Featured Blog Posts – June 2010 Archive (43)

I just spent two fabulous afternoons with people who make my world go round – Restaurant Managers! I must admit I have this incredible love and respect for anyone who runs a restaurant. I have spent my entire career in the biz and I can’t even begin to count the number of valued…

So, you want to run a hospitality (restaurant – bar – both - other) operation. If you think you had a full plate at last year’s Thanksgiving dinner, wait until you see what they are going to be dumping on your plate now. The following is not a top ten list; in fact, it is a random start to a never…

Day One of the Fancy Food Show

The first day of the Fancy Food Show is completely overwhelming. There are so many things to see and taste that it is hard to keep track of it all. I see people writing orders on the first day and I wonder how

they can be so decisive. But certain vendors stand out, and the ones that

manage to stay top of mind after tasting so many other delicious goodies are

items that deserve a place in Stone and…

A year ago, many articles were being written on the complete, and seemingly intractable, seizure in the capital markets. Lenders weren’t lending, and investors weren’t investing, for many reasons, but a central cause was their lack of certainty as to the value of their existing positions. The resulting lack of liquidity exacerbated the problem. (In simple terms, if no…

Everywhere you go there is divisiveness. “They are not like us”, “they” say, one country vs. another, men vs. women, blues vs. reds, old vs. young, rich vs. poor, tech savvy vs. tech newbie, and… front of the house vs. back of the house.…

Chain Restaurant Same Store Sales “Pops”: What’s Happened Recently?

Same store sales is an…

Keeping employees productive in a restaurant is always an ongoing task, and below I will offer a simple solution for one area. Cleaning is another responsibility that the kitchen staff usually hates. Sometimes it can be the amount one is given to clean in the kitchen on any given day. Many restaurant operators will wait until the cooking, and other kitchen equipment is heavily caked with grease, and dirt to finally get on the staff about cleaning.

This is the same way with the hood…

Georgetown Bagelry will forever be changed because Badu is leaving.



Badara Njai is our Team Leader and most of you know him from the front counter, waiting on you, at the bagel shop. I’ve known Badu for over 15 years and I believe he’s been working our Bethesda store for a good 7 years. Badara came to us in Georgetown where he began working part time while he was…