September 2010 Blog Posts (46)

Just got blown up by my best friend and a true culinary visionary, Greg Barnhill, Executive Chef at The Charles Court at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs. Over the last three days we've been going back and forth about Sous Vide cooking and he schooled me but good. It started easily enough, 'What are the three most used pieces of equipment in your kitchen?' It's a simple question that draws a lot of heat because in three small words it illustrates, and illuminates a lot. In less than…

It’s true… The day of the casual consumer has come and gone. The 21^st century consumer is anything but casual. In other words today’s consumer is much more sophisticated than in the past. The word discriminating comes mind. Allow me to explain……

Remember that the person writing this is a former banker. Remember also the whole point of this blog from the day I started it, which is that (at least in our restaurant industry) all parties in any financial transaction and subsequent relationship would be much better off if they understood not only each other’s motivations and needs but how each party gains and…

Back in March, I posted 64 Suggestions for Bar Customers. Number 36 declares, Bringing in beverages from outside of the restaurant is a no-no. My long-standing conviction about this practice led to a spirited discussion on Yelp Talk (Boston) recently when I posted the following:

I’ll…

As I wrote in my post last week, restaurants are the original social networking site. So, why is it that only 25 percent of us are on Facebook,…

As I wrote in my post last week, restaurants are the original social networking site. So, why is it that only 25 percent of us are on Facebook, Twitter or…

That’s the average number of responses companies are getting for a 2 paragraph posting on

Craig’s List.

All the bad press, sour statistics and droning talking heads can best be summed up by the…

I like to work out. I like it so much I joined a gym and I actually use it – 5 days a week since the Talent Revolution 30 Day Challenge, thank you very much! I don’t want to mention any names but the gym I joined is huge – it has all the amenities you’d expect in a workout facility. Free weights, every machine you can imagine, big mirrors to watch your biceps inflate with every pump of iron (yours not mine), TV’s,…

I’ve seen it a million times! It’s six o’clock in the evening at Any Restaurant in Anytown USA. Business starts to pick up for dinner and the “the regular crowd…

Excuse me? When exactly did summer begin? Is it just me, or is life just moving a bit too fast these days? Are we missing our personal journey?…

Restaurant Owners or Managers. Please join me in my Be Kind To Food Servers Awareness Month

National Blood Drive. This is to celebrate the food servers awareness month in January.

January is also National Blood Donors Month. The food servers blood drive will be from January to March,2011.

March is American Red Cross Month.

I am asking for food servers to volunteer and donate blood at the blood drives.I am contacting restaurant

owners and managers all across…

Taking liberties with menu descriptions is not just a U.S. phenomenon. A…

Independant operating restaurants are constantly surprising me with their business operations. I would be interested in doing a research profile on how many of my customers actually do a monthly inventory (weekly?), track their labor costs related to sales (revenue/labour hour), or even understand their margins item to item.



This is a common theme among restaurant dreamers.



"I know how to cook & I have alot of friends & my husband can operate the foh because he…

Transitioning into autumn is bittersweet at Georgetown Bagelry. Folks are coming back to town yet students whom we serve almost daily are leaving to go back to school. Erin Slowinski and Jessica Janov from Holton-Arms, Ruthie Levine from UC Davis, and Scott Thiede from Villanova…

I've seen several television ads for Coleman Camping's campaign for the "Original Social Networking Site" over the past couple of months. These spots talk about how they were the original social networking site provider with lanterns, tents, etc.

I dare say they have a good point, but it’s wrong. Restaurants…