Featured Blog Posts – May 2011 Archive (25)

I believe that everyone should work as a waiter at one point in their life.

Not because the money is pretty darn good or because you get one shift drink that can turn into two or three if you are good chums with the bartender. Rather, they should become a waiter to learn the true value of great customer service and its rewards.

It worked for me and I can say, with no ego but…

Online culinary mag StarChefs feted its pick of Chicago's rising star chefs at a tasteful gala on Monday, May 23. The event took place at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel Chicago and hosted by executive chef Brad Parsons and Beverly Kim Clark, chef de cuisine at Aria. Chef Clark's Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Semifreddo with Port Foam and Five-spice Walnuts was a sweet-savory delight, served in a miniature ice cream cone.

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Remember when “shifting paradigms” was the buzz phrase back in the 90’s?  It became “marketing speak” and just like any great phrase it got used and abused and eventually lost its meaning.  I’m bringing it back for this blog because quite honestly I can’t think of a better way to communicate my point. 

Shifting a paradigm is described by Wikipedia as follows:

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Currently, I'm working FOH in a busy restaurant with a small service staff. We had about 7 full time servers and the servers really own the floor. Management is helpful but the pooled house selects servers as the top of the food chain.

My question / concern is with staff morale. This past Saturday night, management seemed to be on a warpath with the waitstaff. Forgive my bias, but I don't think we do a bad job. We were nominated best new restaurant in the NE b James Beard…

Love Balls Bus

I’ll acknowledge up front that subjecting non-participants to vacation pictures puts a strain on the strongest and healthiest relationships -- there’s no way the one who wasn’t there can appreciate the full context, although a skillful photographer can at least convey some of the beauty or exotic features of a destination.  I’m decidedly NOT a skillful photographer, so I’ll spare you the amateurish snaps.…

Guest Post by Catherine Murray

of Photo Kitchen

Does your website have a virtual tour? Well,…

This is the most common drink for kids at restaurants. Chef Marcus Guiliano tells you how to get a healthier version of this drink.



Marcus Guiliano is the chef & owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in the bountiful Hudson Valley of New York. Chef Guiliano has been an advocate for over 10 years on healthy, sustainable, local & real food. He found his mission in cooking when he reversed over a handful of medical conditions including 28 years of…

Stroll the aisles at your local supermarket and you may find yourself wondering if you just entered a grocery store or a popular restaurant chain’s dining room.  TGI Friday’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Taco Bell, and PF Chang’s are just a few restaurants who have licensed retail versions of their menu items to…

I often ask myself, why are you obsessed with Chick-Fil-A? Maybe it’s their waffle fries, or tasty breakfast options? Maybe the incredible customer service is to blame. Maybe it’s that the nearest location to me is hours away, and we all know absence makes the heart grow fonder. In the end I tend to blame it on the Polynesian sauce.   …

I, like many other Americans, tuned in to watch the final episode of Smallville this last Friday night. For those not familiar, it is the story of Clark Kent growing up in Smallville, Kansas and his life lessons and upbringing that lead him to become the Man of Steel.

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Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Our mission is to support our stores so that they are able to do what is most important in retail — serve our customers' needs.

The mission…

Last year California passed a law (SB 602) that several other states already have: the requirement of all restaurant employees to obtain a California Food Handler Card. The law is designed to ensure that restaurant employees receive a reasonable level of training in food safety practices to reduce the potential for food borne illness.

While not much has been publicized about the passing of this law, the deadline for employees to obtain these cards is coming upon us quickly.…

Stay in this business long enough and you’ll end up speaking Kitchen-ese.

For example:



“I need a grill.”

“A griddle or a char broiler?”

“Just a grill.”

“Upright, range-match, counter model or free-standing, flat-top or grate-top, what length, on casters or legs, cast radiants, cast grates, what grid spacing, chrome or cold roll steel, round or scround, grooved or flat, safety pilots, piezo or…

As owner/operator of a restaurant, if you asked one of your waiters: "what is the difference between broiled chicken and roasted chicken?' or "what is a ragout sauce?' Would you be provided with the correct answer? If not, then I highly suggest that you start teaching basic food knowledge and food preparation methods in your waiter training programs. Otherwise, precious revenue and service reputation is being lost unnecessarily everyday in your restaurant's dining room.

Most chefs…

How a 2% increase in menu prices can make a big profit improvement in profit. And when a 2% increase in customer numbers is added, the effect multiplies. How can you apply these ideas to your business?

This post continues my multi-part perspective on restaurant social media and social media brand management. The following is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Restaurant Social Media – Staying ahead of your customer.

TGI Friday’s restaurants have history. They were innovators and changed casual dining in the 1970′s. They brought us brass and plants and stain-glass in a well lighted high energy environment. They created happy hours and potato skins. They introduced…

You may have heard about a certain royal wedding that took place last week in Great Britain (*insert sarcasm here*).

The buzz was awfully hard to avoid!  One of the girls in the FoodCALC office got especially into watching the coverage, and even went so far as to throw a “royal wedding viewing…

Come. Sit down around the camp fire faithful campers and let me tell you a tale of friendship and growth. It is a tale of a gathering of people from all walks of life, all corners and crevices of the country. It is a story of “tribe”.

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