January 2010 Blog Posts (133)

Top 3 Areas for Reducing Food Costs

This is a follow-up to a series of articles I've been posting on controlling food costs in your restaurant. The focus and time required to manage cost can seem daunting, so this week I just wanted to list a few key areas you can start with and can grow from there. Next week we will be talking about recipe costing.

The Kitchen:

- Reward staff when food costs are met

- Implement a meal plan, which allows your staff to eat at discounted prices to keep them from… Continue

Added by Jim McGinty on January 21, 2010 at 7:14am — No Comments

My Top 5 Jobs Beginning With Number 5

Over the past 3 decades I have had plenty of jobs. Some not so good and others not bad while a few were memorable. It is no coincidence that the jobs I stayed with the longest I liked the most. All except for one I worked with over a year.

I like to think of my career working in dining rooms and bars in similar terms to that of a professional athlete. When you start out you are learning on the fly then you begin taking in all you have learned from others and begin to have some… Continue

Added by Steve Nicolle on January 21, 2010 at 4:59am — 2 Comments

Taking Mental Anchoring Up A Notch

I wrote about this yesterday, and got to thinking that I wanted to take the anchoring idea a step further. During the past decade my company has researched the sales velocity and check averages of thousands of restaurants. This isn't just a sampling, but we have developed a menu matrix for these restaurants, so we've looked at every item they've sold over a 1-3 month period and matrix that with selling price and food cost. And the one thing that is hardest to sell on any menu is the most… Continue

Added by Mark on January 20, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

From My Window: Overheard at the Fancy Food Show this week...

"LOAF THY NEIGHBOR"

Added by Michael Albert on January 20, 2010 at 8:45am — No Comments

Great Start to 2010!

I sure hope your January is going as well as our January. Already, it seems to be just what we intended it to be - a fast start to a great year at FohBoh. It’s year three for us, and we are ready for action. And it seems others are too. It’s a new, fresh year and we feel the energy and excitement in the conversations we have. In the first two weeks of 2010, we already able to announced two major partnerships for FohBoh:

California Restaurant Association selected FohBoh as their… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on January 20, 2010 at 7:26am — 4 Comments

Bring people together - the need has never been greater!

Danny Meyer has done it again! Mailalino, his newest, Roman-style restaurant in the Gramercy Park Hotel, received two stars today from The New York Times' Sam Sifton who points out:

"Yes, the impetus for change here was Mr. Schrager’s hotel. But it is Mr. Meyer who has brought New Yorkers to the room, to the view, back to the neighborhood. His restaurants have almost always done this in some way. They encourage their customers to appreciate what sits outside them, to rediscover… Continue

Added by susan holaday on January 20, 2010 at 6:01am — 1 Comment

From One Chef (former) to Another: Get Real

From a Yelp Review in Portland OR

Since our table was quite long we could not converse with everyone at once. I made a visit to the other end of the table after dinner but before dessert to thank people for coming. One guest had ordered salmon and it was too under-done for her liking. She sent it back to the kitchen requesting it be cooked longer. The chef sent it back, saying that is how salmon should be cooked, refusing to cook it further. Needless to say, the guest did… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 20, 2010 at 2:00am — No Comments

Yelp & Urban Spoon Comments

Guest Experience Staff Training

I'm researching a study of the restaurant industry, using Yelp and Urban Spoon as the main viewframe. While I've written in the past about how operators could use these two sites to their advantage, I feel compelled to share a different observation tonight.

Does your team need a refresher on what makes great experience for customers? I bet if you spent one hour with an all-staff meeting, asked them to all bring their laptops in for… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 20, 2010 at 1:15am — No Comments

Why I joined FohBoh.

I've worked in many restaurants throughout the course of my career, each one as different as the next. Like most of you, I have steadily worked my way up the ladder, starting as a cook in a panini shop in San Francisco's Financial District, and ending up as a fine dining server at a top-rated restaurant on the San Francisco Peninsula.

I won't say that I've seen it all, but I've seen a lot.

Here's what I know. If done well and with intelligence, waiting tables can… Continue

Added by Michael Biesemeyer on January 20, 2010 at 12:30am — 6 Comments

The Real Cost of Social Media - by Danny Brown

excerpted from The Real Cost of Social Media - by Danny Brown

Social media is free. Social media is inexpensive. You don’t have to outspend your competition. Social media saves time. Social media will save your business thousands, if not millions.

These are all quotes I’ve seen from various voices recently. Each one pretty much agrees with the other – that social media is a great… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 19, 2010 at 11:07pm — No Comments

Non-Operator How to Increase Footfall in your Pub Despite Competition

I was recently asked my advice by the owner of a small town center pub in Yorkshire, England (at http://www.thebarblogger.com/askbarry) about what to do to increase footfall in the premises despite the presence of a large chain pub on the same street that had dropped their prices considerably.

Here are the strategies I gave… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 19, 2010 at 9:15pm — No Comments

Sign of a Bad Service Experience

Ok, I couldn't wait to share this one. I am a service hound, so serve me over-cooked Salmon, but please, give me good service. Bad, or in this case, no service, is unforgivable. I guess this customer was just tired of waiting.

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on January 19, 2010 at 4:16pm — 4 Comments

Haiti; how you can help now, and help later too

FohBoh intends to work with Share our Strength to help facilitate a foodservice industry response. Many of you, lead by Jeffrey Kingman, want to help with this disaster. Until this can be organized, I encourage you to visit SOS for information by clicking here.

If you would like to make a donation to these efforts, SOS has set up a fund where 100% of all donations… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on January 19, 2010 at 3:02pm — 1 Comment

Mental Anchoring, Do It And Get Higher Check Averages

A number of years ago I came across some research done by American Demographics. And at first blush it seemed more amusing than anything. According to the research, the one time people are most likely to spend the most money at a restaurant is the day they buy their home. The thinking is: “I’m already $300,000.00 in debt. What’s another hundred bucks?” So they order a more expensive food item to celebrate.

All by itself, that bit of… Continue

Added by Mark on January 19, 2010 at 2:09pm — 2 Comments

Non-Operator A little history, a little Mardi Gras, and a couple recipes too!

In addition, the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in New Orleans and Mardi Gras 2010

Join Drick Perry from Drick’s Rambling Cafe as we celebrate Mardi Gras, he is covering Mobile, AL while I cover New Orleans

Before we get to the omelet recipe, let me indulge you with a little New Orleans restaurant and Mardi Gras history. In 1981, engineers determined that the restaurant perched 562 feet on the third level above the Champ-de Mars in Paris weighted too much and was causing the… Continue

Added by Cajun Chef Ryan on January 19, 2010 at 9:16am — No Comments

The easiest meal in the world! – Adobo Filipino Style

So, being that yesturday was Monday and I usually come home in a half coma, and being that I am STILL moving into boyfriends 1000 square foot apartment from my 2800 square foot house, I decided I needed to make an easy throw together meal. Bring on the Adobo! Now this is no Mexican Adobo that most people are used to seeing (or eating) nope this adobo is a filipino recipe my sister in law gave me that is equally ROCKIN and EASY to make.

Here goes:

You will need the following for BASIC… Continue

Added by Kelly on January 19, 2010 at 7:56am — No Comments

Non-Operator Social Technology

Tasti D-Lite has launched what could be called "Eat & Tweet".

“A lot of folks in the business world still don’t yet quite understand social-media ROI [return on investment],” Amos said. “You can measure every… Continue

Added by Paul Green on January 19, 2010 at 5:37am — No Comments

Non-Operator Only in Ireland Would You Find a Bar Like This…

Whilst walking through the countryisde of Kildare in Ireland recently I stumbled upon one of the most unique bars I had ever seen.

What you’re seeing here is a 40 foot long container complete with Murphy’s Irish Stout sign, two picnic tables on the roof, a ladder on the side to climb up and out of view are a number of beer kegs lying around! There’s even an overturned patio heater up there for when it gets cold!!!

Where… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 18, 2010 at 10:18pm — No Comments

Non-Operator How a Bar Has Used Oysters To Attract Customers for Seven Generations

Moran’s Oyster Cottage in Clarinbridge in the west of Ireland is one of the most famous oyster restaurants in the world. Seven successive generations of the Moran family have run the restaurant which counts U2 among their happy customers!

I met with Michael Moran, a world champion oyster opener, who runs the family business and asked him what brings customers back again and again. Oh, and I tried the Oysters too….of… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 18, 2010 at 10:14pm — No Comments

Non-Operator How to Increase Sales in Your Liquor Store/Off License

Based on a question posted at http://thebarblogger.com/askbarry I came up with four strategies for a business to improve sales when selling alcohol for consumption off the premises.

Want your own personalized video response to a problem you are having in your bar, restaurant or hotel business? Post your question in the comment box… Continue

Added by Barry Chandler on January 18, 2010 at 10:12pm — No Comments