Along with the heat, chilled white wines are back in season. I’ll admit that I’m usually more of a beer drinker—and that when I want wine, I pine for reds—but summer begs the occasional exception. There’s not much that tastes better on a sweltering evening than a glass of crisp, chilled white wine.

 

I was reminded of this fact as I read a recent article in the New York Times about the “proper” serving temperature of white wine. I’m sure I fit somewhere on the author’s “bad list” for my tendency to chill my white wines a little long, but I’m curious how many people actually give the serving temperature a lot of thought? White wine drinkers, do you chill carefully (for just a few minutes), or do you keep your wine in the fridge? Restaurateurs, how receptive would your customers be to semi-chilled whites?

 

Maybe the time is right for a white wine serving revolution… Or maybe this beer-drinking girl is satisfied with her sacrilegious white-wine ways for now. 

 

To be “scientific” about it, I may just have to attempt an experiment on this issue this weekend. More to follow…

Tags: alcohol, bar supplies, beer, white wine, wine
Current Mood: chipper

Growing up in my family, breakfast for dinner was a rare treat. And I never was sure why we all considered it a treat, since there were lots of regular dinner meals we enjoyed equally much. But an article in the Chicago Sun Times suggests that our craving for breakfast foods could be linked to a craving for comfort food. Some restaurants are tapping into that desire by offering traditional breakfast foods at dinner.

 

I’m still a huge breakfast food fan, so I approve of this move toward breakfast at dinner. I wonder, however, if this will mean accompanying lower prices? After all, one reason I go out to eat for breakfast so regularly is because the meal is generally cheaper than dinner. 

 

Could breakfast offerings at lower prices be the ticket to increased sales for struggling restaurants? After all, part of the battle to get through this economic maelstrom is to keep your eatery top-of-mind when the good times are back. Maybe taking a hit by serving cheaper fare now will pay off later when you’ve been able to keep your regular customers and even attract new ones. What do restaurateurs out there think?

Tags: breakfast, dining out, dinner, economy, restaurants
Current Mood: awake

Noted San Francisco food critic Michael Bauer recently posted a blog on the subject of dining times and the practice of placing limits on how long a party is allowed to linger for a restaurant meal. It’s a contentious topic, to be sure, but it seems almost a non-issue right now. Most restaurants are struggling at least a little to keep their guest counts up these days—I imagine a policy that involves kicking out those people who do come for a meal would end badly for the restaurant. And as one commenter to Mr. Bauer’s post pointed out, a restaurant that looks busy is often more likely to draw patrons than is a restaurant that looks deserted. So my vote is to let your guests stay as long as they like. Those who truly overstay their welcome are almost certainly a rare exception, an exception likely worth tolerating in order to uphold a principle (and reputation) of real hospitality. What do servers, cooks, diners, and restaurateurs think of time limits on meals?

Tags: dining out, restaurant equipment, restaurant meals, restaurateurs
Current Mood: thoughtful

The restaurant industry may be going through a rough time these days with consumers cutting back their spending and more and more market share being lost to grocery stores—but according to the Wall Street Journal, bars are booming.

 

Ok, “booming” might be a small exaggeration, but compared to restaurant food sales, sales of alcohol are holding fairly steady these days. With that in mind, many restaurateurs (including such big names as Daniel Boulud and Alain Ducasse) are adding a bar to their eatery—or adding space and resources to their existing bar.

 

Adding a bar is no simple task (what with getting the required permits, etc.), but it can be a profitable move. I think willingness to go where the customers are is evidence of this industry’s ability to change with the times—and weather this economic storm. If you’re looking to expand your bar, call Serv-U for all your bar equipment and bar supply needs. If you’d like comprehensive bar layout and bar design services, Serv-U’s experienced turnkey department can help you with that, as well.

Tags: alcohol, bar design, bar equipment, bar layout, bar supplies, bars
Current Mood: thirsty

I’d like to take a moment to note those people who make up a large portion of the foodservice industry’s workforce: servers, from newbies to gurus.

 

Okay, maybe not total newbies, but SeriousEats’ column titled “Served” is written by a young woman really just starting out her career in the foodservice industry—and she probably won’t be what you’d term a “lifer.” Her writing is, nonetheless, very entertaining, and she has a knack for stirring the pot a bit. For some reason, people get really fired up when it comes to “server vs guest”—and that’s not to say that I’m not guilty of getting a little heated over the issue of tips, etc.

 

At the other end of the spectrum is the LATimes’ profile of several veteran servers, very accomplished professionals who have perfected their art. Both the beginner’s blog and the veterans’ article put their own spin on restaurant service and both are deserving of attention if you have a few minutes to spare.

Tags: restaurant supplies, restaurants, servers, wait staff, waiters, waitresses
Current Mood: chipper

A restaurant in London has decided to take prices off the menu for the month of February and allow diners to pay "what they want" for their meal.

The move is apparently an attempt to keep diners coming in during these hard economic times. It's an interesting idea that doesn't happen much but does pop up from time to time.

At a time when people are closely monitoring their every dime it seems like a great situation for diners. They can order what they want and then determine what they think it was worth, no more walking out feeling like you overpaid or got cheated.

What do you think of this idea? Would you ever institute it in your restaurant? Would you be excited to try a restaurant that did this?

Tags: news, prices, trends

To dine out, or to dine in; that is the question. There’s been some banter over the issue in the restaurant world lately, sparked namely by Suze Orman’s suggestion that—as a money-saving endeavor—Americans avoid restaurants entirely for one full month.  The idea has enraged some restaurateurs, while others believe the challenging environment will weed out the lesser of their competitors. Singling out the restaurant industry seems a little unfair, but it might actually make sense given that many other unnecessary expenses take up less of the average person’s budget. How much do you spend on lottery tickets a month? And how much do you spend in restaurants? Both are unnecessary expenses, but cutting back on one leads to quicker results in your bank account.

 

On the other hand, it would be almost impossible for me to cut restaurants out of my budget without losing my mind. I just don’t have the time or energy to cook every day (or even in bulk every weekend). So quitting my restaurant habit is out of the question, and I don’t think I’m alone. As some have already suggested, the best option may be something of a middle road. Dining can be cost-effective if you plan it right, shop the deals, go for value. And that’s exactly the message restaurants have to convey to me to get my business these days. I love eating out and ordering in. I won’t be giving up that luxury anytime soon. But I will expect more value for my money than I have in months past.

 

What do you think? Restaurateurs, how do you appeal to shrinking consumer budgets? Foodies, how do you make your dollars go further when dining out?

Tags: cooking, dining out, economy, restaurant equipment, restaurants
Current Mood: pensive

Earlier this week Burger King started promoting a new application on Facebook: "un-friend" someone with their application and you could get a free burger.

Apparently this application became very popular with more than 233,906 people taking them up on the offer. The one downside of this application was that it told your "friends" when you got rid of them, regularly on Facebook you could "de-friend" someone without them knowing.

Facebook announced today that they were asking Burger King to stop the notification aspect of the application because it violated their users' privacy by informing people when they were removed from a friend list. Burger King decided to end the promotion instead of removing the notifications.

What do you think of all this? Were you a fan of the application? Did you use it? Were you "de-friended"? Let us know.

Tags: fun, marketing

I recently wrote a blog post about the importance of optimism for entrepreneurs—and today, I came across an article that resonated with that idea. The article features a restaurateur with a lot of optimism—and a way to give his customers some optimism. He’s decided to comp one table per daypart at each of his restaurants for the next four months. Though this activity lightens his own pocketbook a bit, Frank Minier says, "As a human being, I want to feel better…If you want to make money, money, money and not satisfy the customers, you're going to lose the customers."

 

Well said. So now the question is, what have you done lately to make your customers ‘feel better?’

Tags: optimism, restaurant equipment, restaurant marketing, restaurant supplies
Current Mood: content

Pizza Hut recently unveiled their newest item, The Natural.

The pizza features a whole grain crust and all natural toppings including: sausage, pepperoni, Roma tomatoes, and red peppers.

The popular chain is trying to cash in on America's ever increasing love of natural items, which often are seen as being healthier and tastier. Ads for the new item feature people talking about the fresh taste of the toppings and the greatness of the whole grain crust.

What do you think of the new trend of natural items? Are you for them or do you think they are a waste of money?

Tags: all-natural, trends