• Created on 2/16/10 by sross

When the economy struggles as it is now, people want to tighten up the purse strings and watch every penny spent.  The restaurant industry feels this just as surely as the malls and department stores do this year, perhaps more so.  Dining out is a luxury most of us cut out first when watching our respective budgets.  Does that mean we ease up on our customer service skills?  Absolutely not!  I believe you cannot afford to let people eat in your restaurant once, only to determine that they will not come back, either in the near future or when their money flows... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by mvogel

One of the first lessons of any cooking course is learning how to make stocks.  Stocks form the basis of most sauces and soups.  A stock is basically the liquid that eventuates from simmering bones and/or meat with vegetables, herbs, & seasonings. Types of stock include beef, veal, chicken, fish, and vegetable. Let's peruse the stock making procedure. Virtually all stock recipes instruct you to start with bones.  I prefer a mix of actual meat and bones.  I find the meat/bone combo to yield a deeper flavor.   For a beef stock I use cubed chuck steak.  Never use tender... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by bmarvin

The first article in this series suggested that whether running your operation seems like being lost in the weeds or spending a day at the beach is strictly a function of your perspective. The beach is available to you but you can't see it from the weed patch. In the second installment, we looked at different models of management (the cop vs. the coach) and explored the idea that in the age of service it is our human skills that will determine the degree of our success. The principles we are talking about are simple and common-sense but the key to changing your... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by singer4660

November 1, 2002 - I left New Paltz, NY with mixed emotions. I had really wanted to stay over a few more days and visit New York City. However, I had been keeping a weather eye open and instinct told me that the weatherman was wrong. It was bright and sunny as I left the farm but when I had gone fifty miles I ran head on into a full blown winter storm complete with heavy snow. Fortunately, I had decided earlier that I would bypass the big cities as much as possible and headed West towards Scranton, PA. Just outside Scranton I turned South towards Harrisburg, PA driving... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by theloggg

(Devil on my left shoulder)  180 days into the job I received my 90-day review.  Unfortunately the raise was only retroactive one pay period.  Back in my high tech days a 4% raise wasn't too shabby.  It doesn't carry the same wallop when you make $12.00 an hour.  I have reached a point where I am finally able to reflect on my career change.  The newness of Seattle has dulled and the excitement of being out of school is gone (however my first loan repayment check written tonight reminds me of the good times I had).   I would be lying if I didn't say once a week I think,... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by theloggg

Waiter, There's a Fork in my Career PathThis has to be at least chapter 10 in the Story of Logan.  I'll start with high school, which I graduated with no plans on going to college, of any kind.  During my junior year photo day I sat for the camera, threw up my collar and threw back my head.  The Sister (Catholic high school) assigned to make sure everyone behaved for his or her picture said to me, Logan, this is going to be the photo on your college transcript.  To which I replied, Take the picture.  I'm not going to college. Three college degrees later I move into the... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by JackBlack

Imagine this: it's the middle of winter and something as sun drenched and vibrant as citrus fruits are in peak season. In a time when everything always seems to be in season, this may not sound that strange but it's true. Even foods that are as perpetually present in supermarkets as oranges indeed have an optimum period. Though as I write this column it's 8 degrees Fahrenheit outside and hard to imagine anything is actually in season. Oranges are a near-perfect food. One medium sized navel orange has just 80 calories, is cholesterol and sodium free and contains more... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by hbrody

Leave it to the Canadians to transform "industrial rapeseed oil" into one of the world's most prized cooking oils. How could oil one uses to make machinery hum possibly be made consumable? Well, after fifty years of plant breeding and research, what should appear but a highly regarded cooking oil under the more appealing name of canola oil. Under its new name, rapeseed oil has become the third most important plant-extracted cooking oil ranking only after palm and soybean, and surpassing old-timers like peanut, cottonseed, and sunflower oils in worldwide production.   ... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by bmarvin

We conferred endlessly and futilely and arrived at the place from whence we began. Then we did what we knew we had to do in the first place, and we failed as we knew we would. - attributed to Sir Winston Churchill Whether the opening quote is accurate or not, the thought behind it deserves consideration. Are we becoming incredibly adept at ineffective procedures? Have you ever thought that there had to be a better way to run a restaurant? Does the idea that you have to work 60-80 hours a week to succeed in foodservice strike you as a suspicious notion? Most operators... read more

• Created on 2/16/10 by kroyse

One of my clients calls younger workers hummingbirds because they flutter from job to job. While it's difficult to get Generation X workers to stay put, it's not impossible. We suggest you follow these strategies: Ask them for their opinions. Studies have shown that one way to reduce turnover with younger employees is to convince them that you value their opinions. Involve employees in decisions, especially when those decisions affect them. Be willing to take the time to meet with and listen to employees, as much as they need or want. There is a difference between... read more