I have a friend, George, who owns three restaurants. My wife and several of her friends recently celebrated her birthday at George’s upscale concept. She ordered the crab ravioli in cream sauce, which she has ordered many times before. The two fr...
There is a line in the musical Flower Drum Song: “How will we ever communicate without communication?” Here is my question to you: Is poor communication in your restaurant costing you money?
I started thinking about this during a recent road t...
From one restaurant owner to another, let’s talk staff … specifically, your front of house.
Great team members are really brand ambassadors for your restaurant. Their personalities combined with effective training can actually build your busin...
It’s just a fantasy
It’s not the real thing
Sometimes a fantasy is all you need
—Billy Joel, "Sometimes a Fantasy"
Fantasy? You are probably wondering how this relates to food, cooking and the foodservice industry. The places we work and own ...
Last month I blogged about how bad phone manners by your staff could cause the loss of sales. This blog was well received and I not only got a number of e-mails, but people even called me as well to tell me they could relate to the article. I was...
A key part of my position as a culinary arts instructor at JobTrain is to get graduates jobs. To do this I literally make over 100 phone calls a month to kitchens, offices and chefs. I am always shocked and amazed at how badly phones are answered...
Many restaurant owners tell me they are afraid of leveraging strong offers such as free items. But if you are confident in your restaurant, and are convinced that you will get repeat customers once they have discovered your business, then the pot...