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Sexual Harassment

Oct 28, 2015

By Brian McDonough, Human Resources and Compliance, Synergy Restaurant Consultants

 

Most employees don’t complain until they are harmed, but once they believe that they have been harassed, they look around for others who have had similar experiences.

 

Susan, a current employee, doesn’t mind when the male servers flirt with her—after all, she is young, attractive and single. But then the manager decides to jump into the fun and now Susan is getting concerned. He’s a married man, why would he do this? Did she give him some sign that she was interested? “Perhaps he isn’t what I thought he was; maybe this has happened to others.”

 

Susan starts asking around and hears a lot of . . . “now that you mention it, that manager has been awfully friendly with me also.” This is not uncommon, unfortunately. Susan, as with others, doesn’t want to lose her job so she feels safer lodging a complaint as part of a group—it’s much harder for the employer to fire all of them is the thought.

 

In 2011, there were 11,300 claims of Sexual Harassment filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for that year alone, with a payout of over $52 million. This is a problem—not just because of the number of claims but also the dollar amounts that continue to be paid out for these complaints to basically go away.

 

Traditionally, the issues are a lack of training and/or a lack of documentation. If the harassment occurred as an “independent act” by an employee/manager, that’s one thing (and usually not costly) but when the employer “knew or should have known” about the harassment, the employer is liable. A majority of payouts for these complaints are predicated on a lack of systems in the establishment to address these problems.

 

Simple systems can be put in place to help solve these problems. Let’s explore a few:

 

  1. A thorough employee handbook: The Employee Handbook for all employees (including managers) should include guidelines about acceptable behavior.
  2. Complete and documented orientation: Some of the elements of orientation, including the Employment Application signed and the I-9 completed, should include information about Rules & Regulations within your restaurant(s). They should also include information services (such as places to file a complaint) and specifics on uniforms, parking for the location, and particulars on the normal process for communication. Remember that for some employees, this is a first job, and this type of information will be completely new to them.
  3. Employee files that include documentation for unacceptable performance/behavior: These files need to be maintained and locked up; remember they contain Social Security numbers (on the I-9), which must be protected.
  4. A published phone number for employees with concerns to report any issues: An 800-number or a website form can suffice. This is very important to the defense of a Sexual Harassment complaint. If you have an avenue for employees to complain and an individual did not complain, as the employer you have much less liability.

     5.  A department, group or person fully trained on how to handle complaints:  

No extensive training needed here, especially if you have a backup for addressing these issues. A law firm can do it for you, but this is expensive.

 

Solving sexual harassment problems before they happen isn’t difficult or expensive. Synergy can assist with revising policies and creating the documentation and training necessary to ensure that a problem like this doesn’t happen in your restaurant organization.

 

Check photo credit: Pete CC by 2.0

 

 

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12 Root to Shoot Strategies

Oct 28, 2015

No doubt you’ve heard of nose-to-tail cooking, where every part of an animal is utilized—especially in restaurants that source and butcher niche meats like heritage pork and naturally raised lamb in-house. Now, in the era of growing interest in meatless meal options and produce-forward menu concepts, it’s time to meet root-to-shoot, where as much of the plant as possible is used to make saleable recipes.

Also sometimes called “steam-to-leaf,” the trend goes hand-in-hand with the well-publicized efforts of many high-profile chefs to call attention to this country’s food-waste problem with meals and menu items that utilize trim, scrap and other byproducts that would normally be tossed out.

Apart from the obvious tactic of using peels, woody stalks and other trim in stock-making, here are some additional ideas:

 

  1. Frilly carrot tops make a flavorful pesto variation, particular delicious on roasted carrots—so much the better if they’re multi-colored heirlooms
  2. Use the root-trim from fennel bulbs as a base for roasting chicken or fish, and the fronds as a dill-like garnish
  3. Cauliflower leaves can be oven-dried to create a chip or cracker, or grilled for a warm salad or side dish
  4. Puree broccoli stalks into a filling for pasta or lasagna, pressing through a tamis or food mill if necessary to remove fibers
  5. Take advantage of celery’s fresh, vegetal flavor by using the leaves in salad, or instead of parsley as a garnish
  6. Puree the cooked pods of peas or favas to create an infused oil or the base for a mayo-like condiment
  7. Save peels and trim from fresh ginger to make a broth for adding to juices, steaming vegetables or fish, or as a base for an Asian-style soup or noodles
  8. Dehydrate and grind tomato skins, scallion or leek greens, or mushroom trimmings to create a flavor powder for seasoning/crusting foods or garnishing plates
  9. Flavored butters represent a savvy utilization of leftover prep, such as chopped shallots, herbs, citrus zest or confit garlic, as well as cheeses, nuts, breadcrumbs and other flavor- and texture-boosters
  10. Use the outer leaves of cabbage and lettuces that are too tough for salads in stir-fries
  11. Seek out “seconds” from farms and purveyors, like bruised fruits or imperfect tomatoes, which can be cored and trimmed to make sauce, jams, “leather” and more
  12. Repurpose oversize beets in veggie burgers or relish
  13. Turn the butts of sturdy, cruciferous vegetables like cabbage or cauliflower into pickles
  14. Infuse citrus peels in syrups and bitters for the bar
  15. Overripe or too-soft berries are perfect for housemade sodas or the vinegar-based refreshers known as shrubs

 

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Modern Mashups

Oct 28, 2015

There’s a new restaurant in Portland, ME, called The Honey Paw, which pretty well sums up what’s happened to what used to be called Fusion Cuisine. Billing itself as a “non-denominational noodle bar… unencumbered by any cultural allegiances,” The Honey Paw (the name refers to the image of a bear swiping up honey after a long hibernation) took a few months to find its footing, but has finally arrived at a point that might be called Asian mashup.

There are yakisoba and chilled soba noodles inspired by Japan, coconut chicken curry noodles with a nod to Malaysia, Cantonese-style wok fried rice noodles and Vietnamese chili lobster with yellow noodles. Nightly specials, most of them positioned as “large format” dishes for sharing run to moo shoo made with duck confit, Szechuan bouillaibaisse, and spiced dry-aged beef with scallion pancakes.

Not only is the menu an exercise in culinary globetrotting, but the multi-culturalism also extends to the individual recipes. That yakisoba, for instance, is seasoned not only with Japanese nori seaweed and bonito flakes, but also Korean gochujang and oyster mayo. The point is not authenticity, but instead flavor and creativity.

In fact, Dale Talde of Brooklyn’s red-hot Talde and Pork Slope, boasts that he prides himself on cooking “defiantly inauthentic Asian-American cuisine.” His inspiration comes not from recipes passed down through the generations, but from his own multicultural background, which has become as American as the new apple pie.

Who would have guessed just a few years ago that these cross-cultural, culinary mashups would come to represent the cutting edge? Many of these concepts started with food trucks, pop-ups and specials, but have moved from bootstrap operations into the mainstream.

Though critics may call trendsetting foods like Korean tacos (a combination of a popular Mexican street food concept with the bold flavors of Korean cooking),  cronuts (croissant + donut) and ramen burgers (a burger patty sandwiched between two crispy ramen-noodle discs) passing fads, but the best of these cross-cultural inventions reflect the eclecticism of contemporary American population.

In fact, many of the chefs creating some of today’s newest hits are themselves a product of multi-cultural families, such as Nina Compton, whose Compere Lapin restaurant in New Orleans reflects her Caribbean birthplace and her grandmother’s British roots, overlain with classical French training and the Italian cooking that she learned working in Miami’s Scarpetta.

The “gastronomic interchange” has given rise to a lot of interesting concepts, to be sure:

  • Just Beclaws, in Jersey City, NJ, marries Cajun with Vietnamese in the form of spicy seafood boils—not so unlikely a combination when you take into account how many Asian immigrants made their living fishing in Louisiana
  • Chicago’s new Izakaya Mita sets itself apart from the usual Japanese fray with a menu section highlighting Rice Sliders
  • Mr. Curry, in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, offers up Brit-Indi specialties that use Indian spices to transform fresh, local and seasonal ingredients
  • Chef Jose Andres plays with noodles and tacos at China Poblano in Las Vegas
  • Touted as a “fresh way to roll,” Sushirrito, in San Francisco, specializes in… you guessed it: sushi burritos

A recent FoodBytes trend report by Datassential heralded the mainstream arrival of The Strange & Unusual, citing such chain menu-item introductions as The General (a sandwich filled with eggrolls and General Tso’s chicken, courtesy of the GetGo c-store chain); Hot Dog Bites Pizza (Pizza Hut); PB&J Wings (TGI Friday’s); and the Divalicious Red Wine Shake (Red Robin).

Items like these are true menu signatures, creating buzz (especially of the social media and Instagram kind), uniqueness and craveability. That makes them particular appropriate for highly promotable LTOs (limited time offers), where operators can test the waters for eventual inclusion on the core menu—that’s how Taco Bell’s insanely successful Doritos Locos Tacos got their start, after all.

Just don’t call it Fusion Cuisine.

 

Wanton Taco photocredit: Elsie Hui CC by 2.0

 

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The Synergy Way: How to Optimize Labor

Oct 15, 2015

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SEO for Restaurants: 5 Things to Do

Oct 07, 2015

According to Pew Research Center, “People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they rely on the internet, especially search engines, ahead of any other source.” It’s a no-brainer: your restaurant should have a web presence.

 

A web presence extends past a standard website (although if you don’t even have one yet, it’s a great place to start!). Search engine optimization (SEO) coupled with social media will immensely help your chances of getting recognized online.

Here are five things to do to get your restaurant in front of your target audience. Because social media goes hand-in-hand with SEO, we’ve included some tips in that area, as well.

 

1)      Get mobile-friendly. Google recently implemented an algorithm update (humorously nicknamed by webmasters as “Mobilegeddon”) to its search criteria for mobile devices. In a nutshell, to get ranked higher on Google on a mobile device search query, such as “barbeque Austin,” the webpages on your site must be designed in a way that suites devices.

2)     Get social. Create and then consistently monitor Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, and even an Instagram page. The more you expose your brand, the greater chance you’ll have of people noticing you and sharing your link on the web (getting links mentioning your brand and pointing to your website is great for SEO) and visiting you in person.

3)     On-page optimization is crucial. Say you have a website with lots of pretty photos. That’s great way to display your delicious food, but you must make sure you also mention in text what kind of food you serve. In your copy, and in the META tags (such as your title tags, image tags), be sure to describe your cuisine, be it Mediterranean, Asian, Italian, Latin or fusion. For even better optimization, include the city or cities where you’re located.

4)     Start blogging and create press releases. These are two ways you can gain content for your site and backlinks: two powerful pieces in the SEO world. Not sure where to start? You can write about special promotions, charity events you’re participating in or new chefs.

5)     Don’t forget to make sure your site is listed on Google My Business so that locals can find you when they search for your business name. Add your address, phone number, hours of operation, website and photos.

Best of luck, and read on for more restaurant insight.

Google photo credit: Anthony Ryan CC by SA 2.0