Wine Pairing 101: It’s about the sauce, not the meat.
Posted: January 9, 2012 Filed under: Our Philosophy, Trends Leave a comment »
We’ve all heard the old “white wine with fish, red wine with meat” advice that works some of the time but kind of keeps you from trying anything new or adventurous and unfortunately omits the possibility of experiencing some truly great food and wine pairings more times than not. The modernist way of looking at wine pairings swings to the opposite side of the spectrum in that regard and rightfully so, in my opinion. The point is not that there are rules in which you should adhere to when pairing wines, but that you should use your imagination to find new levels of flavor that can only be experienced when wine and food are properly paired together. A true pairing will elevate the quality of the flavor of both the wine and the food simultaneously, somehow bringing both to a level that could not be achieved on their own. So how should I do that? You may ask, especially if you are just beginning your journey in wine or are unsure of pairings and where to begin.
For starters, an industry secret is to attempt to pair the wine with the sauce of the dish, not the protein (contrary to old school mentality). The reason for this is that the sauce permeates the dish, brings all of the components of the dish together, and generally “completes” the dish. Or at least it should, if it’s properly made and appropriated. Pairing the wine with the sauce of a dish ensures that the wine is truly paired with the whole dish, not simply one component of that dish, such as the protein. As an example: lobster finished with drawn butter is often best paired with white burgundy, a classic Meursault, perhaps. This is because the Chardonnay takes on a buttery characteristic after being aged in used French oak barrels for some time during its vinification process. The “sauce” of that particular dish is the drawn butter, which becomes a constant flavor throughout the meal and permeates that dish. The wine, with it’s buttery quality, truly brings this element to life and delights the palate.
5 Things You Should Know Before Opening a Restaurant
Posted: June 4, 2011 Filed under: Our Philosophy, restaurant consulting Leave a comment »There is a statistic in the industry that 80% of all new restaurants fail in their first year of operation. NRL is a consulting group that is on a mission to change that statistic through its coaching style of consulting. This approach is intended to simply enhance and develop your already-great ideas and concepts for your business. Think of us as your trusted board of advisors – your ideas, our industry insight; a partnership you can rely on!
In our current days of celebrity chefs and trendy, ultra-popular, “place-to-be-seen” restaurants, there are more and more aspiring restaurateurs looking to open the next hot spot in their particular city or suburb. Not to squash those dreams, on the contrary I’m offering a bit of advice – call it a disclaimer, if you will to those who may be entering our beloved industry for the first time. Read on if this sounds familiar and feel free to share….
1. Eat, sleep, breathe
For those of us who love the restaurant business, or even have a love/hate relationship with the ins and outs of the day-to-day operation, we all have a common thread: it’s our life. And gladly so, or we wouldn’t still be doing this. There’s nothing more satisfying to me than a night in the weeds or completing a successful service when down by several staff members. It’s the thrill of the chase, the challenge that only a team can accomplish together. In fact, in my view, there is nothing more rewarding than this industry, but you have to live it. Every single day, and love every minute of it – at least on some level. If you aren’t prepared to do that excited to do that, then this probably isn’t the venture for you, because that is exactly what it takes to make it.
2. Organization is key
As with any business, proper record keeping and tracking of all funds that go in and out of your operation is paramount to your success. In a restaurant, it has to be taken a few steps further. Recipes, inventory regimens, cleaning schedules, staffing models, and the lists go on. You must be organized before the doors ever open to your restaurant or it will begin to snowball and eventually become very difficult to control. With each unorganized day that passes, dollars are wasted and your bottom line begins to quickly diminish. Understanding the importance and techniques of “back office” organization in a restaurant is huge.
3. The importance of your niche
We are all guilty, at one time or another, of thinking our ideas are the best, and even if someone has a similar idea, ours are still the best. Be gut-honest with yourself for a moment: what truly makes your restaurant better than the 20 or 30 in the same neighborhood? If you can’t answer that within a few seconds then perhaps it’s time to re-think your business plan. Everyone has to eat, and we all like to eat out at least once in awhile, so the market is definitely there for restaurants, but I think you would agree that it is currently over-saturated. Pick one thing that you do really well, and focus on that. Become known for it. Otherwise you will very quickly become just another place where diners occasionally decide to go, when there’s nothing else winning their attention.
4. Service is everything
How many times have you heard someone say, “The food was good, but the service was terrible.” More times than you can count, I’m sure. In fact, you’ve probably said it yourself a few times. This is because service is what makes your restaurant memorable. Even if you have the best burger in town, for example, if I have to wait 20 minutes to get it and never see my server again except to drop off the check, I’m going to forget how good the burger was and focus on how terrible the service was. Before you open your restaurant you need to have set service expectations and a written system in place for staffing and training your servers. In the restaurant business it is hard to keep good help, there is a lot of turnover industry-wide. Know how you are going to hire and train your staff before you ever get to the point of needing to do so.
5. Never be afraid to ask for help
This is probably the biggest mistake that new restaurateurs make every single day. They feel as though they can figure everything out on their own. It’s a pride thing, I get it – trust me. Bottom line: do you want your business to succeed or not? Do you know everything there is to know about the restaurant business? Ask for help! A fresh pair of eyes to help you on your journey to becoming one of the best restaurants in town is an investment in your business and future that you cannot afford to pass up. How do you develop training systems for servers? How do you put in a place a detailed and organized inventory recording system that will help you monitor and control your products? And probably most important, how do you find the time to do any of this when more and more guests walk through the door every day?
That’s what we’re here for – a fresh pair of eyes who have the time to help you make intelligent, experienced, and trend-setting decisions for your restaurant. If you are planning on opening a restaurant, or even have already done so, please drop us a line today and learn more about how incredibly helpful “help” can be.
G.
Why Should I Hire a Consultant?
Posted: February 7, 2011 Filed under: restaurant consulting Leave a comment »
What more do they know, anyway? How do I know I will get my money’s worth? Will they actually improve my business, or will it just be a waste of time?
These are common questions you may find yourself wondering when presented with the idea of working with a consultant, especially in the hospitality industry. And I can’t blame you! You should be concerned and careful when it comes to anything that you do with your business. Just as you would hire a manager or employee at your restaurant, you need to interview and get to know a consultant before investing time and/or money into that person or company.
Here at New Restaurant Logic Consulting & Development, we believe in creating personal and real connections with our clients, colleagues, and partners. If we can’t help you with your business, we will tell you up front before we waste anyone’s time. We also do free evaluations of your current operation or business plan before going forward with any consulting services. We feel this is not only a fair and professional approach, but that it gives you a chance to understand why you should hire us as consultants. To get started, here are a few things to put your mind at ease:
1) A Fresh Pair of Eyes
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to see the answer to a problem you’ve been working on for days at a time? How frustrating is it when someone else walks up and sees the solution right away, noticing that it was right in front of you the whole time? This is because everyone needs a fresh pair of experienced eyes from time to time. By working in the trenches and being so deeply involved in our operations, we cannot help but be blinded by the day-to-day tasks and this keeps us from solving issues and seeing the big picture. It’s nothing to be ashamed to admit, because it happens naturally to everyone.
2) Time is on Our Side
Sure, you may know exactly what you need to do in order to solve the problems of your business or make it better, but how much extra time do you have to do it? One of the biggest problems we see in restaurants today is owners and managers who are stretched so thin that just maintaining the every day operation is hard enough, let alone having time to come up with solutions or finding ways to drive their business. By partnering with us, we not only help you accomplish these things, but offer ways to help you get organized and hone better time management skills so that you can find the time to further your business without burning yourself out.
3) Motivating and Inspiring
It is so easy to get stuck in a rut in the hospitality business – we’re all guilty of it, and we tend to defend the rut by saying things like, “Well, I’m doing the best I can here!” or, “I’ve been in this business for 20 years, what did you expect would happen?!” Sometimes it’s nice to remember why you got in this business in the first place. Take all of the negativity that stress and business problems pile on and throw it out. We help you find ways to focus on the positive aspects of your business without sweeping the problems under the rug. In fact, there are no problems, just opportunities to excel in business and life. Bringing us into your business will help get your entire staff motivated, like a fresh start, a chance to be excited about everything all over again.
Ok, so now maybe “consultant” isn’t such a bad word after all, eh? Give us one day of your time, nothing more, and I promise you will have a different perspective on your business, its potential, and our company’s ability to help you achieve that. Jump over to our Consulting Services page to get a more in-depth look at some of the ways we can help, and please don’t hesitate to Contact Us with any questions you may have.
G.
New Restaurant Logic Consulting & Development
by G. Concepts, LLC
Finding Motivation in the Day-to-Day
Posted: January 26, 2011 Filed under: Motivation, Opinion, Our Philosophy Leave a comment »
Admittedly, I’m not usually in the practice of getting up early on a day off, showering quickly, and running down to the local Barnes & Noble Starbucks to get some work done on my MacBook. However, for various reasons I won’t go into I found myself doing just that this morning. As I sat there “enjoying” my microwaved piece of previously frozen quiche and a slightly burnt cup of coffee, I couldn’t help but notice some of the dynamics of the staff in the cafe. Particularly the manager, and the fact that he was obviously in the process of training a new employee. Although he didn’t seem to be very interested in me as I approached the counter 20 minutes ago, he did seem nice and his overly-direct banter with the new employee was fueled with good intentions. His voice was monotonous and dull, reciting the corporate-mandated way of doing things in this cafe. It seemed to me that he had probably done this a hundred times over, and for some reason was kind of “put off” by having to do it once more.
He was a farely normal-looking gentleman in his mid 40′s, slightly graying sideburns, wearing a Starbucks branded baseball cap and apron, and you could tell from his demeanor that the passion one looks for in a career was simply not found here. No smile ever stretched across his clean-shaven face. “No” was a word that he used quite often and he didn’t seem to mind doing so. After the second time he had to explain that the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble was more like a vendor than a “real” Starbucks, he began to roll his eyes a bit as if it pained him to explain this to someone.
On the outside, he was doing everything right, for the most part. Instructing the new employee on exactly where things should go, how to check off a prep sheet, and what next to do as the morning progressed. I guess you could say, he was performing the duties of his job – but just the bare minimum. He was well-spoken, probably educated, and seemed willing to speak to most anyone who came up. He knew all the right answers to the customer’s questions. He almost knew the right answers before they even asked the questions. He was going through the motions of being a manager, but the monotony of the day-to-day operation had consumed him at this point in his life and career.
What is it about our lives, our careers, families, relationships that we allow this to happen to us? We’re all guilty of it at one point or another. Just going through the motions, never working harder or trying to go above and beyond, never searching for passion within. How do you find motivation when you are truly fed up with where you are? I would challenge you to look at this differently. Stop focusing on the negative, even if some of those negative feelings are based on facts. Find the positive areas of your job and focus on that – I mean truly focus. Allow no other thoughts to enter into your mind and instead, look clearly around you for opportunities. They are always there, but you’ve been blinded by your negativity for so long that you have missed them. Chef Thomas Keller in his book The French Laundry said that even the preparation of the food, the chopping of the vegetables, the stirring of the stock was part of the joy he found in cooking. Why is that? Someone as incredibly talented, smart, and successful as Chef Keller could surely pay someone to chop his vegetables. It’s because he’s passionate about his food, and he chose to look at the positive side of a seemingly mundane and ordinary task. This didn’t come naturally to him, I assure you – it was a conscious decision on his part, probably early on in his career, that he would find the greatness in all the tasks of his job. He is now widely considered the best American chef of all time.
When you find yourself feeling down or in a rut because of the hum-drum of the day-to-day of your job, or life, or anything else, remember the manager in this real-life story. Remember Chef Keller and the differences between the two. I sincerely believe that if this gentleman in the cafe had made the same personal choice to focus on the positive, his success could be comparable to Chef Keller’s. And that goes for you too! The only thing standing in the way of you being wildly successful and happy is your own negativity. So start today by choosing to focus on the positive things in your own life and future success, you’ll be glad you did!
Remember: “Failure is the choice to quit just before you succeed.”
G.
3 Ways We Can Change How You Look at “Hotel Food”
Posted: January 4, 2011 Filed under: Hotel Specific, Our Philosophy, Projects, restaurant consulting, Trends Leave a comment »
“Hotel food.” How many times have you scoffed, or cringed at the very mention of it? Probably more times than not. Unfortunately, hotel food is often over-priced, under-produced, and lacking creativity or newness. But why does it have to be that way? It doesn’t, actually – but it has been for some time, and the reason why is room revenue. Many hoteliers originally adopted the idea of opening a restaurant within their hotel not because they had a desire to own a restaurant, but because they can increase the price of a room night greatly by offering a full-service restaurant on-site. The mentality was “Hey, if the restaurant just breaks even, I’m still profiting off its existence since I’m charging more per room night than I ever could without it.” Now that you say it that way, it doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea, right? The danger of this is that the restaurant then becomes forgotten, and because the majority of the population now looks at hotel restaurants in distaste, it’s almost impossible to break even. That idea of generating more room revenue is now being hampered by the fact that the restaurant is losing money. So the F&B outlet that you never had a desire to own is becoming more and more of a headache and robbing money from the aforementioned increase in room revenue, almost taking you right back to where you started. So how do you fix it? You can start with giving us a call so we can help, and here’s three reasons why:
1) Restaurant Perspective, not Hotel Perspective
Understand there are vast differences between running a stand-alone restaurant and a hotel, but more importantly that you can, and should, run your hotel restaurant as if it were of the stand-alone variety. Although we all share the same industry (hospitality) and basic operations both center around service and quality, the two must be handled differently when it comes to many aspects of the business. We partner with hotel management companies and owners to help you understand how to truly appeal to your guests and even bring in some local folks from the neighborhood. Best part is, you don’t have to have a famous chef on staff or spend a fortune on advertising.
2) Employee Productivity and Proper Management
Staffing and Training are two areas we specialize in and it’s important for you, as an owner or manager of a hotel property to understand that your restaurant staff needs to have primarily restaurant-specific experience. An F&B Manager or department head/supervisor should never be someone who has only worked various hotel positions or at a limited-service restaurant. We partner with restaurant-specific HR firms and offer many ways to set your operation up for success by employing the right people that can help you change how your guests look at your restaurant. These types of employees are already familiar with the many challenges associated with restaurants.
3) Menu Development and Cost-per-Volume Profit Analysis
I would challenge you to find many hoteliers that spend a lot of time with either of these areas in their F&B departments, even though restaurateurs everywhere would agree that this will make or break your business. The very basic level of cost control hinges on menu development and projected volume of business for any given meal period. We specialize in these areas and offer many ways to streamline the process as well as make it easy to change your menu in the future without doing an entire overhaul of products on hand. Basically, we take the headache out of your F&B operation, and help you make it into what you always envisioned it to be.
By implementing these techniques we promise you can change the way guests look at your hotel restaurant. It is possible to have a profitable, respectable restaurant running like a well-oiled machine inside your hotel, and your guests will thank you for it! Together, we can change how people look at and feel about “hotel food.” Click to Contact Us and let us visit your property for a personalized plan to improve your hotel restaurant.
G.
Our Daily Newspaper!
Posted: December 29, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Click below to check out our newspaper Hospitality Trends Daily! We consolidate posts from some of our favorite chefs, food writers, winos, and restaurateurs for you to read on a daily basis in an easy-to-read e-newspaper. Check it out and don’t forget to click “subscribe” so you can be automatically updated when a new edition comes hot off the presses!
Hospitality Trends Daily - Our Daily Newspaper
G.
Part 3 in our Video Blog Series: Nine Mile Caribbean Restaurant
Posted: December 29, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Nine Mile is located in the heart of the historic Asheville neighborhood known as Montford. A highly-successful, small, and vibrant concept, Nine Mile is one of Asheville’s coolest tucked away spots. Adorned with local art and photography and sporting a snazzy purple tin ceiling with reggae music on the stereo, this Caribbean-inspired restaurant offers unique and amazingly tasty food. Watch the video below to hear more about their restaurant from Chef/Owner Aaron Thomas!
Menu Planning: Perception is Everything
Posted: December 14, 2010 Filed under: Our Philosophy, restaurant consulting Leave a comment »
Venison Tenderloin, Butternut Squash Sage Gnocchi, Fig-Walnut Demi Glace
Whether we like it or not, looks matter. A lot. Why is that? Is it because we, as a society are truly that vain? Because we’re “told” by mainstream media that prettier people or things are actually superior in some way? Perhaps you could argue those points, and you may even have a decent argument. I would challenge you to think into this question a little deeper, however. In the application of business, namely, and in this case, restaurants – why would looks matter so much? Just as the color blue or a cool green is pleasing to the eye and subconsciously evokes positive feelings, so does a beautifully designed restaurant or an expertly presented dish. Even before mainstream media came along, man marveled at beautiful things and sought after them. This is because perception is everything.
Your perception of something doesn’t actually have to be true, as long as you believe it to be superior, it is. Savvy restaurateurs should use this principle to their benefit as often as possible. As bad as it may sound, do not make the mistake of trying to go out of your way to give someone a better deal or bargain. If you can sell an entree for $20 because your guests perceive it to be worth that much, do it! It really doesn’t matter that it only costs you $3 to put it out. When planning a menu your individual items can be classified in an ABCD classification system. You can use this when valuing your inventory as well (this is another blog post entirely), but to get an idea of how to cost out your menu, first complete a plate cost for each dish and then put them into the following applicable categories:
A) production cost is low; menu price is high
B) cost is low; price is low
C) cost is high; price is high
D) cost is high; price is low
Some chefs and restaurateurs are able to pull it off to where most of their dishes fall into the “A” category, which is obviously the best possible scenario, but many of you will have a good mix of all categories. Your end goal is that everything balances out so that you can achieve an ideal food cost percentage. Assuming at first that you will sell an even number of each menu item (you can tweak this more and give percentage values to each dish after you have accrued some history with the menu) you may find that you have too many items in the “D” category. This happens a lot to chefs because we want to put the highest quality ingredients on the plate, but appeal to as many people as possible with our pricing. You basically have three options at this point:
1) Substitute the expensive ingredients in the dish for comparable, less expensive ingredients
2) Throw out the dish altogether
3) Tweak the perception that guests will have of this dish and sell it for a higher price
Any of these three options will work, and should be implemented at different times throughout the process of planning and costing your menu. But the third option is the one most people get wrong. The temptation is to raise the price of a “D” category item and just expect guests to understand that they should pay more for this item because it was made with better quality ingredients. This is a mistake because the majority of the public who eat out are not chefs. You cannot expect all of your diners to understand what we understand about food and the quality thereof. Instead, make them feel as though the dish is worth the extra money, and the only way to do that is to improve their perception of the dish. One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to do this is presentation. Ask yourself, how can I tweak the presentation of this dish to make it look as if it should cost more money? Some times the answer to that is to make the portion size look larger without adding more product, and other times it’s to add more height, for example. Something else to consider is how it’s described on the menu itself – ask yourself, “How would I perceive this dish if I were eating out?” Play around with this and see what “wow’s” your guests the most and then adjust your pricing accordingly. With this technique you can change a “D” dish to at least a “C” dish and possibly up the order frequency which would ultimately have a positive impact on your revenue while taking only a small hit on food cost.
Aren’t sure where to begin with menu planning and costing? Contact Us for a helping hand! We specialize in making your menu really “pop” and make you money!
G.
G. Concepts, LLC – New Restaurant Logic Consulting & Development
Part 2 in our Video Blog Series: The Hop Ice Cream Shop!
Posted: December 13, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »In an effort to show you a completely different type of food service establishment than our first video, I sat down with local business owner Greg of The Hop Ice Cream on Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville and The Hop West on Haywood Road in West Asheville. As you will see from the interview, Greg and his wife, Ashley, really get it when it comes to local community involvement, unique and superior product, as well as modern marketing and advertising techniques. Listen as Greg and I talk about some of the ways he ensures the continuing success of his businesses!
What Makes Red Stag Grill in Asheville, NC so Successful? Hear it from the Chef!
Posted: December 8, 2010 Filed under: Opinion, Our Philosophy, restaurant consulting, Trends Leave a comment »I had the pleasure of sitting down with Chef Adam Hayes last week in his beautiful restaurant, Red Stag Grill inside the still-new Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, NC. Check out the video below for an inside scoop from a local professional! (And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel after the show!)
G.
