Hi,

We are looking for experienced chefs from all parts of the world with diverse backgrounds to take part in one of our projects over the next several months.

Background:

There are many "rating" systems out there you are are familiar with Zagat, Michelin, Citysearch, AAA, Mobil and your loved/hated local critic reviews.

All of these options leave so many things to be desired be it in their print or online forms.

We are in the beginning stages of developing the most unique Global Platform that will do many things, the first step is a global collaboration project between us an experts/industry from all over the world to develop a very comprehensive system of capturing all the elements of, in this case, a restaurant/dining experience from the business and consumer end. I do not want to be long winded here, but it is unlike anything out there.

We are looking for chefs/restaurant industry professionals that would be interested in participating at different levels in this endeavor.

Please email me if you are interested. Also feel free to pass this along to others with global experience in restaurants.

I would also like to hear from people on this board what they think about the current options being offered online when they look for restaurants or lifestyle information acting as a "consumer" or about your experience with what has been offered to the restaurant industry through internet sites and other options.

Does anyone out there share the opinion that there are some really big holes that need to be filled in the quality, depth, timeliness etc. of information for the restaurant industry?

I think the fact that in many instances all that we have really gotten are some glorified listing services that offer nothing of real value to the consumer or the restaurant itself.

Does anyone feel that there should be an entirely new type of effort undertaken to shake things up and provide something really extraordinary for restaurants and consumers worldwide?

Is it not time for a real appreciation of the culinary arts and many other things on a large scale that is run in a different manner?

I would love to see some feedback about these issues and participation from anyone that is interested.

We have been working in the background for over two years to bring this to fruition and are now beginning the development, so I turn to those out there in the trenches that have an interest.

Thanks.

[Anneke]

Bill,
A resounding 'yes' on all counts. I'm a chef-in-training but I can speak from a consumer's POV. I find that the resources available especially on the web are useful for bringing our attention to a given restaurant but we have become quite desensitized to the content of a review as they are outdated, or seemingly based on a one off experience etc.. Suffice it to say, in hindsight, they are rarely accurate.

Are you developing a benchmarking/rating system for the industry? Before making the 'big switch' into cooking, I used to work in benchmarking for the investment banking industry. I wish you much luck as I understand how tricky it can be. In this industry it is especially difficult I would imagine considering how an establishment can go from an A+ to a D- virtually overnight.

Do you have any info about the project on the web? I'd be interested to read up...

A.

Thanks for the positive reply.

There are lot of things that I want to tell everyone who reads this about this undertaking in all its parts and pieces so the entire picture will make sense. However, I will stick to just questions asked to stay on topic and within this industry.

You asked me if this is just a rating system and I assume you mean strictly from the consumer end or from an "expert" with food critics running around. The answer to that is about 90 % No.

One of the major problems with what is out there now is the depth of information, for ease I will call it a restaurant profile.

A typical profile might capture 20 pieces or less of information about a place..location, type of food, address etc.

The methodology under development by us is one that will capture over 100 + pieces of information of physical, perceptual, atmospheric, experiential..etc

That is only the first part of what we have planned. Taking the above just by itself is cool, but won't give anywhere the entire picture. There has never been anything like what we are doing, let alone on this scale.

Funding for this effort has been and will always be private. We are not under any gun from a Venture Capital company nor ever will be.

I started this company in March of 1999 with one objective and that was to create one of the most interesting companies in the world that respects people from all over the world equally.

There are over 100 people globally involved in this effort. Those 100+ are hand picked and deeply ingrained, some for over 20 years in their respective industries. The reason I am posting to this board is that the silence we have imposed on ourselves for the past 2+ years is about to be broken and our first area of focus is the hospitality area.

You have no idea how maddening it was to have had to sit and watch as know nothing sales people call upon our friends in the restaurant business and other areas and sell them a load of **** , us knowing full well it was worthless for everyone involved. Their oxygen (money) supply has now been cut off and it is time for the people who know what they are doing to step forward. We are now just about ready to do that.

You can go to http://cooluniversemedia.intranets.com and request an invitation to our temporary Intranet pre launch area if you would like to participate or follow.

Thanks.

[chefjune]

Bill, if you'ss post your email address, we can send you our ideas easier...

Here is my email bill@cooluniverse.com

Bill

[pollyg]

sounds very interesting. I'm definately going to your site to find out more. It sounds like you have something much bigger than restaurant ratings on your mind.