en-us http://www.rimag.com/blog/%blog_id.html?nid=4410 Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use November 9, 2009 http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/1290050329.html?nid=4410 Barr Mansion Artisan Ballroom in Austin, Texas, is a 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant that managed to reach a nearly zero-waste status. They reached this accelerated level of environmental sustainability because they have solid methods in place for making green practices – ones that can be ap… Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:38:06 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1800000580/post/930050293.html?nid=4410 (This is the 3rd post in a series on the five critical areas where managers go awry.) Avoiding change is human and very understandable, but dangerous - even for a brand. We spend a great deal of time planning how to implement changes, but we rarely plan for resistance. Unit-level resistance t… Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:33:05 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/1750050175.html?nid=4410 Have you ever worked for someone who was at the top of the food chain within an organization and thought, “Wow, that person really energizes me. I want to better myself so I can take their job”? Or have you thought, “How is that person in a leadership role when they can’t mak… Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:50:53 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/1450050145.html?nid=4410 Want your staff and customers to be a part of your green efforts? Employees and patrons can greatly affect your restaurant’s environmental impact. Involving them in the process and allowing them to make greener choices is one of the best ways to expand upon your environmental initiatives. &… Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:27:33 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1800000580/post/1130050113.html?nid=4410 (This is the second post on of the five critical areas where managers go awry.) All too often, corporate management assumes that a successful unit-level manager is a good leader. Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily true. Many unit-level managers “run good numbers” but do not … Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:33:29 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/910000491/post/570050057.html?nid=4410 A number of really revealing news articles hit the listserv system last Thursday and Friday. I imagine many of you read them after seeing the teaser headlines in your email updates. I was struck by two in particular. One, with a by-line from the Oct. 21 Sacramento Bee, reported on a new Zagat … Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:34:11 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/1160049916.html?nid=4410 We’ve all heard it—a chef saying, "I cook with love" or "I cook from the heart." Usually, I find the chef is saying this as a reason why he doesn’t have written recipes or follow classic, time-proven cooking techniques and instead is using shortcuts no diner wan… Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:48:00 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/1480049748.html?nid=4410 When you can’t use something anymore or you want to get rid of it, consider a different kind of "recycling" - give it away instead of throwing it away. Donate leftovers to a local food pantry. Years ago, this was difficult to do because of rigid city health codes. Now, it’s… Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:39:49 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/850049685.html?nid=4410 Recently I’ve come across individuals who are green to the restaurant business and already thinking about leaving their current first jobs. Why? They’re not used to management, everyone else has left after three months and/or they think could do better elsewhere. Joining a new kitc… Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:35:34 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1040000704/post/1350049535.html?nid=4410 In 2002, when selecting a restaurant to complete my cooking school’s externship requirements, I picked up Gourmet’s 2001 October issue, its restaurant issue. Already dog-eared, the magazine opened nearly on its own to the list of what the… Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:07:35 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/1000049500.html?nid=4410 When it comes to going green, quick-service restaurants provide excellent venues for change. These restaurants are designed to be one-stop-shops for customers, but with that comes great opportunity for waste. The GRA’s advice is this: Don’t give anything away for free. You’ll pay f… Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:27:00 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1800000580/post/60049406.html?nid=4410 I just read an interesting white paper entitled "Five Critical Management Derailers: Symptoms and Remedies," authored by HR consultancy Profiles International. The paper is not industry specific, so I thought that you might benefit from it, too. The paper identifies several common mana… Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:21:17 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/1460049346.html?nid=4410 Did you ever walk your serving lines prior to the start of dinner and wonder about a particular dish, "What it that?" On college campuses, we run several units and cook so many styles and varieties of foods that when you add up all the recipes and SOPs (standard operating procedures) we… Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:00:18 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1040000704/post/1360049336.html?nid=4410 Now that every Tom, Dick and Harry (or at least, every Laurent, Govind and Bobby) has his own upscale burger joint, it’s rare that a new burger-themed restaurant really catches my eye. Yet I’m intrigued by Burger Studio, a recently launched concept created by – here’s th… Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:56:30 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/20049202.html?nid=4410 Waste vegetable oil has become a valuable by-product of the restaurant industry. Most restaurants produce quite a bit of it, so it’s only logical to figure out ways to use the grease once it has served its cooking and frying purposes. Thanks to modern ingenuity, there are a handful of ways res… Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:06:15 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/910000491/post/280048628.html?nid=4410 It’s Labor Day Weekend, there is a raging debate about Health Care in the nation, and my thoughts are consumed with the people who I used to employ and what health insurance meant to them. I’ve owned, with partners, two restaurants over the past 30 years.&n… Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:53:29 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1800000580/post/1750048575.html?nid=4410 The depth sounder on our sailboat stopped working this spring. Although this is an annoyance, it's not a critical issue, so I decided to wait until the end of the season to correct the problem. However, many of our guests on the boat asked worriedly about the nonoperative sounder. I … Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:13:07 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/620000662/post/1670048567.html?nid=4410 I've blogged about chemicals and pollution before, but it's always smart to keep the conversation going. Here are a few tips to keep you creative and resourceful as you incorporate a pollution- and chemical-reduction plan into the daily practices of your restaurant: 1. Use one m… Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:52:20 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/840048484.html?nid=4410 You're in a restaurant ready to spend hard-earned money. When you ask if you can change the dressing on a salad, your server says: "I am sorry, we are not making modifications to our menu right now." How does that make you feel? For me, I immediately think, really? ... You can't change the… Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.rimag.com/blog/1390000739/post/350048435.html?nid=4410 Like many of you, I am a big fan of cooking shows. PBS, Food Network, Top Chef, I watch them all. Increasingly, I find myself getting more and more frustrated with the lack of professionalism being displayed as more and more "chefs" try to make it big through the media and not kitche… Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:52:06 PST