All posts by Jennifer Welsh
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.
Not long ago we 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.
Have you ever wondered how the restaurant business stacks up next to industry-wide averages when it comes to job growth? Well, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) is weighing in, and the answer may come as a pleasant surprise for bar and restaurant workers.