Restaurants To Add Simplicity to Quality - Eating In, Out.

Continuing our focus on the simple pleasures of life, we’re going to take a deeper look this week at what the industry has recently termed haute/casual.

Though we’ve shown a moderate gain in revenues these past few months (at least 10% higher than last year at the same time) the one trend that hasn’t recovered has been decadent dining. Diners are still avoiding upscale restaurants in favor of a more simple, independent, one-of-kind-type eateries. And, for once, the industry is changing to suit them.
 

Focusing on simple and recognizable dishes puts customers at ease, according to Lesley Chesterman of the Montreal Gazette. Finding inspiration in street food, bbq pits, sugar shacks (think of Michel Picard’s new Cabane à Sucre) and unpretentious bistros, dozens of Montreal chefs are putting out large portions that focus on the scrumptious over the luxurious. It was a hot button topic at the American NRA conference in May as well… Restaurants that specialize in Fast Casual  (Au Bon Pain, Panera etc.), restaurants that have always capitalized on a growing desire for simple foods led seminars on how to set yourself apart through a concentration on using ingredients of exceptional quality in uncomplicated combinations.

The same trend has slid in to the bar scene as well. Canadian restaurants are moving bar food up a notch with the same attitude; mac n’ cheese, fish and chips and sliders are all getting ritzy re-visits. Furthermore, these same chefs have also coped to exploiting their staff when it comes to up-tweaking older, workhorse-esque, dishes. Ask your employees what they enjoy eating when dining out or eating in and you’ll discover a wealth of information you probably haven’t ever before considered.

Across the water, Greece has embraced a tradition that had been sadly ignored for the past few decades, the time-honored taverna. For Greeks, dining has always been discourse’s sad cousin; so the reason d’être for a taverna was to provide the comforts of home while one was, well, not at home. The recession has reminded people of the joys of eating in, so it makes sense that entrepreneurs are finding success with homey dishes.

Best of all? The critics (in addition to the customers) are licking it up and asking for more; Food and Wine Magazine, for the very first time in its entire history, actually chose the owner/operator of a food truck for one of its Best New Chefs 2010!

Teaching A Class On What You Know Best - Marketing By Putting Money Where Your Mouth Is.

A heated debate in the food service industry concerns an old adage: Catch a man a fish and he'll eat for a day...but if you teach a man to fish, will he still continue to eat at your restaurant?

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Food Network's how-to shows and the continued celebrocracy of gourmet dining, high-end restaurants have been proving that this summer, those who can do can teach as well. Lately, many restaurants have been offering special evenings where the Chef, Sommelier, or equally qualified employee, shares some cherished know-how, as well as select drinks and delectables, to a room full of eager patrons/students.

La Marea in Miami organized a two-hour interactive BBQ how-to as part of their Father's Day offerings this year, the foodie-tchotchkes shop Good Egg, located in Toronto's Kensington Market, offered classes on home-preserving and knife skills that drew the likes of movie star Rachel McAdams, while Roberta's Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY, led a dramatically well-attended seminar on Rabbit Butchering a few weeks ago.

According to the Toronto Star, Food Network Canada has grown 20% in viewership in the past year, proving that people are becoming even more motivated to watch what they eat. Or well, watch what they'll eat be made. It's not necessarily a new idea, (Seattle-area restaurants have been nourishing their bottom line by having customers put money to the Chef's mouth for several years now) but it's a great one, especially since, despite political promises to the contrary, these past months have not produced any significant economic stimulation. Offering an evening of this sort can help throw your name out as a doubly enjoyable experience; dinner and a show!

And hosting a lecture or seminar at your establishment can also help produce guests on what otherwise might be your slower nights; L'Espalier Boston, for example, offers a special wine-themed dinner on Mondays, the very popular Cheese Tuesdays (featuring captain seating, a themed lecture and a 'cheesy' parody sing-along), and they've just added a 'Mixology n' Cocktails' night most Thursdays. Front of the house staff there once confided that these events hoist numbers by a good fifty or sixty heads, an added revenue that comes without significant costs, well above traditional weeknight bookings.

Additionally, remember that encouraging your staff to contribute ideas and participate in these evenings can help motivate them through what might otherwise be a lackluster summer while also demonstrating how you value and appreciate their unique expertise.

Ultimately, proving to the public that you are worth your salt (or possibly, know it) will highlight the reasons patrons ought to be visiting your restaurant on all the other nights of the week as well. And that's definitely something worth teaching.

How Servers Represent Your Restaurant - Some Tips on Tips.

Now that I’ve covered why you should work on dealing with allergies, and I’ve covered how you can do so in the back of the house, there’s just one last frontier to deal with…though it’s the first frontier to face your guest. Your server. Or, well, at this point it becomes their server. And according to restaurant marketing firm You Got Meals, for better or for worse, to your customers their servers are your restaurant. So it’s absolutely no use taking the greatest of care in the kitchen if it isn’t reflected out on the floor.

Almost all critics and patrons agree that service will often prove more important than the food. A caring and passionate staff can even erase the memory of an overflowing plate of culinary missteps. So you can imagine how powerful that might make a problem-free kitchen! Moreover, that server pride usually ends up having a positive effect on customers’ financial appreciation as well. So it should be easy to convince your front of the house to adopt a positive attitude. According to the critics (and founders!) of ChefSeattle.com, a great site dedicated to food and foodservice in the Northwest United States, there are eight key tips to stand out, service-wise, from the rest of the culinary crowd. Here are the ones I think we most often forget, but you should definitely head to the article for the complete list: 

-       Your opinion as a server does matter: If the guest asks for your opinion they probably actually want it!

-       Learn your wines; surprisingly, people drink wine without knowing that much about it, which means that they’re going to look to you for expert advice. Be ready with some.

-       Learn how to handle the negatives. Lord knows that customers are going to complain, sometimes with validity, sometimes not. Handling these moments with verve and professionalism is the mark of a truly great server.

-       Smile!