September 2009 Blog Posts (114)

Non-Operator How to Get Free Email Mail Marketing that Converts Like Crazy

First... Set Up a Free Account With a Company that is White Listed...

There are many email marketing companies that offer free campaigns, but two stand alone as the best.

1) iContact - Included in their free package is a 31 page white paper that will make even the most novice marketer an email pro. They have a fully integrated survey sytem along with email scheduling capabilities. iContact also… Continue

Added by Arianna Garcia on September 25, 2009 at 8:21am — 1 Comment

May I borrow your time machine? I need to go back and stop myself from having a recent discussion with a potential customer…

I had this disturbing discussion with a potential customer that has me both frightened and laughing at the same time.

We discussed the importance of the guest experience and how tough it is to find the right resources to represent a brand appropriately. We outlined that measuring a resource's success can be even tougher. Here’s what had me falling off my chair – the management team of this small chain doesn’t want resources measured – especially not by the customer and not while in… Continue

Added by Terri Hitchcock on September 24, 2009 at 1:08pm — 2 Comments

Virgin America Arlines

Whenever I mention Virgin America, the first thing I am bound to hear from a few friends and family who have traveled with them, is how great it is to fly on this relatively new airline. Actually not new, but new to the United States, Virgin has operated in Europe for the past 15 or so years but on in America for the past 2 years. In the past 25 years, I have flown on a myriad of different airlines. the very first flight I ever took was on Continental Airlines, I flew from Philadelphia to San… Continue

Added by Stanley E. Roberts on September 24, 2009 at 8:50am — No Comments

Gilroy Garlic Festival 2009

If you are contemplating on attending the 2009 Gilroy Garlic Festival I have a few things to tell you; first off and importantly you already missed it. Second, you really missed an incredible gourmet event including what I like to call a pyromaniacs’ dream. For the past 31 years Gilroy, California, also known as the garlic capital of the world, has hosted the Garlic Festival at Christmas Hill Park. What I am going to do is try and describe what you missed. There was so much, so I hope I don’t… Continue

Added by Stanley E. Roberts on September 24, 2009 at 8:48am — No Comments

Beef Prices and the Aussies

The chart of the week is the value of the Australian dollar (versus the US dollar) and the US 90% beef trimmings market. What does one have to do with the other? Good question! First we remember that beef processors utilize trimmings to make various beef products including the ever popular hamburger. Typically, a hamburger processor will mix 90% beef trimmings with a fattier trim, say 50% trimmings, to make their product. In the US, we produce at lot of fattier beef trimmings. So much so that… Continue

Added by David Maloni on September 24, 2009 at 3:56am — 1 Comment

The Tipping Point, Part II

The Tipping Point: Tipping on Expensive Wine

The San Francisco Chronicle had a post last week that caught my attention. It regarded appropriate percentages to tip on high-end wine purchases in restaurants. (Seems an interesting time for such an article, but it appears that some are still spending). The amount used in this article as an example was $300, however I can see that what qualified as a premium or super…

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Added by Margie Tosch on September 23, 2009 at 2:26pm — No Comments

The Tipping Point: Tipping on Expensive Wines

Added by Margie Tosch on September 23, 2009 at 2:24pm — No Comments

Are Your Baristas Rock Stars?

Cross-posted at Chalkboarder.com's White Papers and on Barista Exchange

Are Your Baristas Rock Stars?

With Coffee Fest Seattle approaching this week, we wanted to share some ideas on how to drive sales in coffee houses using social media.

The explosion of independent espresso and coffee houses across North America in the last ten years is phenomenal. Over… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on September 22, 2009 at 7:37pm — No Comments

The war between the greens (sustainable vs. organic vs. Biodynamic® viticulture)

Green wines have become more plentiful and better than ever, which is good news for all of us, and the environment.

One of the unseemly aspects of this inexorable movement, on the other hand, is the public sniping between the various sustainable, certified organic, and Biodynamic® camps; and I have to say, what’s even more disappointing are sides taken by individuals… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on September 22, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

The green wars part 2 (organic, Biodynamic® & sustainable tasting notes)

Here’s the lowdown on some of the more notable – if not fantastic – organic, Biodynamic®, and sustainably grown wines tasted during (and just after) my most recent jaunt (August 2009) through the West Coast. For an explication of the green delineations, please refer to previous pieces on… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on September 22, 2009 at 6:59pm — No Comments

Financial Sustained Growth In Agriculture Sector Vital For Global Food Security

(RTTNews) - A sustained growth in the agriculture sector is needed to guarantee global food security in the future, a Deutsche bank study has found. The increasing need for consumers to switch to a more balanced and healthy diet is also stressed by the German firm, observing that a more expansive diet has several adverse implications for both human and environmental… Continue

Added by Michael Albert on September 22, 2009 at 4:04pm — No Comments

Non-Operator Are You Working Too Hard?

I had a fascinating discussion with a group of employees yesterday morning that I just had to share with you. During a pre-shift meeting I asked my team why they work. To a person everyone said money. After inquiring further I discovered that really it was about taking care of their bills and providing for their families.

Once we established this as their primary reason for working I asked them about their work environment and how much they enjoyed it. The consensus was that the work… Continue

Added by Bill Campion on September 22, 2009 at 1:08pm — 3 Comments

Snow, Rain & more greet us on our Marathon Tour for the Great American Dine Out

September 20 was the official end of summer in Colorado! It was also the first day of the Great American Dine Out and Matt and I set out on our seven-day quest to support restaurants participating in the Dine Out event. Our first two stops were Crested Butte and Aspen, two gorgeous mountain towns that fed us well. We're updating in more detail on our… Continue

Added by Mindi Cabe on September 22, 2009 at 1:07pm — No Comments

Non-Operator My, That is a Tasty Economic Indicator

Recently, a story entitled “Burgernomics” appeared on ABC’s Nightline. The title was meant convey the connection between America’s growing consumption of hamburgers and the current economic recession. Josh Ozersky, the Restaurants Editor for Citysearch remarked “the burger is omnipotent…it is the single most powerful force in the food universe”. As it turns out burgers may also be the most powerful force in the international currency universe as well.

“Burgernomics” is the economy… Continue

Added by Mathew Mandeltort on September 22, 2009 at 9:51am — 1 Comment

Video Blog: If You Don't Create Your Life Someone Else Will For You.

"Action without Vision is a Nightmare."

The hard truth is that if you don't create your life, someone else will create it for you. Yes, sometimes s*#t happens that leads to experiences we didn't plan for, and some of those experiences become… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on September 22, 2009 at 7:07am — 10 Comments

City Cafe much much more than coffee

City Cafe seemed to me to be the go to place for a morning meeting in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood. My assumption came from two meetings I had there and never looked beyond the café area. Who knew, there was a bar and lounge as well as a restaurant in the back.

Read the whole story, watch the video and view the slide show at the Dining… Continue

Added by Dara Bunjon on September 21, 2009 at 2:20pm — No Comments

Oh Boy...Fall

So it's time for the leaves to turn, the weather to get cooler, and the food to get heartier. You look forward to new foods, techniques, and menus all year to broaden your abilities and skills. Then why is it that right now I am having a huge creative block. A week ago my Chef said that it was time to get ideas together for a new Fall menu...the last time this came around I had a list waiting in my hand for 3 months. Maybe it's the unbalance in the kitchen right now...the banquet chef left for… Continue

Added by Derek Thompson on September 21, 2009 at 1:18pm — 2 Comments

Rethinking Line Up

How many times have we heard this during line up?

"I haven't worked a shift since last Wednesday. I'm only here a couple days a week; how can I be expected to know when things change? I have no idea what these new menu items are. Since when did the chopped salad have broccoli? We have 5 new wines by the glass? What are these new desserts all about?"

I've said or thought them all.

If we come to the line up unprepared, if we are expecting to use the time to learn… Continue

Added by Michael Biesemeyer on September 21, 2009 at 1:07pm — 3 Comments

How State Restaurant Associations Could Use Social Media

Blog posted on FohBoh and Chalkboarder.com’s White Papers

Two weeks ago, Chalkboarder.com surveyed 2200 restaurants in fourteen major metropolitan US markets, to assess the Ease of Entering the Virtual Door. As a break from that labor, we did a quick study of how many state restaurant associations are using social media and discovered that about 6% do.

This… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on September 21, 2009 at 10:19am — 11 Comments

Mobile marketing strategy boosts The Taco Maker’s Q1 comps

The Taco Maker (TTM) has reported a 21 percent same-stores sales increase in the first quarter of 2009. The company has credited its success to a new mobile marketing strategy that spotlights their new flagship product, “The Maker” burrito, a one-pound burrito stuffed with up to three kinds of meat, beans, enchilada sauce and Monterey Jack Cheese in a warm tortilla.

“We knew in a slowing economy that our marketing approach had to be focused on value for the customer,” said Carlos Budet,… Continue

Added by Ola Ayeni on September 21, 2009 at 10:01am — 1 Comment