April 2008 Blog Posts (154)

HOW TO BE A RESTAURANT MAVERICK

When you consider the number of restaurants and web sites out there all competing for the same set of scarce dollars, how in heck can you make folks come to or pay attention to yours?

The only way I know of is to differentiate yours from all the rest. Stand out in the crowd. This, of course, is much easier said than done. Today we live in a copy-cat world, where your competitors rush in to copy anything they see that is successful. This creates a ‘commoditized sea’ of sameness, which… Continue

Added by Roy MacNaughton on April 8, 2008 at 6:22pm — 6 Comments

"Greening" Your Restaurant Seminar

Monday, April 14th

1:30-4:30 pm

Redwood Credit Union

3033 Cleveland Ave, Santa Rosa

Featuring expert speakers and handouts on the financial benefits of:

-Water Conservation

-Energy-Efficient Equipment

-Waste Management

-Pollution Prevention

-Eco-Friendly Architecture & Design

-Environmentally Conscious Marketing & Menus

This seminar will also introduce Bay Area Green Business Certification for restaurants in… Continue

Added by Sonoma Green on April 8, 2008 at 8:43am — No Comments

Operator How do you turn a Coffee House into a Small Foodie Cafe?

Yesterday we had a great afternoon with a potential partner that owns/operates a small coffee house. This gentleman roasts his own beans and has a nice small business with a drive up window and the usual muffins, cookies but not much at all for food. There is a full restaurant(albeit small)kitchen not being used. He also has a full mobile kitchen not being used at all so that would be part of this deal. My chef partner and I love doing fairs/festivals and concessions and this would be perfect… Continue

Added by Chef Rox on April 8, 2008 at 3:56am — 3 Comments

Celebrate Beer

On this day, April 7, 1933 Prohibition ENDED!

It has been 75 years since the end of that nasty law and have we celebrated.

Check out this great article at:

www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/07/new.beers.eve/index.html

What is your favorite alcohol beverage?

How would you envision life without alcohol?

Added by Sam on April 7, 2008 at 12:12pm — 2 Comments

Expo West

Or how about this beautiful blonde lady ?

Added by The Tortilla Guy on April 7, 2008 at 11:19am — 2 Comments

Expo West

I was recently doing the Natural Food Show in Anaheim Ca, and had a couple faces stop by my booth to say hello ..........

Lets see if any of you can remember this personality ?

Added by The Tortilla Guy on April 7, 2008 at 10:10am — 2 Comments

Dreams of Velvety Reds

I have this recurring dream. It's almost mid-day. We wake up late, and haven't yet eaten. So after stopping at a tiny charcuterie for some sausages, marinated olives, a round of local bread – tasting of freshly risen dough, not salt or chemicals, crusted on the outside, silky on the inside – and a bottle of wine, we follow a winding brook outside the village in search of a restaurant in the sky.

The vestiges of morning chill are still in the air as our shoes crunch over some loose,… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on April 7, 2008 at 9:53am — 5 Comments

You get paid for what you know, not what you do!

Do you find as a leader that you get stuck in the, “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself” mindset. As your schedule gets busier and you find yourself coaching and teaching less because of perceived workload, your to do list gets even bigger and you find that the delegation of that list gets less effective because your team isn’t executing to your expectations. WHOA.....!

Quick, stop, and re-evaluate your role. Though it is important to work “physically” shoulder to… Continue

Added by Andy Swingley on April 7, 2008 at 5:42am — 4 Comments

Tipped employee's hourly wage increases...and increases...and increases.

We are in a new era in the restaurant industry. Minimum wage is going up everywhere for hourly employees. Many states have already felt the effects of the tipped employee wage increase. Some states have only taken a slight hit while others have gone up to $6.50 and $7.50 an hour.

For the employees that's incredible! The managers and business owners feel it the most in their own pocket books with less cash coming in. I'm all for our hourly staff members to recieve the money they deserve and… Continue

Added by Thomas Shackelford on April 6, 2008 at 11:25pm — 5 Comments

Kitchen Manager Meeting 03/08

Never underestimate the power of Teaching and Learning. On a monthly basis I have began to gather my managers and lead employee's by department. The time that we have spent has lead to in depth sharing of information on problems that we have faced in several locations and lead to us all finding resolutions to many of these issues that have plauged our teams. The cohesiveness and communication among the group has been a huge factor in achieving victory.

Added by Rickie Duane Neal on April 6, 2008 at 4:35pm — 1 Comment

Uno's Sponsor of First Mariner's Home Gme

Congratulations goes out to the team in the Inner Harbor who this past week played a large role in the first ever Arena football leauge game held in the city. The team is currently sponsoring dinner with the team night each Monday evening. The Arena Leauge team is in the restaurant from 7p-9p each Monday night where we have a replay of the game streamed across the 8 flat screen TV's in our lounge area. Check out the album for photos of last weeks home opener.

Added by Rickie Duane Neal on April 6, 2008 at 4:23pm — No Comments

Heading to Vegas!

I am headed to Vegas on Tuesday and I am looking for unsight from some friends here on the best places to for F&B and entertainment. Let me know your thoughts.

Rick

Added by Rickie Duane Neal on April 6, 2008 at 3:51pm — 9 Comments

Mid-Atlantic VIP Parties A Huge Success!

Please join me in congratulating the teams in Bowie, Landover and Waldorf on their stellar performance during this past weeks VIP Parties. The teams had their restaurants looking "Best In Class" and blew all of the guests away with tremendous hospitality and great food from our new LTO menu. We had a local Jazz artists playing at all of the events and he was a tremendous crowd pleaser. The Jazz Man plays regularly on Tuesday in Landover and Thursday in Bowie. The crowd was generated by personal… Continue

Added by Rickie Duane Neal on April 6, 2008 at 3:40pm — No Comments

Bowie Uno's Wins Chili Cook-Off

Please Join me in Congratulating Anthony (GM), Phillip, Theresa, Greg, Amanda (PTM) and Ivette (Regional PTM) On their success yesterday in the city wide Chili Cook-Off. There were over 20 contributors to the contest and chains involved included Texas Roadhouse, Long Horn, Red Robin, Three Brothers, Super Suppers Restaurant, Monterey Mexican Restaurant, Outback, Jasper's, California Tortilla, Hard Times Cafe and Glory Day's. There were five awards to be handed out at the competition. Four of… Continue

Added by Rickie Duane Neal on April 6, 2008 at 1:15pm — 3 Comments

Getting There

We finally had a good weekend. Business is definitely picking up and we still have not advertised yet. If the weather would co-operate a little more we will pick up even more.

Last night was a beautiful site. Had a server sell 2 bottles to one table for a total of $400. a 2000 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer - Tokalon Cabernet and a 2003 Spotteswood Cab. We also had one of the higher ups from Ultimate Distributors come in and bring the owners of Watershed in with her. People are taking notice… Continue

Added by David McGuffin on April 6, 2008 at 12:56pm — 3 Comments

Operator Best Resume

What do you look for in a resume?

The old standard of listing your past jobs and a few references does not work in this competitive world so what do those of you doing the HIRING look for?

I am a chef by trade, private trained by a Chef Son and two weeks working with a Master Chef but my skills are the good ole downhome made from scratch foods. I can and have stood and make a Cabernet Ribeye smothered in Blue Cheese for the President of Krogers Inc.cooked live and real food on… Continue

Added by Chef Rox on April 6, 2008 at 6:39am — 7 Comments

Thinking is the f-word of innovation

“Thinking is the f-word of innovation. We all swear by it, sometimes we curse it and we all like say we do it more often than we actually do.”

I was thinking about some of the recent discussions about our Industries Staffing Issues and I keep passionately coming back to the same thing we need to start Thinking differently about Recruiting. I think Jeffery hit it on the nail when he said we don’t need a recruiting… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on April 6, 2008 at 1:57am — 4 Comments

What do people think of "Going Mobile"? I find it...

I am really interested in what can be done to improve messaging. I don't want text messages. I eat with my eyes and links don't engage me. I find them a waste of time. Isn't it time to give people rich content that is actually useful? How about coupons? Restaurant information that makes the consumer want to eat at your place?

Your thoughts PLEASE!

Added by Becky McCahan on April 5, 2008 at 6:32pm — 4 Comments

This is What FohBoh is All About...

Why do visitors come to your restaurant’s web site? What do they want?

In reality, they still want the same thing...information, help with a problem; a way to learn how to do something, or where to find something. They are looking for information of interest to them. If you can provide that information in a different, educative, informative and entertaining manner, they will come back for more over time. If they are looking for food products or services and you just happen to have… Continue

Added by Roy MacNaughton on April 5, 2008 at 2:41pm — 6 Comments

Top 10 reasons you should join the TALENT [rev-o-lu-tion] Group

10. It will raise your cool status on FohBoh

9. There’s 13 discussion’s going right now that will funky up your thinking

8. There’s a cool gen y test you can take that will either make you feel really

cool or really old

7. The group is full of paradigm busters that will change the way you think and

behave with young talent

6. There’s a synthesized generational smorgasbord of idea’s and perspectives

5. These wacky kids have landed… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on April 5, 2008 at 12:30pm — 11 Comments