26July2010
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips.
Commercial kitchen range is an important and expensive piece of restaurant equipment, and providing the proper care for it will ensure it lasts longer, is more energy-efficient and provide the best performance. Below are several tips on how to increase the efficiency of a commercial kitchen range:
Select the Right Cookware. To ensure optimum performance of your kitchen range, make sure your staff has the right type of cookware. The best cookware will be sturdy, without uneven bottoms. This will ensure the efficient heat transfer, and that the bottoms of the pans heat evenly. The pan size should correspond to the burner size to ensure the efficient heat transfer. If you use a smaller pan on a larger burner, a large amount of the heat energy produced by the burner will be wasted and will not transfer to the pan but instead will heat up the kitchen.
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20July2010
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips.
Cleanliness is one of the most important factors contributing to any restaurant’s success or failure. Dirty restaurant premises will not only cost you diners, having poorly cleaned dining facilities may result in the citations by the local health inspection department and other serious health code violations. Here are some tips on how to make sure your restaurant premises are in line with the local health and safety regulations:
Health and Safety Considerations. Your restaurant’s cleanliness standards should reflect local health code stipulations. Inform and educate your staff regarding what local code expects from a restaurant in terms of cleaning procedures. Create checklists to define how often a certain area of a restaurant or an object should be cleaned, what it should look like, etc.
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12July2010
Posted by Crystal under: Restaurant Business.
Email marketing is an effective marketing strategy that is especially attractive for restaurant owners due to its affordability, capability to deliver measurable results, and relative ease of implementation. Acquiring email addresses of customers allows restaurants to do marketing in an easy and consistent way. Because email is becoming the predominant way of communication, acquiring your customers’ emails is an extremely effective marketing strategy.
Once a customer has shared his/her email address with you, your objective as a restaurant owner is to take a full advantage of this valuable contact information and stay fresh in a customer’s mind without being irrelevant or overbearing. Here are some of the best practices for effective email marketing campaigns: Read the rest of this entry »
9July2010
Posted by Crystal under: Recession Tips & Tricks; Restaurant Business.
Restaurant marketing is the area that many restaurant owners feel uncomfortable about. Outside marketing specialists often are not completely straightforward, clouding the notion of restaurant marketing with mysterious terms and making restaurant marketing look harder than it really is. Unfortunately, many marketing specialists also charge exuberant fees and have little to show in terms of the measurable results. Any restaurant owner should be introduced to the key elements and important strategic objectives of restaurant marketing. A major strategic marketing objective is to increase sales. Here are 4 proven ways to build sales at your dining establishment:
Acquire First-Time Customers. Consistently introducing your restaurant to a wider audience is one of the key ways to increase sales and bring volume to your restaurant, even create possibility of expansion. Acquiring new customers is also one of the most expensive marketing strategies, yet it is a critical element in growing your numbers. Acquiring first-time customers is done through variety of methods, including planning the strategic location, brand-building, properly positioning your restaurant compared to the nearby competition and demographics, using social media and other tools. It is also critical to make the right first impression the very first time the customer visits your establishment. Read the rest of this entry »
28June2010
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips.
Commercial ice machine is a critical piece of equipment for any food service establishment. It is also one of the largest expenditures in a restaurant’s budget. Choosing and properly maintaining the right commercial ice machine will not only increase the life span of the equipment, it will also decrease your long-term costs. Do not neglect your ice machines, as proper maintenance will save you time and effort further down the road. Properly cleaning the equipment, regularly changing filters, and utilizing antimicrobial protection will help you minimize costs, while enhancing the quality and taste of ice.
Choosing the right ice machine. Consider the capacity of the ice machine that your restaurant might need for properly serving the needs of your customers, including the size of the ice maker and the ice bin to ensure you can satisfy the demand without too much over-production. Also consider how much available space you have in your kitchen for the size of the ice machine that you want. Keep in mind that it is cheaper to store ice than produce it, so consider getting an ice machine with a large ice bin. Next thing to take into account is what kind of ice you want to be producing: flaked ice, cubed ice, or any other type of ice. Select which method of chilling water you want utilized in your ice machine: air-cooled or water cooled. Water-cooled ice machines can be pricier; however, they operate more efficiently and are quiet. On the other hand, air-cooled machines are cheaper, but at the same time, they are noisy and not as energy efficient.
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21June2010
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips.
Keeping your restaurant well maintained and clean is one of the key elements to restaurant’s success. Developing and following a well-thought out sanitation program is important in achieving this goal. A clean restaurant will attract happy customers and is more likely to always pass a health inspection. Implementing appropriate preventive measures will ensure that your establishment is pest-free and will guarantee that your guests will return to your restaurant next time.
Controlling pests. Pests are a great threat to any food service establishment, as their proliferation can create serious health risks for both staff and guests. Pests can be carriers of infectious illness, and they can also be the cause of allergies and asthma in some individuals. Many pests, including cockroaches, mice, and rats can spread bacteria and infections through leaving their droppings, urine, saliva, or skins. Any restaurant should do its best to prevent pests from infiltrating the establishment. Proper cleaning and sanitation efforts are some of the most effective ways to keeping pests away.
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14June2010
Posted by Crystal under: News.
Children and wives love to take out their beloved fathers and husbands to celebrate Father’s Day at restaurants. Inviting fathers to restaurants is one of the best ways to let fathers know how much they are loved, cared for, and appreciated. Many restaurants will offer great specials, dinner prix fixes, and coupons on this special day. Here is a glance at what some restaurants are planning to offer for Father’s Day this year, June 20:
Mr. Stox - Anaheim, CA. This family-owned restaurant boasts a great menu and a wine list with over 1000 selections! Located near Disneyland, it is one of California’s premier fine dining establishments, featuring innovative American cuisine. For Father’s Day, Mr. Stox offers a special T-Bone Steak, Kobe Flat Iron Steak, and a Prime New York steak. Fathers will enjoy Mr. Stox’ ambiance and decor, with rich mahogany molding, a wonderful collection of fine art, and old world porcelain from Italy.
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7June2010
Posted by Crystal under: Restaurant Business.
Restaurants can significantly reduce the waste they contribute to be dumped into the landfills by implementing just a few environmentally-safe waste reduction strategies. Majority of the commercial kitchen’s waste typically comes from disposables, food scraps, soiled napkins, and organic waste. Any commercial kitchen will benefit from a sensible waste reduction management program, including recycling strategies, use of biodegradable disposables, and implementation of composting techniques.
Biodegradable disposables. Majority of restaurants are accustomed to using many disposable products, such as packaging for carry-out orders, Styrofoam cups and plates, plastic products and so on. Although these products are cost effective, they are not reusable and when thrown away, they create a great amount of waste that will not break down naturally for many years (decades or centuries) to come. In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, many restaurants are turning to an alternative to standard plastic and Styrofoam products, – namely, biodegradable disposables. Also called bioplastics, these disposable products are typically made from corn, sugarcane or other renewable vegetable material. Biodegradable disposables exhibit plastic-like qualities, but when thrown away, they will break down naturally in landfills within the matter of months.
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31May2010
Posted by Crystal under: Restaurant Business.
Restaurant flatware comes in a variety of styles, designs, and sizes. Typical flatware items are dinner spoons, forks, knives, cocktail forks, dessert spoons, and other serving utensils. Here are some tips on how to select just the right flatware for your restaurant:
Style is an important factor when selecting the flatware for your restaurant. Select the flatware that matches the overall concept of your restaurant. Select classic flatware for a classic restaurant, and funky and trendy spoons and forks for contemporary establishments. Make sure you buy the flatware of the right heaviness: not too light, not too heavy, just right for your restaurant’s concept. Pay attention to the design of the flatware to ensure it matches the plates and will satisfy the tastes of your customers.
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24May2010
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips; Restaurant Business.
Having the right cutlery is an important element of any commercial kitchen. No kitchen can function properly without efficient knives and cutting boards. Here are several tips on the best ways to select the right type of knives and cutting boards, as well as the tips on how to properly care for your cutlery:
Knives. Commercial knives are generally categorized into the following types: chef knives, paring and specialty knives, and butcher steels. Chef knives are typically suitable for the large variety of cutting jobs and usually have a blade between 8 and 10 inches long. These knives are forged and are made from stain-free steel, with non-slip handles and textured finger points, such as the knives featured here: non-slip knives. Paring and specialty knives are used for slicing, trimming, coring, and peeling of small food items, such as produce. These knives typically are made from high-carbon steel; they have non-slip hands and no stain blades, such as paring knives found here: paring knives . Butcher steels are used to hone the blade right after it has been sharpened on a sharpening stone. Butcher steels are not used to actually sharpen the knife. Typically, steels are designed with a guard between the handle and steel to protect you from any accident. Take a look at butcher steels offered here: specialty knives.
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