August 2008 Blog Posts (133)

Head Hunters Vs. Doing It Yourself

OK....as i continue to explore the options i have, in terms of possibly moving back to Southern CA, i find myself deciding a couple of things

1. To stay or not to stay with my company

I love my company, and as we all know that is hard to find. The issue really is $. I hate to ever say a job comes down to $, but in this case, moving from Las Vegas, back to Southern CA, is going to require an increase in salary. The cost of living is higher, plus CA has an 8% state income tax. My… Continue

Added by Michael Kaplan on August 18, 2008 at 1:20pm — 6 Comments

road blocks

The bad ecomony has been hard on our business but we are still pushing. I have noticed that the west coast has been the only side ordering from baking bread and I am amazed, and its cool!!! I am now in the process of trying to move my business forward but I don't have the funds right now for help. I still work a full time job that I threatened my husband that I would not be returning to next summer so that I can focus on my business, and that means that I would be a stay at home mom. I am… Continue

Added by Jennifer on August 18, 2008 at 9:59am — 2 Comments

Liquid Inspiration in a Logo'd glass

Just a short cab ride away, I sometimes visit the Redondo Beach Pier after work. It's one of those places where tourists and locals enjoy the daily celebration of the sun meeting the water on its way down after a long day. In California, there are many places to watch a sunset, but here in the South Bay, for a 360 degree view that spans from Palos Verdes to Santa Monica, there is only one…At the Top of Tony’s.

Tony’s has been… Continue

Added by Stoligirl on August 18, 2008 at 12:10am — 4 Comments

Fall Semester Soon

Online registration is convenient. Fall schedule is set: Introduction to Basic Culinary Techniques, and Breads, Pastas, Pastries & Desserts. But the bookstore won't open until the week before classes begin, so there's plenty of time before I have to buy my uniform, knives, hat, and apron. I'm gonna look like a fool :P

My day will be long and grueling with Friday as the only respite. Classes begin at 8:00 AM, ends at 1:30 PM, and then a mad dash to work for 8 hours… Continue

Added by O on August 17, 2008 at 9:45pm — No Comments

The World is Listening To You on FohBoh

Do you realize that when you become part of the conversation on FohBoh that your thoughts and words are not isolated just on FohBoh? Every blog you post, discussion you start or join, comment you make, video or photo you upload to share, will be picked up by all major search engines like Yahoo, Ask and Google. This makes you immediately valuable and relevant to anyone logged on to the Internet?

FohBoh is a powerful social media platform dedicated to the greater… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on August 17, 2008 at 7:42pm — 3 Comments

Albariño, the Gastronomic Grape

USAGE, COMPARISONS, DISPUTED ORIGINS

I first began working with Albariño in Hawaii in the mid-‘90s, finding its combination of tropical perfume, dryness, citrusy acidity and minerality to be a perfect match with dishes incorporating the briny tastes of island fish (especially moi, onaga and opakapaka) and fresh sea vegetables (like limu and ogo). Albariño responds particularly well to tart ingredients (especially in seviches and adobo style… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on August 17, 2008 at 6:06pm — 5 Comments

The "Bucket" Effect

We've all been there. We all have gone into a hotel or a resort, and someone else

has paid a lesser amount for his stay than you or I have. Same way with air or cruise travel and to a degree the food business.

I'm a veteran of almost 25 years in the travel industry. I have a strong passion for it, as well as the marketing and education of travel and travel education.

I asked an airline representative, why there was such disparity in airfares and

travel… Continue

Added by Keith Bernhardt on August 17, 2008 at 11:15am — 2 Comments

Local Restaurants vs National Chains

I returned to Springfield, MO, last year, after being in Columbia MO for more than 25 years.

Shortly after my return, I was sad to learn, that one of my favorite restaurants, Everett's, had closed in Columbia.

Everett's had been around for at least 15 years. It had excellent food, and it was one of the very few restaurants, where you could go into, and it would be all adults.

I miss their Blackened Prime Rib sandwich (which essentially was the same as the meal,… Continue

Added by Keith Bernhardt on August 17, 2008 at 9:37am — 9 Comments

Non-Operator C is for Credit (or Collateral)

As the conclusion of last week’s foray into the unique aspects of the restaurant operation, this week’s treatise will focus on what the lender actually views as “creditworthy” in a restaurant operation.

First, a moment of consideration for the lender (which won’t last too long, but may be helpful): Remember that conventional lenders are seldom (like almost never?) lending their OWN dollars. Banks lend the depositors’ money (i.e., money the bank has BORROWED), and are required… Continue

Added by Rod Guinn on August 15, 2008 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Encouraging Complaints

The next time you are presented with the opportunity to listen to a Guest complaint, consider yourself fortunate. Yes, that’s right…fortunate. The reason for this is that most Guests who complain and have their issue properly resolved are very likely to become loyal Guests. However, some research indicates that as many as 90% of Guests who perceive themselves as being wronged never voice their complaints to the company, and simply take their business elsewhere. In most cases, the company never… Continue

Added by Chris Reed on August 15, 2008 at 4:00am — 10 Comments

The host with the most...wins

I am always amazed at the folks manning the front desk, aka host stand, at most restaurants. More often than not the job of host or hostess falls to young teenage kids, smartly dressed, trying to look a bit older than they really are. The lead host/ess hovering over the tools of the trade: floor map, staffing schedules, grease pencils, reservation book, waiting list and the ever present stack of vibrating pagers. Some restaurants employing an entire host team using wireless radios with… Continue

Added by Les on August 14, 2008 at 7:10pm — 7 Comments

Is That Your Strategy?...Or Your Tactics?

I always find it interesting the number of so-called marketing ‘experts’ who don’t know the difference between a ‘strategy’ and a ‘tactic’.

These words get thrown around daily by folks who have read about them somewhere; or they've heard other self-proclaimed marketing ‘gurus’ use them, so they mimic those people...in lockstep, without questioning; and feel they’re using the ‘correct’ business buzz words.

A lot of buzz, and buzzing around...means nothing,… Continue

Added by Roy MacNaughton on August 14, 2008 at 5:31pm — 3 Comments

Green Initiatives

Watching the Olympics last night I was reminded that when I started going to Hong Kong 15 years ago for my previous business, the skies were incredibly blue and it was such a beautiful city that I even gave serious thought to living there.

When I went just a year ago for my new business, I asked my manufacturing partner about what I thought was a strange bout of foggy weather. “Susan,” she said to me, “ we never see the sun anymore. What you’re seeing is smog and construction dust… Continue

Added by Susan Perry on August 14, 2008 at 2:13pm — 2 Comments

Emerging Economies, Emerging Exports

US agricultural exports for the most part have grown considerably in recent years. The deflated US dollar has opened some doors and the world so far is greeting us with a friendly; “more please.” In June, nearly half of the 17 million pound increase in US butter exports was to countries that we did not ship any butter to in June of 2007. With different international economies growing so is their consumption of commodities. In the news recently,… Continue

Added by David Maloni on August 14, 2008 at 11:54am — 1 Comment

Can we fix our food safety system?

Question: When is news not really news?

Answer: When it’s the same old story, only slightly different details each time.

Last week Whole Foods initiated a multi-state recall of E.-coli-contaminated ground beef meat originating from vendor Coleman Natural Foods, who, in turn, relied on Nebraska Beef as a meat source. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been investigating… Continue

Added by restaurantdotorg on August 14, 2008 at 5:40am — No Comments

Are you a flip-flopper?

For whatever reason, this particular week has dragged a bit for me. So, I took a mini-break and checked out Bon Appétit's Top 100 Dishes, which did not fail to delight me. The above is #19,…

Continue

Added by restaurantdotorg on August 13, 2008 at 1:19pm — 1 Comment

“Independent” Thinking

Being a multi-unit supervisor for a major national chain brings a unique perspective to the restaurant business. I find myself watching the “Independents” way of doing business looking for best practices to improve our connection to the guest and the paradigm shifts that exist between the two factions of restaurant business….David vs. Goliath for lack of a better analogy. In today’s post I pay tribute to the “Independent” way of thinking when it… Continue

Added by Andy Swingley on August 13, 2008 at 2:00am — 4 Comments

There's a lizard in my salad

Lizard in greens

From the Aug. 7 edition of Pantagraph.com, a newspaper Web site covering central Illinois:

"Applebee’s is investigating a report of a dead but intact four-inch-long lizard found in a customer’s salad during lunch last Friday at the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar in Bloomington.

'We are aware of the… Continue

Added by restaurantdotorg on August 12, 2008 at 12:55pm — 1 Comment

Ten Top-Earning Celebrity Chefs

Say what you will about Rachael Ray, but the jaunty chef-next-door knows how to build a brand.

She began winning audiences with catch phrases like "EVOO" (for extra-virgin olive oil) on her first Food Network show, 30 Minute Meals, in 2001. Today, she has four Food Network programs, including Tasty Travels and $40 a Day. Her nationally syndicated, Oprah-backed talk show, Rachael Ray, is averaging 2.6 million viewers this season, and her Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine has 1.5… Continue

Added by Robert Hale on August 12, 2008 at 11:43am — 8 Comments

15 Strangest Themed Restaurants In The World

Just when you think you have seen each and every theme possible for a restaurant, along comes this dose of surrealism...

These are interesting if nothing else and makes one wonder about the demographics of the customers.