Tasting Success Digital Magazine

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Winter 2011


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CONTENTS

Business

InsightsTechnology

16FEATUREMark McEwan: His journey to success4 Apps and Appetite

28 Why Digital Menus Could Work For You

4

Features

8 Would You Make a GoodRestaurateur?

10 Upgrading Your Skills

26 Menu Psychology

14 Crafting Culture

22 Restaurant Cost-cutting 101

7 Staffing Your Restaurant

11 Sommeliers and Your Restaurant

12 Using Locally Grown Foods

20 Dishing Inspiration

24 Unwrapping Red Tape

3tastingsuccessmagazine.com

Follow us on Twitter: Tasting_Success

Like us on Facebook: Tasting Success Magazine

Marketing5 Positioning Your brand

6 Internet Coupons

Winter 2011

Apps and appetite


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F

or the last six months, our editorial team has been out hunting or issues that matter toorontos restaurateurs. We have sat down with many o you, heard your thoughts and weknow your concerns.

oronto is a very diverse place with over 3,000 restaurants. We know the pressure involved inbuilding your own distinct brand. Tats why in our premiere issue, we bring you innovative andexciting new ideas in areas ranging rom stang matters to digital technology and red tape. Wehave the tips on how to improve your menus with eye-catching designs, how to use social mediato market your business and how locally grown oods give your business an advantage.

Tis is only the frst o many issues o smart ideas that will not only inorm you but also stir upyour own thoughts as to how to expand your bottom line.

asting Success aims to help your business grow by becoming your go-to guide and orum on theins and outs o running a restaurant. We want to hear rom you about the concerns you have inyour industry or ideas you want to share with others.

Cheers,

Tasting Success Editorial Team

Editorial

CoNNECt WitH US: twe: @tsng_Success Fcebk: tsng Success Mgzne

Our premier issue!Chees he pemee en f tsng Success

3 Winter 2011


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Social and Digtal Marketing

Blog.TO

By: yeamrOT Taddese

TeCHNOLOGy

Hospitality social media expert Jill Clark Clark begins her work

by looking for keywords related to the venue she is represent-

ing. When she is on Fish Bars Twitter account, she searches for

words like oysters in Toronto, dinner in Toronto or OssingtonAvenue, where the restaurant is located.

I look for real time conversations about any of the keywords

Im looking for, she said.

If she nds that a person likes wine, she suggests they try the

special for $5.99 at Fish Bar. Marketing through social media

is much more targeted.

Qunice Bistro owner co-owner Jennifer Gittins uses Facebook for

information that needs a larger platform, like new a new menu

and pictures. While time restricts her venture into other outlets

like YouTube, Gittins nds that social media advertising is a win-

ner compared to print.

Ads do nothing. They cost you a lot of money and do nothing,

Gittens said blatantly.She added that a small ad in Toronto Life costs her about

$1,000.

It brings me about Ill go really high - 25 people, she said.

One thing is for surewhen restaurant owners take their brands

online, customers will take their complaints to the same venue.

People complain and now they do it online, Clark said. She

added that the key is to apologize quickly and sincerely.

99 per cent of the time, it works, she said. All they want is for

the business to know theyre pissed.

din T.O. Now mgzin

Were actually the

only restaurant guide in

the world that integrated

restaurant menus on our

app as opposed to justlinking them to [restaurants]

website, Pantelley Damou-

lianos, vice-president of the

company, said.

Thousands of people also

use Foursquares app on

their phones to locate the

nearest restaurants in their

vicinity. 35,000 new users

join foursquare everyday.Restaurants can add special

offers users can see when

theyre in the area. Best of

all, its free to use!

Blog.TOs iPad and iPhone

app has a lot of the web-

sites content, which allows

users to access and share

restaurant information,

inluding photos, reviews,location and phone number.

Users can also look up Dine-

Safe info if it is available.

Now Magazines food critic

Steven Davey goes out to

Toronto restaurants and

reviews them based on their

food, ambience and service.The review, which appears

in both print and online, is

automatically uploaded on

their restaurant app.

Apps and Appetite

Tweeting: Social Media and your Restaurant

Fouqu

Cting onlin pnc bon wbit

4 Winter 2011

Photo by: Yeamrot Taddese


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MARKETING

Marketing is the best way arestaurateur can distinguishtheir eatery rom its com-

petitors. At the very least, they shouldknow their target demographic, theimage they want to project and theavenues and types o media they plan to

use or advertising.Pantelly Damoulianos, the vice-presi-

dent o Dine.O says online presence isincreasingly becoming important.

Tere are so many other websitesout there and i [restaurants] brand isnot portrayed in the right way, it couldharm their business, he said.

Restaurateurs can dierentiate them-selves rom the competition by appeal-ing to quality and price, unctionality ordesign, sales promotion and advertis-ing, availability, and location.

Restaurateurs should also considerFacebook, witter, email blasts, restau-rant directories or marketing online aspart o their advertising strategies.

An independent [restaurant] will setup a Facebook page or witter page andthen they kind o orget about it and itdoes more harm than anything else,Stratos Papachristopoulos, president oDine.O, said.

I restaurateurs choose to include

themselves in online restaurant-specifcdirectories, they need to make surethey work together with the site hoststo portray their brand the way theywant. I they leave their profle or thehost or the consumer to update, theinormation presented may be wrong

or outdated,missing links,photos andother inorma-tion.

Manytimes withthese websitesyou can havea disgruntledemployee putting up a negative review,or you can have a competitor puttingup a negative review, Papachristopou-

los said.But it is also important to consider

what the reviewers are saying, especiallyi two or more people are posting theirconcerns.

I they keep on seeing the samereview over and over again then theyshould look into that and do somethingabout it, Papachristopoulos said. Asmart restaurant owner would look atthat and look at it as constructive criti-

cism rom the users.Te owners o the Crepe Kitchen in

Oakville make sure to never miss anopportunity or customer-suggestedgrowth when the situation arises.Within their frst two years o business,they have already altered their hours

o operation, addeditems to their menu,and started bottlingand selling their ownhomemade dressing,all based on customerssuggestions.

You have to takethe opportunities whenthey come, Anns Siles,

co-owner o the restaurant, said. Da-moulianos agrees.

As a marketing company we can

only fll up so many seats at the restau-rant, but whether or not the customeris going to come back depends on therestaurant, he said.

While marketing your brand is great,Damoulianos added the restaurant willalways speak or itsle.

Branding is always great ... butalways stick to the basics which is ser-vice and great ood, Papachristopoulos

said.

....If [restaurants] brandis not portrayed in the right

way, it could harm their

business.

- Damoulianos

BY: KAITlYNN FoRd

brand

How to

your restaurant

6 Winter 2011


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Kirsten Parucha had a birth-day party to plan but she wasstuck with nding the right

venue. Her riends were nohelp, but they made it clear

that they didnt want to spend a lot o money.

Parucha turned to a couponing websiteand a ew nights later, armed with a 20 percent o coupon, Parucha and her riendswere dressed up and seated at a restaurantthat would have originally been out o theirprice range.

Couponing websites are the newestmarketing tool available or restaurants thatallows them to advertise to a much larger au-dience than the traditional orm o market-ing: the newspaper.

A lot o restaurants do traditional market-ing in magazines and newspapers like Now

Magazine but that has blind spots. You dontknow how many people will come into yourrestaurant rom that ad in Now Magazineunless it is an oer o some sort, Je Herm-sen, President o LivingDeal.com, said.

Couponing websites displays local dealsor users who sign up using their email ad-dress and enter their location. Tey then getdeals rom salons, dental oces, restaurantsand services in their neighbourhood. It alsoshows how many people bought certain

deals and how much time a user has lef topurchase a deal.

Hermsen points out that the website isa good way or restaurants to nd out howmany people have bought their coupon aswell as how many people use it, because theywould have to print out the coupon and take

it with them to the restaurant.But JJ Sytsylt, supervisor at Lai Wah

Heen, an upscale restaurant, said couponingwebsites might not benet all restaurants inthe same way. According to Sytsylt, a sisterrestaurant, Lai oh Heen, used a couponingwebsite to market themselves when businesswas slow.

For an upscale restaurant you are goingto need customers who can aord it, ex-plained Sytsylt.

But with these couponing websites youget people who go to try it out because

theyve heard o it beore and just want to tryit out.

She said the restaurant did get businessrom the coupon but it slowed down againafer the oer expired.

Hermsen said that could be a problembecause the coupons are oered to prospec-tive patrons at the restaurants cost.

I have to keep telling restaurants its notabout the cost, Hermsen said. Its aboutmarketing and building your brand.

Internet Coupons:

MARKETING

By: Nadia Persaud

A simple offer brings thousands of customers

Switching it up:Casa Barcelona, a

Spanish restaurant,

hosts amenco dancers,

mariachis and belly dancers

every weekend. But when

the Bollywood awards were

in Toronto this summer, they

offered Indian style dancing.

Different music

appeal to different

audiences:Miranda Ramrop, manager

of Peoples Chicken, says, If

its jazz on Saturday, we get

a typically older crowd, but

during the week when we

have more top 40s kind of

bands than you see more of a

younger crowd.

You dont have too

look far:A lot of entertainers

will typically approachrestaurants looking for places

to play. We get emails and

phone calls all the time from

artists looking for a place

to play. What we do now is

ask someone to send us a link

for a website that goes to a

video or something that we

can listen to a band perform

and judge on that, Ramrop

said.

You dont alwayshave to charge a

cover:If you charge a cover, it

might deter patrons. Ramrop

suggests increasing the drink

during entertainment hours

and encouraging patrons to

spend a certain amount of

money.

EntertainingYour Guests

Winter 2011


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8/30

INSIGHTS

S

o youve decided you want to try running a restaurant. Maybeyou have a great idea or youre a antastic cook. But hold onor a moment. Being a good che or having a great concept

doesnt mean your restaurant will succeed.According to Heather and Andy Dismore, authors oRunning

a Restaurant for Dummies, there are key traits a person must haveto be suited or the ood business. In their book, they list passion,presence, creativity, tolerance, exibility, positivity, leadership,business sense and schmoozability - most o which can be learnedon the job.

Out o all the traits, the Dismores believe that business sense andschmoozability are the most important traits needed to succeed.

Business sense is essential and sadly, oen overlooked, saysHeather. So many people get into the restaurant business or theapparent un and excitement, without realizing that it is, rst andoremost, a business. Heather added that a restaurant is run much

like any other business, with the same challenges like managingpeople, retaining customers, and marketing your business and met-rics or success such as controlling costs and turning a prot justlike any other business.

I youre not running your business by the numbers, you wontbe running it or long, she says.

Te Dismores dene schmoozability as the ability to make thediner eel welcome, at home, and important in a room ull o otherpeople that youre also tr ying to make eel important.

Its oen the reason that a diner chooses your restaurant overanother, adds Heather.

Further down the list o important traits are creativity, leadershipskills and passion.

I think that passion and creativity are innate, says Heather.Tese two traits give you the drive to develop the other key traits,in a sense.In a real lie example o creativity at work, Andy witnessed a Chi-cago restaurant requiring servers to wear double-sided tape to thebottoms o their shoes to pick up loose pieces o debris on theircarpeted oors. At the same restaurant, the menus were changeddaily to use the reshest ingredients available. Special menus werealso created at a moments notice to accomodate guests with spe-

Why Personality

MattersYour attitude could makeor break your business

by: JeSSIca Lee

Pangaea rest

manager Pete

Geary says

restaurateurs

should lead th

staff by

example.

8 Winter 2011


9/30

cic allergies or ood preerences.Heather says once a restaurateur has passion or the

business and a curious, creative mind, they can use them todevelop leadership skills, become increasingly exible andhone their business skills.

Without passion or creativity, she added, a restaurateurcannot sustain the positive energy needed or their busi-ness.

Ali Gaeeni, a manager at Scaccia Italian restaurant, saysthat restaurant managers should like their jobs.

You have to try to stay positive. You have to enjoy whatyou do, he says.

I a restaurateur doesnt have passion, they will ulti-mately ail to keep up with the stresses o the business. Yourpassion will also ensure your staf understands the visionyou have or the business. It afects their perormance andthe way they treat customers.

Mark McEwan, a Canadian restaurateur and owner o

several restaurants, two catering businesses and a grocerystore, says that restaurateurs should know what they aregetting into.

[Its] very very important that you dont all into a posi-tion or the wrong reason, he says. You have to have anego, but you also have to let other people have an ego. Youhave to be air. You have to be demanding o people butrealistically demanding o people.

Peter Geary, owner and manager at Pangaea restaurantbelieves that a good restaurateur should lead by example.

You [have to] roll up your sleeves [sometimes], he says.Tough he usually works behind the bar, Geary says that

i servers are busy with other customers, he will help out

with their other tables.When it comes to hiring staf, McEwan believes in being a

good judge o character. Heuses his instinct to decidewhether an employee shouldbe red based on their ac-tions.

You [have to] listenintently and you [have to]observe people. I mean, youask a person a question andtheyll usually tell you whatyou want to hear. But you

watch them in action, you see them actually executing. Teycant really hide it then. So its very very important that youobserve people and watch them in their daily operation andthen you get a realistic portrayal o who that person is.

Also essential to any trade where customer service isinvolved are communication skills. Both Gaeeni and Gearystress the importance o handing people well. On a dailybasis, restaurant managers must ensure customers are happyand their employees eel appreciated.

You need good people skills, good conict resolution

skills, Geary says.At the same time, managers should be exible and toler-

ant to the many diferent types o personalities they encoun-ter in their restaurant. o maintain a steady cash ow, theyneed to be accepting o all the preerences o their custom-

ers, and work hard to accomodate their needs.Whatever we need to do, we need to do to make sure the

customer experience is as good as we can make it, Gearysays.

Like any other business person, restaurant managers alsoneed to be persistent in their goals. McEwan believes hissuccess in the ood industry is the result o hard work.

You have to be ver y determined to see it through, hesays. You have to be very dedicated to the aspect o serviceand quality and product and the relationship you have withthe client.

Its a tough business in one way. But once you get theormula moving and going, i you have a good sort o think

tank o people working with you, then you can keep a goodculture going in the kitchen and the ront o the house.

Tough McEwan has never taken a business course;he learned how to run his restaurants and grocery storethrough experience.

Heather agrees that you learn a lot o what you need toknow on the job.

In this business, time on the oor and in the trenches isthe ultimate teacher.

Geary adds that your colleagues could also school youjust by doing, or not doing, their jobs.

First guy I worked with in London was just brilliant onthe ront door, so I learned a lot o those skills by watching

him and seeing how he handed it, he says. Being aroundbad restaurant managers is also a learning experience as

well because it shows how not to manage arestaurant.

Also critical to success is a sense that goodenough isnt, Andy says. What was cuttingedge and new yesterday is pass and tired to-morrow.

Having a prescence in the restaurant countstoo. Even i a restaurant can unction on its ownwithout a manager to supervise the staf, theDismores encourage restaurateurs to visit theirestablishments requently so staf know they are

there and will not be tempted to slack of.Making your presence known to diners also ties in withschmoozability- customers like to interact with owners andmanagers.

Andy encourages restaurateurs to do their research andknow the market. I there is a restaurant that packs inguests night aer night, he says to talk to the guests and theowner to nd out why. Oen, the owners pride will loosentheir lips and cause them to spill their secrets to success,which is highly useul inormation.

INSIGHTS

Winter 2011

You have to try to staypositive. You have to enjoywhat you do.

-Ali Gaeeni


10/30

Stafng:Choosing the best people for your business

BY: KAITLYNN FORD

BUSINESS

Finding qualied sta and keep-ing them too is a leading con-cern in the restaurant industry.

According to a 2009 survey o 20national and regional oodservicechains by the Canadian Restaurant andFood Association, Te average an-nual turnover rate or an hourly paidemployee is 104.8 per cent at a quick-service restaurant and 62.5 per cent ata casual or amily dining restaurant.

Bliss Associates says that the costand impact o employee turnovercan be grouped into our major cat-egories: 1) costs due to a personleaving, 2) hiring costs, 3) trainingcosts, and 4) lost productivity costs.

ExecSearches.com in their article,Connecting Mission and alent, sug-gests the best way to ensure hiring aqualied che or cook is to know what

you want, how much you are willingto pay, use your networks to identiytalent, reerence all nalists, and letcommon sense be your nal judge.

WHERE TO GO

Consider avenues that attract a largequantity o jobseekers with variedqualications and skills, such as o-rontos National Job Fair and raining

Expo.

It is important to bear in mind thereach o the internet and employ-ment-based websites like Monster.ca and Workopolis.com. LinkedIn isthe Facebook o business network-ing websites. Tese websites servenearly the same purpose as job airsand training expos with regard tothe volume o applicants and skills,

training, and qualication diversity.

For the Back o the House positions,colleges and universities are a greatplace to nd up-and-coming new tal-ent. Ofen colleges will have their stu-dents complete internship programsas part o the learning experience anda way to gain practical, real-world.

yler Cardy has been a hiringmanager or imothys World Coeein three dierent locations, since 2006.

While there are some things you cando prior to hiring an employee to en-sure that you dont make an oversight,Cardy says that you can never be 100per cent sure about the type o personyouve decided to take a chance onuntil they start.

You may see a resume that looksreally great but until you meet theperson, you dont really know.

Photoby:KaitlynnFor

d

10 Winter 2011


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here is one product in a restau-rant that guarantees a high rewardon investment: wine. A bottle o

wine in a restaurant can be marked upas high as three times its retail price. Telabour cost associated with uncorkingand serving a glass o wine is signicantlyless than any other restaurant service.

But in order to reach this level o highreturn, restaurants cant rely on amateurs,they instead have to hire sommeliers.

Armando Mano, owner and certi-ed sommelier at Centro Restaurant &Lounge says sommeliers enhances theexperience o the guest without makingthe guest eel they lack knowledge. Allthe servers here are certied sommeliers.

A sommeliers job could be as sim-ple as telling the guest a short his-tory about the wine the guest has se-lected or the region the wine is rom.

Marinno Goazanez, a certied som-melier and manager at Ciao Wine Barsays he introduces himsel to patrons andrecommends wines based on the patronsprice range, the oods they have orderedand the type o wine they are looking or.

Ciao Wine Bar carries between 300-350 labels, which are available by thebottle, but only a ew o the options areavailable to buy by the glass. Meanwhile

Centro has over 600 labels in houseand about 30 wines to buy by the glass.

A lot o people [at Ciao Wine Bar] liketo get bottles, Goazanez says. But not alot o people do get to enjoy a ull bottlebecause they dont have enough time, theyhave to drive or not enough people at thetable want to enjoy the same type o wine.

However, Ciao Wine Bar re-corks the re-maining wine or patrons to take home.Goazanez helps patrons select wines by

recommending certain wines based onthe seasons. Inwinter I choosemore ull bod-ied wines es-pecially or theby glass pro-gram which isthe strongestpoint on my

wine menu.In summer, I bring more lighter wineslike Pinot Noire or a Burgundy.

Tis changing wine list also starts tobuild regular clienteles because its like astarting place where you are learning anddrinking at the same time, Goazanez says.

Mano agrees that many patrons goto his restaurant to learn more aboutwines but another reason is because

they trust the sommeliers selection.Just because a guest says my budget is

$100, doesnt mean you should choose awine thats $100. I would pick one thats$75, because i you can blow them outo the water with a cheaper priced wine.You build a better rapport with the cus-tomer and this builds good customer

relations so they come back, he says.Te two restuarants do not participatein orontos Bring Your Own Wine Pro-gram but or dierent reasons. Ciao Wine

Bar does not allowpatrons to bringtheir own bottleso wine to therestaurant whileCentro Restaurantcharges a $35 cork-age ee to deerpeople rom bring-

ing in cheaperbottles o wine rom the nearby LCBO.I can tell you that i you come here

or $35 you can get a much better bottleo wine, Mano says I want to discour-age people rom bringing things that arenot special, i you want to bring a bottle owine rom home that is an older vintageor a gif and you dont really cook at home

than by all means the $35 is justied.

Wine:What a sommelier can do for you

BY: NADIA PERSAUD

BUSINESS

PhotoS:Na

diaPersau

d

11Winter 2011

Just because a guest saysmy budget is $100, doesntmean you should choose awine thats $100.

-Armando Mano


12/30


13/30

Ches in oronto aregearing their menus to asustainable trend: locallygrown oods.

Bonita Magee, project manager oGet Local, a program rom BritishColombia brings restaurants andarmers together.

Teres an odd disconnect withwhat people are eating and their lack oknowledge o where its coming rom,Magee said.

Te program has an innovative wayo not only encouraging local oodsbut also showcaseing what Canadianrestaurants.

People need to know the reasonsbehind what theyre eating and ches

are now becoming more interestedin local oods. Were actually notproducing as much local as whatpeople are asking or, a disappintedMagee said.

Accordingto theCanadianFoodInspectionAgencylocal oodis denedas beinggrown 50 km o where the item is sold.Local arms are also less likely to usehormones in their oods.

By choosing locally grown ood,restaurants can server resh ood,

support the local economy and reducepollution since the ood travels lessdistance. ..Its better than just takingout rozen items, derosting and justserving it, Magee exclaimed. People

want localoods!

DebMackay,the armmanagero Cooksown Green,located

in Tornton, Ontario, has been inbusiness since 1988 and has armland o nearly 100 acres with only 70per cent being used. She was in therestaurant industry or 25 years beore

Giving you an edge:

FEATURE

I think chefs have more

fun with local ingredientsand menus.- Andrika Dias

locally grown foodsBY: HinA JAsim

Toronto restaurants are embracing locally grown foods to add a unique edge to their establishments and support

Ontario farmers.

Pho

toby:HinaJasim

11 Winter 2011


14/30

Local food is somethingyou can trust, its not beinghandled by someone fromGod knows where.

- Andrika Dias

FEATURE

joining the arm 10 years ago.She says she knows the needs o

restaurateurs and tries to deliver only thebest products. I have to make sure theproducts are cleaned and sanitized beorebeing delivered, Mackay explained.

Te arm is well-known or their salads;seedlings used or garnishing and rootvegetables like carrots, beets and potatoes.

Local ood has been happening ornearly 20years nowand we wereactually oneo the rstarms to beinvolved inthe now well-known trend,Mackay saidwith a smile.

Cooksown caters out to restaurants like Booca,Pangaea, Canoe and Harbor 60. Teyalso provide service to major hotels likethe Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and theSheraton.

Teres more availability with localoods now than there was 10 years ago andches preer it, Mackay said.

According to Restaurant Central, asurvey done by Ispos Reid showed 86 percent o Canadians believe ood produced

in Canada is sae. Eight out o 10 agreeits important to know where your oodcomes rom. Another survey done by theCanadian Restaurant and FoodserviceAssociation this year ound that choosinglocally grown oods is the leading trend inthe business. Te CRFAs also claims thatorontonians spend 20 per cent o theirood expenditures on local products.

Adam Dolly, the head che at HanksWine and Bar, located at 9 Church St.,only cooks with local products. Te owner,Bryan Burke, took over the restaurant rom

Che Jamie Kennedy two years ago andcarried on Kennedys committmentto local armers.

We have a wide variety oitems available, or example,our asparagus is unbeatable andstrawberries, which come resh romthe armers market, Dolly said. Ususing local oods is a way o supportingour local armers and the money is beingspent in our economy and city.

Ninety per cent o our menu is localoods.

Te restaurant gets all their cattle beerom Cumbraes Farm in Ontario and theirseaood comes rom Lake Erie and Huron.

We make sure we get our producerom a long-time supplier, one theownerhas known or years. Our produce comesin daily, seaood is maybe twice a week,Dolly added.

orontoresidentAndrika Diasis a restaurantethusiast andenjoys localood trendbut nds thatit doesnt suither studentbudget.

Its kind osad that you have to pay more or ood justbecause the ood is coming rom a certainamount o kilometers [away], Dias said indisappointment.

Mackay says customers are getting whatthey are paying or.

Our products are more expensive thana retailer but its because everythings doneby hand, by all o us here she explained.

For Dolly, locally grown oods alsomake or unique dining.

Using local oods willmake us stand out rom otherrestaurants, its a bettertasting productand I believe itwill cost lessto use localitems andits resher,he said.

Whatsthe

diference between a local ood item versuan imported one?

Lets use asparagus as an example,Dolly said.

Its sweet and juicy rom Ontario buti you get it rom Mexico, its duller intaste and color. Our strawberries are muchricher in taste and bigger in size, compareto ones rom Caliornia, he said.

You as a customer know where theoods coming rom, or you should know.Youre not just supporting local oods butalso the local wineries we have. I thinkches have more un with local ingredientsand menus, Magee laughed.

Local items like burgundy radish,baby pea tendrils and purple basil are allexamples o items used to decorate andgarnish dishes and the names sound exotiand un.

Local ood is something you can trustits not being handled by someone romGod knows where. I think local oodtends to be ancier and in my opinion, ithas an expensive menu, Dias said.

Restaurants and small local armshave a mutually beneicial reslationship,Mackay said.

According to Cooks own, Canadianproduce gets the premium price in theU.S. market because it has more lavoursand Canada has the cheapest ood in theworld.

Che Dolly explained one setback withusing local oods.

Sometimes the items do get limitingits a real ly hard season or produce

You have to go out o the box, gosomewhere else to get speciic

oods, he said.But one thing is or

sure, Dolly said. You asa customer need to know

whats in your ood, I eelits necessary to spread

local ood in the

economy.

Winter 2011


15/30


16/30

Aserver at RendezvousEthiopian restaurantwalks out of a busy kitch-

en with a f resh, furiously smokypan of roasted coffee beans.

Guests enjoying injera and wot

dinner at throw out their arms towave the aromatic smell to theirtables.

Owner Banchi Kinde knowswhat it takes to get even themost unadventurous Torotonianshooked on Ethiopian food.

Walking into an Ethiopianrestaurant is a challenge for manypeople, she said. She lookedat guests tearing injera, a thinpita-like bread, with their fingersfrom a shared platter. They use

the piece to scoop some wotorstew and gobble up the bite-sizeroll.

When you eat with yourhands, it creates an attachmentwith yourself, said a soft-spokenbut firm Kinde. Thats whyEthiopian food makes you fall inlove with yourself.

Its a bold statement, but oneKinde strongly believes in. Thekey to getting customers to comeback for more, she said, is to

explain the Ethiopian cultureof eating, likegursha puttinga piece of injera and wotinto afriends mouth.

Its an intimate thing, she said. Once they [customers]find out [about gursha] next time they want to bring theirwives or someone else.

Kinde mentioned a recent episode ofThe Simpsons inwhich Marge becomes adventurous and orders the crazi-

est thing on the menu forher and her children in anEthiopian restaurant. Afterfinding out aboutgursha,the kids could not stop stuff-ing food into each others

mouths even after they wenthome.

Breaking the barrier uten-sils create and introducingEthiopian food as bondingexperience makes people-want to come back for more,Kinde said.

The commercial isalready made. [The custom-ers] are all yours.

Although hospitality isa generic rule for restau-

rants, Kinde says its one ofthe qualities of Ethiopianculture her restaurant takesadvantage of.

When people go toEthiopia and come back, thefirst thing they talk aboutis about our hospitality, notreally the food, she said.

When they come backhere, they expect the sametreatment.

In a growingly diet-con-

scious society, the large se-lection of vegetarian dishesin the Ethiopian palette also

drives business to Rendezvous, Kinde added. But despitethe spice-intolerance nature of many non-Ethiopians,Kinde believes its important to retain the original ingredi-ents.

The way Ethiopians eat it is the way its served, shesaid, adding that Ethiopian food has many

Yeamrot Taddese looks into how you can use culture to

entice even the most picky eaters

Rendezvous Ethiopian restaurant owner Banchi

Kinde pours Ethiopian coffee.

Crafting culture

14 Winter 2011

FEATURE


17/30

dishes that arenot spicy. Water-ing down the spicydishes compromisesauthenticity, shestated.

Authenticity issomething Jay Yoo,the operationsmanager at NamiJapanese restaurant,also values.

From the foodto dcor and staffuniform, Japaneseculture is imbed-ded in the wholerestaurant, he said.

A lot of Japa-

nese restaurants areactually Korean- orChinese-owned. AtNami, 99 per cent ofstaff speak Japa-neseour head chef is from Japan.

Authenticity at Nami is also seen in how the staff dotheir job, Yoo added.

Theres a strong sense of team work [among the staff],which is very Japanese, he said.

Most of these staff, he stated, have worked at Nami for avery long time and keep the 25-year-old restaurants foodand service consistent.

We havent been in business this long because of a one-hit wonder thing, he affirmed. We try to make the diningexperience consistent. Every time people come, they knowwhat theyre getting.

The wait staff at Nami are dressed intraditional Japanese kimono, somethingAdam Waxman, a food writer at DINEMagazine who has eaten around the world,believes adds to the dining experience.

If you go to a Japanese restaurantwhere the waiters are wearing kimono andanother one where they are wearing blackpants and shirts, how you relate to your

waiter is different, he said.But authenticity in clothing, and espe-cially food, is something only those whoknow about the culture in question can recognize, hedeclared. Authentic food, Waxman added, can make onerestaurant better than another but that its not somethingpeople think of when theyre hungry.

The motivation for going out for dinner is often deter-mined by hunger, he said. Youre eating for fuel. If youwant to have a quick lunch, who cares about authenticity?

He added that people often settle for authentic enough

but rarely accept bad service or little value for money.Many ethnic restaurants in Toronto, Waxman noted,

alter original recipes either because the ingredients are notavailable or because they want to cater to what they believeCanadians find delicious.

Berber Moroccan restaurant assistant manager MedhatLotify agrees. Owned by Italians who love Moroccan cul-ture, a first glimpse at the downtown restaurant preparesits patrons for a true Mediterranean experience as far as

ambiance and entertainment are concerned.The tent ceilings, dim lighting and red cushions onbench sofa seats give a feel of a different world. Belly danc-ers move around the restaurant ringing shimmy sounds

of North Africa. But when it comes to thefood, Lotify said local touches are a must.

You cant do everything Moroccan, hesaid shaking his head. You have to addNorth Americanelements to suit [Cana-dian taste].

Moroccan food can be very sweet andbuttery, Lotify said, adding that it couldbe hard to savour for those who dont havethe acquired taste.

The same goes for drinks. While Berberbrings Moroccan wine, it also has wines

from other parts of the world because guests have theirpreferences.

Even when changes are made to accommodate localneeds, there are problems. After eating braised lamb withprune sauce for dinner, customers call to complain aboutstomach problems.

Its not a problem with the food, Lotify chuckled, add-ing that prunes are simply a natural laxatives.

Nami Japanese restaurant prides itself in serving authentic food. All staff at Nami speak Japanese.

...Ethiopian foodmakes you fall in

love with yourself.

- Banchi Kinde

1Winter 2011

FEATURE


18/30

Mark McEwan moves like a sh in water at his high-end grocery store in North York. He is the boss

aer all. He laughs with his sta, adjusts products and greets customers with a sincere smile.

Dressed in a pressed navy blue suit with a pale blue dress shirt underneath, he looks every bit the

part o a proud owner.

Aer over 35 years in the ood industry, McEwan has opened our restaurants, a grocery store and

two catering companies. He has also published two books, stars in two television shows and launched an

eco-riendly pots and pans line.

Te road to this point, however, has not been easy.

He rst decided to become a che in 1976, aer nishing high school.

Actually, a lot o people thought I was sort o crazy to be going into the business, he

says. Tey had no understanding o ood. You tell people that youre going to be a che today

and they go oh thats great. Back in my day, they looked at you like youd bumped your head.

Back then, the Food Channeldid not exists, nor did the media blitz revolving ood and

restaurants.

It was a very dierent playing eld, McEwan says.

He took an apprenticeship in the kitchen at Sutton Place, an upscale hotel in downtown

oronto, and eventually became the executive hotel che as his career progressed.

MarkMcEwan

Words and photos by: Jessica Lee

shares his secrets to success

I sold my car, I took

our wedding moneyI didnt tell my wife

this I took all the

money for the wedding

and bought a share for

the restaurant.

FEATURE

16 Winter 2011


19/30

Tat was my rst big job. And then rom there, I seg-

wayed into restaurants, he says.

In 1985, he bought Pronto restaurant with two other busi-

ness partners.

Aer doing the hotel or two years, I was bored already,

he says. I looked around and thought I dont want to be here

my whole lie. I dont want to be at a ood and beverage meeting

every Tursday and listening to the same people talk about why

they cant things done.

McEwan was passionate about his new restaurant venture

and did what he had to do to make ends meet.

I sold my car, I took our wedding money I didnt tell my

wie this I took all the money or the wedding and bought a

share or the restaurant.

I went rom [earning] $65,000 a year [at the hotel] to a

$32,000 salary.

At the time, Pronto was already a successul restaurant.

McEwan and his team kept the pot bubbling and in 1990,

opened a new restaurant, North 44. It was not easy.

When you go to the bank and you want to open up a

business, you sort o sell your soul, says McEwan.

McEwan and his partners split shortly aer opening North

44. His partners ended up with Pronto and McEwan got North

44.

Enter the recession.

With $2 million in debt and a restaurant to run, McEwan

FEATURE

Winter 2011


20/30

continued to work in North 44 and managed to establish a regu-

lar clientele. Finally, in 2002, he was ready to embrace another

challenge. He opened his second restaurant, Bymark, in the -

nancial district, which has gone

on to become just as successul

as North 44.

Success is a curvy road.You have to work it, work it,

work it all the time. You have

to nd an idea, and i it doesnt

work, you have to gure it out

and be tenacious about it,

McEwan says.

Tough he has never taken

any business courses, he has a natural talent or it. As a young

entrepreneur, the changing o weather meant McEwan mowed

lawns, raked leaves and shoveled driveways.

Te moment I was old enough to get a job, I got a job. Ithink its natural that people sort o all into [business], states

McEwan.

McEwan knows that guests at his restaurant like to eel

special, and makes time to chat and meet with them. He

knows what he wants and expects his employees to deliver

it. He tries to visit all o his restaurants every day to oversee

the sta and keep a watch or new needs that may present

themselves.

im Salmon, general manager at One Restaurant in

Yorkville, one o McEwans eateries, describes him as very

on the ball.

McEwan is up-to-date on the latest trends but also uses

good old-ashioned logic to make his decisions. Deciding

to go with the more costly paper bags to be eco-riendly

at his grocery store as

opposed to the cheaper

plastic bags shows how

attuned he is to the

green progression that

is occurring in the busi-

ness industry.

Hes a very astute

businessman, says

Salmon, who has been

an employee o McE-

wans or 17 years. Hes

very smart. He knows

exactly what gures

need to go he knows

the numbers.

Salmons boss also knows that quality control in a res-

taurant is extremely important.

You dont ever get that moment to open again, McEwan

says o restaurants.

McEwans expectations are ex-

emplied in his V series, Te Heat

with Mark McEwan. In one episodewhere the company was catering

a large event, despite doubts rom

his sta, McEwan outlined exactly

what they could do in the time-

rame and made it clear in a stern

manner what he expected them to

accomplish.

Hes a perectionist, rst and oremost, and hes very simple

and air but at the same time he demands a lot, Sash Simpson,

executive che at North 44 and a long-time employee o McE-

wans, says.

When working with new employees, McEwan relies on his

instinct, which he says are generally right. Employees, he says,

are essentially the most difcult equation o the business to

control.

I dont even believe in the three strikes youre out rule,

McEwan remarks, I believe certain things, one strike and

youre two thirds out the door. Even a hint o it again, youre

gone. Because I know [the character] resides in you and I

dont want to have to deal with people like that.

He says that the ailure rate o new employees in a new

business is relatively high. When he was opening one o his

restaurants, the general manager was red within two weeks

I think [being a middle

child] is a benet. I thinkwhen youre young and you

get too much aenon for

the wrong reasons, I dont

think its good for character.

McEwans ONE Restaurant, located in the glitzy Yorkville district, is a prime spot for socialites

and celebrities.

FEATURE

HIRING AND FIRING

18 Winter 2011


21/30

or ailing to meet standards.

You never know until boots are on the ground and you

start adding pressure to the bottle what happens to a person.

Ten you see the true character o a person come out. And

until theyre tested, you dont know, McEwan says. His

employees agree.

He expects his team to work as hard as he does. I he

thinks youre not working hard and not doing what you

should be doing, hes got no time or you, Salmon says.

Simpson is grateul or the position McEwan gave him

and or everything he taught him in the kitchen.

For me to take over and run [North 44] or him was a

blessing, Simpson says. What he showed me is being really

good at what you do, and that is what he is.

Pretty much everything he touches turns to gold.

Salmon adds.

Not one or supercial talk or time wasting, McEwan

established an empire at age 54 simply due to ocus and hard

work. Where other people like to talk endlessly over plans

but never set their plans to action, McEwan is the kind o

person who gets things done. He sets his mind to his goals,

makes plans, assigns projects to the sta best suited or the

job and waits or it all to come to ruition.

I dont have a lot o patience or unnecessary meetings

and endless structure and paperwork. I like to be hands-on.

I like to see things come about and I think by me control-

ling it, I can be very spontaneous in that way- create a lot o

change and a lot o action in a short period o time.

Hes very strong-minded, Salmon says. Hes not

wishy-washy at all.

McEwans strong vision o what he wants and extensive

expertise in the eldsuch as knowing what diners want,

what would look good in his grocery store have so ar

brought success. Every detail, down to the employees uni-

orms, were meticulously planned and thought over.

McEwan believes his unrelenting personality comes

rom being a middle child in a large amily. He emphasizes

that everything he has, he had to work hard or.

I think [being a middle child] is a benet. I think when

youre young and you get too much attention or the wrong

reasons, I dont think its good or character.

Out o all his projects, McEwan elt that the most difcult one

was opening the grocery store.

I think it was probably the most satisying [to complete]

because it was probably the biggest thing Ive ever done. Id talked

about a store or ten years. Probably a good ten years, says McE-

wan.

o sit across the street on the park bench and actually see the

store operating was quite a thrill, he remarks.

Having just released a new cookbook on Italian ood last

month and opened an Italian restaurant (Fabbrica) last year, there

is no telling what he is up to next. Tere are book signings to be

done, oods to be taste-tested, events to cater, and decisions to be

made.

I like what Im doing at 54 and I think thats a good place to

be, so Im a happy guy, he says.

McEwan begins his day by working out at 7:30 a.m., then immediately hits the ofce to start his work.

FEATURE

WORKING HIS WAY TO THE TOP

LOOKING BACK

Winter 2011


22/30

RestaurantCost-cutting 101

How to save on expenses you dont need

It is a common practice or pe ople to cut the at o o theirmeat beore cooking it. Similarly, when running a restau-rant, it is essential to cut the at o o whatever is holding

your business back rom making higher prots. In otherwords, slashing the costs o what is not necessary is importantto the nancial health o your establishment.

ypically, the expenses are split up with a third o spendinggoing into hiring labour, a third going into ood, and the restgoes towards everything else, including rent.

In a Canada-wide survey o 2,000 restaurants, Te Bot-tom Line, a guide that has statistics o C anadas ood businessbudgets reports that the average Canadian restaurant spent31.4 per cent on ood and beverages, 26.1 per cent on salaries,

wages and benets and 12.2 per cent on rent in 2010. Terest was spent on entertainment, utilities, and other

expenses.Richard Wade, a hospitality management proes-

sor at Ryerson University and restaurant consul-tant, suggests that no more than 10 per cent o the

costs should go into rent.Since the cost o rent is oen not fe xible, variable

costs in running a restaurant are usually limited to justlabour and ood.

o save on labour costs, Mike Wilson, a restaurant consul-tant based in oronto, advises having the management teamwork longer hours to cover some o the hourly paid employ-ees, since managers are paid by salary. However, Wilson warnsthat this method should not be casually employed as it putsmore stress, sometimes too, much on managers, which can

lead to urther problems like mismanagement o the sta.Wilson, who has 35 years o exper ience in the restaurant

business, began his career in culinary school as a che. He hasworked in a hotel, various restaurants, and also or the largestood manuacturer in the world, Nestle.

While he does not openly recommend buying cheaperingredients to save on costs, he says, I its a small part o theingredient, it doesnt necessarily aect the quality.

He advises ches to make the same dish using dierentbrands o four or sugar. I there isnt a dierence in the qualityo the ood, and one brand costs less than the other, it makeseconomic sense to switch brands. For example, i a baker mak-ing bread saves 10 cents a loa by using less expensive four, heends up saving $100 per 1,000 loaves sold.

Te best quality [ oods] taste better in the end, Wilsonsays. But i its a small ingredient like coriander seed or some-thing like that, it doesnt make a big dierence.

I youre talking about something like saron thatmakes a big dierence, i its something delicate.

Vegetables should be as resh as possible, he adds.Many restaurants will also try to work out a deal with ood

suppliers.In Canoe Restaurants case, since the restaurant belongs

to a larger chain, Oliver & Bonacini, the company has savedmoney by buying in bulk or all o its restaurants, according togeneral manager Paul Martin.

Besides being known or its view (the restaurant is situatedOnce the ood is bought and prepared, many restaurant

experts recommend making sure that the right portion is on

the plate.I have stood in the kitchen looking

at all the ood that is coming back on theplates, and seeing what keeps comingback on the plates. Maybe you see a loto French ries that are coming back ormashed potatoes, Wade says.

At Canoe, ood is weighed beore beingserved on the plate. Martin any seri-ous restaurant that would weigh its oodbeorehand. Even drinks are measured atCanoe.

For glasses o wine, or example, weuse a cortino, which is a little cra whichhas a lined edge on it so we know howmuch to pour into [the glasses]. For every-thing else, we use shot glasses and makesure that everyt hing is proper. We wontdo ree pouring as some places might do,he says.

While measuring may seem like ahassle, it will save you dollars in the longrun.

Monitoring inventory levels and keep-ing an inventory that matches your needsis also another way to reduce costs. Keep-ing inventory low reduces the waste inunsold ood. It also keeps track o what issupposed to be in stock.

I theres a fuctuation in [our inven-tory numbers], well know that somethingis not alright, Martin says.

Dishonest employees could also meanlosses. Wilson recom-mends setting upsecurity cameras andmaking sure the backdoor is not close tothe kitchen in case ointernal the. Whenthe restaurant is busy,and managers are o-cused on the customers, things can walkout the back door, he says.

Some restaurants will go as ar asnot letting the employees take out trashwithout the managers approval. Dishonestemployees may throw out expensive itemssuch as wine and rescue them later whendisposing o the trash.

Wilson also recommends using cleargarbage bags to see what is being thrownout. I there is a lack o training, somecooks may throw out usable product with-out knowing it.

Teres very little waste in the kitchen[at Canoe], Martin says. Everything

that we butcher that isnt used in aspecic dish can be used in a sauceo some kind.

Removing the garbage cansrom the cooking area, and givingemployees clear plastic bins to throwtheir scraps in, also helps monitor waste.Managers can then make comments to thecooks and re-train them i good, usableproduct is being thrown out.

raining ches to learn new skills suchas butchering also saves money paid tomeat processing centres.

When you train your ches, also includeyour managers.

Proessor Wade, who has had over 50years o restaurant experience, says thatmanagers should be able to do everythingthat their sta members can do.

One o the problems restaurants get

into, he says, [is that] they dont knowmuch about ood preparation and theyleave that with the che. Well i the chethen says, Well Im going to le ave, thenwhere are you at?

None o your sta should eel indis-pensable, he adds. Its much better i theyknow you can do their job.

Wade stresses that conducting research,knowing various skills and being preparedis essential to keep the business r unning.For new restaurants, he encourages plot-ting out all the expenses they will need,

and to really dotheir homework.

All too oenwhat restaurantswill do is under-estimate theircost o openinga restaurant andso what happens

is they become under-nanced, so whenthey actually open their restaurant, theyrealready sort o tapped-out nancially, hesays.

He adds that new restaurants shouldoperate under the assumption that theywont be making any prots or threemonths, or even a year. He also doe s notrecommend trying to cut costs or cuttingdown sta when irst opening.

You dont want to be displeasingyour customers simply by cutting backon sta or cutting down on portionsizes or simply taking shortcuts with the

ood preparation.

By Jessica Lee

None o your staf shouldeel indispensable

-Professor Richard Wade

EATURE

Winter 2011

Leasing: Pros

Good when youre just starting out with a new restauranand dont have a lot of moneto spend. Youre not stuck with equip-ment, can return it anytime ifbreaks or just stops working Some vendors might waivethe monthly fee, if you have anew restaurant

Cons: Extremely high interest rate Dealing with credit checks Having to return item oncelease is up

Buying: Pros

It works for ownerswho have knowledgeof taking care ofrestaurant and equip-ment.You have complete

power over item, its yours.

Cons:

Up-front cost is higher It takes away from your budget, prot You have to deal with themaintenance/ repair yourself

Depending on your nanciastanding and number ofyears in the business, leas-ing equipment, instead ofbuying it, might leave extrbucks in your pocket.

Leasing might savyou money

Winter 2011

- By Hina J


23/30

Liquor licence, check. No smoking signs, check. Elevatorsaety requirement, check. Alarm system, check. Correctkitchen sink positioning, check.

I your regulatory compliance checklist looks like this,

youre probably less than a quarter o the way to complet-ing your requirement beore you could open a ull-servicerestaurant.

In addition to hiring, ring, serving and purchasing,many restaurateurs have to deal with painstaking paper-work and scattered administration to stay in line withregulatory laws imposed by municipal and provincialgovernments.

[Restaurant owners] should be ocusing on growingtheir businesses but they are stuck in their oces lling outorms, Brandy Giannetta, a spokesperson or the Ontario

Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Association, said.Regulatory burden is a huge restraint nancially and on

time.A survey conducted last year by the Canadian Restau-

rant and Foodservices Association ound that nine outo 10 restaurateurs eel red tape is huge problem or theirbusinesses.

Restauranteurs also have to deal with dierent depart-ments to ulll each requirements. Giannetta said a one-stop shop or all hospitality licensing will make the processmore streamlined. She added that a simpler way o com-municating requirements will also be useul since restaura-teurs are ofen unsure o what is expected o them.

Were not opposed to the regulations; saety is a numberone priority or us, she armed. But each individual

Municipl n fl gvnmn king

p uc buuccyf uu

BY: YeaMrot taddese

P h o t o

b y : J e s s i c a

L e e

24 Winter 2011

Unwrapping red tape

FeatUre


24/30

requirement should be made clear. Itshouldnt be a guessing game.

Grilled Pit restaurant owner VictorAlvarez is thankul or having hadexperience in the hospitality busi-

ness prior to opening his restaurantbecause or someone who is new, itcan be a bit o a guessing game.

Looking back, he thinks the pro-cess o opening a restaurant couldhave been easier.

[Te procedures] are very cum-bersome; you have to be very orga-nized and detailed, he said, rown-ing in discontent. But whats mostrustrating is the wait [or permits].

Walkingaround his

restaurant,Alvarez isproud toshow ohis stickerrom theElectri-cal SaetyAuthority.

Treeyears ago, he had to get a green lightrom ocials beore he could closeo his restaurants roo lest he breakeverything down i he didnt meetthe electrical standards.

Like Giannetta, Alvarez said theregulations themselves arent a prob-lem.

I you ollow all the regulations,youre sae, he said. You have tocomply or the saety o yoursel andyour customers.

I there could be one departmentthat can handle these procedures, itwould be great.

Giannetta said organizations likethe Ministry o Health, Ministry oLabour, Workers Saety InsuranceBoard and Alcohol and GamingCommission o Ontario could worktogether to make the process easieror restaurateurs.

She highlighted that each newlyimposed regulation doesnt take intoaccount how other regulations areafecting business owners.

[Regulators] ail to take a look othe total regulatory burden placed onbusiness owners, she said.

Anabel Lindblad, spokesperson orthe Ottawa-based Red ape Reduc-

tion Commission, said partly becauseo the commissions work, some oGiannettes concerns are listed in thisyears ederal budget.

Federal regulators, she said, willuse a small business checklist toensure that new regulations take intoaccount the particular circumstanceso small business owners.

Te commission, created by theederal government last year, is also

workingto increase

transparencyand predict-ability, Lind-blad added.

Tegovernmenthas made acommitmentto post allregulatory

consultations on the Consulting withCanadians web portal as well as inCanada Gazette.

Lindblad added that the sharing oinormation allows business ownersto not only oresee new regulationsbut also provide their inputs whenregulations are designed.

Regulatory obligations vary romone municipality to another, requir-ing restaurateurs to start the processo obtaining a licence rom scratchwhen they open a new restaurant in adiferent city.

Bruce Hawkins, a spokesperson

or the City o orontos MunicipalLicensing and Standards, said the cityis taking steps to make the licensingprocess more streamlined. He saidmost resources are now availableonline to help sel-employed businessowners save time.

Licensees can now pay mostinvoices, including licence renew-als, online, saving them a trip to thelicensing oce, he said.

But or those like Alvarez, whowould appreciate some kind omanual on what the requirementsare and how to ull them, the city isstill alling short.

Why doesnt someone write abook about how to do this? Alvarezsaid jokingly.

Unlike Alvarez, who had to starthis business rom scratch, Abyssiniarestaurant owner Sirak Ayele boughtan establishment that was previouslya small eatery near Bloor Street andOssington Avenue.

In addition to having patrons walkin his restaurant since the day heopened, buying an existing opera-tion also meant the previous owner

could transer most o his inspectionapproval stamps to Ayele.

For me, it was like buying a carwithout tires and then putting on thetires mysel, Ayele said.

But now, Ayele wants to build a pa-tio or his Bloor Street restaurant andhis construction application has beenin city hall or nearly three months.

Every step youre making, the cityhas to know, he said. I you want toknock down a wall, you have to gothrough a process.

Handling the deskwork becomesso time-consuming that restaura-teurs hire other people to do it.

Beore deciding to take on the ini-tial paperwork all by himsel, Ayelehad contacted an accountant whocould do the job or him.

He [the accountant] asked meor $2,000, Ayele exclaimed. I said,No!

I had the luxury o time, so I didit on my own.

FeatUre

Winter 2011

[Restaurant owners] should

be ocusing on growing theirbusinesses but they are stuck intheir oces flling out orms.

-Brandy Giannetta


25/30

MenuPsychology

Arranging your spread to sell certain dishes or sell more of them

STORY BY: JeSSica lee

The Science Behind BuYing

Whats the difference between writing 9 and $9 on your menu? Making ornot making $9.Its all about menu psychology: using research and psychological tactics toinfluence the customer to buy a particular item, or buy more of the same

item.So where do you start?The first thing youve got to do is write a mission statement., says former restauranteur and current George

Brown hospitality professor Andy Hickl-Szabo. Then from there f lows the menu, f rom that really flows ever ythingelse.

In an article by the New York Times, writer Sarah Kershaw used restaurateur Danny Meyers new Indian restau-rant, Tabla, as an example of how to successfully brand a dish. The name of one of the dishes, Boodies ChickenLiver Masala, draws from the observation that people like to buy products associated with persons. This is becausethe name gives a se nse of tradition attached to the product. For Meyers restaurant, Boodie is the name of the headchef s mother. Consumers are more like ly to buy Grandm as Oples apple pie, burgers freshly ground at Uncle Jakes,or Aunt Jeminas panca kes.

inSighTS

26 Winter 2011


26/30

If the food is from a special place,when describing it in the menu, youwant to mention it as well, says Hickl-Szabo. For example writing Berkshirepork or Kenyan coffee is b etterthan simply offering pork and coffee.

The PRice iSnT alWaYS RighTAt Meyers restaurant, the price of

Boodies chicken livers is $9, but itswritten simply as 9. According Ker-shaw, 9 is a friendly and manageablenumber.

Stuff at $9.99 sells much morethan stuff at $10, says Hickl-SzaboAnd if you dont put the dollar signin front of 9.99, it sells [eve n] better.

However, some rese archers saythat the extra .99 makes the price

seem tacky and cheap. Dependingon the brand of your restaurant, theway you wordyour pricingis critical tohow manyitems you sell.

Hickl-Szabo, whohas more than25 years ofexperience inthe restaurant

business, saysthat a goodmenu doesnot emphasizethe price.

Dontdraw dotsfrom themenu itemto the price.Dont put theprice all in astraight line.

You dontwant to hidethe price, but you dont want to drawattention to it because there are a cer-tain number of guests who just lookdown the price column and shop thatway, he says.

Another tool restaurateurs can useis a simple comparison strategy whenpricing their items. In the heart of the

trendy SoHo district in New York, arestaurant named Balthazar has a sea-food dish for two priced at $80.

It wasnt selling because it was aridiculous price, so they made the boxwider and beside it, they put a similarthing, but for [$125], says Hickl-

Szabo.So what happens now is that

people by default look at that, and theone they wanted to sell, which was thecheap one at $80 now sells incrediblywell because its positioned next toone thats stupidly priced.

WRiTing lYRicS FOR YOuR

diSheSNo matter how good the design

of your menu is, if the food does notsound attractive, no one will eat atyour restaurant.

The chefswrite the musicand the menubecomes thelyrics, andsometimes themusic is gor-geous and itsgot the wronglyrics andthe lyrics cantorpedo themusic, Meyerstold The NewYork Times.

Describingthe ingredientsin the foodstimulatesguests ap-petites, whichencouragesthem to order

the dish.

Clich wordsand phrases can

ruin the game. Hickl-Szabo advises tosteer clear from grilled to perfectionor sensuous. He also says to use sim-pler words when describing food.

Youre not fooling anybody, hesays. Youve got to tell th e truth,youve got to sort of dress it up, butits got to be clever and discreet.

MaKe uSe OF BOXeS, lineS and

hOT SPOTSGeorgia State University hospital-

ity professor Dave Pavesic says thattoo often, menus look like they are puttogether last minute.

In a carefully designed menu, res-taurateurs can take advantage of primemenu space and strategically placeitems they want to sell in those areas.

Much of the menu design is alsoadapted from retail merchandis-ing principles that set up displays indepartment and other retail stores tocatch the eye of the shopper, says Pave-sic, adding that no one ever purchasedsomething that never caught theirattention.

Boxes, dotted outlines, or even extrawhite space can make items stand out.For efficiency reasons, Pavesic advisesnot to put items in key spaces if theytake more than 10-12 minutes to pre-pare and need to be moved to two ormore stations in the kitchen.

Another way to push sales is to putlittle icons beside the dish. But not toomuch, advises Hickl-Szabo, becauseif everything is special, nothing isspecial.

SiZe MaTTeRS

Many consultants lean towardshaving smaller menus. According toresearch from Gallup, a news databasefrom the U.S., the more time a cus-tomer spends looking at the menu, thelonger the table turnover time is, whichmeans less tables can be served, andless profit is made.

I would rather not see a humongousmenu, says Hickel-Szabo, If I see amenu thats many many pages, the firstthing I think is none of its fresh. Idrather see a smaller menu that changesmore often. At the very least, youshould change three times a year.

He also adds that people will get tiredof the same selections, and that chefsalways want to be using ingredientsthat are in season.

Another reason to keep menus short-er, Hickl-Szabo says, is because too

much choice will confuse patrons.

Winter 2011

Celebrity chef Jamie Kennedys Gilead Bis-

tro doesnt use dollar signs in its menu,

keeping the focus on the food.

Photo

by:Jessica

Lee

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To remain competitive and successful in their industry, restaurateurs could always update their skills.

Seneca College offers a number of one-day business

skills seminars, such as body language for leaders,

creativity, innovation and continuous improvement,

customer service excellence and smarter goal setting.

George Brown College offers a two year food and

beverage management program.

Courses include food and beverage cost control,

nance and business communications, skills of a bar-

tender, dining room operations, menu management,

food safety, and wine and beverage management.

Paid Options Free Options

Centennial College

Books from Toronto Public Library

George Brown College

Seneca College

Centennial College offers a two-year restaurant

management program followed by an internship.

Courses offered include nance, human resources,

marketing and revenue, labor relations, customer

service and event management.

Public libraries house thousand of books on business

that can help you expand your knowledge at your

own time and pace.

Colleges and universities offer a number of

educational opportunities in addition to their

undergraduate programs: continuing education

or studies, graduate & postdoctoral programs,

seminars, workshops and events.

Courses you can take to stay in the loop

Seminars at Toronto Public Library

Sharpening your skills:

Many of the seminars the Toronto Public Library

offer are based on nancial information, speci-

cally taxes. The library also offers recurring semi-

nars for entrepreneurs. The seminars are not too

long and are also offered in the evening for those

who are too busy during the day. Some of these

include: Small Business Information Seminar, Taxation

Workshop, Saving on Your Taxes, Financial Services,

Income Tax Clinic, Business Communication Circle,

2011 Top Ten Tax Saving Strategies, and FinancialLiteracy: Lessons for Life.

If youre not up for spending money, there are

still ways to brush up your knowledge on your

craft.

BRIEFS

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Gee, thats funny

The restaurant business is exciting and all, but sometimes, it can be too much. Jessica Lee compileda bunch of funny and bizarre restaurant stories to keep things light-hearted- because working in a

restaurant can be entertaining sometimes.

LAST WORDS

Other uses for oil

Free falling

A high-end restaurant in a glamour-

ous downtown area was having a

cocaine problem in their bathrooms.

The manager ordered the staff to

spray cooking oil on the toilet seat

lids so that cocaine would clump to-

gether if it were lined up on it. The

problem went away after a week.

It was a sunny morning at a downtown

restaurant patio when suddenly, a

loud commotion was heard from the

hotel above. A nude man was climb-

ing out the window when he acciden-tally fell onto a brunch table. Not a

word was said and he ran down the

street. It was later discovered that

he was a high-prole businessman.

He was red because of the incident.

Kissing catastrophe

A couple was kissing passionate-

ly all night at a bar. After dinner,

the man pays for the meal and the

couple leaves. The bartender dis-

covers that the man left his credit

card behind due to his drunkenness

and decides to track him down by

searching for his name in the phone

book. Luckily, the man had a unique

last name. The bartender calls thenumber and the wife picks up. Your

husband left his credit card at our

bar last night when you were here,

but you dont have cancel the card,

you can come pick it up. The wife

says Thats funny, my husband said

he was on a business trip this week.

Penny pinching

After a meal of wings at a bar,

two men decided to split the bill.

One man paid with a debit card.

The other? In fourteen rolls of pen-

nies, forgetting to leave a tip for the

waiter and also shorting him $0.86.

If the shoe fits

A woman found her husband hav-

ing a meal with another woman

at a downtown restaurant. In an

angry t, she took off her shoe

and started hitting him with it.

Lottery loser

A restaurants staff decided to con-

tribute to a lottery pool where the

pay off was $4 million. One em-

ployee was about to contribute, but

decided last minute that he wanted

to snack on a hot dog after work in-

stead of chipping in. One of the tick-

ets ended up winning, and the lottery

was split between all the contributing

staff. It was the most expensive hot

dog the employee had ever eaten.

Bad call

At an upscale dining room, a high-

strung lady was yelling and swear-

ing at a restaurant manager, caus-

ing a big commotion because there

were no tables to seat her. She said

she had made a reservation a week

ago and that this morning, the res-

taurant called back with the conr-

mation. The manager looked at the

reservations list, where her name

was nowhere to be seen. He asked

the staff whether they remem-

bered the name of the lady but no

one could recall her name. He then

asked to see the call history on her

cell phone for the supposed reser-

vation. Sure enough, she had made

reservations at another restaurant.

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