Restaurant Consulting Firms for Long-Term Sustainability

Worldwide restaurant owners are looking to intensify their efforts for promotion and marketing in order to stay ahead in the competition. They are looking forward to transform their identity and change their infrastructure as per the fast changing food industry and its trends. Furthermore, they are focused on enabling innovations to improve their customers’ experience. In practical terms, restaurant owners are redefining their capabilities to introduce new and flexible delivery system, and increasing their efficiencies at ever-lower costs. Most of the restaurant business owners rely on the capabilities of restaurant consultants. Restaurant consultants are the industry experts that help business owners to stay competitive, smart, agile, and responsive all the time, while retaining their customers.

                                                                     

Restaurant consultants help in significantly transforming hotels and restaurants by developing solid and proven strategies. They help in improving service quality while cutting cost for better improvement, spiral development, and complete change. These consultants encourage entrepreneurs to focus on improving quality through revolutionary techniques, approaches, and tools. They recommend for comprehensive automation for improved delivery, service quality, and next age revolution.

Technically speaking, these restaurant consultants have deep industry knowledge. They comprehensively evaluate, assess, and monitor current pricing strategies, supply chain management, and performance ratios, and based on that, they recommend several changes. They also discover several business tools to anticipate changes. Restaurant consultants focus on your underlying strategies brand positioning concepts, product development efforts & ideas, and menu engineering to know your objectives.

If you want, they will redefine your restaurant marketing and branding concepts and prototypes and suggest aggressive techniques for suitable changes. They often emphasize on concept development, as it is responsible for growth and long-term stability. Restaurant consultants use creative, innovative, and unique approaches to engender a powerful business development plan. This plan includes brand identity generation, interior designing concept, menu development, human resource training, staff training execution and evaluation.

Restaurant consultants share their knowledge and focus on menu creation, culinary teams, food programs, and recipe specifications. These basic factors focus complete business architecture. Then, they develop exclusive marketing strategies so that your business expands in an exponential manner. They insight fully monitor your promises and execution and try to fill the gap. In subtle terms, they align the available resources so that you can make promises and fulfill them, accordingly. It will substantially help in maintaining great market reputation and surpassing your toughest competitor.

In essence, restaurant consulting firms strengthen business capacities by streamlining their resources. They help in better planning and execution in a smart way to remain effective and dominant in the niche. In this way, you will not only manage your business operations efficiently, but also implement performance-based solutions for long-term sustainability in the ecosystem.

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Consumer Evolution for Organic and Natural continues in America

The benefits of using organic and natural food has been highlighted through published research analysis where the continuous evolution of the consumer market in organic and natural in America has been substantiated. It is through these reports that we find that consumers are still in favor of using organic and natural as compared to the counterparts which are processed in a conventional way. Consumers have been disillusioned on choosing conventional products only for reasons of health safety and although some questions still remains about the authenticity of the organic and natural, people in America are still inclined more on these produce.    

                               

The whole idea of these researches is to highlight the recent trends of usage of organic and natural providing a cue to the future trends to be followed as well. These reports are enriched with insights that provide ample proof as to why consumers are interested and will be in the near future on natural and organic. Extensive areas of exploration of these researches bring forth the undeniable fact about the benefits of using this kind of food not only for their nutritional values but also for reasons beyond that.

Restaurant consultants suggests that organic substances are free of negatives like pesticides, antibiotics and herbicides for which reasons consumers opt for these products rather than rely on processed food. In spite of big companies entering the market in manufacturing organic produce, there has been a lot of skepticism about the true value of these products. A recent survey reveals that consumers are ready to pay a premium provided they are convinced about the product being genuine, as compared to previous days when buyers were reluctant to buy organic at a high price knowing full well of its nutritional value.

Natural products are real and simple foods which are no lesser in nutritional value than organic ones, but just a product being branded as natural does not substantiate its authenticity. This has led to many speculations among consumers who are often found in dubious mind on whether to purchase organic and natural. In days to come it is being predicted that more and more produce manufactured by local farmers will pave the way for consumers to be totally convinced about the organic and natural quality of any product which are included among their daily list of consumption.

Surveys also predict that in near future retailers will diminish in numbers, leaving local producers to take their place. Reposing faith on branded products labeled as organic and natural is gradually on the decline with distrust on corporate and government sectors in food processing becoming stronger. Although the FDA has enforced strict regulations on labeling of organic foods, branded products are failing to generate significant level of trust. Days are in the offing when labels of local producers will be as preferred as the branded ones only due to the trust and belief that local produce are free of any kind of health threats.

It is very clear that organic and natural foods will help in restaurant marketing to great extent. Also it is believed that these organic and natural are going to make an ever increasing market due to the continuity of the consumer evolution for organic and natural.

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Turning the Clock Back With the Farm to Table Movement

There’s no better example than the rise of the farm to table movement to prove that the world is indeed round. As the reality of global warming and climate change hits home, weno longer want to be responsible for food on the table that comes with a big helping of carbon emissions – as in frozen foods shipped across the country or even across the oceans. People now want organic and sustainably grown produce that is grown in nearby farms, if not in their own backyard.

                                        

Until the early 20^th century, most of the food purchased and consumed was grown locally, within a radius of 50 miles or so. Then urbanization, technology advances and globalization shifted the balance from rural farms and the growers to large retailers who could ship in fruits and frozen foods from anywhere in the world. It killed small farmers and hastened up the growth of mega cities with massive transportation hubs and infrastructure.

Ironically, it was the all the Co2 emissions from these vehicles, ships and planes carrying food and other goods from one place to another that are largely responsible for global warming, which in turn led worried consumers to turn the clock back and prefer locally grown food. This has resulted in the rise of movements such as Farm to Table, Slow Food, Local Food, Sustainable Farming, Organic Food, etc.

The Farm to Table movement encourages restaurants to buy their produce directly from local farms and farmers markets, cutting out the big-city distributors and traders from the equation. In fact, many participating restaurants have their own farms and gardens so that customers receive fresh produce and herbs that elevate flavorover dishes prepared using frozen foods.

One of the first such restaurants which adhered to the principles of the Farm to Table movement was Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. There are now dozens of such restaurants in every major city in the U.S. This has led to systemic changes in the way food is prepared and served in these restaurants, and has also triggered a growing realignment of local economies.

Chefs in Food to Table restaurants are moving towards menus that favor healthy and traditional dishes prepared simply without extracting  the nutrients, over-cooking, or using artificial flavoring and other additives. It fits in perfectly into the natural order of things, given the health attributes, local economy and the environment. Even the White House is on the action, with the White House Kitchen Garden and the White House Honey Ale, which is brewed in the White House itself.

The economic possibilities are also just as compelling. Local farms are back in business, generating string revenues and creating jobs. This is just the top of the local food iceberg; especially given most of America’s metro areas still don’t grow more than two percent of their own food consumption.

Culinary experts and Restaurant Consultants, The Next Idea, reported that 30% of their new concepts include a large farm to table element. Also, the Next Idea predicts that this movement while still in its infancy, will become mainstream over the next five to ten years as consumers latch on to the health and local benefits.

 As America’s food dynamics change – we will see better quality food available at all levels of the market – this means that the consumer will benefit.

For information about The Next Idea Restaurant and Food Consultants, email: info@thenextidea.net or call 818 887 7714

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Skynny Kitchen, a New Calorie-Curbed Fast-Casual Place

One of the most common factors while you travel for either business or pleasure is your search for a restaurant where you can eat your favorite dish at reasonable prices. However, there are plenty of options available, when it comes to eat in restaurants.

 

Following the recent trend of restaurants offering dishes containing under a set number of calories, please welcome the aptly titled Skynny Kitchen, which opened July 9 in the NoHo Arts District replacing Otis Jackson's Soul Dog. Owner Matt Flinn, formerly a private chef, has a breakfast-lunch-dinner menu with all plates under 500 calories.

For breakfast there are inexpensive sandwiches and a frittata, with a plethora of soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps plus sides and shakes on offer the rest of the day. All food is really quite reasonably priced too, all less than $11. And, by the way, Skynny Kitchen is next headed to West Hollywood this fall.

So, what are you waiting for? Visit Skynny Kitchen and enjoy your breakfast, lunch and dinner with ultimate taste. Here, you can customize your breakfast according to your liking and they would happily attend to you. All these reasons should prompt you to go for this economical option of eating.

The Next Idea is a highly innovative and experienced team of restaurant consultants and interior designers. You can visit their Website - http://www.thenextidea.net/, if you have any query about restaurant interior designing, restaurant marketing plans etc.

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Preparing Strawberry Milkshake

It is no secret that bakeries, frozen yogurt, and specialty sweet shops are opening up in unprecedented numbers world wide. What used to be an afterthought on restaurant menus, dessert, is now a major market in the restaurant industry.

            

The Next Idea [Los Angeles based Restaurant Consultants], has developed countless dessert recipes that showcase everything from traditional tastes to modernist techniques.

We predict the next wave of dessert trends hitting restaurant menus to be a hybrid of nostalgic flavors and contemporary presentation. Culinary terms like deconstructed, reconstructed, and molecular gastronomy will no longer be limited to the savory side of menu development.

What better way to highlight dramatically avant garde dessert formats than by using retro recipes? Below an American classic, the milkshake, reinvented into an elegant pot de crème. All the flavors of a creamy strawberry milkshake can be enjoyed in one spoonful, guaranteed not to melt! This recipe is complete with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles for added whimsy.

The custard can be made ahead of time, so it is perfect for entertaining. Serve this surprising dessert to guests at your next dinner party for all the fun of a milkshake and none of the fuss of a noisy blender.

Strawberry Milkshake Pot de Crème

 INGREDIENTS:

 1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and smashed

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

½ cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

For Garnish:

Rainbow Sprinkles

Whipped Cream

Sliced Strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

1) In a large sauce pan, add milk, cream, and smashed strawberries.

2) Bring mixture to simmer and allow strawberries to infuse the milk and cream mixture.

3) While strawberry cream mixture is simmering, whisk together vigorously sugar and egg yolks in a mixing bowl until light and frothy.

4) Slowly add strawberry cream to egg mixture, whisking constantly to make sure eggs do not curdle.

5) Add vanilla extract and strain mixture.

6) Pour mixture into 4 ramekins, mason jars, or any oven safe serving dish.

7) In a 350 degree oven, bake ramekins in a water bath covered with foil for 30-45 minutes or until custard is just set.

8 ) Remove from oven and chill completely.

9) Serve cold with a dollop of whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles, and a few sliced fresh strawberries.

The Next Idea is one of the World’s Leading Culinary and Restaurant Consulting Group, For further information please call: 818 887 7714 or email: info@thenextidea.net Web: www.thenextidea.net

Food Sampling Builds Sales and Relationships with Customers

Giving your product away for free to build sales may seem like a business oxymoron. But as the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. And although there is no such thing as a free lunch, food sampling is the next best thing for operators and for customers.

For operators, it gets their product into the mouths of current and potential customers, and for customers, it gives them an opportunity to try something new, risk-free. In that exchange, operators and customers can connect while breaking bread. And, seriously, who doesn’t love a free sample?

“Food sampling is the cheapest, most effective way to get consumers to try what I’m trying to get them to try and build a relationship. Food sampling is the idiot-proof marketing tool for bars and restaurants,” says Howard Cannon, a food service expert with Restaurant Expert Witness.

Jeff Van Dyke, managing partner of Brixx Wood Fired Pizza with locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, says food sampling is a valuable tool because it establishes goodwill with guests, provides an opportunity for customer feedback for market research and requires minimal cost.

“We use sampling for two different reasons: one, to develop new menu items and get feedback — very effective before you go too far with a new item –– and two, we sample foods with people waiting for tables as a way to thank them for waiting and being patient,” Van Dyke says.

A recent addition to Brixx’s menu, Zucchini Balsamic Toast, was a heavily sampled dish.

“It’s a good item and a little different, so people are afraid to try it,” Van Dyke says. “The advantage of sampling is that it stirs people toward items you want to sell. The Zucchini Balsamic Toast is a healthy item, and we want it to be one of the most popular items on the menu.”

Food sampling also is an effective way to change customer habits, says Robert Ancill, CEO and managing partner of the restaurant and leisure consulting group The Next Idea.

“Typically customers are habitual. There is a small percentage who will try something new on a menu,” Ancill says. “The goal of sampling is for the customer to try something new they normally wouldn’t.”

The rules of food sampling are flexible: the where and when can fluctuate according to the operator’s needs and staff’s availability.

Van Dyke says, food sampling varies by Brixx location, but is definitely used when a new menu is in the works, which is twice a year. He says food sampling is also great when stores are not busy, and managers can get immediate feedback from customers.

“We are big into food sampling; we do it in all of our stores. We sample products in front of our stores, at local farmers’ markets, big school events, wine and food festivals — anywhere we can get an audience of our community to sample our product,” says Adam Goldberg, founder of Fresh Brothers in California. “We hold sampling events at our stores. We do it with a new product and with gluten-free products. We believe in the quality of our pizza so much, that we would rather give it away for people to try it instead of giving away a coupon.”

Cannon recommends his clients do a “business blitz,” which is food sampling offsite; before lunch, staff should bring samples to a business that is within range of the restaurant.

“It all works — dining room, offsite, front door,” Cannon says.

Although the where and when of food sampling differs, its success depends on how it is done.

“If the food is good, let the food sell itself,” Cannon says. “If the food is miserable, don’t do sampling. Operators want to sample things that didn’t sell, but don’t do that. Put your best stuff forward with the best hospitality to customers.”

Food sampling also is a way to grab customers’ attention.

“It’s a chance to impress them with something they wouldn’t normally buy. When customers say no to dessert and pay out the check, bring two samples of dessert to entice them next time,” Cannon says.

Bite-size food samples mean small cost to operators. “Food sampling is never a full portion; for example, sampling a dessert, make two-three extra pies or cakes and use that for the whole shift,” Cannon says. “Bulk offering into portion-controlled options to keep food cost low.”

Food sampling can be a cost-effective sidekick to the big budget demands of couponing and advertising.

“We spend $10,000 a month throughout our chain; we really believe in food sampling our food to potential new customers,” Goldberg says. “It promotes the quality of our product vs. couponing that can hurt the integrity of our brand. We would rather give it away instead of discounting it with a coupon. Couponing is not part of our brand; it doesn’t work for us. By giving it away, we have a 99-percent success rate of people trying our food.”

Van Dyke agrees that these little portions are worth the investment. “You can give a lot of food samples away for less money than you’d spend on advertising, and it is money well spent,”Dyke says.

Although the cost is minimal, location will affect the bottom line.

“Offsite is very effective, but it has to be done right,” Ancill says. “Pizza has to be served hot, packaged right. It’s a bigger investment because you have to think about all those details. It’s a lower cost when the customer is right there. The labor cost will stay the same unless you’re hiring someone solely to hand out samples.”

  

When tracking the success of food sampling, operators have to go with their instincts.“There’s no hard evidence that shows a person is buying because of sampling like there is with a coupon,” Ancill says. According to Cannon, since independent and small chain restaurants are so relationship-based, they can help track the success of food sampling by smiles.

DeAnn Owens is a freelance journalist living in Dayton, Ohio. She specializes in features and human interest stories.

Please visit our Website - http://www.thenextidea.net/, for more information about our services.

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Preparing Kale Chicken Caesar Pizza

We all know summer time is swimsuit season but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on delicious comfort food like pizza. Think of pizza as a blank canvas to showcase healthy vegetables or gourmet cheeses. New restaurant trends indicate that tomato sauce latent traditional pizzas we are accustomed to will make way for craft pizza dishes, integrating both seasonal produce and artisanal ingredients.

                                                                                 

The Next Idea predicts this restaurant trend going a step further in the future, by using pizza as a medium to transform classic dishes. All the flavors of a conventional Caesar Salad are presented as a pizza in the recipe below using healthy ingredients like kale and white meat chicken. As restaurants start to cater to more balanced diets, The Next Idea sees new healthier ingredients, like kale and whole grains, taking the place of older less nutritious restaurant stapleson restaurant menus.

Whole wheat pizza crust is readily available at markets these days as well as gluten free varieties. For a vegetarian yet equally tasty version of this pizza, just omit the chicken all together.

Kale is the perfect green to use for this recipe in place of normal romaine found in Caesar salads. Not only is kale incredibly nutritious, it is a hearty and sturdy green that can hold up to the high heat of an oven while retaining its texture.

A little goes a long way with Caesar dressing so all you need are one or two spoonfuls for the entire pizza. Don’t skip on the cornmeal! It’s naturally gluten free and adds a toasted crunch to help make store bought pizza dough taste and feel homemade.

Serve with a wedge of lemon and squeeze just before taking a bite. The acidic bite of the citrus will help all the rich flavors pop.

 Kale Chicken Caesar Pizza

Ingredients:

• 10 oz Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (or gluten free)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup Cornmeal
• 1 Head Kale, chopped (stems removed, washed and dried)
• 1 cup Grilled chicken, sliced (optional – leave out for a vegetarian pizza)
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2/3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/3 cup Fontina Cheese
• 2 tbsp Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cup Caesar Dressing
• 1 tbsp Lemon Zest
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black Pepper
• Lemon Wedges for garnish& serving

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2)      Stretch and Roll pizza dough to a 13 inch circle.

3)      Brush edges of pizza crust with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.

4)      Top pizza with mozzarella and fontina cheeses.

5)      Drizzle Caesar dressing evenly on top of cheese.

6)      If adding chicken, evenly distribute chicken slices around pizza.

7)      Top pizza with kale leaves, salt, minced garlic, and lemon zest.

8)      Sprinkle remaining cornmeal on baking sheet or preheated pizza stone.

9)      Place pizza on top of cornmeal and bake until crust is golden brown and crisp (approx. 15 minutes).

10)   Remove from oven, top with grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.

11)   Serve with lemon wedges and add a squeeze of lemon just before eating.

The Next Idea is a highly innovative and experienced team of restaurant consultants and interior designers.

Please visit our Website - http://www.thenextidea.net/, for more information about our services.

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