January 2010 Blog Posts (133)

3 Fatal Questions Your Employees are Asking

Are your employees confused?

I've had a lot of time to think last week, and I have come to the opinion that the modern culture of today is making my job as a restaurant manager, harder. Employees of today are very different from those a generation ago.

They come to the job with a different set of beliefs and a different set of needs.

I also feel as though my newest employees have a tough time adjusting to… Continue

Added by Bill Baumgartner on January 31, 2010 at 2:00pm — 7 Comments

Non-Operator Paying credit card tips via payroll checks instead of the customary practice of paying out at the end of each shift

I have heard that some employers are considering paying tips added on credit cards via the company's regular payday cycle in paychecks instead of the usual and customary practice of paying these tips out in cash at the end of each shift.

In light of all the restaurants failing and leaving employees empty handed on the outstanding pay checks for hours already worked, is this practice evolving to enable restaurants to "float" the cash from these credit card tips for the period of the… Continue

Added by Paul Paz on January 30, 2010 at 10:16pm — 13 Comments

Finding Influencers and Getting Your Social Media Game On

This can be a very long discussion, so I promise to keep it short, because I want this message to be concise, almost a mantra:

The goal of all this discussion, energy and activity regarding social media is to do one thing and one thing well - find your key influencers by listening intently and empower them to be your brand ambassadors.

"Find your key influencers by listening intently and empower them to be your brand… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on January 29, 2010 at 10:28am — 5 Comments

FohBoh Weekly Roundup: Becoming a Community

Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.

-Henry Ford

Coming together on FohBoh is easy. There's no cost to become a member, no admissions process, no screening, no lengthy contract to review. Within seconds of signing up, you have instant access to thousands of your peers, countless blogs and discussion groups (updated multiple times a day), videos, photos, and other… Continue

Added by Michael Biesemeyer on January 28, 2010 at 11:36pm — 6 Comments

Non-Operator How to Improve the Cash Flow in Your Bar

Running a hospitality business can mean that you have good cash flow. After all, you normally purchase your items on 30 days credit, sell them for cash, bank the cash and pay the suppliers the following month.

In an ideal situation, this is how it remains, however most businesses are not ideal situations and cash flow is limited for a number of reasons. If you find it difficult to make the payments demanded of you each month, you know you have a cash flow problem.

In this video, I… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 28, 2010 at 9:51pm — No Comments

Old Trends Being Pushed As New

Hartmann Group has always been a source of information for me in the position I hold now at Gateway ProClean, Inc. and when I did forecasting for Tyson Foods. I regularly check this website to help get a better grasp of the market place. It is so easy to get caught up in your life and what you like that it’s always good to take a step back and get more insights on the habits… Continue

Added by Meghan Reed on January 28, 2010 at 11:56am — 2 Comments

Recipe Costing - Where Do I Begin?

Recipe costing is one of the most important areas a restaurant must address and it's a time consuming process to do it correctly. You need to do this so you can accurately set menu pricing, know when to increase prices and when to eliminate the items off your menu. Price it too high and you may lose customers if they feel the value is not there. If you price it too low, the difference between your actual price and what you should be charging comes right off your bottom… Continue

Added by Jim McGinty on January 28, 2010 at 9:14am — 3 Comments

Non-Operator Salmonella Outbreak Monitored by CDC

FYI

The center for Disease Control is alerting on a 40 state outbreak of salmonella.................. "as follows: AL (2), AZ (5), CA (30), CO (3), CT (4), DE (2), FL (2), GA (3), IA (1), ID (2), IL (11), IN (3), KS (3), LA (1), MA (12), MD (1), ME (1), MI (1), MN (4), MO (1), NC (9), ND (1), NE (1), NH (1), NJ (7), NY (15), OH (9), OK (1), OR (8), PA (3), RI (2), SC (1), SD (3), TN (4), TX (7), UT (7), VA (1), WA (14), WV (1), and WY… Continue

Added by Paul Green on January 28, 2010 at 7:51am — No Comments

DAWG Talk: The Reality of Perception

Two professionals go to a networking event. They’re buddies, so they plan to go together. Even though they’re friends they have very different approaches.

They arrive and Friend One, eager to meet as many people as he can, rushes in and walks directly to the center of all the activity. He’s well dressed and prepared to be remembered by as many people as possible.

Friend Two, also dressed professionally and prepared to be remembered, takes a different approach. He walks… Continue

Added by David Rose on January 28, 2010 at 5:17am — No Comments

Non-Operator Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro ...

For my next round of postings, throughout the balance of the winter and into the spring, I want to focus on two very different topics, and feature each several times. As in the past, we may be interrupted by pressing events or issues, but I’ll try to keep the focus on:

1. bankruptcy; and

2. the things one needs to know before either franchising one’s business or becoming a franchisee of someone else’s business.

Believe it or not,… Continue

Added by Rod Guinn on January 28, 2010 at 3:00am — 2 Comments

Whatever It Takes

A few years ago in the hockey playoffs there was a very competitive series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche and the winner was going on to the Stanley Cup final.

Colorado had some great players as well as the Red Wings. The Red Wings had tied the series up at 3 games a piece and the deciding game was about to take place. Detroit had their great coach Scotty Bowman who ended up winning the most games and Stanley Cups ever of anyone behind the… Continue

Added by Steve Nicolle on January 28, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

Non-Operator Marketing health: Food that helps lower blood pressure

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

Added by Dean Small on January 27, 2010 at 6:43pm — No Comments

Food Sanitation-Is it the Big Industry Lie?

Many organizations are fooling themselves into thinking that they are running compliant, clean, sanitary and safe facilities. Time-temperature abuse, bare hand contact and cross contamination are common. The lack of ongoing training or any training at all only compounds the problems. I visit a lot of kitchens, Hotels, Independent Restaurants and Food Service Accounts. What I have found is a wide range of compliance levels and attitudes about the subject.

Free Standing… Continue

Added by Chef Len Elias CEC on January 27, 2010 at 7:00am — 7 Comments

Non-Operator Incongruent Service

Have you ever received service that didn’t fit the situation? As you may have guessed, I’m going to tell you about a recent experience of mine where the service was completely incongruent.

Susan and I are committed to at least one “Date Night” once a week. With our crazy hectic schedules this is a great way for us to refresh and catch up. We absolutely cherish this time together.

Last week we went to a nationally known chain restaurant to enjoy a bottle of wine and a nice… Continue

Added by Bill Campion on January 27, 2010 at 6:04am — 5 Comments

Single Mother Wins $200,000 in Job Bias Case

Culled from Inc. Magazine January 25, 2010

Dena Lockwood says her employer fired her after she stayed home from work to care for a sick child.

In what's being seen as a wake-up call to employers about an emerging area of employment law covering parents, Chicago's Commission on Human Relations has awarded more than $200,000 to a women who was fired from her job after she missed a meeting to care for a sick child.

Here's the link.....… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 27, 2010 at 12:11am — No Comments

It's starting to happen...

image credit: Michael Biesemeyer 26-Jan-10

"Bosc Pear and Endive Salad"

Tonight, at work, a busser who is transitioning into food running was asked to shadow the line and learn the food. He is young, from Oaxaca, with decent English and keen eyes.

Without even hesitating, he pulled out his iPhone and began to photograph the food as it was coming off the line. The manager asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm… Continue

Added by Michael Biesemeyer on January 26, 2010 at 10:37pm — 11 Comments

Non-Operator My Menu

There are 3 areas that I have a particular affinity for:

1. The difficulties faced by the independent restaurant owner facing competition with chain operations that have much more purchasing power, advertising capital, budget resources for H.R, R&D, and inter-unit support.

There have been co-operative purchasing efforts by independents with varying degrees of success. I'd like to hear about those here at FOHBOH.

Advertising possibilities seem to have greatly… Continue

Added by Paul Green on January 26, 2010 at 3:00am — 9 Comments

The Social Media Revolution: Powershift from Brand to Customer.

This week I discovered this powerful video "Bigger than TV? Social Media's Powershift" produced by Radian6 . I'd like to pass along and summarize my interpretation of that message here.

Is the Social Web is really all that revolutionary? Or is it a fad?

Make no mistake, we’re in the midst of a revolutionary shift in how brands and customers do business. If you don’t… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on January 25, 2010 at 11:33pm — 1 Comment

Non-Operator When keeping it Clean, Safety Comes First

Cleaning chemicals can be friends or foes when using them in commercial kitchens. Chlorine, ammonia and iodine are the most commonly used sanitation chemicals but they can seriously harm your employees. To reduce cleaning-related risks, we’ve compiled a laundry list of hazards and how to prevent them.

» Soaps and detergents can cause skin irritation.

» Being allergic to latex isn’t uncommon these days, choose non-latex gloves for your workers and play it safe.

»… Continue

Added by Dean Small on January 25, 2010 at 11:08pm — No Comments

Non-Operator How to Deal with Staff Who Can’t Be Trained!

We got a question in at Ask Barry about how to deal with staff members who have been there for 25 years and can’t be trained! It seems like the question comes from a bar owner who has recently taken over a premises complete with staff.

Here are the points you need to consider before making a final… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 25, 2010 at 9:26pm — 2 Comments