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Account for Every Transaction, Every Shift, Every Day!

Dec 31, 2016

By George Barton, Sr. Beverage Consultant.

“No hassle, no training, no investment”

Capturing every drink transaction, every shift, every day has always been a challenge for leadership, from a small independent restaurant to large brands representing hundreds of locations.  The human factor is at play and while not labeling world class bartenders at the culprit, you should clearly understand the tools that will support a key objective   —  that EVERY transaction at the bar is accounted for through video auditing by way of small cameras which are linked to your point of sale to insure compliance.  Simply put, if you sell 100 drinks (beer, wine and cocktails) on a shift, it’s captured, reconciled and time stamped that all 100 drinks are collected or rang up, based upon your operations procedure when to capture the drink revenue.  What else could be more effective in today’s busy hospitality environment. If we believe and know that every drink during a shift is not accounted for, why not take the necessary steps to invest in a tool to accomplish this which supports revenue growth. High reward (lost revenue captured, improved margins) with low risk.

 

A few key deliverables to consider on taking on a new initiative like this:

  • Why do it: No need to invest capital to increase profits nor to accept ignored SOP’s any longer.  Actually there is no training nor maintenance required.
  • Benefits: No charge for cameras or maintenance. Every beverage and food serving from behind the bar are time stamped, while ring ups, serving etiquette  and preparation are all captured.  Captured beverage and food presentations that miss your collection standards are highlighted for your observation.
  • Problem – Solution: Failure to meet standards is a reality in hospitality due to the fast moving environment which conjures up many opportunities for operations execution to be ignored or forgotten. Why not initiate procedures that reviews this breach in standard operating procedures.  Empower management and allow enforcement or excellence in execution and collection of every transition. Product today is simply too expensive to allow not to be accounted for.
  • The How: Small cameras mounted to view all service areas and are connected to the interned. Analysts audit images to track what is served vs what is accounted for. Reports (very easy to navigate) show discrepancies from what was delivered from what was accounted for according to your SOP’

 

While this new age of mixology or the voice of the bartender is more prevalent than ever and rightly so, we also know from history and actual loss of revenue and margins that numerous factors play havoc on ensuring that EVERY beverage and food transaction from behind the bar is accounted for.

 

If you would like to learn and hear more, give Synergy a call.

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Pizza Nation, USA

Dec 28, 2016

Pizza. It’s delicious and it comes in oh-so-many variations in the U.S. and all over the world. Neapolitan, deep dish, thin crust, New York style, California style—we love them all. However, we’d be remiss if we did not share with you a guide to the different U.S. regional variations of the beloved pie. Because after all, it’s your duty as an American citizen to try them all.

 

Let’s get to it.

 

  • Chicago: Characterized by its thick crust and plentiful amount of sauce and toppings. As its name implies, this type of pie is baked in a deep, round pan. You eat this with a fork and a knife, most times.
  • New York: Think thin and foldable (and portable). This kind of pizza has a crispy, thin crust that’s been hand-tossed during preparation. It’s typically sold by the slice.
  • California: Its crust is a fusion of NY and Italian, paired with a wide array of toppings (nuts, seafood, veggies, etc.). The only limit is your imagination.
  • New Haven: Hailing out of New Haven, Connecticut, this pie’s a spin-off of Neopolitan pizza. It’s referred to as “Apizza” and is cooked in a coal-fired brick oven, lending to its charred, thin and chewy crust.

 

 

Craving more pizza? Read on here: Everything You Need to Know about Regional U.S. Pizza Styles

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Greenery Meets Restaurant

Dec 16, 2016

What color will 2017 be? Each year the Pantone Color Institute identifies what they believe to be the “Pantone Color of the Year,” with 2016 being Rose Quartz and Serenity (a dusty pink and a baby blue). They study trends in social media, fashion, consumer products and technology in order to make their annual forecasts. And this year, the color experts predict that 2017’s color will be, “greenery.” Not just any green, mind you.  Pantone Color Institute describes the color of 2017 as a “zesty yellow-green shade.”

 

What images, words, or ideas come to your mind when you think of the color, green? For us, we envision healthy food, like fresh-from-the-farm produce that’s ready to make a statement on the plate. And it’s not just the food itself either.

 

Take a look at True Food Kitchen. The restaurant’s menu is complemented by the vibrant shades of green of the interior. Zesty lime-green booths and chairs fill the space, inside as well as in the outdoor seating areas. It’s a great example of a restaurant cleverly uniting color and concept.

LYFE Kitchen herb wall
LYFE Kitchen herb wall

Lyfe Kitchen’s herb wall provides a pretty splash of green color while at the same time promoting a healthy vibe to the space.

 

We’re excited to see how “greenery” will be implemented in restaurants come 2017!

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How to Recruit an Amazing Restaurant Manager

Nov 27, 2016

Many people open restaurants based on their big dreams for sharing their food or their concept with others as well as to turn out a large profit. But as many as 60% of new restaurants that open up fail within the first year and a whopping 80% tank in less than five years, according to Business Insider.

 

For your best chance at success, you need to hire a restaurant manager who is capable of running the show. He or she should be able to manage the restaurant and staff so that it runs like a well-oiled machine. Finding the right manager for the job can be tricky, so follow this advice for ensuring you choose the right candidate to manage your restaurant.

 

  1. Search Hospitality Websites
    For a restaurant you need more than someone with management experience. You need someone with restaurant management experience. Someone who knows how to endure life in the hospitality market. So start looking for candidates in that area on hospitality websites. Recruitment companies that specialize in hiring for the hospitality industry are also great to work with. The experienced companies know to dig in to the details of what you are looking for while understanding what may be available in the marketplace.
  2.  Ensure you Interview a Large Pool of Candidates
    Even if you truly find the first candidate to be what you’re looking for, don’t cancel the other interviews you’ve scheduled. You might find someone even more qualified or find someone else’s background to make them a better fit for the position. Remember, this person will be running your business on a daily basis so it is critical you choose the one that can do it the best.
  3. Leadership Skills
    Starting with fully understanding the level of manager that you need, the recruiter draws on one of two directions – to bring someone in with leadership experience from past employers OR a candidate who will be taught leadership skills from your involvement, your operation and the way that you would like them to lead your team. Styles of leadership differ greatly in this business – most important is what you need at your restaurant and for your staff.
  1. Check up on Those References
    It’s common in the restaurant business for people to pad up their resumes.So make sure to check out every reference of every potential restaurant manager you interview. You really need to make sure you hire someone who has the real experience needed for running your restaurant or this will all be a waste of resources when you find you need to restart the hiring process from scratch.
  1. Ask a lot of Questions
    To determine the best candidate for your restaurant manager position, ask as many questions as possible for each candidate you interview. How will you help my restaurant run well? How will you manage my staff? It’s all about how the candidate dealt with issues in their past. How do they handle restaurant problems, “people” problems and even profit problems? Make a list of questions like this, leaving space between to jot down your notes so you can reference them later when you need to decide on which candidate to hire.
  2. Review Qualifications
    Did your candidate get a degree or even a masters in hospitality management? Certificates and qualifications also make the man or woman you choose to hire for the role of your restaurant manager. What you learn by the candidate achieving a degree is that they “know how to learn”. This can be very important to the growth of your business and your bottom line. Make sure you find someone whose credentials sync up with your business.

 

By taking care when going through the hiring process, you’ll be much more likely to find that person who will really fit into your restaurant as the manager. This person should be an extension of you with shared ideas about the success of the restaurant so be thorough and honest in what you want in order to find the perfect one for you.

 

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Table Service at…McDonald’s?

Nov 26, 2016

When you think of McDonald’s service (or any fast food restaurant service for that matter), you may envision a drive-thru window or perhaps ordering your food at the counter. Well, McDonald’s is aiming to change that image!

According to Restaurant Business Online, McDonald’s will be expanding kiosk ordering and table service to all of its 14,200 U.S. locations. The touch-screen kiosks are available for meal customization, allowing service to be streamlined through the convenience new technology. It’s clear that McDonald’s is aiming to shake things up, including the addition of craft burgers and new two additional Big Mac sizes.

More below:

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Is Your Menu Meeting the Demands of Today’s Consumer?

Nov 18, 2016

It’s a well-known fact that people eat with their eyes before they get to taste with their mouths. Well-done photography and descriptive menus can really push a customer to choose one dish over another. But what will drive them to keep coming back for more?

You might say service, the quality of the food, and the experience at the restaurant overall. For those things, you’re not wrong, however one thing many restaurants forget to consider when trying to get customers in the door over and over again is how the menu speaks to their customers.

Today’s consumers want something that gives them the feeling that they are eating something unique. For example, no one is going out to eat things that they can cook themselves. They’re going for the fusion foods that millennials helped to create that straddle two or more types of cuisine to create something revolutionary. The result are dishes that consumers gravitate toward because they seem different but aren’t so bizarrely unfamiliar that they’re game on trying them.

Another thing that consumers look for these days are options for eating healthy. Restaurants that offer healthier dishes, or even a small selection of them, are much more likely to get a bigger market share from this group. Farm-to-table concept restaurants also do well in this category simply because fresh is healthier and they tend to customize their offerings better than say a chain restaurant would.

Finally, as more and more people switch to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets, many restaurants are responding to this by creating special dishes for these diners. No one wants to go out for a lame plate of vegetables so it’s crucial to find something that looks and tastes worth the price. It should also be described in an appealing way to entice these consumers to order it.

The rest of course is up to your chef and the team behind the scenes. Creating an idea is one thing but bringing it to life is another. If your head chef can execute brilliantly on these new dishes, there is no doubt that these consumers will return again and again because you spoke to their dietary concerns by reflecting it on your menu.

Take a good look at your menu. If your offerings are all fried or have no option to go meatless or gluten-free, you might be repelling customers from your establishment. There’s no need to go overly poetic on menu descriptions either, particularly if you have a casual eatery, but making things sound more exciting than say “bread, cheese and meat served with fries” will make a major difference in customer perception. And as we know, perception is reality.

If you would like to schedule an informal call to discuss your menu and was to become more innovative give us a call.

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New Discoveries: Why Thrive Culinary Algae Oil is Awesome

Nov 16, 2016

Recently, we had the opportunity to attend the reTHINK Food Conference and were privy to some new culinary breakthroughs, methods and products. One product totally rocked our world and is poised to change the way we all cook.

 

The product in question? Thrive Culinary Algae Oil. What’s so remarkable about it is that it allows the flavors of your food to really shine through without greasing it up or adding excess fats. It’s great for cooking and baking, and it can even be used to create sublime salad dressings.

Thrive Algae Oil
Thrive Algae Oil

Cooking with it is a dream, but there are many other benefits to using Thrive Culinary Algae Oil that we just love.

 

  1. Algae is a superfood

It’s one of the world’s original superfoods, too. It’s also one of our planet’s most completely sustainable sources of food.

 

  1. Highest levels of good fat

Out of all the cooking oils you can choose to make your culinary creations, only Thrive Algae Oil has the highest level of monounsaturated fat in it. That’s the good kind of fat, which is something your body needs. One tablespoon gives you that same amount of monounsaturated fat that you’d get from one whole avocado, which is 13g.

 

  1. Less saturated fat than olive oil

Olive oil was once considered the healthiest of oils to cook with. And while it’s still not bad, it could be better. Thrive Algae Oil has less saturated fat than olive oil. 75% to be precise. That’s a much better choice for those who care about keeping a healthy heart.

 

  1. The algae is grown in a controlled environment

The algae used to make Thrive Algae Oil is grown in a controlled environment that is kept pure. Inside fermenters, the algae are given renewable plant sugars so they can make oil in only a few days. The algae is then pressed to release the oil, much in the same way as coconut oil and oils from seeds are created.

 

  1. No waste means it’s better for our world

Leftover algae is able to be used again for renewable energy and a variety of other uses. That means it can reduce the carbon and water footprint of cooking oil everywhere.

 

Caring for ourselves and our environment through the foods we eat is one of the biggest things to take hold of the culinary world. It’s about taking healthy and making it tasty, farm-to-table fresh, and sustainable for enjoyment the world over for years to come.

 

If you are interested in making a difference with you food lets schedule an informal conversation to discuss how we can help bring innovation to your menu.

 

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Beverage Trends Tactics

Oct 28, 2016

By George Barton, Sr. Beverage Consultant.

 

Let me comment on a few current trends in adult beverage and how to best leverage your teams.  Taking the necessary steps can increase incremental beverage sales and as well separate you from that “sea of sameness” in the adult beverage category.

What we know:

Males are 2x more likely to go out more often than females. So how do I attract more female traffic in my restaurant?

  • CHANGE THE CHANNEL. Create a LADIES’ shed, not to compete but to recognize.
  • Women should  not only feel welcome but secure in your bar environment so think about how your staffing your restaurant.
  • Market inside your “four walls” with colorful and the appropriate amount of POP (point of purchase) with the intent to market to your female audience. Think about “Ladies Night Out” with a wine feature like “Little Black Dress”.

Spending– Adults

 

Adults are planning on spending about the same as last year with Millennials spending more. Think and react on how you can improve your beverage position here.

  • Continue to execute flawlessly but take a good look at your strategy and how you market happy hour and late night activities. Focus on those key day parts or when you have the strongest crowds in your bar. “Fish where the fish are.”
  • Staff for success, simply not to accommodate. I rarely if ever visit a restaurant and find the bar overstaffed with bartenders.  Just doesn’t happen today. Splitting a $1 tip between 3 bartenders vs 2 bartenders takes very little time to make up that difference. Your staff will understand if you provide your strategy and why it’s important to build sales, not simply maintain and accommodate.
  • Provide beverage menus that are simplistic, yet call out top features that will move trial on new beverages. Innovation is critical and paramount in today’s age of mixology but ensure your target guest really wants a vintage cocktail.  It makes sense to create a bit of noise with new NEWS as well.

spending at the bar

 

Drinks Per Occasion–Let’s focus on 2nd Drink… We know from data provided by Mike Ginley at Next Level Marketing that consumers would order one additional alcoholic beverage during an occasion if key tactics were utilized and executed. Take a look at how they rank from most to least important, yet all fundamentally critical.

 

  • Ask me when I’m ready: So, teach your servers and bartenders how and when to ask their customer when their ready for their second beverage. Don’t wait until ice is being chewed or their wine glass is bone dry, nor when they are only 1/2 way thru their first beverage.  Timing is critical and finding that sweet spot is key. Don’t assume that your guest will only desire one drink.  “ Can I bring you another Blackberry Mojito” to go with those awesome Quesadillas .
  • Offer Better Quality: Teaching team members to up-sale should be part of training and on-going development.  “Can I have a gin and tonic” could have a response like  “Would be my pleasure and how about Hendricks”.  Turning a glass of house red wine into a premium or premium plus feature requires little more than asking your guest, yet provide few speaking points about the recommended wine if necessary. Cocktails made with better quality ingredients can be called out on your menu, providing new innovation. You should receive credit for this due to current trends in quality and healthier ingredients.
  • Faster Drink Service: OK, let’s staff to win, not to accommodate.  Teach and execute to a time limit or goal with respect to order and delivery to your guest. Ensure servers handle one table and order at a time.  Staff with drink runners if required on busy shifts.  Excellent drink service and delivery will add multiple drinks to the shift. Of course it goes without saying that all team members involved must adhere to alcohol awareness and your goal to support all legislation to keep our highways safe.
  • After Dinner / Desert: Excellent opportunity to offer guests after dinner cognacs or sweet aperitifs that will balance out and blend well with your guests dinner. I would always offer a Sambuca when guests ordered a coffee or expresso and hit the mark about 1/3 of the time. Again, alcohol awareness and ensuring your team members understand the signs of when to back off.  This in no way means your guests should order and settle for one adult cocktail.
  • Light and Low Calorie: Light beer, while wine, prosecco and sparkling wine as well as cocktails designed specifically with the intent to offer a lighter fare are popular and trendy with all age groups.

 

Address tactics that will deliver a punch with focus on these current beverage trends. Pay attention to 2nd drink opportunity, execution and the female voice. Mixology and the voice of your bartenders is here to stay so why not use this talent wisely. Approach alcohol service professionally yet with the goal to enhance and WOW the guest experience.

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Are You In Control? Bar Food Cost Controls

Oct 21, 2016

By George Barton, Sr. Beverage Consultant.

There is a lot more to controlling food cost in the bar area that one would assume. Are you placing the same focus on food products that are consumed in the bar as those that are consumed in the dining room? Let me explain why you should.

Controlling food cost must be an all-out team effort. All managers as well as team members play a key role to ensure your guests receive only the best produced products that are prepared the right way. Here are 5 key deliverables and procedures to ensure bar food cost controls are top of mind while enhancing quality at the same time.

1. Order It Well

  • You must place accountability on who is responsible for costs and who orders your inventory
  • Pars should be set to align with sales mix (adjust with sales fluctuation)
  • Fresh cut produce is critical so ensure high level of comfort with vendor
  • When possible, teach this process to new managers and key team members

2. Receive It Well

  • Request to receive product early AM or off times and not during lunch or dinner rush
  • Review against P.O. (purchase order) to ensure you’re not out of stock
  • Make changes on “out of stock” and adjustment prices on the spot. Do not wait.
  • Management orders product so management should receive and have staff store product quickly (use scales when appropriate)

3. Make it Well (To the recipe)

  • Whether slicing oranges and limes or making the soup of the day, recipes must be followed (don’t assume)
  • When prepping, follow production levels set by management. Levels should be monitored continuously
  • Ensure team members are working in a safe and clean environment (no bare hands contact)
  • Education on use of equipment, especially sharp knives, will save you $$
    Build shelf life and sensitivity guide for all products and code containers
    Juices / Ice Cream / Puree’s / Syrups / Sour Mix / All Fresh Produce

4. Don’t Let It Die on the Bar Top

  • Line check bar food consumables is as important as line check in your kitchen
  • Management should have proper timetable to support tasting and line checks
  • Rotation of products is critical. First in, first out and include this in line check
  • Ensure staff does not eat bar garnishes (blue cheese stuffed olives are not free)
  • Use par system (Place fresh product out for the shift only, then restock)

5. Sell It Well (First Time Every Time)

  • Cover your products cost in the price you charge the customer
  • Guests “eat with their eyes” so make your garnishes look impressive
  • Ensure finished product is delivered to guest the way you invented it

So in review, food cost makes up the largest portion of your gross profit. With strong team accountability, follow up and the practice of bar food cost controls, you can insure that costs are in line and positively impacting margins in your business.

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Delicious Eats and Libations at The Hub

Oct 17, 2016

Champaign, Illinois is now the home for your new favorite “third place.” That’s because we just opened up The Hub, a brand new restaurant and sports bar right in the University of Illinois campus area. The Hub features signature cocktails like their Prickly Pear Margaritas and Fighting “Illini” Mojito as well as draft beers.

 

The Synergy team, along with select trainers, led a brand new staff through menu knowledge, steps of service, and hospitality leading up to opening day. The servers and bartenders experienced hands-on training including menu tasting, role play, team building exercises, and two rounds of mock service. The opening of the Hub was not only thoughtfully planned, but also successfully executed in a fun and high energy environment.

img_5498a img_5464a img_5470a img_5457a

You can enjoy premium burgers made oh a house-baked bun, brined wings and other delicious sharables with friends while watching the game on any one of their nine, sixty-inch TVs. Synergy’s own beverage consultant, George Barton, oversaw the staff training for  everything beer, wine and spirits. And Synergy chefs Justin Braly and Kim Berardi headed the back of house operations ensuring that every dish came out delicious. It’s safe to say, The Hub is the place for the best burger in Champaign and an ice cold beer!