Soup and Sandwich.  Bacon and Eggs.  Love and Marriage.  Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Culture and Customer Service. 

 

Some things just go together !  Like the lyrics from a song my Mom used to sing “you can’t have one without the other”!  If there’s any truth to this premise, why then are there so many organizations that seem unable to admit it?

 

(Break out…

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By straight definition?  NOTHING     By commonality?  PLENTY!  They are all food movements of one kind or another reflecting choice whether medically necessary, of religious foundation or nutritional concerns.    These food ‘movements’ are trend signals of what people are now choosing to eat.  AND, they all require a commitment by food service to provide special accommodation.

 

I have always belonged to the ‘you are what you eat’ group.    I like to think that my choices have…

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On my block there is a gentle eerie calming sound of semi silence that drapes the area with the slight disturbance of an air conditioner straining under the heat. Perhaps it was the same on Norwegian Island on Friday except it was the snap of a rifle disturbing the silence and the lives of 68 predominantly…

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 Without going down the rat h*** of percentages and numbers in regards to the gluten free market size, suffice to agree that the gluten free demand is growing faster than any other market segment and that this demand is not a fad. 

 As proof that what I say actually resembles fact, I see food service quickly embracing this market and announcing gluten free and allergen free menus.  Go into any retail food store now and you will find many, many gluten free products.…

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Sometimes I get crazy ideas.

I have a client in Atlanta who's very intent to have the hottest food truck in that metro area. I wrote her business plan early this year and have helped her research and negotiate a brick and morter restaurant to partner with, per Atlanta's code.

Over the last four months we've been negotiating to get the truck. We finally, about three months ago, settled on a food truck manufacturer. Good to go, let's get started and here's a…

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Can service actually be too good? We get invited to numerous restaurants as a journalist because we're always looking for good stories.

Service is always something we're i interested in. That being said, we've run into a couple of instances over the past year or so when service has gone above and beyond expectations and limits.

We're talking, unfortunately, about examples that show service gone amok, exceeding its limits in…

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Expanding your reach: why someone should “like” your brand

Social media is everywhere, and its critical in the restaurant/hospitality industry . The problem is that you may not have the time to really engage your target market. As the debate on the value and ROI of engaging in social media and marketing continues, calls to like, follow, join, fan, and watch are everywhere. But why? Why should the consumer connect your brand? We could spend days analyzing  how this applies to…

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Google plus for Restaurants, why it’s going to be better than Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

 

Here we go again another social media site or so I thought. Google plus to me is the next evolution in social media. In Google fashion they found a way to unify several of the services we already use in Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.…

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When I was young I used to play a game called four square.  It was fun and easy and all you needed to play was a red rubber ball, a piece of chalk to draw the lines, and a relatively flat piece of playground.  Four people at a time would each occupy a square and bounce the ball to try to get one of the other competitors out.  As kids were eliminated a new kid from the line of those waiting to play would fill in at the starting square and the remaining 3 players would advance toward the top… Continue

It happens, food makes us sick all the time. Most times it just gives us gas and bloating. Here is one of my all time tricks to relieving gas and bloating.



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… Continue

James Keil, Sr. VP of Sales



“You can't teach a kid to ride a bicycle with a computer.” This is a twist on a classic quote that resonates with me because it very simply describes the value of hands-on training. Yes, this kid could watch a YouTube video, strap on the necessary safety gear and point the front tire down the hill on their own and hope for the best— but I've always found running alongside the kid while coaching to be the very best way to get them pedaling in the… Continue

 

 

I’m going to mention four sitcoms and I want you to close your eyes and try to remember each ones theme song. It doesn’t matter if you remember just the tune or some of the lyrics. Just see how you do:

Cheers…

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Hi everyone!

The exciting day has arrived, and the MOZO team is proud to present Part 1 and 2 of The Cookoff.  We traveled to Las Vegas recently to celebrate the launch of the CHEF SIGNATURE COLLECTION by MOZO, and challenged our friends at Zappos.com to a Cookoff:  CEO of Deckers Angel Martinez and MOZO Chef Aarón Sánchez vs. Zappos.com's Tony Hsieh and his Chef partner Chris Cosentino. 



Take a quick break from your day and have a look. We hope you enjoy…

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I preach this over and over and over again -If your customers leave you a bad review or critical remark on any of your social media sites or even your company website, do NOT delete it.

Let me say that again.  Do NOT delete it.  The only thing you’re going to accomplish by  deleting them is ticking them off even more.

The only time that you should…

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Thanks, Liz for this article on CUESA...it's increasingly empowering chefs and sustainability wisdom. Hope we can help!

Celebrating Summer - and Sustainable Food - with CUESA and a Bon Appétit chef

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Steakhouse Conundrum: Improved Sales v. Higher Costs

 

We are impressed that many steak centric related restaurant concepts same store sales trends have outperformed other chain restaurant concept same store sales trends lately. But beef costs have also risen from 2009/2010 levels. This is reverse of the position in 2009 when sales were plunging and protein costs also fell from the then historic 2007/2008 highs. However, after declines in 2007 through the…

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Whether you are a restaurant, a distributor, or a tabletop manufacturer, have you ever noticed how there’s a lot of attention focused on selling stuff – whether it’s a steak off from a menu or dinnerware from a catalog. All the attention is focused on how to get to a higher level of sales…..and, ideally, profitability. In today’s economic environment, selling stuff is hard….often very hard….to do. Many times, when the sales effort gets as intense as it is now, what gets…

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