recently, my former boss and friend (who was also termed at the same time as myself,) had an audition for a prospective employer who is looking to replace his current Chef and Sous Chef. The place seems good for someone who wants to keep creating and be inspired by the trends, rather than a "Chef Manager" who is just following the orders of his masters, more or less.

I was invited along to his audition either to have an interview with the CEO and his GM, to aid my friend in his… Continue

Added by Brandon Wilborn on January 29, 2009 at 8:52am — No Comments

Non-Operator Robotic Hospitality

Have you instilled such a rigid procedure for interacting with guests that your staff doesn’t think for themselves?

I went to a new hair cut place that opened today by my home. There was a small wait since they just opened and when the person asked for my name, she asked, “Have you ever been here before?” How could have I been here before if today was their opening day? Why do we push our staff to follow such a rigid outline when interacting with our guests? Why not give them the… Continue

Added by Robert Dominguez on January 29, 2009 at 8:31am — 3 Comments

Non-Operator How one local coffee shop used twitter to double their clientele!

This is a GREAT article about a restaurant in Houston called The Coffee Groundz that is capitalizing on the power of Social Media. Are you using Social Media? If so, how?

How one local coffee shop used Twitter to double their clientele.

Added by Robert Dominguez on January 29, 2009 at 8:19am — No Comments

Non-Operator Your Extra Cash is in the Garbage

Click here to read my new post.

Added by Robert Dominguez on January 29, 2009 at 8:15am — No Comments

Non-Operator How To Make Your Restaurant Stand Out

So you have a nice restaurant with good food and service, and yet the dining room is not always full. You spend quite a lot of money in marketing and wonder why it’s not working for you.

Well let me tell you, there are many other restaurants with good food, good service and a nice ambience, so your place might not be as special in the eyes of your customers as you want it to be.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Why should they come to your restaurant rather… Continue

Added by Jose L Riesco on January 29, 2009 at 8:09am — 1 Comment

Thanks NYC for protecting me against restaurants!

Thank you New York City, you banned smoking from all the restaurants and bars that I visit. It's so hard to believe that the patrons and employees don't care that smoking is bad for you. But you care. Also thank you for making the Dunkin' Donuts down the street post the calorie counts for the donuts. I used to think that donuts were okay to eat now and then, but thanks to the sign, I now see that there are just too many calories for me. Finally, thank you for…

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Added by Jeff Schacher on January 29, 2009 at 7:52am — 4 Comments

UK Gov stumps £4.3m bee health funding

From The Register

The environment secretary Hilary Benn today announced an extra £4.3m "to safeguard and undertake more research into the health of bees".

The Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (Defra) explains: "Over the last two years Britain's bee colonies have suffered significant losses due… Continue

Added by Mark McKellier on January 29, 2009 at 5:40am — No Comments

Nobody cares about my future!

What do you do if you have a boss that isn’t engaging your strengths, recognizing your true value, giving you the direction you need to move forward, or in general being the true leader that you would be if you were doing his job? Yeah, ok. I wish I had a nickel for every time someone got caught in the trap of not taking responsibility for their own career advancement. Waiting for your boss to figure it out and create an environment conducive to your… Continue

Added by Andy Swingley on January 28, 2009 at 4:33pm — 10 Comments

Playing hooky

Just wanted to take the time to give a shout-out to all the fantastic members of the restaurant industry who braved the frigid conditions to go into work today.

Outside my window, a blanket of snow 12 inches deep covers the ground. All area schools are closed today, as well as many doctor’s offices and day care centers. People don’t expect their kids to have school today, and many have opted to work from home rather than endure the freezing temperatures, slick roads and mounds of… Continue

Added by Dani on January 28, 2009 at 12:10pm — No Comments

Unemployment Part 1

I've never been fired from a job before. Since I was 15 I haven't had more than two consecutive weeks off. Now I've been out of work for 7 weeks, and it's driving me crazy.

How much can you do in a trying economy, where your experience and marketability is high, but no one is looking....?

At least, no one that can exceed your expectations, and those that do are hesitant to take you on because you got fired from your last place...no matter that people are terminated all the time. It… Continue

Added by Brandon Wilborn on January 28, 2009 at 11:28am — 11 Comments

Non-Operator The Top 6 Reasons Customers Don’t Come Back

Yes, you’re losing business. You’re losing customers. I have members who have lost anywhere from 10-50 percent of their sales in the last few months.

A large portion of this loss is the economy.

But let me pose that some of it could be because of your training (or lack of) and service (poor).

It reminds me of a study I read a while back that catalogued the top six reasons why customers don’t come back. The study was called “The Spirit of Service” done by the… Continue

Added by David Scott Peters on January 28, 2009 at 2:00am — 11 Comments

Operator WOW HAVE YOU GROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had not logged on here for a long time and remember when it was just a new site.....well you have done well. I am just getting back into the working world again and since I am a foodie I wanted to try to make some connections here at FOHBOH.

I will be relocating to Cincinnati, Ohio in a few weeks. I would love to find a small Mom & Pop restaurant that would enjoy my down home cooking and my restaurant attributes. I'm not looking for big pay just an honest weeks pay and in… Continue

Added by Chef Rox on January 27, 2009 at 7:45am — No Comments

What's the benefit of using a web application in my restaurant?

This is a follow up to my last post about the top 5 things that restaurants should be doing online. There are several good reasons for using online applications or software as a service (SaaS) as it's sometimes called.

Save Money - First, you'll have lower IT costs since you no longer need to employ people to worry about servers and software. Second, there are economies of scale at work.…

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Added by Jeff Schacher on January 27, 2009 at 7:45am — 5 Comments