RESTAURANT MEMES: Living with Bartenders and Good Luck Going to Sleep
This week's restaurant memes: mom's spaghetti, living with bartenders, being a waiter, and props to Mexican restaurant serving staff!
DID YOU KNOWS…
Olympic Gold up for Grabs
In total, there are 102 gold medals up for grabs at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Most medals are awarded for ice skating. One gold medal weighs 586 grams, so the total weight of gold medals awarded will be close to 60 kilograms, about 132 pounds, or the weight of close to 5 standard gold bars. Here are some other fun Winter Olympic stats to share with guests.
The Wine Grape Family Vine
What’s your favorite red wine? How about your favorite white? If you love some varieties and abhor others you might be surprised to find out that nearly all of the wines we drink on a regular basis are closely related. Specifically, we’re talking about shared DNA among the countless varieties of the Vitis vinifera family.
The 25 Most Influential TV Chefs… EVER
Who doesn’t have a cooking show these days, amiright? But not all chefs are created equal. Here are the top 25 most influential TV chefs. Who do you have in your top three? We’re just bummed the Swedish Chef didn’t make the cut. K
TACO BELL DELIVERY? THAT’LL BE 200 MILLION USD PLEASE
Why it matters to you: The parent group Yum chooses Grubhub as its partner in a push towards cornering the fast-food delivery market.
Ever been so hungover you can’t get out of bed but Taco Bell sounds soooooo good right now? Well great news! Their parent company Yum just inked a 200 million dollar deal with Grubhub to accelerate its delivery network expansion in the US. The investment should help improve Grubhub’s ordering and delivery, and generate much more business for Taco Bell and KFC. The two companies plan on marketing together for mutual benefit and plans to cover 80% of their restaurants by the end of the year.
This deal, initially thought to hurt franchisees, now will allegedly help. The issue with delivery are the expenses. You have to pay drivers which can hurt profitability but this deal is designed to improve those economics and increase profits for the brick & mortar stores. Delivery is seeing a massive push in the restaurant industry, and some restaurants have gone delivery-only. It was only a matter of time before the fast food giants threw their hats in the ring. Hopefully though, with fine-dining gaining steam once more, it won’t hurt the little guys as much as it would have.
ADDICTED TO HONESTY
Why it matters to you: As the disease definition of addiction further erodes, we must make honest assessments and changes to the existing model for our loved ones.
Anyone who has spent any sort of time in the hospitality industry knows an addict; probably several addicts if we are being truthful. Most are normal everyday people who show up to work, do their job, and maybe party a little too hard too consistently or self-medicate to “ease the pain.” With the current crisis state of opiates, we must take a sincere look inward to come out the other side as a better society. Is addiction a disease or not? The standing definition is that addiction is, indeed, a disease because the drug changes the person’s brain chemically, but is this helpful? It seems like a welcome step away from the previous definition of addiction, which claimed addiction was a choice and a moral failing.
While it seems overtly pessimistic to view addiction this way, it doesn’t come without positive aspects Without viewing addiction as an unchangeable incurable disease (without much evidence), we can make necessary behavioral studies and hopefully pinpoint ways to help addicts change their ways. The oft-unsuccessful rehab industry still operates on the disease model and, with such a low success rate without relapse, it seems time to make changes. If the only defined help isn’t helping than what is the next step?
The opiate crisis is worse than any we've seen in our lifetimes. Friends and loved ones, coworkers and acquaintances; nobody is safe or far removed from this epidemic. In an industry with long hours, low pay, minimal to no benefits, and no real sick days, people search for mental escapes and pain relief which is a direct path towards potential addiction. When their employers cannot help, we have to step in and be of assistance wherever we can. Honest assessment of the situation at hand is only the first step.
