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Setting the matter straight about couscous is no easy task. Is it a grain? Is it pasta? Is it a form of rice? No worries: This primer covers everything you wanted to know about couscous, but were afraid to ask. We’re aiming to turn you into a couscous aficionado quickly and painlessly – and we’ll throw in some recipes to get you started on your couscous journey.
First of all, contrary to popular belief, couscous is a type of pasta, not a grain.
Having a website is an absolute necessity for most businesses today. This is particularly true for restaurants due to an emerging trend in the industry that is helping to increase sales: online ordering. Customers will often visit a restaurant website to learn all about it, including the menu. Now, however, customers expect more; the savvy restaurant customer wants to be able to order online.
As mentioned in a previous post, the number of people suffering from food allergies is growing at an alarming rate. As a restaurant owner, it is the responsibility of you and your staff to do everything you can to keep your customers safe and to make this health issue a number-one priority. It is not an impossible task, but it is one that requires ongoing diligence and awareness.
Spaghetti squash is arguably the most intriguing of all squashes. Its skin, which ranges from dark ivory in color to a yellowish-orange, is solid when raw, like other squash; after it’s cooked, however, is when this winter squash becomes wondrous. When the flesh is scraped away from the shell, it forms strands that are remarkably similar to spaghetti, with a mild pasta-like flavor.
Long after the successful launch of your restaurant – after the planning, the renovations, the staffing, and the stocking – money will still be a major concern. No matter how successful you become and how long the waiting list is for a seat at your restaurant, long-term growth is largely dependent on saving money. Creating a money-savings plan is just the first step; implementing these cost-saving measures over time is the big challenge.
Food allergies are becoming more prevalent and severe, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). More and more it seems that people, young and old, are developing allergies and intolerances to certain foods and ingredients. Some of these allergies can be life-threating, while others are “just” inconvenient, as they cause less dire symptoms that people still want to avoid.
We recently posted an article related to the importance of equipping your professional kitchen with high-quality cookware and smallwares. The overarching theme of the post – which was more of an overview – was that quality is more important than quantity even if you’re just starting out and money is tight. In this post we’re going to focus on knives, the bedrock of food preparation and the professional chef’s best friend and ally.
Bringing together and hiring the best staff for your restaurant is a top priority before opening. But once your business is booming – customers are streaming in on a regular basis and the feedback is stellar – you have to keep that staff happy and motivated so that you can maintain the high level of excellence that you’ve worked so hard to establish. Nothing in the restaurant industry can be taken for granted; customers are fickle and trends are constantly shifting.
No matter what type of cooking-related business you’re thinking of launching, equipment – and the related budget – is a vital consideration. Regardless of whether you’re opening a small catering concern out of your home kitchen or if you’re jumping into the deep end with a gourmet restaurant in the ritziest part of town, the “meat and potatoes” of your business is not actually edible.
As a restaurant owner, you have to offset the demands of being an entrepreneur with the needs of your clientele, a balancing act that is both a requirement and a challenge. So when the time comes to revamp your menu – due to seasonal requirements, cost considerations, or time constraints – follow prescribed guidelines on how to do it, and – most important – don’t forget your customers, many of whom will vote with their feet if that menu change isn’t handled correctly.