Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

Restaurants survive and thrive on the “early and late majority” that represents over 60 percent of the dining population. I can vividly remember a chef position at a fine dining operation that I walked into and faced planning my first signature menu. So, how does a chef approach the dilemma of creativity vs. business sense?

Fine Dining 458

Fine Dining Café Customer Experience Menu 458

ChowNow

MARCH 27, 2025

Yes, competitor pricing can give you a ballpark idea of what customers in your area expect to paybut it shouldnt be your only reference point. Competitive pricing is helpful as a reference , not a roadmap. But thats only part of the picture. You dont know their food costs, rent, or labor volume.

Pricing 195

Pricing Menu Point of Sale Customer Experience 195

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

Fine dining establishments may require staff to have in-depth knowledge of each dish, including wine pairings and ingredient sourcing, while a fast-casual restaurant may focus on quick service and consistent food prep. A well-informed team improves service, enhances the dining experience, and reduces errors in the kitchen.

Training 195

Training Kitchen Safety Customer Service Food Safety 195

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

The Japanese refer to this as Kaizen. Charlie Trotter, in many chefs’ minds, defined what fine dining would become in America. The spirit of competition must be felt by every individual in an organization and by the team as a whole. In this manner – competition helps to drive people to always improve.

Fine Dining 433

Fine Dining Coaching Dine-in Café 433

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 15, 2021

Full-service restaurant chains, which primarily rely on dine-in customers and had few if any off-premises services when the dine-in restrictions went into effect, bore the brunt of the transaction declines throughout the pandemic. 37 percent of restaurants report outdoor dining as their biggest revenue driver during COVID-19.

2021 423

2021 Fast Casual Fine Dining Point of Sale 423

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

Menu variety plays a substantial role in every dining experience. A ghost kitchen is a restaurant that only operates out of a kitchen with no dining space. Ghost kitchens of 2019 almost exclusively referred to restaurants that worked only through third-party delivery services. Simplified Menus. Ghost Kitchens. Delivery Options.

2022 547

2022 Customer Service Online Ordering Website Management 547

Culinary Cues

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

The Japanese would refer to them as companies focused on “Kaisen” (a pursuit of constant improvement). Which type of tomato will present the most pronounced flavor of fine ripened, deeply refreshing acid/sweet balance on the sandwich and how can we ensure this consistently throughout the year? It is your job to SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF.

Uniforms 450

Uniforms Fine Dining Small Business Customer Service 450

Culinary Cues

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Long before the restaurant chains of today, decades prior to the birth of fine dining, experience dining, and molecular gastronomy, there were neighborhood cafes that were part of small communities across the country. Full-service restaurants would later refer to this as a Table d’hote selection.

White Paper 351

White Paper Hospitality Fine Dining Reference 351

EATER

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

They also reference the rise of polyunsaturated fats in the American diet over the past 100 years. But if you’re thinking that you’ve been cooking with sunflower oil your whole life and everything seems fine, you’re probably right. This is an unprecedented change in our body composition that clearly deserves a second look,” they say.

Advertising 329

Advertising Influencer 2023 2022 329

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 31, 2025

“In 2025, restaurants are walking the fine line between automation and hospitality,” said Ming-Tai Huh, Head of Food & Beverage at Square. The data shows a remarkable 61 percent of singles are willing to dine out for a first date on February 14th, while 51 percent of all diners are considering double dates.

Marketing 221

Marketing Loyalty Program 2025 2024 221

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

How powerful is a complete dining experience and what exactly is it? An owner for whom I worked years ago referred to it as the Total Dining Experience and I have held on to this concept ever since. Is your ventilation system designed to push positive kitchen odors to the dining room or outside the entrance?

Fine Dining 347

Fine Dining Dine-in Front of House Design 347

Culinary Cues

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

When you start building that “bucket list” of restaurants around the world where you must dine before you die. When pride is directly connected to clean plates returning from the dining room. When your friends introduce you as a cook at such and such restaurant or refer to you as chef, rather than use your name.

Fine Dining 422

Fine Dining Food Order Back of House Uniforms 422

Culinary Cues

MARCH 9, 2021

The garde manger must be conservative with portion sizes while affording the greatest impact on the dining experience. 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. It is this combination that affords the restaurant an opportunity to earn a profit.

Presentation 415

Presentation Fine Dining Seasonal Menu Design 415

7 Shifts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Switching from a fast-casual concept to fine dining can allow for a nice change of pace. You won't be able to refer to your previous restaurant opening playbook and follow it to the letter. You can reference and compare the key metrics from all of these locations like total revenue, profit margin, inventory variance, etc.

Management 370

Management Management Document Hiring 370

Culinary Cues

MAY 20, 2024

He has been one of my primary motivators and reference points throughout my career in food. He would spend endless hours trying to figure out how to re-create the experience of in-house dining through home delivery. His partnership with Cesar Ritz helped to place hotel dining on a pedestal as the premier example of fine dining.

Hotels 297

Hotels Front of House Fine Dining Back of House 297

7 Shifts

JUNE 29, 2022

Put simply, franchise compliance refers to the actions that corporations, their franchisors, and their franchisees take in order to stay compliant with any applicable federal, state, and/or regional laws. This creates a consistent dining experience for all guests, regardless of which franchise location they visit. Reward Compliance.

Franchise 370

Franchise Franchising Restaurant Law Document 370

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Chefs and cooks may avoid walking through those swinging doors into the dining room because they fear that vulnerability. If they respond: “I’m fine” when you know they are not, this is a call to action. The food was exceptional looking and there were loads of compliments from the dining room. This is emotionally draining.

Employee Relations 413

Employee Relations Training Fine Dining Take-out 413

7 Shifts

JULY 14, 2021

We refer to these employees as “51 percenters.” Pro Tip: Asking someones' mayonnaise preference isn't always the best tell of a great employee. The importance of your “HQ”. “At At USHG we are looking for talent whose skills are divided 51-49 between emotional hospitality and technical excellence.

Hiring 435

Hiring Hospitality Fine Dining Training 435

EATER

MAY 26, 2022

Traditionally, the privileged few have had access to things like bone plates and fine silver — they’re expensive to begin with, they break or get sold off or thrown away because no one wants to deal with the fuss. However, she’s found a whole world of people who are interested in fine china, and all for different reasons.

Entertainment 274

Entertainment Fine Dining Back of House Social Media 274

7 Shifts

MAY 11, 2022

Fine dining restaurants , for example, might only be open for dinner Thursday through Sunday, and be closed outright on Monday and Tuesday. Still, it's helpful for your team to share an understanding of which shifts commonly refer to which hours. Swing Shift Hours. Swing shift hours will vary by shift, day, and week.

Restaurant Law 370

Restaurant Law Reference Tip Distribution Back of House 370

EATER

JUNE 5, 2023

Traditionally, a chef in a fine dining establishment didn’t have to worry about being watched. Perhaps a customer could glimpse the line through a swinging kitchen door, but the peace and civility of the dining room was sacrosanct.

Fine Dining 318

Fine Dining Customer Experience Fast Casual Dine-in 318

EATER

APRIL 25, 2023

The dish is equally at home sold from the trunk of a car and at the country’s finest dining establishments. Juan adds, “The combination became famous, and we started calling it caldosa,” a reference to the caldo that went into the first bag. Juan Miguel Pacheco outside Fory Fay. Where did caldosas come from?

Fine Dining 274

Fine Dining Back of House Point of Sale Advertising 274

7 Shifts

AUGUST 27, 2020

Not to be mistaken for your staff training manual , your systems and procedures section should primarily focus on references and answers rather than training and instructions, so everyone can quickly refer back to this handbook. Then you don’t have to peer over their shoulders waiting for them to hit a wrong button.

Employee Relations 370

Employee Relations Hiring Document Food Safety 370

7 Shifts

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

We refer to these employees as “51 percenters.” Klose references a few of the more well-known ways that restaurants wow guests: the Duck Press of The Grill in NYC, Salmon Tartare Cones at The French Laundry, or Black Tap's famous loaded milkshakes (you know, the ones with a whole cake slice on top).

Social Media 448

Social Media Hiring Website Management Hospitality 448

7 Shifts

JUNE 4, 2021

For fine dining, around 30 percent. Whereas a bakery or pizzeria's most costly ingredients maybe cheese or chocolate, a fine-dining restaurant's could be shellfish and top-of-the-line beef. This can be as a whole or segmented by indoor/outdoor, bar/dining room, or whatever fits your restaurant.

Point of Sale 416

Point of Sale Inventory Employee Relations Customer Service 416

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 20, 2021

The ability for restaurants, particularly full service restaurants, to operate at total capacity, consumer comfort with dining in, and more business and recreational travel will aid recovery at the dinner daypart. ” The State of Casual Dining. diners, ages 18+, who dined out at least once per week prior to the pandemic.

2021 474

2021 Guest Recovery Online Ordering Point of Sale 474

7 Shifts

AUGUST 15, 2022

Be honest and direct , reference something you read on their website or a customer review that you value in a restaurant business. It's fine if the story is a grand accomplishment of yours, but spend as much time explaining how it impacted the business as you do yourself. How to Answer. Don't toot your own horn. Follow the STAR method.

Customer Experience 397

Customer Experience Website Management Hiring Back of House 397

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 15, 2020

Fine dining and upscale casual were the worst performing segments during March based on same-store sales growth. Family dining was another segment that was hit hard, which includes many buffet-based concepts. According to our survey, consumers reference these precautions before making a purchase decision.

2020 491

2020 Point of Sale Fast Casual Online Ordering 491

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Written KPI parameters and the definition of success should be accessible by all staff members for easy reference. In the restaurant industry, several food safety and operational issues are consistent issues across restaurants, no matter if they are fine dining, casual dining, fast casual, or quick service restaurants.

Food Safety 284

Food Safety Catering Fast Casual Food 284

EATER

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

NFT restaurants are dining clubs for the metaverse. According to its press release, purchasing a Flyfish Club NFT grants holders “unlimited access to a private dining room that will span 10,000+ square feet in an iconic, New York City location.” McCartney refers to their product as a “fractional cookbook.”

Fine Dining 345

Fine Dining Dine-in Customer Experience Food Supply 345

EATER

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

Christian Puglisi talks the end of Relæ and Manfreds, the problem with restaurant awards, and the future of Copenhagen dining Two weeks ago, Copenhagen’s food scene was hit by major news: Noma’s sibling restaurant, the Michelin-starred 108, announced it would cease operations at the end of September due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fine Dining 284

Fine Dining Sports Employee Relations Dine-in 284

Culinary Cues

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

INSTANT FEEDBACK It may not come from the chef or the owner as much as cooks would like but an empty plate returning from the dining room is all that is needed to signal a job well done. When we depend on people who are dependable and well trained then the kitchen is like a fine-tuned orchestra and the expeditor is the conductor.

Employee Relations 416

Employee Relations Training Fine Dining Communication 416

Culinary Cues

APRIL 18, 2020

He is often referred to as a king of chefs. and wrote the incredible Boston Cooking School Cookbook (Fannie Farmer Cookbook) that is the most published reference of all time. For 25 years this destination was the centerpiece of fine dining in America and remained one of the top five restaurants in the States for that entire time.

Hotels 366

Hotels Innovation Book 2002 366

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 28, 2024

The main takeaway: It’s led to higher prices and lower foot traffic at many of the state’s dining establishments. With customers seemingly viewing dining out a luxury, restaurants that can differentiate themselves in terms of quality and value will have a competitive advantage.” car finance, fuel, insurance, etc.) (22

2024 294

2024 Mobile Ordering White Paper Customer Service 294

Modern Restaurant Management

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Combining our backgrounds in tech, automation, and culinary fine dining, we knew we could fill this void to give more people access to healthy, high-quality food.” “Plant-based dining is not a fad that is going away. ” Presto Vision is currently being piloted at Outback Steakhouse.

Food Truck 317

Food Truck Customer Service Customer Experience Front of House 317

7 Shifts

OCTOBER 31, 2022

You'll have a document to reference during the planning or opening of your restaurant. Speak to what sets you apart from the pack, what food you'll serve, the service style (fast-food, fast casual, fine dining, etc.) Taking the time and energy to create one proves to others (and yourself) that you're serious about the venture.

Point of Sale 397

Point of Sale Back of House Document Download 397

EATER

MAY 29, 2020

Portugal reopened restaurants on May 18, but dining rooms remain far from packed | NurPhoto via Getty Images. Many are starting to use cheaper Vietnamese clams, for example, to prepare dishes such as carne de porco à alentejana,” he says, referring to the Portuguese pork-and-clam favorite. So what happens now?

Tourism 301

Tourism Food Government Travel 301