Earlier this week I ventured to get a feel for practical food safety practices in a real restaurant. Turley’s, an iconic Boulder, CO eatery known for its eclectic menu full of healthy eating and fantastic international flavors, was kind enough to spend some time talking to me about their food …
Read More »Restaurant Management Tips: How To Deal With Employee Theft
As anyone in the food service industry knows, staff turnover is a constant problem. Hiring and training employees is important but often tedious work, and keeping your team motivated and happy can also be a challenge. Yet these “human resources” tasks are not nearly as tough to deal with as …
Read More »Restaurant Replenishment: Don’t Get Caught With Your Pants Down
Ever noticed the paper towel dispenser spinning uselessly in your restaurant’s bathroom, ventured into some dark back storage area to retrieve a new roll, and discovered – to your horror – that replacements were nowhere to be found? Stuff runs out. Stuff needs replacing. And there are much, much worse …
Read More »Fryer Oil Maintenance: Tips To Make Oil Taste Better & Last Longer
The fryer is one of the central cooking appliances in many restaurants and commercial kitchens. And central to every commercial fryer is the shortening or oil in the vat. Maintaining that oil is key to producing great-tasting product every time. Oil maintenance is more involved than you might think, and …
Read More »Casual Dishonesty: Any of These Need Your Attention?
Ever seen staff help themselves to food, drink or cash, and they seem to think it’s OK? You call it shrinkage, waste, ‘unders’, discrepancies or theft. What do they call it? It’s the grey areas that cause problems: drinks or food for friends and family, sloppy work that results in …
Read More »Restaurant Management: Are You A Sergeant Or A General?
For those of you who do not know me personally, I have a confession to make. I am a huge history nerd. This means that The History Channel’s “America: The Story of Us” is taking up a large portion on my DVR. I was watching the episode on World War …
Read More »5 Ways to Turn Your Staff into a High Performing Team
In a restaurant, it takes the concerted efforts of an entire team to create a great dining experience. Everyone has a part to play. If your team breaks down, or isn’t working together effectively, it will impact your customers. But it’s also likely to impact individual employees, resulting in dissatisfaction, …
Read More »A Smaller Supply Chain Means Bigger Savings
Going back to 2008 there has been a growing trend among suppliers of charging a flat delivery surcharge on all orders to help defray the cost of fuel. There was some relief in the past few years from this tactic but with the dramatic rise in gas prices over the …
Read More »Restaurant Inventory: Tips To Increase Efficiency and Boost Profits
As a restaurateur, you probably struggle with inventory on a regular basis. Balancing walk-in space, fast-selling menu items, and slow moving items can create a constant headache. Some of your product moves quickly, some does not, and inevitably some ends up sitting in the walk-in for far too long. That …
Read More »Restaurant Equipment: 4 Factors For Calculating Total Cost Of Ownership (cont)
There’s always a significant amount of cost involved whenever you buy a new piece of restaurant equipment. Those costs only continue as that equipment ages in your restaurant – from energy use to repairs, the consequences of new equipment will be around for a long time after you’ve written the …
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