Culinary Cues

APRIL 23, 2022

The cost of raw materials seems to always go up, most ingredients that restaurants use are highly perishable, customer volume is less predictable than we would like, seasonal differences in quality are quite significant, the supply chain is out of step with demand, and waste seems to be a real problem in many operations.

Food 449

Food Seasonal Menu Waste Point of Sale 449

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 24, 2020

Consider this – the menu is the most important component of a successful restaurant and once designed it can, and should, impact every other aspect of the business. YES – the menu is that important! The menu comes first and should reflect the philosophy of the owners and chef and how the operators expect to be perceived by the public.

Menu 484

Menu Seasonal Menu Front of House Reference 484

Culinary Cues

JULY 4, 2021

CHANGE #1: The days of the fixed menu for restaurants should come to a halt. Without a clear understanding of where ingredient costs are going tomorrow and next month restaurants cannot afford to be shackled to a menu that is out of control. This means that the menu will become the key to success.

2021 508

2021 Food Supply Seasonal Menu Supplies 508

Harbor Touch

MARCH 18, 2025

Whether youre a seasoned owner or just starting out, this advice will help you boost efficiency, keep your team motivated, and turn customers into regulars. From smarter hiring to prepping for busy seasons, were sharing strategies that work across small bistros and bustling chains alike. Training locks in that potential.

Management 148

Management Management Seasonal Menu Cash Management 148

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 10, 2021

While your restaurant may feature a diverse menu, delicious food, a great ambiance, and excellent customer service, you will still struggle to build a customer base without promoting it. Others tend to emphasize their cheaper menu options. A quick look at your POS data will identify the top three selling items on your menu.

Marketing 567

Marketing SEO Front of House Website Management 567

Culinary Cues

APRIL 15, 2023

It’s early spring, mud season as it is commonly called, and they are putting in a Yeoman’s effort at organizing another restaurant week. Sure, if all goes well, they might be able to squirrel away some extra profit from a very busy summer and fall season, but that is there to help keep the doors open through the shoulder seasons.

Seasonal Menu 519

Seasonal Menu Café Point of Sale Social Media 519

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 8, 2021

Chefs who are able to develop systems of production that work with fewer people will find a gold star on their resume. [] STREAMLINED MENU PLANNING. Chefs who are able to generate, assess, and use analytical data in their decision-making (menu trends, cost trends, daily labor analysis, market prices, etc.) PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

2021 474

2021 Social Media Kitchen Safety Restaurant Law 474

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 28, 2021

You and your team are able to take raw materials, apply well-designed cooking methods, season using time-tested palates, and plate the finished product with the vision of an artist creating a delicious, aromatic, visually pleasing dish. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. This is magical. Harvest America Ventures, LLC.

Kitchen Safety 474

Kitchen Safety Front of House Fine Dining Back of House 474

Culinary Cues

JULY 23, 2023

As if that weren’t enough, the menu and each morsel of food presented represents the chef’s life of experiences, his or her family history, the cuisine of their forefathers, every chef who contributed to their training, and everything that they believe in – as it pertains to food. Make your restaurant a destination for celebration.

Guest Recovery 419

Guest Recovery Seasonal Menu Presentation Customer Experience 419

Culinary Cues

MARCH 15, 2021

If you teach in a live restaurant environment on your campus is it operated with five times as many cooks in training as would be possible in a real restaurant? If so, what are students learning about cost effectiveness, efficiency, speed, and effective menu execution? PLAN BETTER –TRAIN HARDER. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG.

Education 587

Education Food Supply Communication Training 587

Culinary Cues

AUGUST 26, 2024

SOMEHOW BELIEVING THAT SPICE IS A REASON TO FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE Can we get over the whole “no pain, no gain” approach to seasoning a dish? Each has its place, but don’t confuse them within your menu and your concept. If you claim braising, sauté, grilled, or poached, then learn the proper technique – it makes a difference.

Dine-in 445

Dine-in Training Sports Seasonal Menu 445

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Here are some thoughts: PRODUCT: Take a hard look at your menu. Ah…now this is where a well-seasoned, talented chef can help to save the day. Assign the task to your chef to create a menu that is exciting, innovative, delicious, accessible, and financially tolerable. Reverse engineer your menu from this perspective.

Pricing 415

Pricing Marketing Insurance Seasonal Menu 415

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 5, 2023

So, here you are – a young first year cook or maybe a freshman culinary student; a seasoned line or banquet cook, or maybe even a newly appointed sous chef in a property. The expeditor (sometimes the sous chef or even a seasoned dining room captain) is the conductor of the orchestra. You want more! Wax on, wax off.

Kitchen Safety 447

Kitchen Safety Food Safety Back of House Front of House 447

Culinary Cues

OCTOBER 24, 2022

More than anything else, when I was in restaurant kitchens I looked forward to planning and testing the next set of menu changes. A stale menu is not cost effective, ignorant of quality issues with ingredients, uninspiring for employees, and just plain boring. Winter is, by far my favorite season to plan menus.

Seasonal Menu 346

Seasonal Menu Front of House Presentation Menu 346

Culinary Cues

MARCH 3, 2021

Down the street – a cadre of small independent restaurants with smaller staff requirements and tasty rustic menus would have been profitable except rents on their space had gone through the roof ever since this high end, 8-course menu, mecca restaurant opened its doors. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. Harvest America Ventures, LLC.

Dine-in 450

Dine-in Small Business Seasonal Menu Café 450

Culinary Cues

APRIL 30, 2023

There could be injuries in the first few games that sideline a player for the season, there may not be chemistry with the rest of the team, maybe ego will get in the way, or it could simply be a case of scouting misjudgment. Who knows how successful that multi-million dollar running back, or defensive lineman may turn out to be.

Employee Relations 505

Employee Relations Sports Pricing Hiring 505

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Menu items were simple and very much in line with homestyle cooking: roast beef, meatloaf, fried chicken, roast turkey, macaroni and cheese, pasta, and meatballs, etc. I was eager to discover her secret restaurant potion – an obscure seasoning, or unique way of cooking. No one ever left the restaurant still hungry.

White Paper 412

White Paper Hospitality Fine Dining Reference 412

Culinary Cues

MARCH 30, 2020

[] EFFECTIVE MENUS: As the concept evolves there will be exciting opportunities for chefs to reimagine menus that work, menus that require fewer, well-compensated employees who still bring the talent and passion to the kitchen everyday. Let’s start from scratch and build a menu with these critical factors in mind.

Small Business 460

Small Business Food Supply Food Truck Healthcare 460

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 1, 2019

In preparation for the holiday gift giving season it was somehow decided that it was appropriate to recognize those private businesses within your community by stopping in to say hello, thank them for all that they do, and spend a little money. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. Don’t forget it.

Small Business 490

Small Business Customer Experience Customer Service Seasonal Menu 490

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 12, 2021

The menu changed every night within a cycle with a full array of appetizer, salad, entrée and dessert choices for an audience that was likely staying at the hotel for a week or more at a time (many of the patrons were second or third generation Balsam’s guests) since a stay at the “Notch” was a family right of passage. Rest in Peace Chef!

Seasonal Menu 474

Seasonal Menu 2005 Hotels Customer Service 474

Culinary Cues

JULY 15, 2022

They impact and will continue to impact menus, the skills of cooks, menu pricing, and an already meager profit margin. The standardized menu that rarely changes and is dependent on constant availability of certain raw materials may be a thing of the past. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. Think ahead and learn to adapt.

Food Supply 448

Food Supply Food Truck Consumer Goods 2000 448

Culinary Cues

MAY 15, 2021

To attract and retain quality staff you must train well, treat them with respect, pay them a respectable wage, offer reasonable benefits, and provide them with the tools to be successful. It also means that more significant time must be spent training service staff how to upsell and create enhanced customer value. CAFÉ Talks Podcast.

Customer Experience 449

Customer Experience Cash Management Customer Service Front of House 449

Culinary Cues

MAY 1, 2023

I have seen pride in the eyes of a line cook who finished plating a beautiful menu item as it was presented in the pass, and the look of appreciation when the team of dishwashers was offered a special employee meal – a meal that said: “We couldn’t do it without you.”

Front of House 474

Front of House Back of House Food Order Small Business 474

Culinary Cues

MAY 28, 2022

Some may be just starting out while others are seasoned veterans. The family meal is also a time to give thanks for staff members – celebrate something – length of service, highest check average, new dish created for the menu, completion of a degree, birth of a baby, etc. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Front of House 424

Front of House Back of House Small Business Employee Relations 424

Culinary Cues

MARCH 9, 2021

It is a fine line to walk – one that requires the planning of the menu to be such that all courses are designed to marry with others. Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea Restaurant in Chicago refers to it as “Flavor Bouncing” where everything on a plate marries with every other ingredient and every dish on a menu does the same with other dishes.

Presentation 449

Presentation Fine Dining Seasonal Menu Design 449

Culinary Cues

JULY 2, 2023

Don’t open a sandwich shop – open the best sandwich shop with an eye on every simple detail: great bread, in-house roasted meats, farm fresh, seasonal vegetables, and the knowledge of each ingredient and its source. Simply great is not a statement, it is a formula.

Back of House 418

Back of House Seasonal Menu Café Sourcing 418

Culinary Cues

MAY 19, 2022

“Two minutes to plate”, called out Duke as Sabrina immediately switched gears, pulled down his plates, garnished them with the nightly vegetables that were carved, blanched, and then quickly immersed in a buttered and seasoned water to bring them up to temp. Fortunately, the chef had placed prime rib on the menu with Yorkshire popovers.

Seating 448

Seating Dine-in Seasonal Menu Ordering 448

Goliath Consulting

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Some may say they hate the cold, but they love what the season brings: joy and cozy, comfort foods. In this blog, we’re here to help you plan out the best and wholesome meals for the winter your guests will love. Winter is known as the season of celebration and the best time to overindulge in rich meals and comfort foods.

2022 221

2022 Menu Seasonal Menu Coupons 221

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

To nurture young cooks, to teach and train, and to build competence and confidence among those who work in a kitchen, it is essential that we (chefs and culinary teachers) establish a platform where curiosity reigns. SALT as a mineral and a seasoning is just salt – why question it? PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Food Order 401

Food Order Seasonal Menu Training Dine-in 401

7 Shifts

JULY 10, 2020

Pssst, if this is your first opening, check out our blog on How to Start a Restaurant! ] When it comes to preparing your staff for your reopening, ensure you’ve updated their training for the latest health and safety procedures and precautions your restaurant will be observing. 1 Set goals for the event ??

Events 351

Events Social Media Kitchen Safety Seating 351

Culinary Cues

JANUARY 23, 2020

You taste, season, and taste and your flavor memory bank kicks into motion as adjustments are made to each pan making sure that the end result is a consistent product. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER. www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG. To all of us who have been there – this would seem to describe a “zone” event. Restaurant Consulting.

Seasonal Menu 438

Seasonal Menu Communication Sports Events 438

7 Shifts

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Health, Allergen, and Food Safety Training and Certifications. A resume for a cook or chef job should include familiarity with and specific experience in the following areas, if applicable: Food prep of specific menu items. Cooking specific menu items. Menu item creation and menu building. Cross-contamination.

Front of House 370

Front of House Back of House Kitchen Safety Food Safety 370

Culinary Cues

MAY 16, 2022

If you are a seasoned veteran of the kitchen, you have likely experienced this a few times and know exactly what I am referring to, but for others – here is an attempt to re-create the “feel” of being in the kitchen zone: Tom arrived a bit later than normal for his shift at Café Monique. PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER.

Café 441

Café Front of House Point of Sale Back of House 441

The Restaurant Group

DECEMBER 1, 2024

Introducing new menu items is more than just adding dishes to your offerings—it’s about crafting an experience that captivates your guests and keeps them coming back for more. A well-planned new menu launch not only boosts customer engagement but also reinforces your restaurant’s brand identity.

Menu 88

Menu Social Media Loyalty Program Seasonal Menu 88

Goliath Consulting

OCTOBER 19, 2020

This flexibility will key as the cold season approaches (6). ” A detailed pro/con list of third-party vs self-delivery is found here on our previous blog (13). A big part of the trend of automation for customers will revolve around new payment and menu alternatives.

2021 339

2021 Food Safety Point of Sale Kitchen Safety 339

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 12, 2020

While guests take in the view and passionately read the menu – the L’Esperance signature Cromesqui would arrive. Meneau was never trained as a cook, yet his passion for food, for outstanding experiences, and for the significance of excellence allowed this self-taught study of the craft to rise to the culinary world’s highest perch.

Fine Dining 364

Fine Dining Back of House Dine-in Presentation 364

7 Shifts

JULY 24, 2020

That’s why our teams—who specifically work to improve restaurant operations, performance, and staff happiness—have curated a 7-course menu of the best books about understanding restaurant management. So pull up a chair and take a deep dive into some of the most insightful and actionable tips from the best in the business. Goodreads: 4.09

Book 370

Book Management Management Restaurant Law 370