What’s the big deal with  santoku knives? A santoku knife is a more versatile version of a cook’s knife, with a thinner blade that allows for finer slicing and mincing.  Some chefs swear by the santoku, claiming it has better balance.  In general, a cook’s knife is going to be …

Vote For Chef Lon here! Chef Lon Symensma has a serious culinary pedigree.  That’s why Denver foodies were extremely excited when he decided to partner with Culinary Institute of America classmate Alicia Deters to create ChoLon, his first restaurant, ChoLon, in the LoDo area of downtown Denver. After stints at …

A commercial fryer cooks certain foods extremely efficiently and quickly, and are often used in restaurants and commercial kitchens for appetizers and specific entrees.  Fryers use a heating element to superheat an oil medium to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  When food product is dipped into the oil, the moisture inside …

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that 88% of people who encounter a dirty restroom at a restaurant think this reflects poorly on the sanitation of the rest of the establishment, including the kitchen and food preparation areas.  Of those, a full 29% said they would never come …

When Michael Oshman started the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) in 1990, hardly anybody in the food service industry thought much about sustainability. “The green business movement wasn’t something that really existed,” he says.  “We were one of the first organizations that wanted to help businesses.  We asked: ‘What if we …

Commercial ice machines form a critical link in the chain of operation in a restaurant or commercial kitchen.  Ice machines can also be one of the largest expenditures in your budget, so choosing a unit that works for your particular needs and situation is vitally important. And now that the …

The tired old maxim “your servers are your salespeople” is as true today as it ever was, but just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean you have armed the front of your house with every weapon they need to drive your restaurant’s profits. Really, there’s no understandable reason why servers shouldn’t …

Big chain restaurants dominate the mass market when it comes to advertising – a fact of life that can sometimes make it difficult for smaller independent operations to be heard among all the songs about baby back ribs.  Launching a restaurant marketing campaign for an independent means less money to …

We’ve talked about the importance of reputation management on The Back Burner in the past, and as review sites like Yelp and discount sites like Groupon continue to influence the way consumers make their dining decisions it becomes even more important for restaurants to make sure they are engaged with …

Getting a liquor license for your restaurant all comes down to two words: it depends.  Determining how much it’s going to cost, how long it will take, and how easy it’s going to be all depend on where you’re located.  That’s because liquor licensing varies from state to state and …