stuff4restaurants

The next few weeks postings are all going to be bit fragmented.

Over the next five weeks my family and I are off on a bit of a global jaunt through Asia, Europe, and the U.S. to recharge our frazzled brain cells, do some business, snow ski, and explore art galleries. This means, at times, I will be unable or too lagged out to keep up daily postings, however, whenever I can manage to beg borrow or steal some precious bandwidth and internet access I will share some of the pics and ideas we find during our travels.

So, please don’t give up on me, keep checking in because I’m sure we will find lots of interesting stuff to share during our travels.

I’m not commenting on this…

I’m far too busy making apologies for my own New Years Eve indiscretions.

Whatever your belief (or lack of it) I would like you to accept my my warmest good wishes for you and your loved ones festive Celebrations.

Tis the season to be jolly, even if it is only to make the ones that really piss us off, murderously jealous.

As a self confessed, guilt ridden, smoker, I’m getting a bit over all this anti-smoking legislation.

O.K. I know I don’t have the right to destroy others health, but I’m just a bit over all the new “Born again” petty officials, scared of future litigation going overboard with their “Thou Shalt Nots …”

So, I’m always pleased to see examples of anti smoking messages where they have at least tried to inject some humor into the equation.

The example above is of a smoking room in some pub somewhere (if you know where please let me know) which at least also generate some free publicity for its owners.

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Morristown Police Lt. Dan Cliff and Sgt. Nathan Antrican ordered dinner about 7:10 p.m. at Taco Johns and sat down to eat. Cliff, as most officers learn, examined his tacos before chomping down. “While we were inspecting our food, Lt. Cliff found what appeared to be a small pubic hair in one of his tacos,” Antrican wrote in a report. “He then looked at another taco and found another hair in it.”

Read the full story here

Oh dear, I do hope this is a food trend that doesn’t catch on… “Do you want…” No, lets not go there either.

C’mon, this is the season when we are meant to spread goodwill NOT body hair.

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Now, at last, here’s an invention to cure your secret disability.

Their promotional material states that:

“New Invention ‘Wobbleg ‘ Marks the End to those Annoying Wobbly Tables & Chairs

A simple yet highly effective invention called Wobbleg (www.wobbleg.com) has just been launched and looks set to finally bring the nations wobbling chairs and tables to a steady rest.

There is nothing more annoying for diners than to be seated at a table or chair that rocks and rolls around - and that’s before you’ve had a drink! Indeed a recent survey of over 500 diners revealed that wobbly tables rank as the number one gripe. A staggering 89% called for the abolition of wobbly tables in restaurants while only 13% said that children under 12 in restaurants are a big turn off.

Wobbleg is the brainchild of Yorkshire based inventor Julian Bradbrook. The invention came to him in a flash of inspiration whilst sitting at a wobbly table. “There has to be something better than an old beer mat to solve the problem” he thought, and so Wobbleg was created.”

So there you have it, an earth shattering, multi color, invention that could change the course of history…

As we enter this festive season, how reassuring it is to think, that in a world troubled by gaping religious divides, the starvation of millions and the excesses of millions more, we have courageous individuals, prepared to take on the big picture stuff of life, Stuff like ridding the world of wobbly table legs, banishing forever the outrageous discomfort and the wanton destruction of folded beer mats.

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The bustling New Lucky Restaurant in Ahmadabad is famous for its milky tea, its buttery rolls, and the graves between the tables.

It’s a spot where old men page through newspapers and argue politics in the morning while young couples share candlelit meals and hold hands at night. That the candles sit atop graves only adds to the ambiance.

W.T.F. ! Yes I know, that was my first reaction when I read the headline on www.foodservice.com’s daily email.

In fact, I have just got back from a Christmas party, and to be absolutely honest, stuff in my head is happening a little slower than normal, in fact, any slower and I might be accessed as brain dead.

So, when I read their lead paragraph and then followed the link to www.sepiamutiny.com to read the full story, I really started to think someone must have slipped a little something illegal into one my drinks.

I guess I will have to wait till the morning when I’m feeling, well, a little less emotional… to see if this grave news is for real.

Ah well, tis the season to be jolly… I think I might be just a tad too jolly tonight.

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McDonald’s Corp.has offered to help franchisees pay the $1 billion-plus cost of its bid to compete with Starbucks across the country next year.

They told franchisees this week, they will pay up to 40% of the costs to remodel restaurants to accommodate the machines needed to make lattes, mocha drinks and other specialty beverages.

McDonald’s claim the remodeling could cost as much as $75,000 for each of the 13,800 U.S. restaurants.
The price McDonald’s pays per restaurant will vary depending on the amount of remodeling needed, but if the company pays $30,000 a restaurant, the total would exceed $400 million.

In addition to the cost of remodeling, franchisees would have to pay about $25,000 per restaurant for the new beverage equipment.

McDonald’s officials have estimated specialty coffees could boost annual sales by an additional $125,000 per restaurant, or more than $1.7 billion across the chain. The restaurants now average about $2.2 million in annual sales.
McDonald’s executives say the launch of specialty coffees is the biggest expansion of its menu since the company added breakfast three decades ago.

McDonald’s move is a direct attack on Starbucks.

McDonald’s has had success with the premium coffee it began offering last year. McDonald’s officials said in the coming years they want to begin offering smoothies and bottled soft drinks as well.
This will be a war worth watching!

This is a very simple, very clever way to dramatize a message.

This form of Advertising has far more effective than many of the expensive brag and boast brochures packed full of over polished words and fascinating stories about your fabulous new buildings, scintillating skills and superhuman achievements.

This type of Advertising treats the reader/viewer as a friend. We share humor with friends, we don’t inflict upon them, brag and boast stories about US, that is, if we want to open or sustain meaningful dialog with them.

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Here’s a little brain food for the weekend…

Many business owners forget that every marketing action needs to be made with a specific goal in mind… and hopefully that goal is not to simply get “more customers”.

The idea of “more customers” starts us on the wrong foot because it immediately neglects the customers we already have. In my experience, it’s better to think in terms of FINDING customers that best suit us, and then GROOMING them to bring us more profit and referrals.

By focusing on keeping customers we effectively reduce the “revolving door effect” that businesses experience.

For example, look at your restaurant’s marketing as a funnel - the wide end is where prospects flow into your restaurant and you begin a relationship. The smallest end is where “Hyper-Responsive Customers” arrive.

There are different stages between these two points, but your goal in marketing is to attract new guests so that you can get them started on the path to becoming raving fans and frequent visitors of your restaurant.

When casting the net… getting your name out there and grabbing the attention of potential new customers… there are many different options. These include television, radio, newspapers, etc.

These reach out to the community, or above the brim of the funnel. When they respond to your Advertising by having an INTEREST in visiting your restaurant they become a Prospective Customer. (Note they are not yet a New guest!)

When a prospect has their first meal, they become a New customer. If someone dines on a rare occasion (every other month, for example) they are Infrequent. Familiar guests are those who eat at your restaurant almost monthly. Loyal customers are those who not only dine at your tables more than once a month, they are actively referring friends and family.

Hyper-Responsives dine frequently, know you by name, refer their friends, and will act on most offers you provide.

Notice that the general “Community” - those who have seen the marketing and but did not act - have not yet entered the funnel… they’re floating above it, but they’re not waiting in anticipation of your next move…they’re going about their daily activities and it’s up to you to grab their attention, get them interested, tempt their desires and call them to action.

When a potential customer becomes a new customer you have an opportunity to take specific actions that will drive them to becoming “hyper-responsive” customers.

Frequent communication and unique offers are surefire ways of producing return visits, referrals and strengthening the overall relationship.

The goal is to try and groom as many customers as possible to become hyper-responsive.

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The above article was written by Nathan Gilder of the Restaurant Revolution . It is a precise of an excellent FREE ebook download you can obtain from his site HERE.

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There is a new credit card fraud on the move…

Currently it is being reported in Britain so I guess it will quickly spread to a phone near you.

The problem with this particular scam is:

They ask for very little information from you, which makes it appear like a legitimate security warning.

You will find details of how it operates, and how it nearly caught her, here on Carol Bentley’s excellent site .

This information needs to be spread to your family, friends and team members fast so everyone can be on the alert for it.

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This New York business is obviously serious about their market segment… serving healthy food to kids in a fun way.

Kidfresh is a New York business that provides healthy meals for kids from a modern purpose designed store, plus runs a number of healthy food educational programs.

You can tell they are serious because, they are the first company in this segment I have seen, that have invested substantial upfront money in branding both their product and their premises, and the branding is truly very, very good, from the minute you see it, “You get what they are all about”.

All this healthy food stuff is great, BUT… I can’t help wondering why?

It seems to me a little sad that we have to cut sandwiches into pretty little shapes just to get our kids to want to eat them.

It seems a little sad to me that we have to add expensive packaging to fruit that already comes in its own very efficient package.

Why is it they we are prepared to pay far more for the branding of a product that we purchase direct from a fruit shop ?

Surely this is not about convenience, are we so messed up as a society, that preparing healthy food for our kids is a lower priority than the time we spend doing other stuff ?

I guess my point is this…

All this healthy food stuff is great, over the last few years we have discovered all the fats salts and sugars we have been consuming are not that great for us… But, I’m not so sure that all these trendy new health food stores have a long term future as viable businesses.

My guess is… Now that we have got the picture about the need to eat healthier food, the majority of consumers will slowly find their way back to their neighborhood green grocer/fruit shop where they can purchase healthy food more directly from its source.

The trend I believe that will bite in is: the Farmers Market Concept, where we can cut out many of the middle men and storage and preservative processes.

What do you think?

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Just imagine opening tomorrows newspaper to find Brad or Tom featuring in a advertisement for cigarettes…

It makes me wonder how our cutting edge Advertising techniques will be regarded 30 years from now.

I found this on an excellent site of interesting old magazine articles at Modern Mechanix Where you find lots of stuff that will make great conversation decor pieces for your restaurant or cafe.

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THE OWNER of a restaurant in Marsh Benham has said that restaurateurs would earn more respect from their communities if they sourced food locally.
Xavier Le-Bellego, who owns The Red House, believes that buying locally produced food to put on the menu cuts his business’ carbon footprint, bolsters the local economy and ensures that his customers are fed fresh ingredients.
“We need to use produce which reflects the season. It’s no good using strawberries in the winter. And what is the point of buying things that come from miles away and travelling miles when you have the food right on your doorstep,” he said
Mr Le-Bellego’s turkeys and lambs come from Benham Stud, a farm 300 yards down the road from his restaurant, his beef comes from Highclere, and his pork and chicken is all locally sourced.
“Only restaurants with a bit of personality can sustain this. Others do not have the demand or the skill to do it,” he said.
The Red House is on the verge of introducing a “30-mile menu”, which will only use food bought within a 30-mile radius of the restaurant.
Mr Le-Bellego wants other restaurants to follow suit and said more should be done to support local food producers.
The avian flu outbreak in Norfolk and the foot-and-mouth scare in Surrey were additional reasons for buying local produce, he added.

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I guess these gastronomic delights are good for some free publicity…

But I can’t help but think they also have the potential to draw some very bad publicity from todays health obsessed press.

Just looking at them has reminded me to make an appointment for my annual Cholesterol check up.

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