Thursday, August 10, 2017
Today's Specials:
BUSINESS: 5 Big Lies About Restaurant Inventory
If you’re like many restaurant owners, you’re probably not being entirely honest with yourself about the inventory process. In fact, here are the 5 biggest lies we hear about restaurant inventory. How many have you told yourself?
DID YOU KNOWS…
Food Fouls
Baseball fans across the US have been feasting on hot dogs for what feels like centuries. Sports Illustrated analyzed the most recent inspection data and ranked the best and worst MLB stadiums based on food safety. Some were completely fine whereas others were found to have many as 25 violations. Is your team’s stadium in the clear?
Enhancing ‘Grammability
Food porn has grown a following almost as popular as… well, you know. Restaurants are turning to food porn consultants to help chefs pay attention to how their dishes photograph on Instagram. It’s estimated that some of these food pic exerts are making some serious cash money. Here are some of their food-photo secrets.
Pounding Back Prosecco
If you’re ever looking for something more grown up than playing beer pong as an adult, you’re in luck. A Dallas-based company called Talking Tables has created a “classier drinking game” called Prosecco Pong. The game comes with 12 Prosecco cups and contains MUCH more alcohol than the average light beer. Game on.
HOW NOT TO PROMOTE A CAUSE
Why it matters to you: A café has gone viral for charging men an 18% addition to their bill to reflect the gender wage gap.
Restaurants often rally behind a cause to form a deeper connection with their brand and to benefit the community. However, sometimes businesses can approach this untraditionally. The café Handsome Her in Australia has been at the center of controversy over their policy that an 18% premium will be charged to men --in addition to their tab-- to reflect the gender pay gap. Although the charge is deemed “voluntary” there has been a social media firestorm from people around the world calling out the vegan café for its gender-bias policy. The café owner has expressed that the intention was to bring awareness to the gender pay gap in Australia and also to get people talking.
Although the café’s intentions seemed to be in the right place, the execution of the men tip more policy was perceived as overbearing. There seems to be a disconnect between trying to bring attention to an important cause and trying to make people angry. At the end of the day, the Australian establishment was only trying to bring attention to a cause, which they certainly have done. The owner has noted that she has received many donations from both male and female guests and that she has no intention of kicking anyone out that chooses not to pay the 18% addition. After the café’s first week, business was reportedly doing very well and Handsome Her has been talked about around the world. If the goal was to get people talking, the goal was achieved.
DELIVERY: SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO [Song]
Why it matters to you: When delivery isn’t the answer!
Ok, enough with this delivery conversation already, we get it, everyone is engaged and trying to capture those millennials who prefer to be fed, but left alone. Well, not everyone. It turns out that if you are already growing, you can resist the delivery trend and just continue as you are. The folks at Texas Roadhouse not only eschew delivery, they seem to openly mock it when their CFO Scott Colosi said, “It's easy for a restaurant company who is underutilizing their kitchens and who has had a lot of negative traffic for the last 5 to 10 years. We're just in a different position.” Their CEO Ken Taylor encouraged other operators to deliver “ luke warm food” as a way of expressing their distaste for the quality consequences of delivery.
True enough, food that travels will not be the same as food delivered fresh from your kitchen into a diner’s hands. Of course, Texas Roadhouse, with their sustained growth can be cavalier. However, with 1.7 Billion (yes that billion with a b) delivery transactions in the US last year, you may not have the luxury of being so. When and if you choose to deliver, at least make sure the company you contract is serious about food quality and are the type of professionals you can trust. For example, compare the difference in business practices at Caviar to Uber Eats, then determine what’s best for your guests.
