December 2007 Blog Posts (52)

Poll - What is your favourite TV show that features a restaurant/bar/cafe?

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Added by Mark McKellier on December 20, 2007 at 9:19am — 8 Comments

Rewards Points for FohBoh Community Activity and I get Stock too?

Hi FohBoh,

Just a clarification for me. On the reward points. I started with 5,000 points because I'm one of the first 50,000 members at FohBoh and joined before January 1st, right? And whenever I invite someone using the Invite button and they join, I get another 1,000 points too? The rest of the points I earn are from my activity and by participating on forums, groups, commenting, etc., and from blogging, like this blog post. So I just got some points for this blog.… Continue

Added by Surfer Girl on December 19, 2007 at 3:29pm — 1 Comment

Nothing Heavy Tonight

Our projected customer count tonight was over 350 which is very slow for my store. When I arrived to the store around 12:45 I entered a ghost town when there should have been 367 people coming in, eating and departing. Being proactive, I called six servers, one bartender and a host and told them not to come in to work tonight. With these instant cuts, the shift began with nine servers, three hosts (one too many but two are trained as servers so they became my reserve force) and one bartender…

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Added by Erick F. Crawford on December 19, 2007 at 1:52am — No Comments

The Casual Dining Sector is in the Dumps

I was speaking with a learned friend this afternoon. He is COO at a publicly traded casual dining restaurant and has been in the industry since the beginning of casual dining. In fact, he's one of the original guys that started in the mid-1970's.

His first-hand in-the-trenches comments echoed the media's latest concerns about the casual dining segment as being crowded, tired and in need of adrenaline. He cited negative 4-7% Y/Y comps… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 18, 2007 at 4:52pm — 3 Comments

Things NOT to say to your server...

I found this online and haven't stopped laughing since!

Things you shouldn't say to your server..... and what they're really thinking when you do

“You missed a spot.” If we’re cleaning, just let us clean. There will be no need for noise from the peanut gallery.

“Give me, get me, I need" etc... If you don't have respect for us, we sure as hell aren't going to have any for you.

“How much does _______ cost?” If you have to ask, then you need to cook it…

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Added by Sarah on December 18, 2007 at 3:31pm — 8 Comments

Data Security and Compliance

Thanks for visiting my FohBoh blog. I will focus this space on data security and compliance issues for the hospitality industry.

Is Data Security an issue in the hospitality industry? According to the National Restaurant Association:

"The issue of data security for restaurants and other merchants who accept debit and credit cards has been a front-page news item recently.

All card-accepting restaurants, regardless of size, are required to

comply with security… Continue

Added by Ira Victor on December 18, 2007 at 2:54pm — 3 Comments

The vegetarian option

Although I eat fish, the rest of my family are vegetarian - more a health choice than a 'meat is murder' gesture.

Not so many years ago when we asked for 'the vegetarian option' it was often "well, I'll see if the chef can make you an omlette...".

Now you'll fine a meat free alternative on most menus, but has the chef thought the whole idea through?

Has he thought about the ingredients to make sure that nothing comes from an animal - afterall a large proportion of… Continue

Added by Mark McKellier on December 18, 2007 at 11:18am — 6 Comments

50k Club Members

Hello there everyone. Angie here. Welcome aboard to FohBoh. I'm so excited for us all. We're all 50k Club Members. Make sure you check out FohBoh Rewards. You have a wonderful opportunity of earning shares of stock in the company. Make sure you invite your friends through FohBohs Invite so our system can keep track and reward you with points. You can upload your contacts from your other email accounts. ie..yahoo, aol…

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Added by Angela DiMauro on December 18, 2007 at 9:17am — 7 Comments

Non-Operator FohBoh has fans-Springwise.com

What is Springwise?

Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Ferociously tracking

more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as

taking to the streets of world cities, digital…

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Added by FohBoh on December 17, 2007 at 11:59pm — 2 Comments

An engaged Customers is Loyal Customer

There is huge value to interactivity and engaging customers. There is also tremendous value to social networking for restaurants. Simply put fully engaged customers deliver a premium over average customers in

share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth.

That's exactly why so many smart, informed restaurateurs are benefiting from

this interactive engagement by realizing a return on loyalty (ROL). We all know that it's more valuable to keep a customer than to… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 17, 2007 at 4:39pm — 1 Comment

Happy Chefs Are the Horse

Happy chefs...what a concept. Actually, it's a concept that the industry, management and ownership should embrace. Happy chefs and happy cooks make a happy FOH. While the takes FOH and BOH to bring it all together, the BOH is the horse. If the horse is not interested in water, you cannot make it drink.

I've been in enough kitchens to witness chaos, organized chaos or not...it's chaos nonetheless. But, a happy line is a good, efficient line… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 17, 2007 at 2:13pm — No Comments

First to Market-Yes we are!

There is something very compelling and sexy about being "first to market". This phrase is hard to say in almost any other industry but technology. Imagine saying "we have a new restaurant concept that has never, ever, been done before. How often does that happen?

I love technology because with software, anything is possible. If that's true, then there will always be a "first-to-market".

FohBoh is a first-to-market in a relatively new industry called Online Social Networks. We… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 16, 2007 at 9:42pm — No Comments

Holiday Parties Start This Week

Whenever I think about going to a company holiday party, I picture that scene in Santa Claus II. The movie with Tim Allen playing Santa at his future-Ms. Claus' Christmas party. Totally lame. No one is having fun. People checking their watches and there is nothing to do. A bowl of blue punch and a few chips to munch on. Boring and a seemingly forced get-to-gether. But, that's not reality...it's a m o v i e.

I'm going to my wife's Christmas (holiday) party tonight. I get to meet… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 14, 2007 at 4:11pm — 5 Comments

U.S. Restaurant Industry Forecast for 2008

Restaurant Industry to Continue to Be Major Driver in Nation's Economy Through Sales, Employment Growth in 2008

National Restaurant Association's 2008 Restaurant Industry Forecast

reveals economic, workforce, consumer and menu trends for the coming

year

(Washington, D.C.) Restaurant industry sales are expected to reach $558

billion in 2008—a 4.4 percent increase over 2007— and… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 12, 2007 at 10:43am — 1 Comment

When to drink 'vintage' port?

We've been 'hoarding' a bottle of a 1966 Warre's port - our dilemma is when to drink it? We can think of lots of occasions for drinking it, but is there going to be a 'perfect' age to do so? Now? In 5 years time?

And what Ports should we be 'laying down' now - we're drinking some nice 2000 vintages, should we be buying these for future dilemmas!

Added by Mark McKellier on December 12, 2007 at 6:40am — 5 Comments

How much is a "s***-load"?

I enjoyed a very entertaining breakfast discussion this morning with a fellow FohBoh.com super user. She's a foodie with a lot of restaurant experience. She also loves to cook and like many of us, rarely follows a recipe. She takes a peek at the list of ingredients and then goes to work, creating her version of whatever. A pinch of this, a dollop of that and, a s*** load of garlic. We laughed when she said "I love garlic" right after saying how much she used in a particular recipe.… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 11, 2007 at 1:39pm — 9 Comments

Restaurant Ten Success Commandments

I have no idea where this came from, but I think it's pretty relevant...and logical.

Ten Commandments for Success in the Restaurant

Business

1. Overhead

2. Capitalization

3. Location/Visibility

4. Accessibility

4. Parking

5. Service

5. Quality

6. Value

7. Consistency

8. Ambiance

9. Publicity & Community Relations

10. Ownership supervision

What do you think?

I could add a few more. Perhaps sub-commandments… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 11, 2007 at 12:29pm — 3 Comments

Management by Checklist

There are pros and cons to management by checklist and there are as many people in the industry who live by the checklist as there are that do not.

There are many checklists that a restaurant can have, checkout lists for both the FOH and BOH, opening duties, cash handling, cleaning crew, side work, hiring, terminating and the checklist goes on. Recently, my restaurant implemented a floor drain checklist. With so many checklists one wonders why there is not a checklist to keep them all…

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Added by Erick F. Crawford on December 10, 2007 at 8:10pm — 2 Comments

Christmas time is both good and bad for food servers

I love Christmas. I love it because it's a special holiday and I love to spend this time with my family and friends. I also love the annual increase in income. It's like an automatic way to have extra money for the holidays.

So it all sounds good...right? Well Christmas also brings out the amateur dining crowd. Where’s the Christmas spirit? Now, I’m not looking for charity, just reasonable respect and normal tips. I work, harder during the holidays and make more money because of that.… Continue

Added by Surfer Girl on December 8, 2007 at 12:07pm — 1 Comment

Wagamama - Noodle this

Wagamama is a celebration of consistency and quality in everything they do and have been for the past 15 years. The first Wagamama opened in London’s in 1992.

In the fifteen years that have passed, they have opened more than 80 restaurants - in UK, Europe, the pacific rim, the middle east and most recently, in Boston.

Wagamama is the most popular chain of award-winning Asian…

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Added by Michael L. Atkinson on December 8, 2007 at 11:40am — No Comments