Healthy fast food menu items are increasing in demand as more consumers seek healthier meal choices. In the past, consumers looking for a budget-friendly, low fat, low calorie meal were limited to places such as Subway or Blimpies. However, in the past few years, healthier food offerings are becoming more accessible as major fast food chains recognize the need to accommodate the consumer’s changing attitudes.

 

A variety of fresh salads and sandwiches are among the most popular items on fast food menus across the globe. Just last week, McDonald’s released its EggWhite Delight breakfast sandwich – a healthier alternative to the Egg McMuffin. And also making its debut this month is the McDonald’s Premium McWrap, an upgrade from the original McWrap and is also marketed as a healthier option.

 

In a recent commercial, McDonald’s advertises its Premium McWrap as “a blend of tender, juicy chicken and tantalizing fresh veggies in three captivating flavors.” However, the nutrition profiles for each of the three flavors vary greatly in fat grams, calories, and sodium. The Premium McWrap Chicken & Ranch (Grilled) contains 16 fat grams and 430 calories whereas the Premium McWrap Chicken & Bacon (Crispy) contains 30 fat grams and 600 calories. Thus, even with a healthier spin on menu options, consumers still must carefully examine nutritional information in order to actually enjoy a healthy lunch.

Real healthy menu development combines deep understanding of consumer taste preferences with expertise in flavor and nutritional profiles of various foods. If you would like to implement truly healthy and delicious menu offerings at your restaurant, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants, the healthy menu experts.

 

No, it’s not just the taste of your restaurant’s food that determines the success of your restaurant. Poor staff management can be the element that’s costing your foodservice operation every single day.

Some very common problems with restaurant managers are:

• Poor communication skills: How managers choose to voice concerns or change behavior is very important. Yelling at the staff and making them feel incompetent is not the right way to handle poor performance. How does your manager the handle customer complaints?

  

   

• Lack of rule enforcement: Is your restaurant manager properly enforcing rules and regulations? Does he/she ensure that food quality and health standards are enforced inside and out of the kitchen on a consistent basis? Food quality and safety should always be the priority at any restaurant.
• Bad planning: How well does your restaurant manager plan? Does he/she ensure timely ordering of food and supplies? Does he regularly schedule maintenance of restaurant equipment? These are critical timelines for smooth operations.
• Unsafe working conditions: Does your restaurant manager ensure a safe working environment for staff members? Is he/she knowledgeable of best safety practices to help protect both consumers and workers as well as reduce lawsuits deriving from accidents on site? Employee safety is a key part of morale.
• Organizational structure: Is your restaurant manager consistently and adequately keeping a log of all restaurant activities? Does he/she efficiently schedule staff work schedules to ensure there is no lack of manpower? Does he/she have a “Plan B” if there are unforeseen issues at the restaurant?

The best way to avoid these issues is hiring and training the right people to staff your restaurant.

 

At Synergy Restaurant Consultants, our restaurant recruiting services provide restaurants an easier way to weed out potential problem applicants and only hire those with the best qualities for the job. As you can see from the above examples, your restaurant can only be as good as those staffed to run it everyday. To learn more about our restaurant recruiting services, contact Synergy today.

Salma Abu-Ghazaleh recently celebrated two years with Synergy Restaurant Consultants and has significantly expanded the company’s presence in the Middle East.

 

For the last two years, Salma Abu-Ghazaleh has dedicated her exceptional networking skills to Middle East business development for Synergy Restaurant Consultants, one of the nation’s most respected culinary firms. Recognizing her enormous contributions to the organization, partners Dean Small and Danny Bendas decided to expand her role.

“Salma has been invaluable in getting Synergy’s Client Services in order,” commented Small. “As she pursued new opportunities for us in the Middle East, she developed some significant methodologies that have streamlined our proposals and operations and her templates have now been adopted company-wide.” Abu-Ghazaleh’s strategies were so effective that she increased SRC’s Middle East client base by 250% in 6 brief months. She also impacted the firm’s web presence by implementing an Arabic language feature.

More recently, Abu-Ghazaleh has participated in actual concept and menu development, interfacing with clients on an ongoing basis. “We realized how strong Salma’s “people skills” were and felt that she was being underutilized. Her educational c.v. is impressive. Amherst. American University of Beirut. Executive courses from Harvard.    What is more impressive is how she has totally integrated what she learned with how she works,” added Bendas. Now Abu-Ghazaleh has added “Project Management” as her newest appellation and recognition. “Salma has a great future with Synergy because she has an incredible ability to grow her skillset with our company’s rapid growth,” Small concluded.

Synergy Restaurant Consultants is a culinary-driven, excellence-obsessed and operations-focused consulting group with a comprehensive knowledge of all disciplines in food and beverage service.

 

Greetings!

To your success,

Dean and Danny

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The Importance of Prime Cost

By Brad Miller, Operations Associate

In the restaurant business, a lot of percentages are thrown around as gauges of success or financial health. Food cost, liquor cost, occupancy cost, labor cost, controllable costs… just to name a few. None are more important, however, than the big one: PRIME COST.

The prime cost is a calculation of your total food, beverage, paper goods, labor and all labor-related expenses (payroll taxes, workers comp, employee benefits and health insurance), divided by total revenues.
Prime cost for a typical full-service restaurant runs 60-65%, and for a fast-casual concept 55-60%. These benchmarks are dependent on your specific operation and are a rule of thumb to follow, not necessarily a “golden rule.” For example, steakhouses can run significantly higher prime costs because of the high costs of proteins, although revenues are higher than that of a hamburger stand. Fast-casual restaurants typically have lower labor costs which can bring your prime cost down.

Why is prime cost so important? It’s the most controllable cost in your business. Food cost, liquor cost and labor costs can be tracked on a monthly, weekly or daily basis, if necessary. Most POS systems have the capability to track labor cost on a daily basis. Most restaurants can easily track food costs by simply tracking purchases, sales and inventory levels once per week. What are the biggest pitfalls in not tracking your prime cost frequently?

• Too little, too late: Finding out that your labor cost jumped up 10% from one month to the next, 30 days after the end of the month, can be difficult to remedy immediately.

• I’m making money, so I don’t care about costs: You may be making money, but will you know if your new employee is stealing steaks from the cooler?

• Lost opportunities: It’s much easier to find the cause of a jump in cost if you know at the end of the week as opposed to the end of the quarter.

Possibly the most important reason to keep frequent track of prime cost? When employees see that management takes the time and effort to track costs, it breeds a culture of responsiveness. Take the time for the simple calculations; it will help in the long run.

If you need help controlling your costs, ask Synergy for a free evaluation.

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The Power of Umami

By Joan Lang

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter… and umami. Derived from a Japanese word for “deliciousness,” the so-called fifth taste has taught us not only about why some foods are so satisfying, but also about the very nature of human appetite.

You may have heard or read about umami (pronounced “oo-MA-mee”), which is generally described as the savory taste. Discovered by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda more than 100 years ago, umami is the flavor of glutamate, an amino acid that is one of the essential building blocks of protein (Dr. Ikeda went on to submit a patent to produce monosodium glutamate, or MSG, which is the primary ingredient in Accent seasoning).

Not coincidentally, many Japanese foods are loaded with umami, including soy, seaweed, green tea, dried bonito flakes, miso, and the ubiquitous stock known as dashi. Italian food, too: Parmesan and other aged cheeses, tomatoes and olives all have significant umami content, along with mushrooms, truffles, potatoes and nearly every form of meat and seafood, from sardines and squid to shrimp. Anchovy paste and Asian fish sauce are loaded with it (there’s a reason they’re a surprising “secret ingredient’ in so many recipes); so are cured meats like prosciutto and even garden-variety condiments like ketchup and Worcestershire.

In fact, many scientists now believe that umami is the taste of protein, and that our ancient caveman ancestors would have sought it out just as they craved foods that were sweet (the flavor of energy-giving carbohydrates) and avoided those that were bitter (poisonous plants). Most humans’ first encounter with umami, in fact, is breast milk, which contains roughly the same amount of umami as broth. Yet surprisingly, many people denied the very existence of umami until researchers found its receptors in the form of tastebuds, paving the way for the discovery of specific tastebuds for the other four tastes.

Many umami-rich foods are some of the most satisfying foods in the world—think of a big sizzling steak with sautéed mushrooms and a baked potato, or a big bowl of pasta and tomato sauce, showered with grated Parmesan cheese. Foods like these have a deep, almost universal appeal; we crave them. That’s umami in action.

In general, the more umami that is present in food, the more flavorful and satisfying it will be. That applies not just to ingredients, but also to the techniques used to cook or process them, from grilling to drying and aging. Aged cheeses are more flavorful than young ones (or than milk, for that matter); sun-dried tomatoes have a more concentrated umami tomatoey-ness than fresh ones. That steak with sautéed mushrooms derives flavor not just from the meat and mushrooms themselves, but also from the caramelization and intensifying of flavors that take place on the grill and in the sauté pan, creating a real “u-bomb” of flavor. Fermentation also produces lots of umami, especially when you start with foods that are rich in the stuff to begin with (such as cabbage, turned into sauerkraut and kimchi).

Upping the umami factor in food has a number of benefits, not the least of which is enhanced flavor:

• Umami-rich foods increase the feeling of satiation, causing people to enjoy food more and potentially eat less of it
• The use of umami flavors reduces the need for added salt in food
• Umami piques the appetite; it could serve to counteract the decline in taste and appetite that comes with aging and certain types of illness
• Umami softens the bitterness of foods, which could lead to its use in the formulation of healthier diets for children, who are very sensitive to bitter flavors—such as those present in many vegetables

In everyday cooking, umami can make the difference between a great recipe and one that is merely meh. Many Italian braised and sautéed dishes start with a sofrito that contains a judicious amount of anchovy—including osso buco and sautéed escarole—which really bumps up the flavor factor without being perceived as salted and brined fish. A bit of tomato or aged balsamic vinegar adds not only a lively jolt of acidity to food, but also umami complexity. And we all know about that shower of freshly grated Parmesan at the table.

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The Evolution of the Sandwich

By Joan Lang

You know when Bon Appetit magazine does an entire cover story on cheffy sandwiches (“The Greatest Things since Sliced Bread”) that the upscale sandwich trend has hit critical mass.

Once relegated to the role of convenience-oriented breakfast and lunch foods, sandwiches have now attained signature-level cachet, worthy of the attentions of serious chefs and demanding diners throughout the day.

Although the trend started with burgers, many boldface-name chefs are bringing their own take to sandwiches with sophisticated flavor combinations and meticulously sourced ingredients. In the process, they’re making their food more accessibly priced and in tune with today’s expectations for more casual dining experiences—and changing the definition of what a sandwich is.

Chefs like Tom Colicchio (‘wichcraft), Rick Bayless (Tortas Frontera), the team behind Diner and Marlow & Sons (Saltie), Graham Elliot Bowles (Grahamwich), Roy Choi (Kogi Korean BBQ), Nicholaus Balla (Bar Tartine) and Michael Voltaggio (Ink.Sack) were early to the party, in various degrees, and their success has helped to ignite a firestorm of demand for better sandwiches.

One of the newest star-chef entrants is David Burke, who is said to be working on a sandwich concept in Chicago’s James Hotel.

Meanwhile, there have been all sorts of interesting sandwich specialty shops opening up:

• Bel 50 touts itself as a purveyor of artisan sandwiches “curiously crafted,” and indeed sandwiches like burrata cheese with fresh basil and EVOO and grilled Portabella mushroom with roasted tomato, goat cheese and roasted pepper aioli are built on thin, flexible waffles, instead of bread

• Duran serves pretty little open-face European-style sandwiches with dozens of different toppings, ranging from tzatziki and French-style vegetable salad to Mediterranean Tuna, caviar and crab salad

• Animals, a 15-seat sandwich emporium in New York City, features such unusual items as a pulled bacon torta with refried baked beans and chile mayo, and a sandwich filled with curried cauliflower, walnut pate, pickled onions, frisee, cucumber, mint and spice pureed cauliflower “mayo”

• The new Blue Rooster Food Company in Portland, ME, has a wide-ranging selection, from porchetta (sausage-stuffed pork belly, pickled tomato, arugula and citrus mayo on house focaccia) to the Seoul Dog (housemade local natural-casing hot dog with housemade spicy kimchi, toasted peanuts and roasted garlic mayo)

• The selection at Project Sandwich is another world tour of sandwiches: Brazilian (grilled steak marinated in smoked salt, mozzarella, tomatoes, pickles and garlic cilantro chimichurri sauce); Middle Eastern (a vegetarian combo of grilled zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, and roasted red peppers dressed with lemon-garlic hummus); and New Zealand (Nutella and banana)

• Mile End has helped to revitalize the sagging deli segment with its focus on upgraded classics like housemade chopped liver, smoked brisket, smoked lamb sausage and turkey rillettes

• The Spanish chain 100 Montaditos comes to the United States, bringing its eponymous, traditional little 5-inch sandwiches with it, stuffed with everything from turkey, tomato and olive oil to fried calamari

Note the focus on fun condiments, unique breads, and all kinds of textural flourishes. Not surprisingly, the trend is starting to trickle down to the fast-casual and QSR segment in the form of new sandwich platforms, upgraded breads, fillings, condiments and more.

• Wendy’s is introducing a new line of artisan flatbread sandwiches, while Tim Horton’s has its paninis
• Dunkin’ Donuts has latched on to the mega-hot grilled cheese sandwich trend with its Texas Toast Grilled Cheese
• The trend to spicy, crunchy condiments is playing out on Erbert & Gerbert’s new Luna, which includes tangy-sweet chili coleslaw, oven-roasted turkey breast, Swiss cheese, avocado and tomato
• Blimpie had so much success with its pretzel bread test that it’s adding the option to the menu full-time

For information on how to upgrade your sandwich offerings—or open your new dream sandwich shop—contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

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Tip of the Month

Want more information about umami? The Umami Information Center is a great source of research, recipes, FAQs, events, detailed information about umami-rich ingredients and lots more. There is also a very detailed article about “Unleashing the Power of Umami” on the IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) website.

There’s something magical about the aroma of freshly baked bread. The scent and flavor can conjure up comforting feelings and childhood memories. Studies like those conducted by neurologist Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Research and Science Foundation have actually found that the smell of baked goods (e.g. breads, cakes) make up the largest category of nostalgic memories

 

It is no wonder, then, that the demand for artisan and specialty breads is on the rise. Although made with minimal ingredients, creating a great artisan bread is an art form in and of itself. Crafting freshly baked bread from scratch on-site is an extremely difficult, and many times impractical, feat for most quick service and casual dining restaurants. So what should a restaurant do when more and more customers’ palates are becoming accustomed to the taste of freshly baked artisanal breads?

 

The technique of par-baking, short for partial baking, has helped restaurateurs answer this question. The general concept behind par-baking is having 80% of the dough cooked, then flash-frozen, before being shipped off to a restaurant to complete the baking process. Well-known bakery cafes like Panera Bread and Corner Bakery utilize par-baking at their stores. This way, restaurants can finish baking the loaves on-site so they are fresh without having to undergo the complete process of making artisanal bread themselves.

How can your restaurant benefit from par-baking?

• Economies of scale
• Less skill-labor required in preparation
• More opportunities to capitalize on bread trends and experiment with different types
• Create fresh baked bread aromas in your stores
• Increase profit
• Reduce waste

 

Do you have questions on how to implement par-baking at your bakery or restaurant? For more information, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

Good employees are the backbone of any business, but this is especially pertinent in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Efficiently run organizations require buy-in from all levels in the restaurant, most especially the managers. As a restaurant owner, you need a restaurant manager with business savvy and leadership skills in addition to a passion for food and beverage. This is no easy task!

 

Although the Internet has given employers access to a wider range of job seekers, sometimes results in information overload.To help restaurant owners manage the influx of resumes for various openings, Synergy Restaurant Consultants offers restaurant recruitment services. Synergy’s team works with multi-unit restaurants in all stages of the recruitment process to evaluate prospects to find the top candidates who fit the job profile. In the

 

With over 25 years of restaurant consulting experience, Synergy has developed an efficient recruitment system based the keen understanding of the restaurant fundamentals and human capital. Whether you are seeking to hire a staff of highly trained chefs, professional multi-unit supervisors, or experienced general managers, Synergy can help. To learn more about Synergy’s restaurant recruiting services, call 888-861-9212.

 

Being cheesy is a good thing if you’re talking food! In the world of sandwiches, cheese is the delicious glue that keeps the essential pieces together. Since April is National Grilled Cheese month, all the more reason to celebrate this great food at your restaurant! Get inspired by these great grilled cheese recipes, and don’t forget a great soup to pair it with!

 

 

Lobster grilled cheese – Talk about decadent! This recipe layers lobster, brie, mayonnaise, herbs, and other seasonings to give an adult twist to this classic dish.

 

Vegan grilled cheese with roasted tomatillo salsa – Don’t forget our vegan and vegetarian customers! Vegan cheese offers the same gooey richness as real cheese; paired with this tomatillo salsa, this sandwich is just as gooey and delicious as the real thing.

 

Grilled cheese with pulled short ribs and pickled red onions – You can have the best of both worlds, pairing slow-cooked ribs and Bel Paese cheese; elevation to the next level of comfort foods!

 

Grilled Goat Cheese, Asparagus and Prosciutto Sandwiches – Using goat milk cheese instead cow’s milk cheese lowers both fat and calories in the sandwich without skimping on taste. This Whole Foods recipe features whole grain bread, asparagus, goat cheese spread, and prosciutto. Each servings clocks in just 300 calories and 12 total grams of fat.

 

Grilled ham and gouda sandwiches with frisée and caramelized onions – Ham is to cheese as peanut butter is to jelly — a perfect duo! This simple recipe is a definite keeper if you’re a fan of smoked ham and gouda!

How is Your Restaurant Brand Leveraging Social Media Technology?

It’s harder these days to visit a restaurant and not see a Yelp! or FourSquare Check In sticker on the window. Social media icons like those from Facebook, Twitter and Google + are also proudly displayed on restaurant websites and marketing material. It’s clear that the consumer’s love for social media should not be ignored but rather embraced and used as leverage for your own branding and marketing purposes.

There are many web tools to help you promote your restaurant using social media. But did you know that there are also hardware options for this too? We recently came across a nifty social media device at a  Lollicup tea shop that allows patrons to snap digital photos of themselves inside the store and post them on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for free. The product is called iSnap and essentially serves as a modern photo-booth with branding capabilities. This sleek device stands up as a vertical kiosk and has a small footprint. There are other similar devices on the market as well such as Social Kiosk Solutions, also suitable for events and placement in your storefront.

See a Social Media Kiosk in action

Every month we like to shed some insight into the newest menu offerings from your favorite quick-service and casual dining restaurants. There are lots to choose from this April and we did notice an emphasis on pizza (one of our favorite foods, admittedly!) Read about these debuting menu items to see whether they might be worth a taste.

 

Pizzaburger from Boston Pizza: No, this is not a late April Fool’s joke. Yes, pizzaburger – as in a food which is the combination of pizza and a burger. The Canadian pizza chain, Boston Pizza, describes this unusual dish as, “100% Canadian beef. Our half-pound prime rib beef burger wrapped in a cheese pizza. Stuffed with pizza mozzarella, cheddar, feta, Asiago, fresh Parmesan and our signature pizza sauce. Baked to perfection and topped with lettuce, tomato and pickle.”

 

Deep! Deep! Dish Pizza from Little Caesar’s: This very excitable name describes Little Caesar’s latest creation: “Our Detroit-style deep dish pizza with a unique, crisp-on-the-bottom, soft-and-chewy-on-the-inside crust. Topped from coast-to-coast with fresh, premium mozzarella and Muenster, baked to a crispy, crunchy, caramelized cheese edge. Four corners of perfection weren’t enough – so we gave you eight!” Deep! Deep! Dish Pizza will be available for Hot-N-Ready pickup.

 

Crazy Cheese Crust Pizza from Pizza Hut: It looks like the battle of the pizza chains is going strong this month! Pizza Hut unveiled an extremely cheesier cousin to its class Stuffed Crust Pizza this month. At just $12.99, you get a large pepperoni pizza that’s surrounded by 16 pockets of Italian 5 cheese blend. We never thought pizza could any cheesier until now!

 

Egg White Delight from McDonald’s: We recently mentioned this new healthier offering in our previous blog post. This egg white sandwich will be on sale starting April 22.

 

St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs from Boston Market: Move over ham, it’s time to share the spotlight with a new menu item– ribs! For a limited time, Boston Market is offering customers slow-smoked, seasoned BBQ ribs. It’s certainly is a nice twist to Boston Market’s traditional menu.

 

Video Little Caesars:

Restaurants all across New York City were preparing for March 12, the day that would have banned selling large, sugary drinks.  But just one day before the law would be enacted, a state judge struck down the impending ban, calling it “arbitrary and capricious,” according to this Fox News article. Although thousands of restaurant owners breathed a sigh of relief on the lift, the battle for healthier food offerings continues to rage on.

While some restaurant owners may argue that it is ultimately the consumer’s responsibility to ensure they make wise food choices, it is becoming more evident that people are actively seeking healthier menu offerings. In fact, the 2013 Technomic Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report discovered that 64 percent of consumers believe it is important to pay attention to nutrition and eat healthy. And of those surveyed, 38 percent stated they would more likely dine at a restaurant that had more healthy options even if they did not purchase those items.

Earlier this year, Restaurant.com explained what they thought would be some of the food trends to emerge in 2013, one of which included healthy food. With similar findings to the Technomic study, Restaurant.com’s survey shows:

“Sixty-four percent of restaurants surveyed noted a customer demand for healthy menu options and they’re responding accordingly: 80 percent of restaurants say they will add healthier menu items in 2013. Fifty-two percent of restaurants surveyed selected healthy options as the most influential factor in planning their 2013 menus, followed by vegetarian options (39 percent) and gluten-free options (38 percent)”

(Source: QSRWeb.com)

What happens if your restaurant isn’t serving food that people want? This certainly gives more credence to the saying “give them what they want.” And in this case, it’s actually healthy food.