Over the weekend I spent some time in Chicago for a mixture of business and pleasure. Part of the pleasure was being able to hit two of my favorite restaurants Carson’s and Lou Malnati’s in the greater Chicago area.
Anyone remember the MASH episode where Hawkeye was trying to move heaven and earth to secure an order of Caron’s ribs, I think I must have been five or six at the time but I still remember that episode to this day. Granted part of the reason that is so ingrained into my head is due to my father dragging me to Carson’s every time we were in the area. Sure you can get good ribs at numerous franchise joints across the country, but nothing holds a candle to Carson’s. Service is always top notch with good portions and competitive pricing.
I had convinced my party that we needed to dine at Carson’s Friday night and raved about their ribs. One of my dinner companions was from New York City and a bit of a foodie herself, so she decided that she would have a full slab after the waiter indicated that a full slab was “about this big”, holding his hands apart roughly ten inches. Snickering to myself I wanted for the fun to start as the waiter brought back the slab of ribs roughly twice the size of his “about this big” and slathered in perhaps the best BBQ sauce I have ever had the pleasure of having. To my diner companion’s credit, she ate a decent amount of the ribs and took the rest back to her hotel for a midnight snack.
After the success of dinner at Carson’s my party looked to me for suggestions on the next night’s dinner selection; I happily obliged with some good old fashion Chicago style pizza from Lou Malnati’s. A quick trip down the L’s brown line and we arrived at our destination, which ironically is just down the street from our previous night’s outing. There are several Lou Malnati’s locations, but the one downtown is my favorite due to the way the dining area is broken up. There are several different sections that are all pretty isolated from each other giving the illusion of an intimate location, good for sharing a meal with good friends.
Our group settled on three large pies for our party of nine, which at the time I thought would be too much. However, after a few drinks and some good conversation our party was able to finish off two of the pies completely with only a couple slices left on the third.
Over at servu-online.com I’ve been writing a series on easy ways to refresh the decor of your restaurant. This morning I just finished the section on table linens and got it live. So far in the series I’ve covered glassware, specialty glassware, china, flatware and now linen.To be honest, I’ve really enjoyed writing the series up to this point and am already planning on revisiting some topics as they can get extremely in-depth and worthy of a conversation all their own. Heck, I think someone could set up an entire blog relating to just flatware (actually I’m quite sure there are all ready a couple good ones out there). It is interesting to me that the things we often over look, like linen, can be so in-depth.
Instead of reposting part five here, I’m just going to link it. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think.
So now that you’ve got your new dinnerware sitting on the table it is time to move on and bring the flatware in line with the rest of the décor revamp that we’ve been talking about. As with most of the topics we’ve covered in this series, we could talk for weeks about flatware and still not even scratched the surface of what goes into flatware, so let’s talk about the key points regarding flatware that you’ll need to know when choosing a set to go along with your dinnerware.
The first step in understanding flatware is to understand the nickel finish, how it is noted, and what means for you as a restaurant. Stainless Steel flatware is listed as being 18/0, 18/8, or 18/10. The eighteen denotes the metal content while the second number denotes the amount of nickel in each piece; the higher the amount of nickel the brighter the finish is going to be. So an 18/10 piece is going to have a better luster on the finish than an 18/8, and that 18/8 in turn will have a better shine than an 18/0. So more nickel is better right? The answer is, “maybe”. First, if your restaurant is currently using a flatware retrieval system the 18/10 and 18/8 flatware will fly right by the magnet since nickel is non-magnetic. In this application a heavier, high-end 18/0 will be the better solution. Second, nickel is much more expensive than iron so the high nickel content 18/10 and 18/8 is more expensive.
Just as we discussed previously with dinnerware, the object of choosing flatware is to find a set that complements the rest of your décor and lands in that sweet spot between not being over bearing or being so mismatched to the rest of the set that it breaks the flow of your décor. A good set of flatware will also be sized appropriately to the dinnerware that it will be used with. What this means is if you have wide rimmed plates that are fairly large, you want to pick a flatware that looks like it matches in size. The opposite is also true, if you have smaller plates, you will want to have flatware that doesn’t look oversized when sitting next to the dinnerware.
Another item that will factor into your choice will be the weight of the flatware and the style of restaurant you are trying to portray. A fast casual restaurant can use a medium weight fork or knife and the customer will accept that since the meal cost $10. If you have a steakhouse or finer dining, the customer will need a heavier fork and maybe some specialty pieces or a steak knife. Imagine cutting into a 1 ½” ribeye medium temperature with a dull knife and flimsy fork. The customer will perceive the steak as tough rather than the tools are inappropriate. A sharp knife and substantial fork will improve the customer’s perception of the steak.
We’ve covered size and weight, now we’re going to touch on style. When you look at different styles of flatware you are going to want to look for something that complements the dinnerware that you’ve already picked out. A general rule of thumb is to use more ornate flatware with simple dinnerware designs and use cleaner lines with more ornate dinnerware so they don’t compete. A piece of flatware with a nice architectural band on the handle will blend in well with many of the dinnerware suggestions we made in our previous installments, as it has nice clean lines, doesn’t overpower the setting, and generally appears contemporary in terms of design style. Another contemporary example would be something with a flowing form and a sleek appearance like this piece from Onedia. Browse around the flatware sections at servu-online.com and you’ll be sure to find a flatware style that fits into the over all décor plan of your restaurant.
If you have addition questions, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or swing by our website and click the picture of the customer service representative at the top left corner of each page of the site to launch a live chat.
In part five of our eight part series we’ll cover linens.
In our previous two sections we discussed specialty and quality glassware and their benefits to our restaurant refresh project. Now, lets move on to dinnerware. What does your dinnerware say about your restaurant? If you answered; “Nothing, it’s just how I get to the food to the customer” you may be missing huge opportunity. Dinning is as much about atmosphere as it is about service & quality food, your dinnerware can be a huge part in that.
So let’s look at some options on how to take those standard white round plates and update those with a fresh new look. You’ve heard the expression that green is the new black? Well in the restaurant world square is the new round. In recent years the trend of square dinnerware has exploded onto the restaurant scene. Personally, I believe this has a lot to do with the fact that Asian and sushi style foods have been absorbed into the popular American culture. Take a look at some of the large restaurants chains, there has been a clear move toward the square plate in recent years. I know what you’re saying, “I don’t want to be like a chain restaurant”. Which is a very valid thing to say, but chains do have large market research budgets so it won’t hurt to let them do a little bit of the research legwork for you.
However, if you want to go completely different perhaps something a little wild is in order. Triangle dinnerware can really spice up the feel of your décor, but there is a down side as it can possibly become and over-powering design element. The goal you want to hit is a dinnerware that gets noticed but also doesn’t become the center of attention. Now the triangle style may fit right into that goal, but you’ll need to give it some careful thought as the line between over-powering and just right can be a bit of a grey area.
So what happens if you don’t want a square or triangle style dinnerware, you just want to update the look of your standard white round dinnerware that you currently use? The answer here is to add a splash of color. By selecting a dinnerware with a colored trim, you can easily achieve the balance between refreshing but not over-powering.
Now after all this you still have your heart set on a set of white dinnerware, then I would suggest that you look at different rim styles. The rim choice along on a piece of dinnerware can drastically alter the perception of the customer. A rim can make portions look bigger, allow your chef more options for presentation, or a host of other things.
Serv-U has a large selection of dinnerware to help you refresh the décor of your restaurant. If you have addition questions, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or stop buy the servu-online.com website and launch a live chat.
Be sure to check back for part four of eight in our easy ways to refresh the look of your restaurant series where we’ll cover flatware.
In our last blog we talked about specialty glassware and its benefits. Now let’s take a peek at the top shelf and see what we can do there. So what is it that a customer expects when ordering top shelf liquor? I can tell you for sure that it isn’t a Dixie cup.
Your choice in glassware can add that final touch to your bar drinks that increase a customer’s enjoyment and keep them coming back for more. For instance, when choosing glassware for beer you’ll want to decide if you would like an increased perceived value in a mug where there appears to be a larger amount of beer due to the way the base is shaped, or would you rather have an hourglass pilsner that allows for a larger head. Restaurant guru tip: always make sure you account for the head when choosing glass size.
When it comes to wine glasses there is not only the visual appeal of the glass to consider but also what type of rim is on the glass. Talk to any wine connoisseur about the importance of the rim on a wine glass and you’ll most likely end up in a conversation about the advantages of a sheered rim glass. A sheered rim won’t make a bad wine taste like top end, but it will make a quality wine taste even better. The sheered rim allows the customer to taste the wine more than they taste the glass and it also directs the wine in a more precise manner toward the correct area of the tongue. Another benefit of a sheered rim is by increasing the amount of oxygen one draws into the mouth, volatilizing the wine and directing the flavor up into the nasal cavity for increased taste perception.
So now that we’ve covered specialty glassware and top quality glassware, let’s talk about storage of your newly expanded glassware selection. You could store them under the bar but that is really counterproductive to what we’ve been trying to accomplish. Perhaps it is time to invest in an over head glass rack so your glasses can still be generating customer interest and conversation even if they aren’t currently in use. Has anyone been to a pub which has a yard glass hanging on the wall behind the bar? How many ales do you think the bar is really selling in that yard glass; probably not many, but I will say for sure that somebody asks about the glass at least once a night.
You can find all of your glassware needs at Serv-U. If you have questions regarding glass size for your beer or if sheered glasses are right for you, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or swing by our website and launch a live chat with one of our customer support staff.
Next time we’re going to move on and start talking about dinnerware, so be sure to check back for the third installment of our series.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to discuss some simple and cost effective ways to refresh the décor your restaurant while making a conscious effort to increase sales. In this first part in the series we’re going to be discussing specialty bar glassware.
When trying to decide what type of glassware you want to use your bar the “fun factor” has to be part of the consideration. Who wouldn’t want to have a margarita served in an awesome looking cactus glass? A piece of glassware like this serves as conversation starter that draws in and encourages others to take part in the fun. We all know that customers will want to share and experience things that others around them seem to be enjoying and this isn’t just limited to people in the same party. How many times have you heard this while walking the dinning room or bar of your restaurant, “Waiter, what is that person over there having?”
Another good example is a football glass. Imagine that its game day and you’re running a beer special; go that extra mile and serve the beer special in football glass. Now tell me, who is going to want to be the odd man out when everybody around them is drinking out of a football mug? That’s right; nobody.
One simply can not talk about specialty glasses without talking about the martini. Your bar isn’t serving just one type of martini, so why is it serving them all in the same glass? Mix it up a little with different style glasses for different martinis. Someone orders an appletini put it in a z-stem martini glass; lemontini gets a curved martini glass. Have fun with it!
At Serv-U we feature a wide range of specialty glassware that is sure to fit any style. If you have addition questions, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or swing by our website and launch a live chat to speak with one of our customer service professionals.
Be sure to check back for part two of eight in our series: Easy ways to refresh the look of your restaurant: part two – quality glassware
How much money is your bar leaving on the table? For the bar owner, over pouring of liquor with a free flow pour can result in a huge loss in revenue. Today we are going to discuss one low cost change that you can make which has the potential to increase consistency and profit; that change is adding measured pours. Let’s quickly review the numbers pouring from a measured 1 oz shot out of a one liter bottle:
price
per drink
2 more drinks earn per bottle
2 more
drinks earn per case
3 more drinks earn per bottle
3 more
drinks earn per case
$2.50
$5.00
$60.00
$7.50
$90.00
$3.00
$6.00
$72.00
$9.00
$108.00
$3.50
$7.00
$84.00
$10.50
$126.00
$4.00
$8.00
$96.00
$12.00
$144.00
$4.50
$9.00
$108.00
$13.50
$162.00
$5.00
$10.00
$120.00
$15.00
$180.00
When you reduce over pouring with a measured spout you can increase the number of drinks the bartender can serve by an additional two to four drinks per bottle. Considering the average number of liquor bottles in a bar, the impact using a measured pour spout will have on long term profitability is easy to see.
In addition to the revenue increase, you are increasing the quality of your customer service by ensuring that each customer is treated equally and consistently on every drink. The drinks won’t be too weak one night and too strong the next. This will hold true on busy nights when the staff can’t pay as close of attention as they normally do or on the first night of a new bartender.
You can find measured pours at Serv-U in the bar supplies section and are available in a wide range of measurement sizes, colors, and collared & uncollared. If you have addition questions, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or swing by the website and launch a live chat with one of our customer service reps.
Food safety scares cross my radar on a fairly regular basis, partly because I’m so immersed in foodservice news. For a restaurant operator, it is imperative to know about these things the moment they become public. Today, though, news broke that a product near and dear to many Americans’ hearts is potentially contaminated: Nestle cookie dough.
While only dangerous in its raw form, anyone with raw Nestle cookie dough is being advised to toss it, rather than risk cross contamination in the handling of the raw dough prior to baking. The trouble? This childhood favorite may be harboring E. coli, a dangerous bacterium.
As a kid, I definitely ate my share of raw cookie dough, and I never fell ill because of it. These days, the risk crosses my mind before ingesting a finger-full of cookie dough, but I accept the risk and happily enjoy the indulgence. Somehow, though, I deluded myself into believing that packaged cookie dough was immune to the threat of E. coli. How wrong I was.
If you’re looking for more info on the product recall (implemented quickly and voluntarily, to the credit of Nestle), check it out over at Yahoo News.
