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December 19, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Bar Hacks: ReFire: Episode 1, Part 2

Bar Hacks: ReFire: Episode 1, Part 2

by David Klemt

The second of three real-life hospitality scenarios discussed on the new Bar Hacks: ReFire podcast deals with onboarding.

More explicitly, I, along with cohost Bradley Knebel, client services director at Empowered Hospitality, look at a situation involving onboarding, training, leadership, culture, and potential imposter syndrome.

Our goal with every episode of ReFire is for listeners to gain valuable insights into bar, restaurant, and hotel operations.

Whether you’re a bar owner, manager, or aspiring hospitality professional, these episodes of Bar Hacks offer a wealth of knowledge and strategies to navigate the challenges of running a successful bar or restaurant.

Below, a transcript of the second part of the first episode of Bar Hacks: ReFire. For the lightly edited transcript of the first situation we addressed, click here. Bradley and I jump into each scenario cold (for the most part), so the tone is conversational rather than formal. In other words, they sound better than they read.

Cheers!

The ReFire Format

David: So, for the audience, what happened is, I sifted through… I’m basically going through online—there’s subreddits that, basically, everybody knows there’s a subreddit for everything. Good or bad, there’s a subreddit for it. Servers have a subreddit. Bartenders, chefs, bar owners, restaurant owners, hotel owners… I mean, they all have subreddits. And then there’s just, you know, forums all over the internet. You can find pretty much any topic. And so, I’m kind of sifting through these for real-world situations. And the caveat there is we’re gonna take these at face value, for the most part. Unless someone is like, “I’m just kidding,” like, “I got you all like in the comments…”

But we’re going to accept that these are really happening, because anyone in the industry knows if you’ve been in there, you know, for a few years, everything happens in this industry. So, a lot of this stuff is believable, even as outlandish as it might sound. The only thing I’m going to do, really, and Bradley’s going to do when we bring these topics up, is we’re not going to read them verbatim. We’re going to summarize. And the reason for this is I don’t want people to get doxxed. I don’t want them to, you know, get review bombed because someone decided, “I’m going to side with the server on this and let’s review bomb this operator.” You know, things like that.

So, we’re trying to be general but still get to the crux of the situation, and I’m sure they’ll get more specific as we go. I chose three to start with; hopefully, we get to all three. If we have a great conversation on, like, the first one or two, we’ll save the third one, or you know, however it works, for the next one. But that’s how this is gonna work. I’m sure it’ll evolve, ‘cause I’m not, like, a strict, like, “Oh, this is how it’s going to be” ‘cause it’s quote-unquote “my podcast,” because I’m not like that. We’re going to have fun with this.

Situation 2: Imposter Syndrome and Onboarding

David: So, situation two. This bartender, the way they phrased it, I don’t think they ever did a year straight with one employer. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Like, it’s like you just said, it’s a transient business.

Bradley: Transient.

David: The experience they had was, I’m gonna go with, like, “high-volume,” but you know, it’s a college bar, a dive bar, which I… Apologies to Travis Tober, he does not like that term. He likes “neighborhood bar,” and I agree.

Bradley: I also could have felt like something like an Olive Garden or an Applebee’s, especially because they talk about how many steps there are.

David: Good point. It could be a neighborhood chain restaurant, and they’re behind the bar. That’s absolutely possible. It’s not the Baccarat Bar, we’ll just put it that way, where their experience came from.

They got hired by a more upscale, higher-end venue. They were given one training shift. And from what I could determine, the cocktails routinely had a minimum of six ingredients. So, lots of steps, and yet it was still high-volume because it was a popular bar.

So, it’s high-volume with a lot of steps, which.. That was cool, you know, call it a dozen years ago, 15, when, like, “Wow, I’m gonna wait ten minutes for this cocktail ’cause it’s supposed to be awesome.” Where now people are like, “I don’t care if it’s 30 ingredients, I want this thing in three seconds ’cause I’m not standing here, and your team is supposed to be high volume.”

So, they got the one training shift—that was it. And the ownership and leadership team appears to like to sit at the bar. And I don’t know if this is when they’re working; that wasn’t made clear. But the person feels they’re being scrutinized. They have questions. It sounds like they asked a question, at least one question, and got a very, in their opinion, terse and impatient reply. They now perceive this culture as they do not have patience for questions. “I have to just know my job. I’ve got to get these cocktails down. I have to be perfect.”

And I’ll kick this off by saying it is possible this person is just so in their head because it’s imposter syndrome, and they got one training shift, and now they, because it’s one training shift, are in their head, saying, “I have to be perfect now; I had my training shift. I can’t ask questions because I’m going to get fired or they’re going to give me less shifts because I don’t know, quote-unquote what I’m doing.”

So, it’s possible that just they’re not confident because they’re in their own head. However, that still had to come from somewhere. So, I do believe someone maybe—and I don’t even know—they gave him a short answer or a bit of a terse reaction because they’re just, maybe they’re having a bad day or they weren’t even thinking. They just threw an answer out and to them it’s not a big deal. It wasn’t a, a short or curt answer because that’s not how they meant it. They’re just like, “Yeah, you just do this,” and they walked away.

So, I think we both agree though that this does sound like we’re rubbing up on a culture issue, within the business. But they weren’t even trying to throw the ownership under the bus. They were just like, “Do I quit this job and go for something I’m more used to, or do I stick it out because this is more money?” It’s a higher-end venue, the tips are better. And I mean, the general consensus appeared to be like, “No, you stick it out. You can figure this out.” It’s bartending: If you did high-volume in an easy call bar, that’s still brutal. If you run a high-volume college bar, you’re getting destroyed. So, you should be used to it.

Just One Training Shift?!

Bradley: If it’s just Vodka Sodas all night, with splash of cranberry, or making, yeah, or you’re making, like, Death & Co. drinks to bring Dave back into the conversation, you know, bartending is hard. And, you know, there’s a reason that most volume bartenders, usually the higher volume the bar, the less touches there are. The less, kind of, ingredients per cocktail, right? It’s built for speed and efficiency.

So, I agree with you that this sounds a little bit like this person may be in their head a little bit, and maybe second-guessing themselves, or needing to build their confidence. But there’s a lot of things about this case that I think a lot of people can learn from. And the biggest flag to me is if this is an upscale cocktail bar, and if their signature ingredients have six- to eight-plus steps, which, first off, like, combine some of those into a cheater bottle or something. Like, come on, that’s crazy. But even if all of that is true, one training shift is absolutely not… Like, that, to me, is a huge flag. If I came into a bar, no matter if I’d been bartending for six months or six years, if I walked into a new space and they said, “Great, you get one shift, and now you’re on service bar,” like, that just is not a recipe for success, you know? And so, the reason that you and I kept talking about this being a cultural piece almost more than a training piece is, why is there only one training shift?

Are they just churning through people so fast that they literally just have to be live instantly because the owners are sitting at the bar constantly critiquing everybody? And are their cocktails built for their concept? And I think that is a big issue. If you have that many steps in your cocktails, but you have 150 covers in your space, like, there’s no way that those two things are going to meet. Even if you have 30 covers in your space, there’s no way that those two things are going to meet.

If it’s a purely cocktail bar where people are supposed to be coming in, and getting a bunch of different cocktails, and ordering something different every time. And so for me, from the employee standpoint, there are a few things that I would question, and I take issue with. Well, is this place set up to support me? You know, it’s funny because the last question, we talked all about the employer standpoint, right? Like, the employer standpoint against the employee. But it is a relationship. And it is, when we talk about interviewing a lot, right, that interviewing needs to be a dialogue. It isn’t just me asking you questions, you answering questions, and then “boom,” question two. It needs to be a dialogue.

And I think employment is a dialogue, right? You’re giving just as much to your employer as they should be giving to you. And that is in training, that is in culture. And so, how are they supporting you and your growth? And it sounds like here that they’re not, from a technical standpoint. And, like, I think it’s what probably most of the people on the thread were saying is, you can learn anything. You can learn all these cocktails.

Three Months

Bradley: Like, this is going to sound really dumb, but when I first started bartending, ’cause I am a virgo and a perfectionist and a Millennial, so, like, all those things just combined into a terrible mixture. But the first time I started bartending, I literally sat home. I didn’t have any pour spouts. So, I may or may not have borrowed them from work—I’m sorry, boss, I’m telling you this 20 years later—and put them into empty wine bottles. And I just practiced, because we also had to do counts instead of jiggering. And so I was just practicing until I figured out how it all kind of worked together.

And then the next thing is, you know, I tell people this all the time, that it takes three months just to figure out what your job is, and how to be good at it. Not to be good at it, just how to be. There’s different cultures, there’s different steps, there’s different people you’re dealing with.

How do I show up on time? What is my uniform? How do I get it cleaned? Where is everything set? What is my opening side work? When is lineup? Who are the regular guests? What do people usually order? What am I recommending? There are so many pieces of a job, especially in the dining sector, that come together that it takes you three months just to figure out. “Okay, what am I actually doing? How do I actually do it? What does success look like? What is my team here? And are they supportive or not supportive? And who can I lean on? And then also how do I get better?”

And then it takes another three months to get better. Whenever I’ve promoted a server assistant to a server, a server to a sommelier or a captain, you know, prep cook to a line cook, like, garde manger to, like, flat top, or if they’re looking, working on a grill. No matter what your promotion is, and actually the biggest one is from line level into management, right? So, like, going from a server or bartender into a manager for the first time is, give yourself some grace. It takes three months just to figure out what the heck is going on. Like, who’s here, who are the players, what am I doing, what’s important, how often do things rotate, how much do I really need to know these things? And that takes you another three months just to build that skill set. And so, if you’re working for an employer that gives you one training shift and then is critiquing you for not being perfect right off the bat, to me, that’s less of a flag of you not being a skilled bartender and more of a flag of this is maybe not a place that’s going to be supportive for knowing that the restaurant industry is so transient.

And the restaurant industry is a lot of times almost like the gig economy. Before that became my thing, it was the pre-gig economy. Are they going to be there to really help your growth, and as things change, and as you either get another bartending job—because very few bartenders have one job, they tend to have two or three. So, if you get another job, if you are in school, if you’re an actor or in some sort of artistic discipline and are going to need to go on show, how supportive are they going to be in view of that lifestyle? Or if you’re a dedicated bartender full-time, then this doesn’t sound like a bar that’s going to dedicate timing to you to grow.

So, my biggest pushback to this employee is, hey, get out of your head. You’re not going to be perfect. Like, you have to learn it. But is this a place that’s going to support you, or is it time to look somewhere else? Because I’ll tell you one thing—going to the last one (the first story of this episode). So, we’re in a talent shortage, still there. There is a plethora of jobs out there. And talk about the one job that’s almost most in demand on the front of house side, it’s bartenders. Bartenders who have done it for six months. When I was bartending and when I was hiring bartenders, especially pre-pandemic, if you didn’t have bartending on your resume for two years you wouldn’t get an interview. Now, if you’ve had bartending on there for three months, great, let’s go in. I’m going to ask you what a Cosmo is, and if you can answer, that’s question one, check. Different game.

Leadership Sitting at the Bar

David: And my one of my flags was: Why is management or leadership, if they’re sitting at the bar, I’m blown away by that. Like, what are you doing?

Bradley: That’s, that’s a revenue-generating spot. Yeah.

David: You just decided to voluntarily give up money. I don’t understand that. Like, what are you doing? And then do you micromanage everybody, or is it the bar team? And again, it’s perception. Like, did this person, every time they happen to look up because they’re not confident in themselves, perhaps do they think they’re being stared at by this team that’s not even looking at them? They just re looking around, like, “Hey, you need to touch that guest. That’s a VIP; we should go say hi. Those people look new, look like they’re having a blast. Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

We don’t know exactly what that was, but if you are micromanaging, I have a big issue with that because no one performs well under that kind of pressure, really. I mean, maybe a 20-year veteran bartender who’s like, “Yeah, you can micromanage me all you want, I don’t care. I’m gonna get this done, get my tips, and get out of here. Like, watch me all you want. I’m not doing anything, so go for it.”

But I do wonder… I mean, I don’t want, I don’t ever wanna see leadership or management lean against the bar, even a little. And sitting at the bar when they’re working, like, that’s not okay with me at all. I mean, yeah, you check in with the bar team, but you can do that from the side of the bar, you can go behind the bar, but to sit there… And now guests are like, “Why? Is this person, is this bartender not doing the right thing?” It just, it leads to a lot of questions either from the guest side, which you definitely don’t want, and from the team side, like, “Wow, this team, the leadership team, doesn’t trust me. And I (ostensibly) did nothing wrong, and they just are watching me like a hawk. Like, did I do something wrong?”

Like, it’s just, to me, it’s just too many questions. And I know there are people who, they’re micromanagers, but then maybe they need to be moved or spoken to or something. You just can’t do it that way anymore. It just doesn’t, it doesn’t work. And if you, if you are behaving that way, then why’d you hire this person? If you’re just going to watch them like that, then they shouldn’t have been hired or you’re in the wrong position, to be honest. Like, maybe you shouldn’t be a manager. Like, sorry, but that could be.

Coaching, Holding People Accountable, and Setting Standards

Bradley: I think there’s a big difference between coaching, holding people accountable, and setting standards versus micromanagement, right?

David: Absoutely.

Bradley: I think a lot of that—I mean, there’s a lot of very, I mean, specific differences—but I think it really comes from, are you doing it for the employee’s benefit, or are you doing it to control the output? Right?

So, you are never going to be able to replicate yourself. And this idea of people saying, “I need to find somebody who’s just like me, who’s going to do this just like I’m going to do so I don’t have to manage them,” is a fallacy. That’s not true.

It’s all about building standards, building practices, and holding people accountable, and coaching them in the moment, but not doing it through fear or doing it through anxiety. Because what does that do with somebody being watched, but they’re being watched with a knownn critical eye? Like, if somebody’s just being watched and, like observed, that’s one thing. If somebody’s being watched and observed where they know that they’re being nitpicked and critiqued, they’re going to fumble.

Think about it: No matter how confident you are, somebody comes in and says, “I’m going to rate you today.” The nerves happen. I mean, to use the Tokyo Olympics, like Simone Biles, even people at the highest caliber can get nervous when they know they’re being watched, and they know they’re being critiqued. And so, that has a whole separate issue. I just watched that documentary. But it really shows that we as human beings, we want to know our boundaries, we want to know what success looks like. We want to be helped and given the tools to achieve success. But if you’re just constantly nitpicking and aren’t, like, really helping me get there, then you’re just creating moments for me to have anxiety and get stressed. It’s just going to make me perform worse instead of better.

David: I did an assessment not long ago. Flew in, get there, and rumors already started like, I’m there to fire people. And that’s not what I… You’d have to, like, punch me in the face for me to be like, “You need to fire this person.” Like, that’s not what I’m there for. And turned out they had a platform they were using, and the bar team was really, they weren’t all outgoing [toward me]. When I was just trying to just talk and see what their guest service is like. How chatty they were. Just kind of watch them a little bit.

And the one bartender was like, “Oh, you’re from this company, right? You’re here to test us, right?” And I was like, “Do you want me to test you?” Like, what would I be testing on, cocktail builds? I’m like, “No, that’s not why. I don’t work for that company, and that’s not why I’m here. But if you want me to test you, I will.” And, then I got him to calm down, and he then totally relaxed. The rest of the bar team relaxed. So, yeah, if they even have an inkling that someone is in there to evaluate them, that’s a lot of pressure. I feel the same. I feel the same way when the client is watching me assess their team… They’re like, “Well, why is he watching that? Like, what does he see? Like, I feel pressure a little bit. I don’t want to screw up an assessment. Like, I don’t want to interpret this wrong. Yeah, it’s just pressure that you don’t need to put on someone.

Is There Even an Onboarding Process?

David: And also, before we on to the next one, it does make me think that there isn’t a onboarding process. And if there is, you have a training shift, and then now you’re a bartender. It’s like, okay, but if you’re micromanaging, I really don’t think that you have an onboarding process. Because if you did, you would trust the process, and let these people assimilate and get in their own grooves.

They’re not gonna work exactly how you expect them to. They’re bartenders, servers, whatever; they have their experience. They do what they’re gonna do behind the bar. They hold jiggers differently. They sometimes build cocktails a little bit differently. It just happens. So, I just don’t think that you actually have onboarding, and I definitely think, “Do you have manuals? Really?”If you are going to sit there and stare somebody down while they do their job that kind of brought that red flag where I don’t think there’s onboarding.

Bradley: I absolutely agree that there’s none. And I also have to wonder about people in that sort of environment. Because we’re kind of leaning towards we think that this is a pretty, maybe, aggressive micromanaging environment, which I think it is. At least, the person who wrote this thinks it is. But in those environments, too, the staff tends to band together a little bit, for better or for worse. And so I also wonder if he’s reached out to other bartenders. It’s like, “Hey, can you help me get this cocktail? I can’t figure it out.” Or, “How did you get faster at this?” Because, especially if it’s a tip pool, and whether tip pools exist in the restaurants at large or not, a lot of them in New York City do, but most bars are pooled in general just because it’s easier. And so, it incentivizes every other bartender to want you to be just as fast as they are. And so, is either this person too nervous to ask another bartender for help, or does the bar in general have a culture of just, kind of, like, sink or swim? Which, my very first server shift in my entire life was a sink-or-swin shift, and I had never served ever before. And I’ll tell you that that was a terrifying and terrible experience. Apparently I did okay, but it felt shitty the whole time.

So, culture starts the very first day. Culture starts, actually, during the interview process. And so, this employee doesn’t feel like they were set up for success. If they were set up for success, then they’re not the right fit for the company culture, where they just aren’t the right fit for what this bar is trying to do. But it also sounds like the owners, and/or management, and/or leadership could use a little bit of a, “Hey, you have to trust the team. You have to trust the process.”

“If you can’t trust the team, it’s the process that’s wrong.”

If you can’t trust the team, it’s the process that’s wrong. The training process is wrong. Your coaching and standards process is wrong. Your communication of systems is wrong, or you don’t have any. Also, again, there should never be a cocktail—and you, some people, will disagree with me, but then you can charge $50 for them—there shouldn’t be a cocktail that has that many steps to create. Especially if high-volume has anything to do with the bar concept.

David: Yep. There’s a bartender, bar owner out here in Vegas. They don’t like all the steps for a Sour, and they have developed a technique to remove one to two steps, make it that much faster. Their whole team knows it; anyone who’s working behind the bar there knows this technique. So, yeah, adding steps is… I have zero problem with keg cocktails. I think people for some reason think they’re hilarious. I mean, look at all the pour walls. People are like, “I’m gonna come to this bar and restaurant, and put money on a card to serve myself drinks.” Like, people like this kind of stuff. So, you can take steps out. Like you said, if you can can make housemade ingredients that much faster, then those are the right steps to take. And I’m sure the bar team would be like, “Yeah, we can do this if you’ll let us do it.”

Bradley: We had a rule that a drink on our menu should never have more than three touches. Right? You have the base spirit, you have one juice, and, you know, it was always, like, the combining of other ingredients, and then either one more or a bitters or something. Maybe you had four touches at the most. But you’re not sitting there trying to like reinvent the wheel every single time. If you always have a one-to-two ratio of a ginger syrup to some other juice, then just put it in a cheater, just put it in a bar bottle, and just have that two-to-one ratio because also you know it’s already measured, right? And so, prep, absolutely, just in the kitchen and in the bar, is the best recipe for success.

Going way off tangent for this topic, but it sounds like very little process exists here, right? There’s no onboarding process, there’s no training process. It seems like there might not be a good feedback process or coaching process. There’s definitely no bar process that I think is really setting the team up for success. Or this person is just so under-qualified and over-exaggerated that they came in and just, essentially, they’re like, “Oh, you’ve got this. You can do this in your sleep,” right? And then left. So, there’s something weird happening here. But I definitely think that it’s a mismatch between employer and employee.

“It’s all solvable.”

David: Yeah. And we’re not trying to roast the owner because we don’t know how much of this is true. Again, like I said in the beginning, we are taking these at face value, just as learning opportunities, really. So, it’s not like we’re like, “Oh yeah, this operator is terrible.” There does seem to be…there’s an issue. And again, the issue could literally just be this person is convinced they faked their way into this job ,and now it’s coming home to roost. And they have zero confidence because they’re trying to mask that: “Man, I probably don’t belong here.”

Which, again, I think is silly if you can learn this. And again, like, to your point, is the bar team cool enough to be like, “Hey, this impacts all of us. It impacts the servers. If this bar is slow and our drinks are slow, like, we all need to be…we can help you improve this.” Like, “Let’s do this.” And they obviously saw something in this person to hire them. I’m hoping it wasn’t just “here’s a body” if it’s a more upscale, higher-end spot.

So, that should tell them, hey, you got the job—nice. Gotta keep it. And you’ve done high-volume, most likely. If you worked in a college bar or a neighborhood bar, you’ve probably done volume. So, now it’s steps. It does suck: There are at least six ingredients in some of these signatures. Hopefully, there’s also, you know, people drinking G&Ts and Jack & Coke, and not a big deal. But this isn’t something that can’t be solved. And it’s either on the process side and leadership side, or it’s—

Bradley: Or it’s imposter syndrome.

David: Yeah, exactly. So, it’s just, what is the actual issue? It’s all solvable, is the great part of that one.

Note: Transcript provided by Eddy by Headliner, edited by author for clarity.

Image: Canva

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September 5, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

15 Years of Consulting: Lessons Learned

15 Years of Consulting: Lessons in Adaptability, Innovation, and Resilience

by Doug Radkey

Note: AI-generated image.

I made a life-altering decision to start consulting in August of 2009, and over the past 15 years I’ve accumulated more than 30,000 hours of experience.

Over the past 15 years and the span of those tens of thousands of hours, I’ve contributed to the creation of more than 270 new concepts. Further, these concepts boast a long-term success rate of over 98 percent.

Reaching these achievements, along with fifteen years in business, hasn’t been easy.

There have been many ups and many downs, just like any other business. There are times of standing high on a mountain, and times of wanting to throw in the towel.

One key element I have learned over the years is that success goes far beyond having a great vision and concept; it requires passion, precision, and execution.

This journey has been filled with pivotal moments, and by what I can boil down to as three fundamental and invaluable lessons in adaptability, innovation, and resilience. Each of those lessons are now rooted in KRG Hospitality’s core values of being creative, cultivated, and connected.

The lessons I’ve learned over the course of 15 years and more than 270 new concepts can help you and your business start, stabilize, and scale.

The Power of Adaptability

Adaptability in business refers to the ability to adjust and respond to changing circumstances, market conditions, and guest expectations. It is the capacity to pivot strategies, embrace new technologies, and innovate to stay both relevant and competitive.

For me, adaptability has meant developing a mindset of openness to change and a willingness to experiment with new approaches.

It is not just about reacting to changes as they happen but anticipating shifts in the market proactively, while preparing to meet new challenges. In business, this means being flexible in your operations, resilient in the face of adversity, and innovative in problem-solving.

An adaptable hospitality business is one that can adjust its offerings quickly, refine its services effectively, and even overhaul its business model if necessary. As importantly, such a business can accomplish all of that without any long-term disruption to its profit channel.

To embrace adaptability, you must foster a culture that values learning and continuous improvement. This involves encouraging your employees to share their ideas and feedback, experimenting with new systems, technologies and processes, and being open to constructive criticism.

It also requires a deep understanding of the market and guest needs, allowing your business to pivot swiftly and efficiently when necessary.

Adaptability is also about having a growth-based mindset. This type of mindset involves seeing challenges as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles. By being adaptable, your business can stay ahead of the competition, meet changing guest expectations, and capitalize on new opportunities.

In a world where change is the only constant, embracing adaptability is not just an option, it’s a necessity for long-term success. As entrepreneurs, cultivating this trait can lead to innovative solutions, greater efficiency, and a more sustainable long-term business model.

Embracing Innovation

Embracing innovation is about thinking creatively, challenging the status quo, and finding novel solutions to existing problems.

In this industry, innovation can manifest in various forms, such as adopting new technologies, offering unique guest experiences, or implementing sustainable practices. As an entrepreneur and leader in this industry, embracing innovation is crucial for staying relevant.

You will begin to see here how each of these lessons truly go hand in hand. For me, however, innovation goes beyond mere invention; it involves applying new concepts and ideas in practical and impactful ways.

In hospitality, innovation can be product-driven, such as developing a new menu item or room service feature. Or it can be process-driven, such as streamlining operations through a new technology integration. Innovation can also be guest-centric, focusing on enhancing the overall guest experience through personalized services or tailored offerings.

For example, the introduction of mobile check-in and digital concierge services in hotels revolutionized the guest experience, offering convenience and personalization.

Similarly, restaurants have innovated by incorporating immersive dining experiences that engage all of our senses. These innovations not only attract new guests but also differentiate a business in a crowded marketplace.

How to Embrace Innovation

To embrace innovation, your business must cultivate a culture that encourages creativity and experimentation. This involves creating an environment where employees feel empowered to suggest new ideas, and are not afraid to take risks.

Leadership plays a critical role in setting the tone for innovation, providing the necessary resources, and fostering an open-minded atmosphere.

One practical way to embrace innovation is to stay up to date about industry trends and technological advancements. Attending industry conferences and participating in webinars and mastermind groups can provide valuable insights and inspiration.

Additionally, businesses in this industry should invest in research and development (R&D) to explore new opportunities and test innovative concepts.

Finally, embracing innovation requires a willingness to adapt and iterate. Not every new idea will be successful, but the process of trying, learning, and refining is critical for continuous growth.

Your business should establish mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of new initiatives, and be prepared to pivot when necessary.

Fostering a culture of creativity, staying informed about trends, and actively seeking new opportunities helps your business innovate in ways that enhance the guest experience, and drive long-term financial success.

Driving Resilience

Resilience in business refers to the ability to withstand and recover from challenges, setbacks, and unexpected changes. It involves maintaining stability and continuity while adapting to new circumstances.

In further business context, this includes the ability to manage financial pressures, operational disruptions, shifts in consumer behavior, or even personal setbacks. Resilience also encompasses the mental and emotional strength to stay focused and positive in the face of adversity.

Resilient businesses are not immune to problems; rather, they are equipped to handle them effectively, and learn from the experience.

In my experience, you must be willing to prioritize building strong relationships with guests, community partners, and industry peers in order to embrace innovation. These connections provide a support network that can offer assistance, advice, and resources during tough times. Collaborations with local businesses and partnerships with suppliers can also provide you with a critical support line.

Real-World Resilience

Personal anecdotes often serve as powerful illustrations of resilience, providing real-world examples of overcoming adversity and demonstrating the strength required to persevere. Real-life examples show that resilience is not just an abstract concept but a practical quality that can be developed and applied in everyday life.

These stories often detail the emotional, mental, and physical hurdles faced, and the strategies used to overcome them.

For example, a story about recovering from a business failure can illustrate the importance of maintaining a positive mindset, and seeking new opportunities. Perhaps it is a career setback, a health challenge, or a natural disaster. Regardless, these personal stories often include reflections on the lessons learned from facing adversity.

These reflections can range from practical advice, such as the importance of planning and preparation, to emotional insights, such as the value of gratitude, and the strength found in vulnerability. Stories of resilience serve as a reminder that setbacks and challenges are a natural part of life, and that it is possible to overcome struggles with determination and support.

Lastly, building resilience also involves cultivating a positive and proactive mindset. It’s imperative to view challenges as opportunities to innovate and improve. This can mean reevaluating business models, exploring new revenue streams, or investing in your people for further training and development.

Resilient businesses are not just reactive, they are proactive in anticipating potential issues and preparing for them. By building strong relationships, learning from setbacks, and maintaining a positive outlook, your business can navigate challenges and emerge stronger.

Core Values in Action

Core values are the fundamental beliefs and guiding principles that shape the culture, decision making, and identity of your business. They are the compass that directs the actions and attitudes of everyone within your organization, from leadership to frontline employees.

In the hospitality industry, core values are particularly crucial as they also define the guest experience and set the tone for interactions with guests, employees, partners, and the community.

For entrepreneurs and leaders in this industry, developing and embracing core values is crucial for creating a cohesive and purpose-driven business. Core values not only guide strategic decisions but also inspire and motivate the team, ensuring alignment with the mission and vision.

Over the past 15 years, our journey in the industry has been guided by these three core values: Creative, Connected, and Cultivated. These values have aligned perfectly with the lessons I’ve learned and shared about being resilient, innovative, and adaptable.

Our Core Values

Creativity is at the heart of innovation. It involves thinking outside the box, challenging conventions, and finding unique solutions to problems.

In the hospitality industry, creativity is needed for differentiating a brand and providing memorable experiences. Our creative approach has allowed us to design distinctive concepts, develop engaging strategies, and craft personalized staff and guest experiences.

Embracing creativity means exploring new ideas constantly, and staying open to unconventional approaches.

Being connected refers to fostering strong relationships with guests, community partners, and industry peers. It’s about building a network of support and collaboration that extends beyond the business itself.

In times of adversity, these connections have been invaluable. Whether it’s partnering with local businesses during economic downturns or engaging with guests through personalized communication, staying connected has helped us navigate challenges and seize on potential opportunities.

Lastly, cultivation is the process of continuous growth and improvement. It involves nurturing talent, refining processes, and striving for excellence.

In our experience, being cultivated means committing to lifelong learning, and embracing a growth-based mindset. This value has driven our dedication to professional development, the quality in our deliverables, and operational efficiency.

To embrace core values, your business must integrate them into every aspect of operations. This includes staff onboarding practices, guest interactions, and strategic decision making. You and your leaders should model these values and encourage employees to do the same.

Demonstrating and reinforcing your core values consistently allows you to create a strong, unified culture that resonates with both employees and guests.

And the end of the day, you have to remember that core values provide direction, inspire action, and foster a sense of purpose.

Conclusion

As I sit back and reflect on the lessons learned from 15 years of consulting in the hospitality industry, it’s clear that the journey has been shaped by the powerful forces of adaptability, innovation, and resilience.

These experiences have not only defined our approach but have also laid the foundation for future endeavors. The hospitality landscape evolves continuously, with new challenges and plenty of opportunities on the horizon. From technological advancements to shifting guest preferences, the industry is truly poised for positive transformation.

Looking ahead, however, it’s crucial for businesses to remain flexible and open to change.

For us, continuing to embrace adaptability means staying agile in the face of uncertainty, and being ready to pivot when necessary. Innovation will continue to play a pivotal role, driving new concepts and experiences that set businesses apart.

Resilience, as always, will be the foundation that supports us through trials and tribulations, ensuring that we meet the characteristics needed to win.

I strongly encourage you to internalize these three qualities in your own journey. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a coach or consultant, or an industry professional, integrating them into your own set of core values—be it creativity, connection, cultivation or any other set of values—will anchor you in your pursuit.

These values are not just guiding principles but also a source of strength and inspiration.

Embracing adaptability, innovation, and resilience, and staying true to our core values, has made us confident in navigating this ever-changing terrain with purpose over the next 15 years.

Who’s with us?

Image: DALL-E

Book Below to Setup a 30-Minute Complimentary Discovery Call and Request for Proposal.

August 5, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Books to Read this Month: August 2024

5 Books to Read this Month: August 2024

by David Klemt

Our August book selections focus on the 2024 Spirited Award finalists and winner of the 2024 Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book.

These books cover an array of topics, from mastering ice and drink ratios to foraging for botanical cocktail ingredients.

To review the book recommendations from July 2024, click here.

Let’s jump in!

The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts

The winner of the 2024 Spirited Award for Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book. This is much more than just a guide for making crystal clear ice cubes or sphere. While that’s certainly a focus, The Ice Book includes tips on embossing and branding ice, creating huge slabs, and even making ice bowls for punches and other large-format drinks. Truly, this book will help you master ice.

From Amazon: “In The Ice Book, internationally renowned cocktail icepert Camper English details how to use directional freezing to make perfectly pure ice in a home freezer, carve it up into giant diamonds and other shapes, and embed it with garnishes, including edible orchids and olives. You’ll learn how to create a frozen bowl for Negroni punch, serve a Manhattan inside an ice sphere, and infuse cubes with colors and flavors to create cranberry cobblers, a color-changing Gin and Tonic, and other awesome drinks.”

Grab this book now.

Slow Drinks

With a shift in mindset you’ll likely notice the incredible world of cocktail ingredients at your fingertips during something as simple as a walk around your neighborhood. The author of this book, Danny Childs, is an ethnobotanist who can guide you through that change. Further, this informative book is more than just a list of botanicals you can grow and forage. You’ll learn how to pickle, infuse, and even ferment, taking your cocktail creation to incredible new heights. If there was ever an excuse to start and maintain a garden dedicated to your bar team, it’s picking up this book.

From Amazon: “Organized by season, Slow Drinks teaches home cooks, industry pros, homebrewers, and foragers how to transform botanical ingredients—whether gleaned, grown in the garden, or purchased from the store—into singular beverages and cocktails. With transporting photography and gorgeous color illustrations, Slow Drinks is the definitive guide to backyard mixology that can live just as comfortably in your basket on a foraging trip, as it can on the coffee table as a conversation piece.

Click here for the hardcover.

Tropical Standard: Cocktail Techniques & Reinvented Recipes

What if a bartender married modern cocktail-crafting techniques to dozens upon dozens of classic cocktail recipes? Well, odds are they’d be Garrett Richard, bar manager of Sunken Harbor Club. And documenting this marriage would be drinks author Ben Schaffer.

When it comes to drinks, some bartenders feel the original variants are sacred; techniques, ratios, and ingredients aren’t to be altered. However, there’s no reason classics can’t be honored and built in more modern ways, for modern palates.

From Amazon: “Crucial techniques are clearly detailed, including how to balance syrups, flash blend, handle carbonation, tackle tinctures, cordialize citrus, and power up juice with acid adjusting. Over the course of 84 recipes, vintage cocktails like the Rum Barrel, Mai Tai, and Ray’s Mistake are reimagined just as future classics are revealed, including the Beachcomber Negroni, Winter in L.A., and Field of Mars. These drinks honor founding legends such as Donn Beach, Trader Vic, and Harry Yee as well as modern icons, including Dale DeGroff, Audrey Saunders, Julie Reiner, and Dave Arnold.”

Pick it up here.

The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails

Speaking of cocktail ratios…this is your book if you and your bar team want to achieve a deeper understanding of balance. If you think about it for a moment, you’ll understand the importance than ratios and balance have on a cocktail. It goes beyond ensuring a particular drink tastes great. And it goes further than guaranteeing consistency. Shift one ingredient enough and you’re not just altering the taste, you’re likely making a different drink entirely. As author Michael Ruhlman points out, a Gimlet, Daiquiri, Bee’s Knees are the same cocktail; it’s the ratios that separate them.

From Amazon: “As Michael Ruhlman explains, our most popular cocktails are really ratios—proportions of one ingredient relative to the others. Organized around five of our best-known, beloved, classic families of cocktails, each category follows a simple ratio from which myriad variations can be built: The Manhattan, The Gimlet, The Margarita, The Negroni, and the most debated cocktail ever, The Martini.”

Order yours now.

Hacking the New Normal: Hitting the Reset Button on the Hospitality Industry

Doug Radkey‘s followup book to Bar Hacks! The world around us has changed. The food and beverage industry has changed. The hospitality industry has changed. But will some ways of life change for the better? Will perhaps the restaurant, bar, and hospitality industry come out even stronger? With the right changes to the previous status quo, it is possible. There’s no question, resets are major undertakings, but a major reset will provide us with a clean start and that’s what this industry needs.

From Amazon: “Whether or not you’re a hotelier, restaurateur, bar owner or a front-line staff member—this book will position you for success in the new normal. With a spotlight on hybrid business models, real estate, profit margins, technology, guest experiences, culture, diversity, and mindset, Hacking the New Normal is the guidance you need.

Click here to pick your copy up today.

Image: Mikołaj on Unsplash

A well-crafted chicken sandwich with pickles, lettuce, and sauce, served next to a basket of French fries

July 29, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Campbell’s Shares Tips for LTOs

Campbell’s Shares Tips for LTOs that Generate ROI

by David Klemt

Yes, the Chicken Sandwich Wars are still going strong in 2024.

We appreciate Campbell’s Foodservice’s reports and posts, and their most recent insights address how operators can succeed with LTOs.

For example, our look into their tips for leveraging nostalgia is here. And our thoughts on Campbell’s Culinary TrendPulse 2024 report are here for your review.

This time out, Campbell’s Foodservice, utilizing data from Technomic, Datassential, and other sources, is tackling LTOs.

If you’re a regular reader of KRG Hospitality’s industry insights, you know we love an LTO—if an operator executes it effectively. Along those lines, you probably also know that we view Taco Bell as a leader in the industry when it comes to leveraging the power of LTOs.

Not only does the QSR giant know what their guests want, they know how to generate demand. In fact, Taco Bell understands the power not just of LTOs but of tying them to their subscriptions. Take, for example, their Taco Lover’s Pass and the Toasted Breakfast Taco menu drop.

When approached with thoughtful consideration, well-executed LTOs are a crucial element of an operator’s marketing and branding strategy. They drive traffic and sales, boost guest engagement and loyalty, and attract attention from first-time guests.

Of course, crafting a gainful LTO—gaining profits, loyalty, and positive public perception—can be easier said than done. However, there are a number of steps you can take to get the ball rolling and come up with one that reflects your brand, and resonates with guests.

Four Steps

Kicking off their tips, Campbell’s Foodservice recommends keeping LTOs simple. As they say in their report, which you can read here, operators need not “reinvent the wheel” when developing these promotions.

You can differentiate an LTO menu item from its standard counterpart in a number of simple ways. A few examples are using a unique cooking process, crafting a limited-edition sauce, and featuring a distinctive and specific topping or two.

Another tip is to do your best to offer LTOs that embrace current trends. While sharing these tips, Campbell’s cites Datassential and the revelation that just 20 percent of all LTOs are recurring. That means that the vast majority of LTOs are new creations, not stalwarts like the McRib. To draw the attention of a wider swath of guests, feature regional and local items and flavors. Per Datassential, 70 percent of guests are interested in such LTOs.

Speaking of attention, operators should learn how to take and edit attractive F&B images. Or, as Campbell’s says, “make LTOs pretty.” Per Datassential, roughly a third of consumers will try an LTO if it looks appealing in an advertisement or in-store imagery.

Finally, and this one is crucial as it embodies the previous three tips, leverage seasonality. It’s currently summer, so what can you add in the way of flavor to an existing item? Is that item regional and locally sourced? Will photographing it and crafting a sharp post communicate the season and inspire a bit of FOMO? These questions can help guide your approach to crafting profitable LTOs.

Oh, and to help you get started, I’ve shared Campbell’s season flavor suggestions below. Cheers!

Campbell’s Foodservice Seasonal Flavors

Not only did Campbell’s share tips for succeeding with LTOs, they also provided several examples of seasonal flavors to inspire you and your team.

Since it’s July, I’ll start with their summer suggestions.

Summer: basil, blackberries, corn, cucumbers, peaches, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini

Fall: artichokes, cranberries, edamame, parsnips, pears, pumpkin, sweet peppers, tomatillos, turnips,

Winter: butternut squash, persimmons, radishes, salsify (a root vegetable), sunchokes, sweet potatoes, tangerines

Spring: asparagus, fava beans, pea greens, rhubarb, snap peas, spring onions, strawberries

Campbell’s Foodservice sources:

Foodservice and Hospitality: A strong LTO strategy helps operators retain and grow their customer base (March 2024)
Datassential: Limited Time Offers Keynote Report
Technomic: 162 Best-in-Class LTOs for 2023
Food & Drink Resources: A Limited Time Offer Strategy For Restaurants
Your Guide to Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables, The Spruce Eats
Datassential: State of the LTO 2024

Image: Hybrid Storytellers on Unsplash

Restaurant host or manager holding menus and leading guests to their table

July 8, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Welcome: Start the Experience Right

Welcome: How to Begin the Guest Experience Like a Pro

by David Klemt

When you think about the guest experience you and your team deliver, how much consideration do you give the welcome?

I don’t mean just the greeting your front-of-house team gives guests. That’s an important part of the equation, but it’s only one element.

Rather, I’m talking about developing SOPs for welcoming guests into your venue. As importantly, I’m also suggesting that you develop specific onboarding and training for anyone who will greet guests and lead them to their seats.

Luckily, one of the best front-of-house trainers in hospitality spoke at the 2024 Flyover Conference in Cincinnati about this topic. Bethany Lucas, director of operations for Maverick Theory, shared her best tips for starting—and ending—the guest experience in a memorable way.

The tips Lucas shared during her Flyover session “Untapped Potential: How to Transform Your Front of House” will indeed transform your business and guest experience.

Now, a word of warning before I begin. Once you read these tips, you’ll likely find yourself analyzing your next few restaurant visits. Ever since sitting in on Lucas’ session, I’ve been unable to avoid paying more attention to how my restaurant visits have begun.

This has included sharing what I’ve noticed with the people in my group. Some of these friends will also pay more attention to the greeting they receive when walking into a restaurant now.

If you’re an operator or front-of-house leader, you’ll probably benefit from checking out restaurants in your area for their welcome procedures.

Invest in Your Door

Operators need to invest in their doors, because “it really is the brain of your restaurant,” says Lucas.

Therefore, it’s crucial that owners and operators understand what’s going on at their doors. Assuming your front-of-house team knows how to greet guests rather than training them on a procedure is a mistake.

Most operators know that hiring the right leaders, kitchen team, servers, and bartenders is imperative to the success of their business. However, the same attention must be paid to finding the right hosts and hostesses.

As Lucas says, “There is no ‘just a hostess.'” Bluntly put, the person running the door is the gatekeeper of the business. They’ll interact with just about every single guest since they serve as the first touchpoint.

So, Lucas encourages operators to ask a number of questions before initiating the hiring process:

Are the ideal candidates formal and proper, or friendly and casual? (Or something else entirely.)
Will the ideal hosts and hostesses need to be thick-skinned?
When considering the appearance of the host team, what does that look like to you? Lucas seeks out people who are polished and professional when building her teams.

These questions should inspire even more considerations, helping an operator identify who they want to run their door.

Welcome

During her presentation, Lucas provided an example of a less-than-ideal welcome. I think we’ve all experienced what she described.

How often have each of us walked into a restaurant, been greeted, and then led to a table by someone who just takes off? The host or hostess grabs menus, starts walking away toward a table, doesn’t speak to you, and doesn’t even look over their shoulder to see if you’re still following them closely.

I know it’s happened to me more times than I can count. Although, I’m happy to report that this hasn’t happened to me since attending Flyover. Maybe what Lucas put out into the world has had a greater impact than she expected.

A polished and professional host or hostess, per Lucas, will not take off when leading guests to their seats. Additionally, they won’t be silent, failing to engage with the guest verbally. Further, a polished, professional host or hostess doesn’t drop menus on a table and rush back to the door.

In fact, Lucas requires each member of her host teams to ask at least one question of guests being led to their seats. This can be as simple, she explained at Flyover, as the host or hostess turning and asking “How are you today?”

It’s important to note that this attention to the door team isn’t reserved for upscale or fine-dining venues. The beginning and end of a guest’s visit are too important to fail to plan them properly. Regardless of concept and category of venue, guests must feel welcome and valued.

Farewell

According to Lucas, the farewell can absolutely impact how a guest perceives their visit, and the brand overall. While the server or bartender who served the guest should thank them at the end of their visit, so should the person who first welcomed them.

A simple “thank you for visiting us” can go a long way and serve as a cherry on top of the entire experience.

However, there’s another tip Lucas shared that has really stuck with me. A truly a savvy host team will add a question after they thank a guest for their visit: “Can I make a reservation for you for your next visit?”

Doing so requires the ability to read a guest and their satisfaction with their visit. However, if executed well this is a brilliant way to increase your guest retention rate and convert a first-time guest into a repeat guest, and eventually a regular.

If you’ve read this far, I encourage you to consider your welcome SOPs and door team today. You and leadership team should observe the door and note how guests are being welcomed.

If the procedure doesn’t impress you, it’s not impressing your guests. And if it isn’t impressing your guests, ask yourself why they’d return.

Your door isn’t “just a door,” and your hosts aren’t “just hosts.” Remember that, and plan accordingly.

Image: Shutterstock. Disclaimer: This image was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

Two people jogging through a city at sunrise, going in opposite directions

June 12, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Try, Try Again: Creating Positive Habits

Try, Try Again: Creating Positive Habits

by Jennifer Radkey

It turns out that some AI platforms aren’t good at telling time, so instead of an image of an alarm clock, here’s the 5 A.M. Club going for a jog.

Ever wonder why some people seem to effortlessly achieve their goals while others struggle? It’s all about the habits they have cultivated.

We all have great intentions to practice healthy habits that are good for our body, mind, and soul…but we face roadblocks in committing to them.

Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

“How does she have the time to workout, run a business, take care of her family, and have hobbies? She must be part of that 5 A.M. Club. I could never do that; I’m not a morning person.”
“I wish I could post to social media daily. I know I could reach more potential customers if I do. I don’t know how to come up with that much content though.”
“I want to feel stronger. My friend has started strength training, and he seems so much more confident and happier, but I’m a cardio person.”
“I wish I could take a few courses, but I don’t have time for that.”

All of the statements above have one thing in common: They have already given up before even trying.

There’s a wish to become better at something, and then there’s an immediate shut down.

Here’s the thing—you don’t know that a habit will work for you or not until you try it.

You Have to Work at It

Experience eclipses all for learning about yourself. You tell yourself that you aren’t a morning person and you can never wake up at 5 a.m. But until you try it…how do you know that?

Developing new habits takes time and commitment. If you’re serious about making changes to your life and you know that certain habits will help you achieve that goal faster, you owe it to yourself to try.

On average it can take at least two months to actually form a new habit. Trying something for a week and deciding it’s not for you doesn’t do you, your goals, or the habit proper justice. Give things time.

If, after several weeks, you feel that the change really isn’t for you, no problem! At least you’ll know that it doesn’t work from experience, not from your limiting beliefs.

The same advice applies to your team. If you’re trying to encourage daily habits in the work environment, it’s going to take time before everyone’s consistently participating.

Yes, they’re going to need daily and weekly reminders. Yes, it’s going to take more than a week or two. If the habit you’re trying to implement will create a more efficient, successful business, it deserves time and commitment from you.

Mindset is contagious, just as action and inaction are contagious. If you want your team to adopt a new habit, you and your leadership team must show up and participate in the habit as well.

Make it positive. Demonstrate the value of doing it. Have patience while your team practices the new habit.

Positive habits are the powerhouses behind personal and professional success. By consistently doing small things, you can create a ripple effect of positive change.

Image: Shutterstock. Disclaimer: This image was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

Graffiti of crossed chef's knives underneath a baseball cap that reads, "D.E.G."

May 27, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Chef Duffy x NRA Show: Live Menu Read

Chef Duffy x NRA Show: Live Menu Read

by David Klemt

Chef Brian Duffy crushed it in Chicago at the 2024 National Restaurant Association Show.

We’re sharing tips from Chef Brian Duffy‘s live menu reads at this year’s National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago.

These informative sessions are always standouts at industry trade shows and conferences. Both the operator who submits their menu anonymously and the audience gain valuable insight into menu programming and development.

In ten minutes or less, the Chef Duffy shares wisdom that’ll boost guest engagement; streamline and energize the kitchen; and help save on labor and food costs. And he won’t even Bar Rescue anyone who submits a menu. That is to say, no, he doesn’t yell at anyone while giving them tips for fixing their menu.

As Chef Duffy pointed out during his latest live menu reads, an operator’s menu has the potential to create generational wealth. However, it must be programmed properly for it to reach that potential.

So, ask yourself a question right now about your menu: Would you be proud for your menu, in its current state, to be plastered across a billboard? If not, I have another question for you: Why aren’t you taking the time to rectify that situation?

Your menu is your concept’s billboard. Treat it as such.

Oh, and one note for the NRA Show before we dive in: These sessions deserve at least two hours. One hour just isn’t enough given how impactful Chef Duffy’s live menu reads are for operators.

Menu Programming 101

There’s a logical reason why Chef Duffy is never short on menus to review. In fact, he addressed the situation directly at the 2024 NRA Show.

“Everybody has the same shit on their menu,” he stated frankly.

One explanation for why menus seem so similar makes a lot of sense.

“We’ve been told what to put on our menu buy our purveyors,” said Chef Duffy during his live menu read.

For the most part, operators are given the same product catalogs. These are circulated nationally, not regionally. So, everyone is ordering the same items. Clearly, Chef Duffy is fed up with this situation.

“We’re not here to do the same things that everyone else is,” declared Chef Duffy. “I don’t want to see that anymore.”

Menu #1: Sports Bar

This first menu featured a vibrant design that instilled a sense of patriotism. Chef Duffy theorized that he’d feel good spending time in this space, based on the menu’s appearance.

However, he wasn’t a fan of the layout of the menu. Taking up valuable real estate was a large catering ad, placed directly in the center.

In the top left were salads. “‘Add chicken to any salad,'” read Chef Duffy. “No shit. Why are we stopping at chicken? We can add anything to a salad.”

Based on his knowledge of food costs and the menu’s pricing, Chef Duffy deduced that the operator’s food costs were too high. In fact, he estimated that food costs were more than 31 percent. The burgers, he surmised, were running a 35-percent cost.

By the way, Chef Duffy always puts two slices of cheese on his burgers to fill the top out more. This delivers a more visually appealing experience, and a better bite.

On the topic of pricing, operators must maintain balance. For example, this first menu priced the addition of two slices of bacon at $3.50, but a chicken breast was six dollars. Two Chicago hotdogs cost more than a burger.

Menu #2: Breakfast Spot

Unfortunately, the operator committed one of Chef Duffy’s deadliest menu sins. There was a photo of the restaurant’s steak and eggs.

Worse, the image showed a rather large steak paired with a commodity egg. If this dish doesn’t leave the kitchen looking exactly like the picture, guests are going to be underwhelmed and unimpressed. Further, why are operators still trying to save money by buying commodity eggs?

However, there was a second deadly menu sin committed by the operator. Given the overall perception this menu delivered, the claim that at least one dish featured “wild-caught crab” didn’t ring true to Chef Duffy.

I’m confident in saying that I think lying on a menu may provoke Chef Duffy’s wrath more than a photo.

“If you lie to me on your menu, I will tear you apart,” he stated quite strongly.

That said, he did like the menu’s design (minus the photos). Even better, he recognized that there were several inventive spins on breakfast classics. Remember, “We’re not here to do the same things that everyone else is.”

Menu #3: Sports Bar

To be honest, I was expecting this type of menu. In fact, I thought it would be the first menu design encountered during this session.

Essentially, it was a collection of what everyone else has on their menus.

As an example, there were wings on the menu, and the sauces were anything but creative. Chef Duffy didn’t address it but they were also listed without commas, so they appeared to be one long, run-on sentence of a sauce.

The most glaring issues, however, were the pasta and the dessert. Both sections contained just a single item. That’s right—there was an entire section dedicated to one pasta dish. Moreover, it’s not like there were a number of modifiers one could select to personalize their pasta.

This was the item description underneath the dessert section (designated as “Closers”): “Dessert of the week – $8 Please ask your server for details.” There’s a significant issue with that description and placement, as identified by Chef Duffy.

If a menu includes desserts, the guest is likely going to forget about them after they’ve ordered their starter and entree. It’s far more effective to have a dessert tray or cart and train your servers to suggest dessert when they touch the table toward the end of the meal.

Takeaways

Chef Duffy throws in more tips during a single menu read than most people would expect.

Below are some of the takeaways that make his live menu reads so insightful:

Only list name brands if they come from a local farm. This approach shows that an operator cares about supporting local producers and is part of the community.
Use the best ingredients for the specific concept.
If a restaurant features housemade buns for burgers and/or bread for sandwiches, they should offer a version as an appetizer. Really make this idea shine by also offering housemade specialty butters.
Operators that have chips on their menus should use the crumbles and “dust” to make breading for other items. After all, the chips have been paid for already—use all of them.
It’s better and more impactful to have 25 items on a menu that are executed perfectly than 50 items that are executed poorly.
Chef Duffy doesn’t agree with omitting prices from menus. “Why? Are we negotiating? Are we negotiating before I place my order?”

Connect with Chef Duffy on Instagram, and learn more about him on the Duffified Experience Group website.

Image: Shutterstock. Disclaimer: This image was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

May 24, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Want to Leverage Nostalgia? Spin It

Want to Leverage Nostalgia? Put Your Spin on It

by David Klemt

A recent report from Campbell’s Foodservice—along with supporting data from external sources—supports what many operators assume about food trends.

Our dive into Campbell’s Culinary TrendPulse 2024 report is here for those who want to take a look. Anyone who wants to download a copy of the report for themselves can click here.

However, I’m referencing a fresh, quick-hit report from Campbell’s. While it only takes a handful of minutes to read, it’s chock-full of useful insights.

In particular, this latest menu trend analysis looks into succeeding with nostalgia. Citing a study from Symrise in their post, 70 to 76 percent of guests ages 22 to 65 cherish nostalgic items.

Put simply, that translates to a truth most operators know: guests of all ages like comfort foods. This really doesn’t need much explanation. Comfort foods are—insert shocked Pikachu face here—comforting. And I think we’re all seeking comfort these days.

So, yes, operators should—in an authentic manner—speak to and fill this guest desire. Authentically in this context means putting comfort foods on the menu that make sense. Doing this successfully requires menu programming that fits with the brand and within the venue’s theme. It also necessitates really knowing your guests and what they expect.

For example, will a particular restaurant’s guests find mac and cheese comforting? Will they stop scanning the menu when they come across pozole? What about cacio e pepe or beef braciole? How receptive will they be to sukiyaki?

A sharp operator should know their guests’ tastes better than just about anyone. Therefore, they should know what foods they’ll find comforting.

However, there’s another way to succeed with nostalgia and enhance the guest experience.

“New” Nostalgia

There are a couple of ways to interpret the term “new nostalgia.”

One way is to tap into what foods, generally speaking since they’re not monoliths, different generations view as comfort foods. This can be something as simple as a certain candy or beverage from their childhood.

Another way is for an operator and their kitchen team to take a nostalgic dish and put their own spin on it. Using candy as an example again, a scratch-made interpretation of a treat to create a dessert may work.

Consider, as a real-world model for this approach, the Chocotini that Oceans Resort Casino featured toward the end of August in 2022. This was a direct response to the news that Klondike had retired the Choco Taco, a nostalgic treat for millions of people spanning multiple generations.

Of course, operators can also cross-utilize items to craft new menu items that tap into the craving for nostalgic comfort foods. These dishes can be permanent additions, seasonal menu updates, or LTOs.

Take a look at the image atop this article. Mac and cheese is a classic comfort dish. Now, feature it as a topping for a signature burger. That’s a prime example of new nostalgia.

Going farther, kitchen teams can combine nostalgia with another trend to get even more creative: global flavors. Are there tacos on the menu? Maybe bulgogi tacos featuring beef short rib, Korean slaw, and soy-lime dressing would resonate with guests.

I’m not saying anyone should menu these specific items. Rather, my aim here is to get operators and their kitchen and bar teams to put their heads together and create undeniable, irresistible takes on classics.

The key, again, is an understanding of the market, community, and guests. From there, it’s about getting creative and crafting dishes that guests can’t get anywhere else.

Image: Alex Haney on Unsplash

AI-generated diorama-style image of woman behind bar using a tablet

May 10, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

3 Operators Address Surviving a Downturn

3 Wise Operators Share Tips for Surviving a Downturn

by David Klemt

I have to say, AI-generated, diorama-style images look rad.

During a standout session from the 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo, a panel of three successful and highly respected bar operators answered an important question.

This year, BRE brought together an operator supergroup: Erick Castro, Nectaly Mendoza, and Travis Tober. The trio drove home the importance of becoming a student of the industry; being curious about business; understanding the need to nail the fundamentals; and operators knowing their numbers.

Castro summed up the path to becoming a successful operator rather succinctly: “You need to follow the fundamentals to make money.”

Of course, making money is just part of the success equation. Banking that money so it can work for an operator is another. Again, Castro put it simply, urging operators to live within their means when their bar or restaurant starts making money.

Taking it further, Mendoza pointed out that trying to project an image of success is foolish. As he explained, some operators and bartenders are projecting an image of prosperity and expertise, but it’s nothing more than an illusion.

Tober, who understands this business like few others, drove home the need to understand that really, operators are in the entertainment and relationship business. He, his business partners, and his teams are committed to giving guests a reason to visit their concepts and spend their money.

Toward the end of this incredible session, an audience member, to the benefit of every attendee, asked the trio for advice everyone could take back home to improve their operations.

Tighten Up

When it comes to appealing topics of discussion, most people want to shy away from economic downturn. However, ignoring the possibility of a recession doesn’t prevent it from becoming reality.

In fact, Tober said operators need to prepare now for things “to get rough for the next two or three years.” So, he advised the roomful of operators to tighten up their P&Ls.

For future operators this means making it non-negotiable to understand every aspect of their business. Systems must be in place and standards developed before the first guest ever steps through the doors.

According to Tober, operators who are aggressive and savvy can set themselves up “for life” in the next five or six years. We all know what that means, and it’s one of the reasons an operator need to re-invest in their business.

Adding to Tober’s thoughts on the next few years, Mendoza advised the audience to be prepared to attack opportunities when they present themselves.

On the topic of becoming a sharp and successful operator, Mendoza said to “overkill” the books. “Put the same attention into your books as you do your bar team and menus.”

Put simply, operators who know their numbers and the importance of reinvesting funds have chosen the path toward success. This also relates to hopeful operators. They’ll have the opportunity, if they follow their instincts and wait for the right location to become available, for a strong start over the next few years.

Fortuitously, that fits with Castro’s advice: Make sure you’re actually starting a business, not creating a job for yourself. Also, ensure pour costs, food costs, and labor costs are dialed in because they’re the variables over which operators have the most control. Lastly, aim for low turnover.

Takeaway

If we at KRG Hospitality didn’t agree with Castro, Mendoza, or Tober, we wouldn’t share their advice or insight.

The naked truth is that bars and restaurants are going to close. It happens every day.

Mendoza addressed this reality directly. Looking around the room, he said, “Look, some of you motherfuckers ain’t gonna make it.”

While it got a laugh, it was also true. However, one can improve their odds of success by putting the right systems in place; being curious enough to want to know everything about their business and the industry; hiring people for passion, and committing to mentoring and treating them well; and hiring people who will, as Mendoza said, make stress and pain points irrelevant.

It has been said plenty of times that we can hire for passion in this industry, and train for skills. What I hadn’t really heard until Mendoza said it is that we should also hire people who won’t cause an operator’s headaches. About midway through their session, Mendoza advised the room to ask themselves if the person they’re interviewing is going to be a problem or a good fit.

Another truth is that one operator’s failure represents another operator’s future success. However, that’s not possible without a high-level understanding of one’s business specifically and the hospitality business in general.

Image: Shutterstock. Disclaimer: This image was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

February 27, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

The Fourth Member of Your Team

The Fourth Member of Your Team

by David Klemt

When looking at your organization, it’s crucial to realize ownership, leadership, and staff aren’t the only members of the team.

There’s another key member, and their input is among the most valuable. And you rely on them for the success of your business. They’re your guests.

It may seem painfully obvious that your guests are integral to the success of your business. After all, your registers won’t ring without guests coming through your doors, placing orders online or via phone, and spending their money at your venue.

When they become regulars—particularly vocal regulars who tell others about your great business—they transform into unofficial brand ambassadors. That’s fantastic marketing that tends to cost you nothing.

However, their importance goes beyond the monetary. Further, it’s more than just free marketing.

Menu Streamlining

Do your guests provide you with feedback? Actually, scratch that; let’s start again.

Do you provide your guests with a simple, convenient way to give you feedback? And do you seek more than a thumbs up or thumbs down for their experience at your restaurant or bar?

It can be difficult to streamline your menu, particularly if you’re unable to look at every item objectively. There are operators and chefs out there who get attached to their personal favorite menu items. That’s fine, until it’s not.

Perhaps a dish took a long time and a lot of work to get just right. Maybe it was a family thing and you’re proud of it.

But if you’re too proud of it and it’s not selling, it’s just costing you money. Keeping it on the menu hoping it will become a hit is bad for business.

A while back, when Bar & Restaurant Expo was Nightclub & Bar, Chef Brian Duffy shared a simple method for streamlining a menu. You run a product mix report, then separate them into three categories: rock stars, solid performers, and dogs.

The former are your top-selling items, and the middle category perform consistently. But the latter…they don’t sell. Worse, if they require ingredients that you don’t cross-utilize to make other dishes or drinks, they aren’t just stagnant, they’re costing you money.

If an item isn’t selling, that’s your guests—the fourth member of your team—letting you know they don’t want it. Removing such items is an easy way to begin the streamlining process. Some of the best bars and restaurants in the world audit their highly anticipated menu launches a few months after their release. Items that aren’t selling are refreshed or removed.

So, when you encourage your guests to give your feedback, ask them what they think about your menu. Also, ask your staff what guests are telling them about your food and drink.

Your Vision

If you’re anything like our clients (or you are one of our clients), you’ve spent a ton of time envisioning your perfect restaurant, bar, cafe, eatertainment concept, nightclub, or hotel.

With that comes a hypothetical but informed vision of the guest journey. You’ll have an idea of how your guests will use your space.

Well, what if your guests turn that idea on its head? How will you react if guests see your vision in a different way?

On today’s episode of the Bar Hacks podcast, guest James Grant says something that I have also been saying for quite some time: like me, he sees guests as an integral member of the team. They do, to a degree, have influence over your concept.

To paraphrase, Grant says guests are half of the reason people open and operate restaurants, bars, cafes, nightclubs, hotels, etc.

As an example, we have a client who saw their space a certain way. We helped develop their bar concept with their vision in mind. However, not long after opening, our client’s guests showed that they had a different perception of the bar. Our client adapted, and the bar team and guests are happy.

The brand didn’t change. Neither did the space, physically. Nor did the cocktail program. However, one key element did change, as far as the type of bar it was intended to be.

As another example, friends of mine opened a bar years back. The space was meant to be an upscale cocktail bar with a relaxed and sophisticated vibe. That vision was achieved, but influential guests added an element: the bar became a high-energy after-hours spot.

At first, my friends weren’t sure about this change or if they should encourage it. But when they saw that revenue and profits were up, well…sometimes change is a good thing.

Adaptation

You may be very proud of items you have on your menu. Along those lines, you may have a very specific vision for your F&B programs that tell the story of your brand and space.

If an item here or there doesn’t catch on, it doesn’t make you a failure. It can be disappointing if your personal favorite turns out to be a dud with guests; don’t take it personally. It’s just business. The items on your menu should earn money, not lose it.

And if a guest reads through your highly curated cocktail, beer, or wine menu and then orders something “basic,” that shouldn’t be seen as a personal affront.

Now, guests deciding your concept is something you never intended it to be is something else. If this happens, it requires looking at the experience, service, brand storytelling, and even the design with a critical eye.

That said, if none of that is “off,” and if your team is happy and profits go up because your guests see your business in a different way, it may be smart to adapt. This is particularly true if your team is making more money and the unexpected new direction is safe.

Operators have usually been creating their concepts in their minds for years. It can be a shock for guests to transform the business into something else.

But if the business is successful because of how guests decide to use it, is that a bad thing?

Only you can answer that question. It may be best for you to identify the “why” behind the possible concept disconnect and stamp it out. However, it may be best to lean into the unexpected new direction.

Image: Edge2Edge Media on Unsplash

Closeup shot of the flag of the City of Chicago with Wrigley Building in background

October 16, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Chicago to Phase Out the Tip Credit

Chicago to Phase Out the Tip Credit

by David Klemt

In a move that some are celebrating and others claim will kill jobs, Chicago will phase out the tip credit incrementally by the year 2028.

Currently, pay for tipped workers amounts to 60 percent of the minimum wage. Starting next year, that will change.

Beginning July 1, 2024, tipped workers will earn eight-percent increases on an annual basis. This will continue until July 1, 2028. On that date, tipped workers must receive the full minimum wage.

Put another way, the city of Chicago will eliminate the tip credit entirely midway through 2028. To add clarification, this phasing out of the tax credit applies to all 77 of the city’s neighborhoods.

Overwhelmingly, Chicago’s City Council voted for the so-called “One Fair Wage Ordinance.” Thirty-six alderpeople voted “yea,” while just ten voted “nay.”

As one would expect, not everyone is happy that the ordinance was passed on Friday, October 6. Nor are they pleased that Mayor Brandon Johnson signed off on the bill a week ago today.

Specifically, Alderman Nicholas Sposato referred to the One Fair Wage Ordinance as a “job and business killer.”

Further, as reported by Restaurant Dive last week, the Illinois Restaurant Association opposes the decision to eliminate the tip credit in Chicago.

“We wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to move forward with the elimination of the tip credit,” Restaurant Dive reports a representative of the IRA saying in a statement emailed to the publication.

The National Restaurant Association also opposes the ordinance, reportedly vowing to fight any such legislation that introduced throughout the country.

However, One Fair Wage and the Service Employees International Union are celebrating the plan to phase out the tip credit. However, the SEIU would like the elimination to apply statewide.

A Compromise

Attempting to negotiate for legislation they found more palatable, the IRA had proposed a different approach.

Their version would have seen tipped workers make a minimum of $20.54 per hour. However, that ordinance would only have applied to restaurants that generate $3 million or more in annual revenue. Additionally, the IRA proposed tripling fines related to violations of the proposed ordinance.

Had that proposal been accepted, the pay situation would have been unchanged for tipped workers in smaller operations.

In the end, the IRA agreed to eliminating the tip credit over the course of five years to make the transition smoother for operators. This is due, in part, to the possibility of a two-year phasing out of the tip credit being passed by Chicago’s City Council.

The IRA, NRA, and others who oppose eliminating tip credits point to hardships on the operator side. Increased labor costs will lead to increases in menu prices, reductions in traffic and hours, the elimination of jobs, and, ultimately, the shuttering of many businesses.

However, those who support such ordinance point to the financial stability of vulnerable people, and those who work throughout the industry to earn a living wage.

The Future

While Chicago is the largest city in America to vote to eliminate the tip credit, it’s not the first pass such legislation.

The city joins Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon in doing so. Additionally, Washington, DC, will eliminate the tip credit fully by July 1, 2027. Phase one of DC’s tip credit elimination started May 1 of this year.

Of course, the news out of Chicago also comes on the heels of the FAST Act fight ending in California.

These developments beg the question: Which city or state will introduce legislation next, and how will it play out for workers and operators?

Image: Trace Hudson via Pexels

A red pepper resting on top of a bar of chocolate

October 6, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

The Science of Flavour Pairing

In the world of culinary arts, there exists a fascinating and almost mystical aspect that elevates a dish from ordinary to extraordinary: flavour pairing.

The art of flavour pairing is like a symphony of tastes and aromas, orchestrated to create harmonious and memorable dining experiences. As a chef consultant, I invite you to embark on a culinary journey that delves deep into the science and creativity behind flavour pairing.

Whether you are a seasoned industry professional or a curious food enthusiast, this article will unveil the secrets of culinary magic that lie within this art and science.

by Nathen Dubé

The Science Behind Flavour Pairing

To truly understand the art of flavour pairing, one must first grasp the science that underpins it.

Flavour pairing isn’t just about randomly combining ingredients. Rather, it’s about exploiting the complex interactions between different compounds that create flavours.

Here’s a brief look at the science.

The Flavour Wheel

Imagine a vast wheel with hundreds of spokes, each representing a distinct flavour. This is the flavour wheel, a tool that categorizes flavours into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.

Understanding this wheel helps chefs identify complementary flavours and build balanced profiles.

The primary flavours include sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, while the secondary flavours encompass umami, fatty, and astringent notes. Tertiary flavours delve even deeper, encompassing specific aromatic compounds found in various ingredients.

The flavour wheel serves as a roadmap for chefs, allowing them to create harmonious and balanced dishes by combining flavours from different categories.

For example, pairing a salty ingredient like prosciutto with sweet melon exploits the contrast between saltiness and sweetness for a delightful taste experience.

Chemical Compounds

Flavour compounds are the building blocks of taste and aroma. These compounds are responsible for the diverse spectrum of flavours we encounter in food.

Understanding which compounds are shared between ingredients is key to successful flavour pairing.

A well-known example of shared aroma compounds is the presence of vanillin in both vanilla beans and oak barrels used for aging wine. Vanillin is a key aroma compound responsible for the sweet and creamy notes in vanilla. When wines are aged in oak barrels, they can acquire subtle vanilla and spice undertones from the wood, creating a harmonious and recognizable flavour pairing in wines, especially in the case of oak-aged Chardonnay or red Bordeaux wines.

This shared compound, vanillin, illustrates how we can derive the same aroma compound from different sources (vanilla beans and oak barrels) and contribute to the complexity and appeal of various culinary creations, enhancing both desserts and wines.

Contrast and Harmony

Flavour pairing often revolves around the concept of contrast and harmony.

Some pairings work because they contrast flavours, creating excitement and intrigue. Others harmonize, creating a seamless and balanced taste experience.

Consider the classic contrast between sweet and sour in dishes like sweet and sour chicken. The sweetness of the sauce contrasts with the tanginess of vinegar, resulting in a harmonious yet exciting combination.

On the other hand, a harmonious pairing might involve complementary flavours that meld together seamlessly. Think of the classic combination of tomatoes and basil in a Caprese salad. The earthy, herbaceous notes of basil harmonize beautifully with the juicy sweetness of ripe tomatoes.

Umami

The fifth taste, umami, has gained prominence in recent years.

Umami is often described as a savory or meaty taste, and it can be used to elevate a wide range of dishes.

Ingredients that are rich in umami—mushrooms, soy sauce, and Parmesan cheese, for example—can enhance and deepen the overall flavour of a dish.

One popular example of umami-rich flavour pairing is the combination of Parmesan cheese with ripe tomatoes. The umami in the cheese amplifies the tomato’s natural sweetness and creates a more complex and satisfying flavour profile.

Classic Flavour Pairings

Now that we’ve dipped our toes into the science of flavour pairing, let’s explore some classic pairings that have stood the test of time.

Salt and Sweet

This classic pairing is all about balance. The saltiness enhances the sweetness in dishes like salted caramel and chocolate-covered pretzels. The contrast is what makes it so delightful.

When it comes to savoury dishes, the addition of a touch of salt can elevate the overall flavour. Consider how a pinch of salt can enhance the sweetness of roasted vegetables or a perfectly seared steak.

Acid and Fat

The acidity in ingredients like lemon or vinegar can cut through the richness of fatty dishes, creating balance.

Think of a zesty vinaigrette dressing on a buttery avocado salad. The acidity brightens the dish and prevents it from feeling overly heavy.

Spicy and Cool

Combining spicy and cooling elements can create a dynamic and memorable flavour experience.

For example, a fiery hot sauce paired with a creamy yogurt dip offers a pleasing contrast of temperature and sensation. The coolness of the yogurt soothes the heat of the spice, creating a balanced and exciting flavour profile.

Savoury and Sweet

The umami-rich savoury notes of ingredients like bacon or prosciutto can beautifully complement the sweetness of fruits, as seen in dishes like melon wrapped in prosciutto.

The salty, savoury elements create a perfect counterpoint to the natural sweetness of the fruit.

Herbs and Citrus

The fresh, aromatic qualities of herbs like basil, cilantro, or mint can be elevated when paired with the zingy brightness of citrus fruits.

The combination of fresh herbs and citrus can add layers of flavour to salads, marinades, and cocktails.

Modern Flavour Pairing Techniques

While classic pairings are timeless, modern culinary innovation has taken flavour pairing to new heights.

Here are some cutting-edge techniques and trends to explore.

Molecular Gastronomy

This avant-garde approach to cooking employs scientific principles to create unexpected flavour combinations.

Techniques like spherification and foaming can transform ordinary ingredients into extraordinary culinary creations.

For instance, the technique of spherification involves transforming liquid ingredients into tiny, flavorful spheres with a thin membrane. These spheres can burst with flavour in your mouth, creating a unique and memorable dining experience.

Imagine a burst of basil-infused olive oil encapsulated in a delicate sphere served alongside a tomato salad.

Global Fusion

As our world becomes more connected, so do our culinary influences.

Chefs are exploring fusion cuisine, merging ingredients and techniques from different cultures to create exciting and unexpected flavour pairings.

For example, Korean tacos combine the bold flavours of Korean barbecue with the convenience of a taco, resulting in a fusion dish that offers a delightful balance of sweet, spicy, and savory elements.

Experimenting with flavors, techniques and combinations both classic and new, and mastering an array of techniques will elevate any kitchen team’s skills. In turn, that team will elevate the menu, restaurant, and guest experience.

Image: Karolina Grabowska via Pexels

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Barbecue chicken wings, chili peppers, and chili flakes

August 15, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Top-performing Menu Items in the US

Top-performing Menu Items in the US (So Far)

by David Klemt

Thanks to a recent mid-year report from F&B intelligence platform Datassential, we now know the top-performing menu items in the US.

For the low, low price of filling out a handful of fields, you can download a copy of Datassential’s “Foodbytes: 2023 Midyear Trend Report” for yourself.

There’s plenty of useful data packed into this short report. You may find some of the top food items a bit surprising.

But First…

Datassential does more than just list the top mid-year menu performers in their latest report. There are also a couple of interesting datapoints for operators to consider.

The first piece of information is an alarming statistic: 54 percent of consumers are of the belief that “tipping culture has gotten out of control.”

As we’ve reported earlier, it’s likely that a major driver of “tip fatigue” comes from retail. The expectation for consumers to tip at a restaurant, bar or nightclub is ingrained deeply in American culture.

However, consumers throughout America are being prompted to tip after just about every transaction they’re attempting to complete. In fact, it’s not just retail that has been encouraging (in some cases, guilting) people to tip. Some contractors are also adding tip lines when handing over tablets to clients so they can pay their invoices.

One result is that servers and bartenders are reporting lower tips; guests are so over tipping that they’re pushing back against the practice in venues where they’d traditionally have no problem doing so.

Of course, tip fatigue isn’t the only reason consumers are pushing back against tipping. Many people feel that operators should increase what they pay staff. Indeed, some people feel that operators are asking them to subsidize their employee pay. Whether they’d be happy to pay higher prices remains to be seen.

Fads Aren’t Bad?

Whenever we cover trends or discuss them with clients, we caution against chasing too many (or the “wrong” trends). And fads? It can be even riskier to hop on the bandwagon of something that may never even reach the trend stage of its lifecycle.

However, likely due to the ubiquity of TikTok, consumers expect restaurants to embrace fads. According to Datassential, 67 percent of consumers overall “want to see more fads at restaurants and retail.”

That number jumps to 74 percent when focusing on Millennials and Gen Z.

So, while we still caution operators about jumping on fads (or “micro trends”) and trends, that doesn’t mean be too cautious. If a fad or trend works with your brand and won’t cost much to feature, at least give it consideration.

Not sure you’re great at identifying fads that will work for your business? Ask your staff which fads and trends are hot at the moment.

Speaking of Hot…

Alright, let’s take a look at the F&B items Datassential identifies as popular at the midway point of 2023.

Again, I encourage you to download the report in its entirety. You can do just that by clicking here.

But for those who want instant gratification, check out these menu items:

Super Duper: Let’s kick things off with the hottest chain LTO, the Denny’s Super Slam. Per Datassential, restaurant chains have already featured in excess of 2,000 LTOs in 2023. The F&B intel agency tests them all, and the Super Slam is wearing the LTO crown at the moment.
Chef Chatbot: Datassential tapped ChatGPT to create a burger recipe and had Midjourney create an image for the resulting Caprese Avocado Burger. More than half of consumers surveyed—57 percent—want to try it at a restaurant.
Big Winner: Datassential asked consumers a simple question: Which would you rather eat for the rest of your life, a hamburger or a hot dog? A staggering 87 percent chose hamburgers, meaning just 13 percent of consumers would choose a hot dog over it’s burger buddy.
What a Pickle: Back in March we checked out Slice’s Slice of the Union report, and it predicted pickle pizzas would be a hot trend this year. Well, Datassential has crunched the numbers and says 40 percent of consumers are aware of this pizza style already. Looks like Slice may be proven right by the end of the year.
Speed Demon: Curious about the fastest-growing menu item on the US? Well, wonder no more: Datassential says it’s the barbecue chicken wing. Over the past year, they’ve grown 373 percent on menus across the States. Datassential posits the overall growth of chicken and the embracing of flavor trends like Carolina gold barbecue sauce are contributing factors.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll leave you to it. Just remember that when it comes to fads and trends, there’s a fine line between what’s hot, what’s not, and jumping on the wrong one. Good luck!

Image: Ahmed Bhutta on Pexels

Chef handling flaming pan in commercial kitchen

June 30, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Kitchen Parlance, Part One

Kitchen Parlance, Part One

by Nathen Dubé

Entering a professional kitchen might seem like a whole different realm with its own governing rules, and certainly its very own language.

“Clopen?” “All day?” “Behind?” “Covers?” “Deuce,” “dying on the pass”… If these terms sound foreign and made up to you, you’re not alone!

A busy kitchen can be a hot, intense, and stressful environment. Having a full-on conversation takes up valuable time when minutes and even seconds are the difference between a perfectly cooked plate of food and trash.

When actions need to be conveyed quickly and efficiently between two parties or a full team in a loud and fast-paced environment, slang develops out of necessity. Kitchens are no different, with their use of a creative and interesting lexicon.

New owners and operators opening their own concept may find many words and phrases they hear from the kitchen and servers strange at first. This is particularly true of owners and operators who may have little to no back-of-house or serving experience.

To lend a hand to hopeful operators or those opening their doors for the first time, let’s take a look at some of the more popular kitchen terms.

Operational & Equipment Terms

First, let’s take a look at the structural element of a restaurant and how they’re referred to.

Floor

The dining room (or whatever is deemed as guest seating in your establishment) is referred to as “the floor.” When someone asks, “who is on the floor tonight?”, they’re referring to the staff—usually servers—working the floor. Managers will walk the floor to check on guests and aid in service.

Note: The bar area, although it may have counter seating and its own tables, is referred to separately from the floor.

Low Boy

An under-counter refrigerator is called a “low boy” for its below-the-waist positioning, requiring cooks to bend down low to gather ingredients. This can include freezers as well. There are a variety of door configurations, including swinging, and drawer-style. Some even have salad tops where ingredients are kept in the top, under a lid.

Walk-In

A (very) large fridge or freezer, often constructed on site. It has a big swinging door that can be opened from both sides for safety reasons. The majority of raw ingredients—plus some prep and leftovers—are stored here. If you’re wondering where the word comes from, the clue is in the name: it’s so large, you can walk into it.

The walk-in is also notorious for being where restaurant staff go to scream some stress away, as the excellent insulation creates a nice sound barrier from guests.

Mise

The word “mise,” pronounced “meez,” is a slang term for “mise en place.” Mise en place is the French term for “having everything in its place” prior to service. Cooks use “mise” to refer to their own specific set of prepared ingredients, whether in terms of having it ready or not, or even worse, missing.

On the Line

The line, and the term “on the line,” refers to the area in the kitchen where the cooking equipment is located. Of course, this where chefs do most of the cooking during service. A typical line includes a walkway where the cooks work, and a flat table space—usually at the “window” or “pass” (see below)—where they plate, on the opposite side. Not surprisingly, that opposite side is referred to as the “plating area.”

If a concept requires it, there are separate “hot” lines where the hot cooking is done, and “cold” lines, where dishes that don’t require cooking are prepared. Deep fryers, ovens, and ranges are located in the former, and salad stations are located in the latter area. In classic French terms, the garde manger cook usually prepares most dishes on a cold line.

Pass / Window

The pass or window is the area opposite the cooking line where completed orders are placed for server pick-up. Think of passing dishes from the kitchen and you’ll understand this term immediately. Sometimes it will be referred to as a “window” in restaurants that have actual windows into the kitchen line from which food is passed to servers. The pass area is typically where the heat lamps are located, meant to keep dishes warm during a busy service.

The Rail / Board

The term “rail” or “board” refers to a strip of metal mounted to the food window that holds the food tickets (orders) from the kitchen printer in place. This keeps the flow organized and is normally overseen by the chef or line supervisor.

“Calling the board” means the person in charge reads out tickets as they come in, and directs cooking traffic to the other line cooks. Doing so helps to avoid disagreements and chaos in the kitchen. This position is reserved for the highest-ranking or most-talented cook, as it requires excellent cooking and communication skills. “Clear the board or rail” means completing all orders that have come in for the time being.

Chit / Ticket

When a server enters an order into the POS system, a chit or ticket, or even “dupe” (meaning “duplicate,” from the fact that some systems use three-color paper that prints a kitchen copy, a server copy, and an expo, bar, cold line, or pasty section copy), is printed to the kitchen. That ticket is then read aloud to the cooks before being placed in queue on the rail or board. When the food on the order is complete, the copy is marked in some fashion (stamp, marker, pen) and placed under the plate in the window. The server then picks up the food and the chit is “stabbed” on to a spike.

Don’t let spiked tickets fall out of the rail or all hell can break loose and derail a service!

Two-Top / Three-Top

Dining room tables are referred to as “tops” and are identified by how many guests they can accommodate (seats). A table with two chairs is a “two-top” or “deuce.” Tables with four or six chairs are “four-tops” and “six-tops,” respectively.

Covers

Each person who enters the restaurant is a cover: they “cover” one seat. The more covers, the busier a service will be, and vice versa. These numbers are used to project future numbers, staffing requirements, and inventory required. Covers are also a point of pride for kitchen staff. The more covers, the busier the service, and if you can navigate it with few mistakes, the adrenaline rush can directly convince yourself of your own talents.

Dead Plate

A dead plate is a dish of food that’s no longer worthy of the dining room. Sitting in the window too long, incorrect preparation, or even worse, being sent back by a guest results in a dead plate. Untouched dead plates are usually given to dish washing staff or porters; those sent back by guests are tossed in the bin.

Section

A section is how the floor is divided amongst serving staff. Typically, the more talented or senior staff get a bigger section. Designating sections, with all their tables in one close area, helps servers move efficiently during busy periods and keep close tabs on guests. Managers and floor captains will oversee a few or all sections and offer help to the individual servers during busy times or for large parties.

Server Alley

The front-of-house equivalent of the kitchen hot line. This is where everything servers need to do their jobs is located. Extra napkins, spare side plates, cutlery rolls, and cleaning supplies for clearing tables can all be found here. There are usually a few POS terminals here for entering orders.

Team & Guest Terms

These next few slang words are used to talk about certain people.

Expo

“Expo” is the shortened term for “expediter,” or the position of organizing, plating, and (in some cases) garnishing food at the pass. The main responsibility is to makes sure each dish is correct before the food runner or server brings it to the table. This role can be the liaison between front of house and back of house, allowing both teams to do their jobs without having to stop and coordinate.

Busser

Part of the porter team, the busser is the person who clears dishes from a table when guests leave, and drops them in the dish-washing area. The term refers to the bus bin or large plastic tub into which the bussers put all the dishes, flatware, glasses, and debris. They might also be tasked with wiping down tables and resetting them for new guests. Sometimes, the busser will pull double duty and also wash the dishes they bring back to the kitchen.

Trail / Stage

Note: In the foodservice world, “stage” is pronounced “staahj.”

A trail is essentially a training shift during which new team member will “trail” behind a cook or server. This provides the new hire the ability to learn, get comfortable with SOPs, and mitigates any potential mistakes. However, not all establishments have the staffing to offer this scenario and will train a new hire during live action.

A stage is a longer-term trail for a designated period of time. This can be a couple of weeks, a month or two, or an entire season at destination-style dining places, like Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels. The expectation is that this is a learning experience for the cook, who is exposed to new ingredients, recipes, and techniques. An agreed upon time frame is set and the cook trades labor for education.

A Personal Note on Stage

The short-term stage commitment includes the understanding that the restaurant won’t reward you monetarily. We all know the costs of training staff. Imagine investing all that effort and having that person leave after just a month or two.

Now, I despise the term “free labor” for the kitchen or benefiting restaurant. There’s a new argument that has been surfacing over the last few years that stages should be paid internships. I have two problems with this thought process.

One, these are often highly touted restaurants that operate at an elite level, and they’re extremely busy. Having a new body takes up valuable focus and resources from somebody in that kitchen. They are willing to work with you and share all their knowledge and experience.

Often times, there isn’t a chance in hell in getting a job there, and this can be the only way to get a chance at learning from these masters of the craft. Having gained valuable career experience from stages myself, they can be a great alternative if you can’t gain employment with the venues.

Two, those who raise these arguments have no experience in doing them; think they have learned nothing from the stages they may have done; had a bad experience overall; or really have no other alternatives to the points I just mentioned.

Hot tip: If you don’t like working for free, don’t! If you the value in stage, go for it!

Campers

This is a term for people who linger at their table well after they’ve finished and paid. While all guests are welcome to make themselves at home, the problem with campers is that they can take up valuable real estate during busy periods. This is the reason for table time caps at operations that run on the reservation system. They also prevent servers from “turning” tables to serve more guests and increase their tips.

Action Terms

These are some random terms that indicate actions and requests.

Fire

The process of finishing a dish. When an order is printed out, it may have courses such as appetizer, main, and dessert. All courses might be started and cooked to 80 percent completion and then held. The main wouldn’t be fired until after the appetizer. When the person in charge of the line says, “Fire table six mains,” that means finish cooking, plate the dishes, and send them to the pass.

All Day

A very quick way for a cook to request a tally of all the dishes ordered from their section. The line lead will provide totals of each dish, instead of reading out each table’s order. For example, a cook will ask for an all-day on fryers, and the lead will call back, “Six large fry, three medium fry, two poutine, and one chicken nugget.” The cook can quickly add up what they have cooking or need to prepare to fire.

Behind

As you can imagine, in a busy, happening kitchen, there are people racing in all directions in tight spaces. One quick way to avoid collisions around hot equipment and sharp objects is to yell “behind” when passing someone or a station of people. It gives them time to either move out of the way or stay in place to avoid catastrophe.

Other variations include “hot” to indicate hot pots or pans, or the potential of getting burnt. “Sharp” means a knife, and “corner” means coming around the corner. “Behind hot” and “hot, corner” are combinations which mean exactly what you think they mean.

Flash

To reheat a dish, or an item on a plate that sat under the heat lamp too long, or if a guest has requested something cooked further. Usually under a salamander, a convection oven, or a deep fryer for fried food. I’m sure for some establishments (I started out in places where this was the norm), “flashing” means “cooking” an item to well done via microwave.

Heard / Heard That

The acknowledgement that an order has been read by the person running the pass or the line and understood by all in the kitchen. Also works for a direct order to an individual.

In the Weeds

When one station is receiving the majority of the orders at any given time, or the dining room has filled up all at once and all the orders are coming in together, this can create a downward spiral between starting to cook and plating or finishing existing dishes. This is known as being “in the weeds.” The only way to survive is to put your head down and cook your way out. I’ve experienced surviving the weeds and having it ruin an entire service. It all depends on the resilience and talent of the cooks, servers, and leaders involved.

On the Fly

The request for something that is needed quickly. Perhaps the item was missed, dropped, or incorrect, and the rest of the dishes are at the table. Whatever is needed “on the fly” takes precedence over everything else or, worst-case scenario, gets shoehorned into orders coming up.

Stretch It

Kitchen lingo for getting as many portions out of something nearing its end as possible. For example, a saucepan only has enough for four steaks but five are needed. The sauce has completed cooking and the plates are waiting. So, the kitchen needs to “stretch it” and make it work or be down five plates of food.

Waxing a Table

This means giving a table special treatment. This person or these people could be VIPs, return guests, the owner’s family and friends, or an influential food writer. Whoever the are, they’ve been identified and are given a little extra attention by staff.

86

When a menu item has completely run out, the kitchen manager will say the item has been “86ed.” It’s important for the kitchen staff to communicate this to servers as soon as possible so that no more orders are placed for the item.

Family Meal

The pre-service meal enjoyed by all staff on premises. Usually made by the staff from leftovers as a way to showcase creativity and skill.

Comp

Referring to items removed from the bill for an error or because the guest didn’t like it. A comp also comes from waxing a table, of course. It’s important to track comped items for accounting purposes. Comps can be a great way to make guests happy in a pinch. However, owners, operators, executive chefs, and lead bartenders need to be aware of how often comps are being handed out; they can be indicative of quality-control problems or employee theft.

Clopen

This is a portmanteau of “close” and “open.” The dreaded weekend brunch shift comes to mind. Working a busy late Friday or Saturday service and having to come back in the following morning to sling eggs to hungover patrons is a difficult and thankless task. In short, a team member who works back-to-back closing and opening shifts is working a clopen.

FIFO

This stands for “first in, first out,” and references inventory organization, crucial for perishable items. The new items go behind the older ones so that the items that were there first get used first, ensuring freshness and quality. I once had a chef who decided that “FIFO” stood for “fit in, or f*ck off.”

These are just some of the slang terms in the culinary lexicon used to convey quick understanding when under fire. You might also hear differences in dialect between cultures and regions. I’ve worked in both Toronto and Montréal, and there are similarities and differences between terms used in Ontario and Québec, French and English, and English and South American Spanish.

So, next time you’re out dining and you hear one of these words or phrases, you might be able to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes. Tip well, be polite, and try something new!

Image: lasse bergqvist on Unsplash

March 22, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Spring Clean Your Business!

7 Ways to Give Your Business a Spring Cleaning!

by Kim Richardson & David Klemt

In case you’re so busy you didn’t catch it, we’re officially—finally—in spring, and that means it’s time to spring clean your business.

Below you’ll find a spring cleaning slideshow with helpful advice from KRG Hospitality consultant Kim Richardson.

Each slide contains her best advice for reviewing, refreshing, and improving your business. For your convenience, Kim organizes her spring cleaning advice in just seven slides.

It’s time to look at your business through fresh, energized eyes! Your team, guests, and bottom line will thank you.

[metaslider id=78443]

Note: Unable to view the slides above? Each slide is transcribed below.

1 Re-plant Your Core Values

Review your core values with your team.
Post them where everyone can see them daily.
Foster core values through consistent training.
What kind of experiences are you offering your team?
Hire a coach to help you discover your core values.

2 Tidy up Your Guest Journey Map

Walk through your business from the guest perspective.
Review your website for content, ease of use, current info.
Review your technology and potential pain-points.
Touch up items that may have become run down: paint, signage, furniture, equipment, etc.
Review your flow of service and communication.

3 Spruce up Your SOP & Training Programs

Evaluate how well current SOPs are being followed.
Evaluate how well you continuously train your team.
Make updates as needed and add any new procedures.
Ensure SOPs are easily accessible by your team.
Discuss your standards during pre-shift meetings.

4 Deep Clean Your Financial Books

Review your budgets and projections for the year ahead.
Review and organize the financials tracking processes; receipts, invoices, files, etc. and digitize what you can.
Consider updating your financial tracking technology or bringing in a third party to assist.

5 Dust off Your Business Plan

Evaluate the progress of your business plan.
Acknowledge what you have accomplished.
Are you on track to achieve your goals this year?
Do all of your goals still make sense?
Make any necessary updates and create a game plan to stay on track; review every 30 days.

6 Freshen up Your Marketing Plan

Budget time and money to dedicate towards marketing for the next 90 days.
Create strategic campaigns that will create awareness, build a database, and retain your targeted customers.
Consider working with a third party or having someone dedicated to this role internally.

7 Declutter Your Mind

Perform a calendar audit.
Review goals and formulate action plans.
Practice mindfulness through journaling or meditation.
Consider hiring a mindset coach to help you organize your life and your business.

Image: PAN XIAOZHEN on Unsplash / Slideshow Images: Kim Richardson / KRG Hospitality

March 21, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

IRS Proposes New Tip Reporting Program

IRS Proposes New Tip Reporting Program

by David Klemt

The Internal Revenue Service is proposing a voluntary tip reporting program which they’re calling the Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (SITCA).

Making the announcement via Notice 2023-13 back in February, the IRS is giving people the chance to comment on the SITCA proposal.

Per the IRS, their intention is to “take advantage of advancements” in POS, scheduling, and e-payment technology. How do they intend to leverage all this tech? In short, the IRS is proposing that POS systems will have to process payments and tips in the same way.

To clarify further, if someone pays by credit card, they’ll have to tip via credit card. If a guest pays in cash, they’ll have to tip in cash. So, should SITCA become the industry standard, the days of paying with a credit card but leaving a cash tip will be over.

However, in my eyes, this isn’t a simple “modernization” of IRS processes.

If the IRS is proposing a new for businesses to process tips, they’re looking to catch non-compliant businesses and tipped workers. A likely culprit or contributing factor to this IRS scrutiny? The retail venues now asking for or suggesting tips when customers check out.

So, it would be wise to reiterate to your team the need to report tips accurately. And remember, business owners need to ensure they’re complying with tip reporting as well. Getting flagged for inaccurate reporting is a great way to catch an audit, penalties, and a huge bill.

Nuts and Bolts

According to the IRS, SITCA will reduce taxpayer burdens. And, of course, the service claims the program will also reduce their own administrative costs.

Additional “features,” per the IRS website, are as follows:

The monitoring of employer compliance based on actual annual tip revenue and charge tip data from their point-of-sale system. There will be allowance for adjustments in tipping practices from year to year.
Participating employers demonstrate compliance with the program requirements by submitting an annual report after the close of the calendar year. This reduces the need for compliance reviews by the IRS.
Employers participating in SITCA will receive protection from liability under the rules that define tips as part of an employee’s pay for calendar years in which they remain compliant with program requirements.
Participating employers have flexibility to implement employee tip reporting policies best suited for their employees and business model. Policies must be in accordance with the section of the tax law that requires employees to report tips to their employers.

Requests for Comment

Interestingly, Notice 2023-13 contains a request for comments in four specific areas:

By what means a technology-based time and attendance system may be used by tipped employees to report tips. This includes tips in cash and other forms of tipping made through electronic payments methods (other than a credit card), regardless of whether the tips are received directly from customers or through tip sharing arrangements.
How tip sharing practices vary across service industries and how the SITCA program can support employer participation while accommodating potential differences in Federal, state, and local labor and employment law requirements.
By what methods employers of large food or beverage establishments participating in the SITCA program may meet their filing and reporting obligations under section 6053(c) and also satisfy the SITCA program requirements for compliance, while minimizing the administrative burdens on taxpayers and the IRS.

Those interested in providing such feedback have until May 7, 2023 to do so. The IRS has set up two ways to provide comments on Notice 2023-13:

Mail: CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2023-13), Room 5203, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044; or
Electronic: Visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (indicate IRS and Notice 2023-13) and follow the instructions for comment submission.

Personally, I have more questions than comments. Bear in mind, the IRS will stop accepting comments, feedback, and questions on May 7, 2023.

Image: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

January 17, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

American Trends 2023: Technomic

American Trends 2023: Technomic

by David Klemt

Foodservice research firm Technomic has some interesting predictions for the hospitality industry in the United States of America this year.

On the topic of operations, Technomic foresees more negotiating power among workers. Additionally, the firm looks at both the economy and pent-up guest demand.

When it comes to food, the US and Canada have a trend prediction in common. And as the image atop this article signifies, a particular color may be a hit on menus in 2023.

Before we jump in, Technomic’s 2023 Canadian trend predictions are here. Last year’s Technomic predictions for America are here. Curious readers can review the firm’s 2023 predictions in their entirety here.

Okay, let’s go!

Think Pink

I want to address this prediction first. According to Technomic, pink is going to be the F&B color of 2023.

As they explain, the color is fun, nostalgic, and photogenic. Yes, operators must still consider the Instagram-worthiness of their menu items. That may change one day, but it’s not today.

Per Technomic, pink also signals that a food or drink may have antioxidants.

Some of the items the research firm names specifically: pink pineapple, pink salt, pink celery, cara cara oranges, and schisandra berries.

Pickle It

This is the culinary trend that, per Technomic, Canada and America will share in 2023.

Along with fermenting, pickling gives the kitchen and bar teams a unique experimentation method to explore. So, encourage these teams to get creative and add pickling and fermentation to your next menu update.

Of course, that’s not the only reason to consider putting pickling front and center. For many, these preparations indicate a healthy F&B choice. Think kombucha, as an example.

As we know, healthy choices continue to be top of mind for many guests.

One more note: Technomic suggests being transparent and identifying the pickling and fermenting processes your team leverages to produce each menu item.

Economics

For those looking for a bit of optimism in these trying times, Technomic may have what you’re looking for. This year’s report, What We Foresee for 2023, says the following about the possibility of a recession:

“There is reason for optimism in the coming year, however, as any recession is expected to be relatively mild.”

Yes, that’s just one source’s opinion. However, Technomic is known for their voraciousness when it comes to data. So, if this firm is optimistic it could be a solid sign that things are looking up in 2023.

“Pent-up consumer demand” and variations thereof have been making the rounds since 2o21. However, it’s still a relevant phrase.

As it pertains to 2023, Technomic believes on-premise dining may “bounce back” this year. In fact, the firm suggests that people want to socialize and dine in person now more than ever.

Also, delivery and pickup times appear to be growing. So, plenty of people will see in-person dining as the more appealing option in 2023.

Operations

In part due to legislation addressing minimum wage and workplace conditions, employees may have the upper hand this year.

Add the fact that many people seeking work know many operators are dealing with a labor shortage and their negotiating position looks even stronger.

So, we could finally be in for a significant change when it comes to how the industry looks at compensation. More and more workers—and the guests they serve—are taking issue with tipping. Instead, many people outside and inside of the industry want to see operators pay staff a competitive, living wage.

Of course, there are also the hospitality professionals who prefer tips to minimum wage. In 2023, the industry could experience the start of a sea change. Time will tell.

For more predictions and this Technomic report in its entirety, please click here.

Image: Alex Gruber on Unsplash

January 16, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Toxic Mindsets that Hinder Success

5 Toxic Mindsets that Hinder the Success of Your Business

by Jennifer Radkey

Your frame of mind matters, and if you want a team and business that’s thriving and growing, it’s time to examine your own mindset.

How you show up day to day in your business and in your life will either hinder or promote your success. Like the popular phrase goes, “It starts from the top.”

You can set the tone for the day with the energy you bring. As Anese Cavanaugh, author of the book Contagious You, states, “Whatever we put out there and whatever we take on affects our ability to influence, lead, and create the impact we want.”

A positive mindset is contagious: it can inspire, motivate, and make others feel good. A toxic mindset is equally as contagious: it can halt growth, increase unhappiness, and lower productivity.

Here’s a list of five toxic thoughts that lead to a negative mindset and can hinder success.

Blame Game

Always looking for someone else to lay the blame on when things go wrong is a surefire way to a toxic team environment. If you’re quick to blame others when things go wrong, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and examine why something went wrong in the first place.

Was there inadequate training provided? Are there no clear systems to follow? Do you have an environment that’s hostile to asking for help? Fault rarely lies in one person only; there are typically several factors in play.

A positive mindset will examine facts, look at all potential causes, and then come up with solutions. Blame never enters the picture.

Second Guessing

Not being confident in the choices you make hinders growth. Uncertainty in your decision making leads others to question or doubt your role as leader.

If you don’t have the utmost confidence in making decisions, and it’s your business, how can you expect your team to have confidence in you or the work that they do?

This doesn’t mean that you have to make snap decisions without thinking them over. Planning and deliberating over the right move to make is critical to success. But once the decision is made…it’s made. If it doesn’t work out you can then problem solve to get back on the right path.

Second guessing your decisions along the entire way is only going to slow you and your business down.

Absolutism

“It’s my way or the highway.” Absolutism is the inability or refusal to consider others’ ideas. This toxic thought process destroys team culture and growth.

As an owner, you’re heavily invested in your business. Therefore, it can be challenging to let go of how you think things should be done and consider different approaches. However, failing to listen to the ideas of others on your team will build walls and possibly create resentment. That’s definitely not a positive atmosphere to work in.

Be open-minded to doing things differently and show interest in the recommendations of others to promote instead of hinder success.

Hyper-negativity

Sometimes when you want to succeed it’s easy to zone in on the negatives: “This isn’t good enough.” “We aren’t making enough money.” “We don’t have enough followers online,” etc.

The desire to do well can make you hyper-focused on what isn’t right in order to fix it, instead of noticing what’s really great and celebrating that instead. Yes, you need to be aware of areas that need improvement, but you also need to be equally aware of the positive and promote it.

Think of a conversation with two random people you meet at a party. The first person grumbles about the weather, complains about the food, music, etc., and scowls. The second person is smiling, laughing at jokes, and genuinely interested in getting to know you.

Who would you rather be around?

Settling for Average

Nothing will kill growth and success faster than settling for the way things are because “that’s the way it’s always been,” or because “it’s working.” You want more than just “it’s working.”

You want to thrive, to make more money, to gain more followers, to hire more team members, to open more locations. If you aren’t living your absolute best life, if your business isn’t performing at its absolute highest level, then there should be no settling.

Settling for average teaches your team to settle for average, and that means your customer is settling for average. Avoid this toxic mindset by continuously setting goals (even small ones) and looking for ways to do better, feel better, and be better.

While it’s completely normal to fall into these toxic thoughts from time to time, it’s refusing to allow them to become you daily mindset that’s important.

The amazing thing about the human mind is that it can be changed—you can work on improving your mindset. Trust me when I say that you will not regret it.

Cheers to professional and personal growth!

Image: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

November 7, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Tipping is on the Ballot in Washington, DC

Tipping is on the Ballot in Washington, DC

by David Klemt

Out of concern that people who work for tips aren’t making minimum wage in Washington, DC, Initiative 82 is on the ballot.

This is interesting for several reasons. One of which is the fact this isn’t the first time this issue has been voted on in DC.

Back in 2018, Initiative 77 was presented to Washington, DC, voters. The initiative took the $3.33 per hour minimum wage for tipped workers up to $15 per hour, the full minimum wage.

In June 2018, the measure was approved by voters. However, the Washington, DC, Council held a vote and repealed Initiative 77 after if had been passed.

Phil Mendelson (D-Chairman) of the Washington, DC, Council, introduced the bill that ultimately repealed Initiative 77 in October 2018.

“The Council amends laws all the time. And if a law is a bad law it should be amended or repealed,” said Mendelson at the time. “It doesn’t matter if the law was adopted by Congress, the voters, or ourselves.”

Further, Mendelson claimed that tipped workers themselves—bartenders, servers, valets, manicurists, and more—didn’t hold a favorable view of the passing of the initiative.

“77 may be well-intentioned, but the very people the Initiative is intended to help are overwhelmingly opposed. If we want to help workers – protect them from harassment and exploitation – there are better ways than Initiative 77,” Mendelson said.

One council member, Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), opposed repealing Initiative 77 and addressed claims that it was harmful to tipped workers.

“Although I take these claims seriously, in my view they are speculative and not borne out by the experience of the other jurisdictions that have one wage,” said Cheh.

Support

Whenever increasing tipped worker wages to full minimum wage comes up, we tend to encounter the same arguments for and against.

Currently, the tipped hourly wage in DC is $5.35 per hour. In comparison, full minimum wage in DC is $16.10 per hour.

Now, as the law reads, if a tipped worker’s wages don’t equate to full minimum wage, their employer is expected to bridge the gap.

The key argument for the passing of Initiative 82 is simple: tipped workers should make at least minimum wage. These workers deserve the stability of knowing how much they’ll make each shift and earning a living wage (consistently, hopefully).

Those who support Initiative 82 also say that since the measure doesn’t outlaw tipping, tipped workers would earn more than minimum wage.

Opposition

Opponents, however, argue that the initiative will harm tipped workers. Some say that operators will cut shifts and increase prices in response to Initiative 82 passing. This will, of course, lead to servers, bartenders, and other tipped workers making much less than they did in the past.

Traffic may also decrease because it’s assumed that operators will increase costs significantly.

There’s also the argument that’s often (if not always) made when this topic comes up: Tipped workers themselves don’t support these initiatives.

“I have not met a single server who wants this,” Washington, DC, bar owner David Perruzza told the Washington Blade. Perruzza added, “The people who support this don’t know anything about the service industry.”

A Few Questions…

I’ve made no secret of my cynicism when it comes to politicians and their relationships with our industry.

My main argument was made for me: the Restaurant Revitalization Fund saga. We watched for months as Congress failed to replenish the RRF, leaving more than 177,000 operators and their staffs to fend for themselves. This, after months of dangling replenishment in front of all of us. Ultimately, they abandoned us.

Tellingly, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) referred to RRF replenishment as a “bailout.” And apparently he doesn’t think much of the challenges operators have faced since the start of the pandemic, asking, “Where’s the emergency?” The closures of tens of thousands of restaurants and bars, often the cornerstones of communities across the country, doesn’t rank as an emergency, apparently.

So, Initiative 77, Initiative 82, and similar measures beg a few questions:

Do politicians actually ask their tipped-wage constituents their thoughts on this topic before introducing these ballot measures?
When these initiatives are being considered, do people just ask a few operator friends their opinions?
Do local, state, and federal politicians really have a grasp of our industry?

One thing is certain: Industry eyes across the country are on Initiative 82. If it passes, we can likely expect similar measures to be introduced in cities and states. Should it fail, it may be a while before another jurisdiction sees this type of initiative again.

Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

September 5, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Books to Read this Month: September 2022

5 Books to Read this Month: September 2022

by David Klemt

This month’s engaging and informative book selections will help you develop next-level leadership skills and dial in your drink menu.

To review August’s book recommendations, click here.

Let’s jump in!

Your Restaurant Culture Sucks!: Stop surviving. Start thriving. Escape mediocrity

Donald Burns, the Restaurant Coach and friend of KRG Hospitality, completes his Your Restaurant Sucks! trilogy. For the third book in the self-improvement and hospitality industry leadership series, Burns tackles culture.

In Your Restaurant Culture Sucks!, Burns helps owners, operators, and leadership team members understand the importance of workplace and company culture. Instead of complaining that “nobody wants to work anymore,” look inside and find out why perhaps nobody wants to work for you. That kind of honesty helps implement real change, change that sets you apart and improves recruitment, hiring, and retention.

“All restaurants can buy from the same vendors and hire from the same labor pool. What separates the good, from the great to the outstanding is culture!”

Subtract

Sometimes changing our outlook and improving our leadership skills is about streamlining.

“We pile on ‘to-dos’ but don’t consider ‘stop-doings.’ We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract.”

With Subtract, Leidy Klotz explains how changing how we approach solutions can be life changing. Maybe we need to stop adding and start subtracting to improve our strategies.

Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em from the Award-Winning Bar

If you travel to New Orleans and you’re in this industry, you probably make sure to include Cure on your itinerary. For more than a decade this 2018 James Beard Award winner (Outstanding Bar Program) has been integral to the city’s craft cocktail scene.

Whether you’re after a deceptively simple beer and shot or a cocktail made with a rare, allocated bourbon, Cure is there to elevate your French Quarter visit. And soon you’ll be able to bring Cure home with you, and to your restaurant or bar as well. Available now for preorder, Cure includes 100 cocktail recipes that tell the tale of NOLA from past, present, and future.

Craft Beer Design: The Design, Illustration and Branding of Contemporary Breweries

Anyone who pauses to consider beer can design knows that it’s becoming nearly as important as the liquid. With thousands of breweries all over the US alone, how does a brewer stand out? How does a small, independent craft brewer grab a potential new customer’s attention in a sea of options? In part, through their can designs. Of course the beer itself is crucial and the most important element. However, a consumer has to be motivated to try a beer before they learn how good it tastes.

Craft Beer Design dives deep into craft beer design, featuring real-world examples and interviews with the designers themselves.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Curiosity keeps us learning. The pursuit of knowledge keeps us sharp. Learning helps us improve ourselves, our leadership, and our operations. The belief that we’ve learned all there is to know, however, prevents us from learning to our own detriment.

Much like Subtract teaches us how to remove rather than add, Think Again proposes a new approach: unlearning and rethinking. Why do we get defensive when we’re wrong? Why are we so afraid of challenges to long-held beliefs? Admitting when we’re wrong and seeking facts is a strength, not a weakness.

Image: Mikołaj on Unsplash

June 9, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Tip Elimination is Back on the Table

Tip Elimination is Back on the Table

by David Klemt

Several operators across the country feel that as we emerge from pandemic life, now is the time to once again try eliminating tips.

Back in 2015, Danny Meyer made a decision about tips in his restaurants that sent shockwaves through the industry. Over the course of five years, Union Square Hospitality Group (Meyer’s group) implemented a hospitality included policy to eliminate tipping.

To be sure, it wasn’t only Meyer’s restaurants that examined and put no-tipping policies in place. However, Union Square was certainly among the highest-profile operators to try it out.

Good Intentions

Per the CEO of Union Square and founder of Shake Shack, attempting to do away with tipping was about promoting equity in the hospitality.

Tipping has been linked to the propagation of sexism, racism, harassment, and exploitation.

Meyer has also said that he believes it leads to wage instability, and studies have shown it contributes to outright wage theft. And, as anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows, tipping can create a gap—and therefore tension, among other issues—between the front of house and back.

However, it has proven difficult to for no-tipping policies to take hold. This is in part because tipping is so ingrained in American society. And, of course, there’s also the issue of increasing menu prices; some people are fine with tipping but not with paying more for menu items.

Guests aren’t the only individuals who have pushed back against eliminating tips. Unsurprisingly, the very people Meyers and other operators are trying to help have rejected no-tipping policies.

Many servers and other FoH staff have made it clear that they’re not interested in working for an operator who eliminates tips.

Reinstatement of Tipping

Around eleven months ago, Meyer announced he would reverse course on his hospitality included policy. According to reporting, Meyer had done so not because of pushback against increased menu prices (about 15 to 20 percent to cover increased labor costs).

Rather, the five-year experiment never worked exactly as Meyer and Union Square had hoped. As he told Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart during a Washington Post Live conversation back in March of this year, the policy wasn’t sustainable.

“It worked to a degree, but it was not sustainable, and the biggest reason it wasn’t sustainable was we could never quite do all the things we wanted to do for our team members like make sure that a formerly tipped employee could make as much as she made when she was tipped, make sure that we had a 401(k) plan, make sure we had a really, really generous family leave policy,” Meyer told Capehart.

And then there was the impact of the pandemic. Meyer finally pulled the plug on his no-tipping policy after New York allowed restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining a year ago. Reportedly, Meyer didn’t see how he could stand in the way of his staff making additional money.

2021 Experiment

Interestingly, several news outlets are reporting that operators around the country are at least considering doing away with tips this summer.

Again, this is at least in part due to the pandemic. Restaurateurs who have wanted to implement policies similar to Meyers’ Hospitality Included see this year as the time to try.

We still don’t know exactly what post-pandemic life will be. However, a hospitality industry reset is certainly coming—and it’s absolutely overdue.

So, it does make sense that as operators can change guest and staff perception of tipping and living wages as we all emerge from pandemic life and face a new world.

For example, the Chicago Tribune has reported that Big Jones, owned and operated by Paul Fehribach, has implemented service fees so he can cover offer servers between $18 and $25 per hour. A 20-percent fee for in-person dining or placing an order with a live person, and a 10-percent fee attached to online orders go to Big Jones payroll.

While there has been some pushback, the Chicago Tribune reports that Fehriback says Big Jones reactions are trending toward the positive.

It’s possible that tip elimination simply doesn’t work for some restaurant categories. As an example, those policies may work out in the casual dining space but not fine dining. Time will tell if it works at all.

Image: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

The ReFire Format

Situation 2: Imposter Syndrome and Onboarding

Just One Training Shift?!

Three Months

Leadership Sitting at the Bar

Coaching, Holding People Accountable, and Setting Standards

Is There Even an Onboarding Process?

“If you can’t trust the team, it’s the process that’s wrong.”

“It’s all solvable.”

The Power of Adaptability

Embracing Innovation

How to Embrace Innovation

Driving Resilience

Real-World Resilience

Core Values in Action

Our Core Values

Conclusion

The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts

Slow Drinks

Tropical Standard: Cocktail Techniques & Reinvented Recipes

The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails

Hacking the New Normal: Hitting the Reset Button on the Hospitality Industry

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Campbell’s Foodservice sources:

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Modern Flavour Pairing Techniques

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Floor

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A Personal Note on Stage