Thursday, October 20, 2016
Today's Specials:
[READ] Seven Staff ‘Whispers’ You Don’t Want to Hear
The app whisper has been around for a while, along with confessions from every profession that you can thumb through. Here are the seven you never wanted to know about your restaurant staff!
[QUIZ] Do You & Coffee Have a History?
Coffee is by far the most popular beverage in the United States, but how well do you know it's history? Take our coffee quiz and find out!
[RESOURCE] 5 Superfood Ingredients to Supercharge Your Cocktail Menu (Sponsored by Upserve)
From the obvious to the obscure, superfoods are popping up on some of the most innovative cocktail lists across the globe. For your inspiration, Upserve has rounded up some of the best prescriptive potions being slung from here to Bali. Use these ingredients as inspiration when creating your own superfood sippers.
DID YOU KNOWS…
London’s Naked Restaurant Pop-Ups for Good
Londoners can soon dine out in the buff at a beckon’s notice. The naked restaurant Bunyadi is returning to London permanently… as soon as the owner finds a proper spot. And all those nude restaurant nightmares we had never came to fruition. Thankfully!
We Hope It Was Worth It
A 47-year-old San Fran man was sent to the hospital for 23 days after he ate a raw ghost pepper. The pepper burned a 2.5cm hole in his esophagus. Ouch. We can only imagine what that hospital bill must’ve cost.
But Did She Get to Hang in the Ball Pit?
A 100-year-old woman just got free McDonald’s for life. So, yeah, McD’s won out in that deal. In seriousness, McD’s also threw the woman a birthday party for hitting the centenarian level. McD’s gave her donuts, balloons, and a certificate allotting a lifetime of free food. A nice gesture, rewarding a regular.
SHEAR GENIUS
Why it matters to you: Doing a good deed has its rewards.
A simple program involving buzzcuts and books has gone viral. Most recently, a barber in Michigan, Ryan Fuller has been inspiring kids to read by offering $2 haircuts to those kids who read aloud while they receive a haircut. The program started only last weekend, but since then, the story and outreach to support the effort has gone viral!
Since npr aired the story initially, reporters from around the world have been calling, and boxes of books have arrived from across the country. In addition to the donations, letters have arrived with money tucked in as well as words of encouragement. Currently, the program leaders are trying to figure out where to spend the money they received knowing that they want to use the money to help local teachers. If this story doesn’t make you feel good, we don’t know what will.
CALIFORNIA KICKS OF NATION’S FIRST TRANSGENDER JOBS PROGRAM
Why it matters to you: Hiring those that are underserved is good for business and the community.
California is undertaking a huge program to address the civil rights issue that is transgendered employment. The transgender community has twice the rate of unemployment as other Americans. Mendelsohn, an activist in the community as well as a franchise owner and trans woman, has been employing other trans people in her restaurants since opening her first Pollo Loco location in 1988.
Mendelsohn was able to get the California Restaurant Association behind her in support of a program that would connect trans job seekers with restaurants seeking staff. To sweeten the deal, a state grant will provide the payment for the first 60 hours of wages for the newly hired staff through the program. For those who have their doubts, there’s proof in the pudding. Since Mendelsohn has started employing more transgender workers at her restaurants, customers have been incredibly supportive.
HIRE CHARACTER, TRAIN SKILL – PETER SCHULTZ
Why it matters to you: Finding great leaders is a key to success in every restaurant
We focus so much on how to find the best hourly talent to staff our restaurants we sometimes forget that managers matter just as much. The folks at ABarAbove.com took the words right out of our mouths here at The Rail with this post describing the best Qualities of a Great Bar Manager. Their approach was to identify the qualities that are most valuable for a bar manager and then offering the interview question that will reveal if your candidate possesses them.
Starting with a quality defined by curiosity, they suggest asking, “Tell me about a time you learned something new on the job, and how it changed your behavior.” This type of inquiry will force a manager to give an introspective answer or show themselves as static and not interested in learning or growing. As we will review in our upcoming webinar on The Real Cost of Employee Turnover, interview questions are the key to filtering out the right match for your business. Read the remainder of them here and incorporate them in your next management interview.
DIRTY WATER, MADISON YOU’RE MY HOME [Song]
Why it matters to you: Operating costs never seem to drop for our restaurants
In Madison Wisconsin, the Engineering Department that manages sewage treatment is asking for an increase in fees charged to restaurants. The fee increase is proposed to offset the additional cost of treating waste water from restaurants due to high grease content. The proposed increase would add $1000 a year to the average restaurant cost for treatment and nominally lower the costs charged to residential water users. While it’s only fair that we pay our share of the costs of our business, it sure does feel like we are increasingly tabbed to pick up the slack in a difficult economy. Minimum wage increases, paid time off, overtime rules changes, increasing food costs…does it end? At some point, our prices will have to increase and that will be when the real fun starts.