Even giants stumble. The past few years have brought huge shakeups in the foodservice industry, as fast-casual dining and technology innovations have dramatically altered customers’ expectations for eating out. As a result, big chains like Pizza Hut, Applebee’s and McDonald’s have had to change their game plans to regain the popularity they once took for granted.
Here’s a look at what can smaller chains and independent operators can learn from the turnaround efforts of America’s biggest restaurant companies.
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Topics:
Featured,
Foodservice,
Chain Restaurants
We're not quite ready to trade our morning mug of coffee for a hot cup of bone broth, or our blueberry muffin for a gluten-free scone. But your customers might be.
The paleo diet has grown to become "one of the most influential dietary trends in the country, with as many as three million followers and a disproportionate cultural influence," reports Salon. And as many as one in five Americans include gluten-free foods in their diets, Gallup found.
Considering altering your menu so you can join the ranks of paleo restaurants or gluten-free restaurants? Here's a look at the dos and don'ts for restaurateurs.
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Topics:
Gluten-free,
Restaurant management,
Featured,
Menu,
Paleo
A blender may seem like a simple appliance — blades, motor, jar. But every time a chef turns a blender on, complex forces of physics combine to turn multiple ingredients of varying textures into a single perfect consistency. That is to say, culinary blenders are powerful machines.
At first glance, a culinary blender looks similar to one used for drinks. But “they're not interchangeable tools,” says Karen Williams-Roman, product manager for Hamilton Beach Commercial's line of culinary blenders, "there really are differences." Three important features to look for in a culinary blender are variable speed, the ability to blend difficult ingredients, and container options.
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Topics:
Featured,
Feature,
Food,
Emulsions,
Immersion Blender,
Culinary blenders
Food, service, and atmosphere are the three main components in any dining experience, but which matters most and how is “good” defined? Coyle Hospitality studied data from nearly 2,500 diners worldwide and found that diners’ views varied according to how much they were spending.
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Topics:
Waitstaff,
Dining environment,
Atmosphere,
Restaurant management,
Research,
Featured,
Food,
Restaurants
When Jessica and Josh Bufford opened Estilo in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, the most common question they heard from guests was, “Is this just fancy Mexican food?”
The restaurant opened in August 2013, and in January 2014 it won the “Best New Restaurant” award from Richmond Magazine. Now the mesa Latina is packed for lunch and dinner nearly every day of the week. Clearly the Buffords are doing more than a few things right, including riding the waves of two key trends—Latin American food and gluten-free kitchens—and managing the restaurant with the perfect balance of art and science.
Estilo's signature dish, Duck Confit Pozole (right).
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Topics:
Gluten-free,
Latin America,
Peru,
Restaurant management,
Brazil,
Featured,
Feature,
Food,
Restaurants
Gone are the days of quiet dining rooms. Noise is in, and restaurants are pumping up their sound systems, embracing sound-reflecting hard surfaces and enlarging their bars. As food critic Adam Platt writes, "ask any weary gastronaut about the single most disruptive restaurant trend over the past decade or so... they’ll give you a succinct, one-sentence answer. It’s the noise, stupid.”
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Topics:
Dining environment,
Atmosphere,
Noise,
Restaurant management,
Featured,
Food,
feat
Consumers concerned about eating well are no longer a minority—they’re the majority. In a recent survey by the National Restaurant Association, more than 70 percent of adults said they were trying to eat more healthfully at restaurants than they did in the past. But what does “eating healthfully” mean today?
The clamor for fat-free foods has faded, thanks in part to studies showing both the health benefits of “good” fats and the potential downsides of diets high in sugar and carbohydrates. Today customers are much more likely to be concerned about gluten, and so it’s not surprising that Datassential reports a 72.5 percent increase the appearance of the term “gluten-free” on American menus from 2011 to 2012.
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Topics:
Trends,
Coconut oil,
Healthy eating,
Cooking oils,
Featured,
Food
When it comes to produce, the farmer's market is good — but the backyard is better. Local sourcing was the top culinary trend in 2014, according to chefs polled by the National Restaurant Association. The next step for chefs, especially those who can't always find the ultra-fresh produce they want, is growing it themselves.
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Topics:
Trends,
Locavores,
Local sourcing,
Produce-infused cocktails,
Featured,
Food,
Vegetables,
Restaurants
Happier employees are more productive employees. It's not just a truism—it's science. A team of researchers recently found that the happy participants in a study completed 10 to 12 percent more math problems correctly than those who were stressed and unhappy.
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Topics:
Waitstaff,
Tips,
Servers,
Restaurant management,
Featured,
Food,
Customer Service
Coffee Flour is newest and most inventive use of java to come along in at least a decade. A former director of technical services at Starbucks, Dan Belliveau saw the tremendous waste involved in coffee processing and invented a way to turn the coffee cherry pulp cast off in the harvesting process into a nutritious flour.
Coffee is the second most traded product in the world after petroleum, so the waste from discarded coffee cherry pulp causes both financial and environmental burdens for the countries that grow coffee, which tend to be among the world’s poorest.
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Topics:
Gluten-free,
Starbucks,
Coffee,
Inventions,
Featured,
Food
