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1OpenTable – Get Your Restaurant in Shape

Get Your Restaurant in ShapeA 30-day bootcamp for improving your marketing, operations, hospitality and more.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Business & ManagementDay 1: Set Goals

Day 2: Hire the Best People

Day 3: Tackle a Reading List

Day 4: Organize Your Space

Day 5: Set Up a Staff Meeting

Day 6: Get Smart with Your Finances

Day 7: Train Your Staff for Success

Day 8: Scale Your Business

Day 9: Cook for a Cause

TechnologyDay 10: Give Your Website a Facelift

Day 11: Optimize Your Reservation Books

Day 12: Build Your Email Database

Day 13: Maximize Your Mobile Site

Day 14: Improve Your Social Media Game

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Marketing & PRDay 15: Network for Success

Day 16: Try a New Promotion

Day 17: Send a Perfect Pitch

Day 18: Make Cool Restaurant Swag

Day 19: Land a Cookbook Deal

Day 20: Upgrade Your Restaurant Uniforms

Day 21: Make the Most Out of Restaurant Week

Day 22: Build a Loyalty Program

Day 23: Reinvent Your Restaurant Marketing

Food, Drink & HospitalityDay 24: Source Better Products for the Kitchen

Day 25: Raise the Bar on Your Cocktail Program

Day 26: Engineer Your Menu for Maximum Profits

Day 27: Reward Your Regulars

Day 28: Build Up Your Brunch

Day 29: Book a Catering Job

Day 30: Find a New Jam

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Is it time to shape up your restaurant? Whether you’re a brand new business or a tried-and-true favorite, it pays to stay relevant in this ultra-competitive industry. These days, that means staying on top of everything from costs and budgeting to social media, PR, training, and more -- while also thinking about long-term objectives you’d like to achieve, like scaling your business.

With this 30-day bootcamp, OpenTable is sharing a month’s worth of tips from restaurateurs, chefs and other industry leaders to shape up every aspect of your business.

Subscribe to Open for Business for more tips, resources and fresh ideas for running a successful restaurant.

Introduction

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DAY 1 —DAY 9

Business & Management


To get started, set clear goals for your restaurant and share them with your staff so you can prioritize as a team.

Identify opportunities

Read customer reviews for common grievances, from wait times

to cleanliness to the quality of the food itself. Think about the

usual pain points in your daily operations. Make a laundry list of

opportunities for improvement.

Set goals

Focus in on your top priorities: the ones that can make the biggest

impact on your business. Make your goals as specific as possible --

and measurable. Instead of “increase revenue,” aim to increase your

covers by a certain amount over the next quarter, or set a goal to gain

30 new Instagram followers this month.

Make a to-do list

Create a plan for achieving your goals. If you want to get more press,

resolve to send three media pitches every month. If you want your

staff to perform at a higher level, devote a few hours every week

to training. Set target dates, while being realistic about your time

commitment.

1DAY ONE

Set goals


Audit regularly

Depending on your goal, check in every day, week, month, quarter or

year to track your progress, celebrate successes, and set new goals. As

your business grows, your priorities and objectives will evolve, too.


2Hiring and retaining great staff members is one of the biggest challenges facing the restaurant industry today. Here, a recruiter at The Chef Agency shares her top tips for finding great people.

Match the skill set and the culture

If a restaurant’s culture is family oriented, they need a staff member

who is personable and who can become part of a close-knit

restaurant “family.” At a larger, high-end restaurant candidates tend

to be more corporate leaders who can hold the staff below them

accountable. Look at a candidate’s past experience and take note

of the size and volume of the restaurants where they have worked

previously.

Use social media to reach candidates

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — social media is a powerful

tool for reaching a large audience. The Chef Agency often places

candidates who are not actively seeking jobs, so they won’t be

browsing Craigslist; instead, they see a job description on other sites

and reach out to learn more.

Find out what they care about

Ask candidates what drives them and what they’re passionate

about to understand their goals and priorities. Ask where they

DAY TWO

Hire the Best People


see themselves in three or five years. Can they grow within your

organization? Will they be happy with the job they are in, or do they

want more than what’s being offered? Not only will it help you hire the

right person, it will help you keep them on.

Show your appreciation

Retain talent and reduce turnover rates by recognizing great

performance and giving employees incentives. Candidates are often

looking for health care benefits, not just for themselves but for their

families. Offering those benefits is a way to attract and retain the right

people.

Offer internal opportunities for development

Providing tools and training on top of a person’s actual job description

can be a great way to develop staff members. Some groups offer

mentoring programs in which, for example, a GM will shadow a VP of

Multi Unit for a week every couple of months. The GM will observe

and learn as the VP oversees multiple restaurants in the region to

understand what the next phase is within the company. It shows the

employee that there’s more to learn and do, and when the company

grows they can step into a new role with very little down time.

Philis Fraschilla. @theChefAgencyPhilis is the VP of Talent Acquisition at The Chef Agency, a hospitality recruitment and placement agency that specializes in finding the best chefs and executives for hotels and restaurants across the globe.


Get inspired and glean wisdom from others in the biz. Will Guidara, the restaurateur behind New York’s Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad, recommends these reads.

The One Minute Manager | Kenneth Blanchard

This book is the foundation of my approach to

managing people. What I have taken away from it is

the importance of being emotional when giving praise,

and direct and unemotional when giving criticism.

Steve Jobs | Walter Isaacson

This book inspires you to have a greater sense

of focus, persistence and determination -- to be

uncompromising in your ambition and your execution,

and to have a thick skin when people tell you

something won’t work.

The Art of the Restaurateur | Nicholas Lander

So much has been written about chefs, but there

aren’t a ton of resources to learn about the great

restaurateurs of our time. This book tells the stories

of everyone from Joe Bastianich to Maguy LeCoze to

Drew Nieporent.

3DAY THREE

Tackle a Reading List


Decoded | Jay-Z

Jay-Z teaches us the importance of not only dreaming

big, but of talking big. Only when you can clearly

articulate where you are trying to go do you stand a

chance of getting there.

The Giving Tree | Shel Silverstein

To be authentically hospitable, you need to derive

significant and genuine pleasure from bestowing

graciousness and generosity upon others. This book

always reminds me why doing that can feel so good.

Setting the Table | Danny Meyer

This is the playbook. I learned all these lessons from

working with Danny, but it’s nice to flip through for a

refresher from time to time.

Will Guidara. @wguidaraWill is the co-owner of three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad.


4DAY FOUR

Organize Your Space

It’s better to be looking at it than looking for it

Make sure you have enough product on hand at all times. At Souvla,

all of our products have a “par” associated with them so we know

how many units of each item we go through each week.

Organize your storeroom for your operation and space

Group like items together. Create distinct zones for food stuff, paper

goods and chemicals. Store product neatly stacked, with labels

facing out.

Sync order and inventory sheets with your storage

Have separate clipboards for your invoices, order sheets and

inventory sheets. When it’s time to place orders, you can move left

to right, top to bottom alongside your storage space. Include the

product name, par needed, and purveyor’s contact information on

the sheets.

Charles Bililies operates Souvla in a small space with minimal storage, so staying organized is top priority. His top tips to set yourself up for success:


Get everything off the ground

Boltless shelving racks (available at any hardware store) are cheaper,

easier and sturdier than metro racks and can hold a lot of weight. If

your basement floods, you’re covered.

Make friends with your label maker

Label all shelves with what belongs on each rack so there’s no

question as to what goes where -- it will save everyone time.

Treat your office like a storeroom

Set up filing cabinets for employees and documents like leases and

tax returns. Organize your computer files, too, with folders for the

kitchen, dining room, human resources, etc. and place in one master

file that your managers and chefs can access.

Host a locker clean-out day

Post signs a week in advance so the staff has enough notice, then

thoroughly clean the lockers and changing areas.

Charles Bililies. @souvlasfCharles is the founder and owner of Souvla, a Greek sandwich shop in San Francisco. He previously worked as the Culinary Assistant to chefs Thomas Keller and Michael Mina.


5DAY FIVE

Set Up a Staff Meeting

Financials

First, we look at the following stats for the preceding week: sales

growth over the same week last year, food cost, beverage cost and

labor cost. By reviewing weekly, there’s no surprise when the profit

and loss statement is finalized each month and quarter. Each stat has

a target associated with it, and each manager gets a quarterly bonus

for reaching these targets.

People

We discuss who is doing a great job, who is not, who needs coaching,

who is better suited for a different position, and ultimately, who

needs to be let go. Our people are in charge of every element of the

dining experience. I can’t serve every table or make every dish, but I

can strive to have great people in each position.

Agenda

The final part of our meetings is reserved for new agenda items. We

Federico Castellucci relies on weekly sit-down meetings with his managers to build business and make progress. Here’s a typical agenda.


Federico Castellucci. @fwc3Federico is the President of Castellucci Hospitality Group, the Georgia-based management company that operates the Iberian Pig, Double Zero Napoletana, Cooks & Soldiers, and Sugo.

follow a Who, What, When format so that tasks are assigned and

given ownerships and deadlines. We also review any operational

issues.


6DAY SIX

Get Smart with Your Finances

We start building our annual budget in October, incorporating

projected cost increases and decreases. For example, since the

banquet program at Lolinda grew almost 40% this year and brunch

on the roof grew 50%, we know those areas will continue to grow. As

you look at the year ahead, you can gauge what will become more

expensive (i.e. minimum wage, certain products) and tune up your

restaurant accordingly.

Labor

Make sure managers are not overtaxed or overworked, and that

they understand their duties and take time off. A well-focused, well-

energized management team is a cost saving. This year we accounted

for a minimum wage increase and escalation in our budget and also

provided good health care benefits, giving our staff more long-term

security and reducing turnover.

Food & Beverages

Since we have multiple restaurants, we work with vendor partners

to find new cost savings by preferred purchasing and purchasing at

At San Francisco’s Lolinda, Brian Reccow uses historical data and trends as a foundation to build a budget. Here are three pieces he actively controls.


scale. We ask vendors to reduce waste and packaging, which helps us

both. We have to be forecasting, not reacting; we are always looking

at meat prices and futures, because when BBQ season heats up,

prices of certain cuts will rise.

Environmental Factors

Look at new businesses coming into your area in each quarter and

how they will impact your neighborhood and increase your volume.

How do you envision growth in your sales throughout the year?

Budget is only effective for the time and space in which it was

created. Keep revisiting it to stay on top of the systems, programs,

personnel and product that keep your momentum steady.

Brian Reccow. @breccowBrian is the Director of Operations for Lolinda and El Techo de Lolinda in San Francisco. He has worked in the business for 25 years, from cooking in kitchens across the globe to running a craft brewery.


7DAY SEVEN

Train Your Staff for Success

A thoughtful training program ensures staff members are skilled and confident and take pride in their work. The team at San Francisco’s Quince -- Chef de Cuisine Jonathan Black and GM Matt Cirne -- explain how they approach training at their two-Michelin-starred restaurant and how to develop members of the front and back of house.

Start from square one

All new cooks at Quince start out in the commis kitchen, regardless of

experience level. They train in preparing mise en place, receiving and

organizing product, and working in a clean, organized fashion. From

there, they move on to cooking. Similarly, in the front of house, 95%

of new hires start as food runners before being promoted through the

ranks.

Provide resources

Matt gives the FOH staff at Quince an employee handbook, service

handbook, handbooks on the wine and spirits program, and “dish

sheets,” documents that describe the preparations of every item on

the menu. They should be experts in every aspect of the restaurant,

from the purveyors and farms the restaurant works with to the art

hanging in the space. Jonathan gives commis cooks a manual of Dos

and Don’ts and procedures for cleaning up and setting up the kitchen

to set a standard.


Jonathan Black & Matt Cirne. @quincesfJonathan is the Chef de Cuisine at Quince; he has previously worked at Per Se and Noma and helmed Governor Restaurant in Brooklyn. Matt Cirne is Quince’s General Manager.

Make education an ongoing priority

Every Monday new employees can attend Quince University, where

they’ll get answers to any questions they have. The team also holds

bi-weekly wine meetings and other expert presentations. Every day

the FOH gathers to walk through the evening’s reservations, review

the menu, taste any changes, and review service topics. Since the

menu changes constantly, the kitchen staff visits the farmers’ market

and local farms regularly. Finally, management shares relevant news

articles with the staff (like a 30-page essay on Parmigiano-Reggiano).

Be approachable and collaborate

Matt encourages his staff to make appointments with management

to discuss potential areas for growth. Jonathan invites cooks to come

into the kitchen and experiment with new dishes in their free time

to give them a sense of ownership. He loves sharing glowing reviews

from sites like OpenTable and TripAdvisor to show the team that their

hard work is paying off.

Trust your staff and let them fail

Jonathan focuses more on hands-on training with basic techniques

than executing a single dish, so cooks learn more than to follow

directions. Cooks spend about three days training in a station before

fully moving into it -- then it’s sink or swim. Chances are they will

come out of the experience a better cook. Matt’s #1 tip: treat the staff

with respect and view them as professionals. Nurture their expertise

and live up to your end of the bargain as a manager.


Tacolicious started as a pop-up and has since expanded to four brick-and-mortar restaurants in the Bay Area. Owner Joe Hargrave shares the story behind his growth, evolutions, and lessons learned.

Be flexible

Joe’s first restaurant was a Spanish concept called Laiola, and

although it received critical acclaim, it was never profitable. He

started a taco pop-up every Tuesday out of the restaurant, and it

was an instant success -- Tuesday nights were busier than Fridays.

He changed the concept, converting Laiola into a permanent

Tacolicious. In the first year he did almost $3 million in sales, paid off

all his debts, and started returning capital back to his investors.

Listen to your customers

Joe’s tip to young restaurateurs: don’t try to be too clever. It’s about

what the customer wants. Study product mix reports to learn what’s

selling and what’s not to get inside the brain of the customer. Identify

opportunities for improvement, adjusting the price or wording of a

dish until it’s right.

Keep it scalable

When you have 100 people in line, you need a product you can make

ahead and serve to order. For his taco pop-up Joe braised meat

overnight and held it warm at the venue so he could serve people

quickly. At the restaurant, instead of serving tacos a la carte he offers

8DAY EIGHT

Scale Your Business


Joe Hargrave. @tacoliciousJoe is the founder and owner of Tacolicious, a taco concept with four locations throughout the Bay Area, and Chino, a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco.

orders of four or 10, served family style for ease and simplicity. Now

he’s working on a Tacolicious stand that he can take to ballparks and

other locations off site -- scalable and mobile.

Know your audience

In San Francisco people work off hours, so Tacolicious is often

full at 3 p.m. on a weekday. But Joe’s Palo Alto location suffered

initially because guests came in for lunch and dinner, but nothing in

between. He changed his model to focus on catering and corporate

events, taking the restaurant beyond its four walls. Now, the Palo Alto

location brings in as much revenue as the original Tacolicious.

Grow smarter

Now that Joe has more experience, he knows what investors want to

see in business plans: not just great ideas, but details on the pricing,

forecasts, menu and design. He has restructured his staffing at the

executive level to create an operating system made for broader

management instead of a mom-and-pop shop.

Make people care

Joe couldn’t get any press for Tacolicious when he first opened.

He aligned himself with industry leaders and put philanthropy at

the center of his operations, donating proceeds to a sustainability

nonprofit and to local public schools. The press started paying

attention, and the community became more engaged than ever.


9DAY NINE

Cook for a Cause

Getting involved with a charitable cause isn’t just good for the community -- it can grow your business, too, helping you gain incremental diners and media exposure. Many charitable partners and event sponsors will have their own marketing support, giving you coverage and affiliation with a great cause. Here are a few ways to give back:

Participate in a ticketed event

With events such as Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, you can

interact with hundreds of diners who share your philanthropic goals.

At these unique tasting events, restaurants have the opportunity to

turn a passer-by into a potential regular.

Join a fundraising event

Thousands of restaurants participate in initiatives such as Dining Out

for Life, an annual event in which a portion of proceeds from a single

day of dining is donated to help fight AIDS.

Host a charity dinner

Choose your own charitable partner and host a special dinner,

donating proceeds to the organization. Or, give the proceeds from a

specific menu item to an organization, calling out the partnership on

your menu.


Tori Tsu. @tvtsuTori is a Brand Marketing Manager at OpenTable, where she leads the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.

Contact your favorite charity

Ask what opportunities exist for you, your staff and your restaurant

to give back. If you like, request single-day activations to measure

participation and results. Build on your relationship and activities

from there.

Connect with your local food bank

Ask about ways your team can get involved, volunteering on site

once a month or donating a portion of proceeds.

Share ideas with other chefs and restaurants

Reach out to your contacts in the industry to connect to local causes.

Share knowledge, best practices and contacts with your fellow

restaurateurs to unite around a great cause.

Be genuine

Select a partnership you and your team can truly stand behind. The

best way to get staff, patrons and partners on board with a cause is

by sharing your passion. Make sure your team understands why you

care and what impact you can make.


DAY 10–DAY 14

Technology


Your website may be the first interaction a guest has with your restaurant, so it’s critical that it be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and optimized for performance. Squarespace shares their top tips.

Show beautiful images

Photos draw viewers in and give them an idea of what to expect.

Include galleries for people to click through, or lay out entire pages

with thumbnails of colorful visuals.

Include contact info

It sounds obvious, but it’s often overlooked: contact information

should be clearly listed on your site. Provide a phone number, email

address, and a physical address.

Create an “About” page

Use this page to tell the story of the owners of the restaurant and

10DAY TEN

Give Your Site a Facelift


connect with visitors in a more personal way. Include photos of the

owners or chefs to humanize the business.

Post your menu

Include a formatted text menu -- not just a PDF -- clearly on your site. If

it’s presented beautifully people will peruse the menu and get excited

about what they want to order. Plus, a text menu is ideal for search

engine optimization (SEO), which will improve your site’s performance

in Google.

Make reservations prominent

Feature your OpenTable reservation widget on the home page of your

site so it’s easy for people to book immediately. Here’s another SEO tip:

you’ll see 50% more bookings if you add it to the top of the home page

versus another page of your site.

Squarespace. @squarespaceFrom experienced designers and engineers to anyone putting a website together for the first time, Squarespace provides elegant solutions that set new standards for online publishing.


If you’re not using OpenTable systems as well as you could be, it may be costing you money. Review your settings to make sure they are customized to your business, then revisit them every quarter. Here are some things to stay on top of:

Maximum party size

If you’re limiting online reservations to parties of 10 or less,

remember that this number is in effect at all times of day, every day

of the week. This might be the right number for Friday night at 7

p.m. but too restrictive on a slow Tuesday. Your OpenTable Account

Manager can bump up the max party size limit in your account

settings, and then help you with your advanced settings to only offer

large-party availability during certain time frames.

Turn times

Early tables tend to turn faster than later ones, so the automatically

designated turn time assigned to a party of two (say, 90 minutes)

doesn’t always hold up. With the latest OpenTable software for the

ERB, you can set turn times according to the time of day and day of

week without having to change them manually. The turn times will

better represent your business patterns and help you move more

efficiently.

11DAY ELEVEN

Optimize Your Reservation Books


Advance booking range

Often the default number of days in advance that guests are able to

reserve a table at a restaurant is set to 90. For destination cities, you

may want to push that range to six months or even a year so people

can book special-occasion dinner reservations at the same time they

book flights and hotels.

Waitlist texting

Did you know you can text your guests directly from OpenTable? It’s a

free feature available to all customers. You can let guests know their

table is ready, get a quick answer as to whether they’re coming back,

and not waste valuable time deciding how long to wait before seating

another party.

Contact your local Account Manager or call 1-800-OpenTable to tweak

your settings at any time.

Charlie Roberts. @openforbusinessCharlie worked in restaurants for 10 years before joining OpenTable. He was an Account Manager for San Francisco restaurants for 2 years and is now part of the Sales and Restaurant Relations Training team.


What today’s restaurant owners MUST be doing is not only one of the easiest and most affordable methods of increasing business, it’s also one of the most underutilized: Build an email database, and use it.

You worked hard to get guests through your door or to your website.

Once you get them there, you’ve got to capture their info if you truly

want to convert them to long-time customers. Your fans want to hear

from you; they knowingly opted into your email database. Here’s how

to build it up:

Check Presenters

A simple mention of the email form in the check presenter is often

enough to warrant a second look. Staff incentives are a great way to

ensure servers actually do this -- give a $50 gift card or first-cut status

to the server that scores the most emails in a given shift.

Social Media Contests

We once ran a tiny, short-term website and social media contest for a

client where participants submitted their emails for a chance to win

a $100 gift card. Within five days we’d collected 800+ guest emails via

Facebook. Our ad budget was $50.

Email Capture

Utilize an aggressive email capture feature on your website that pops

up a quick hello and a reminder to enter your email address to be

12DAY TWELVE

Build Your Email Database


invited to future parties and be kept in the know about upcoming

specials.

Phone Reservations

Train your staff to take reservations and say they’d like to stay

in touch via email as well. Pop those email addresses right into

OpenTable!

Here are a few more Dos and Don’ts for your email database:

Utilize every possible method to build and expand your database.

Direct that database to all of your social media and any restaurant review sites where you’re featured.

Keep in contact one to two times per month -- frequency is key.

Remember that these are people who first expressed an interest in YOU.There’s nothing unethical or annoying about staying in regular contact with them (within reason)!

Forget to train your staff and utilize incentives to ensure they push the email sign-up.

Hesitate to use features like Facebook’s geo-target option to build a local audience you can then entice with special promotions, social media contests, etc.

Let a customer off the phone without first politely requesting you be able to stay in contact.

Forget to use that email database to promote anything and everything of interest to your guests, from special events and menu changes to upcoming discounts and private dining opportunities.

Ty James Largo. @ juxtapalate Ty pilots the hospitality, marketing and PR agency Awe Collective. His client history includes Uber, Kimpton Hotels, Arizona Restaurant Association, and many more.

Do’s Don’ts


Most restaurants don’t have a mobile website, which means they’re missing out on a key tool for bringing in customers. Mobile sites help you rank higher in search engines and provide a better experience on the small screens of smartphones -- a big deal when nearly 75% of consumers choose a restaurant based on search results.

In fact, Google announced a major update in April 2015 that will

consider mobile-friendliness as a key SEO ranking factor. Websites

that offer a mobile-friendly experience will be rewarded in the mobile

search rankings and those that do not may be penalized. Here are

eight must-have mobile features.

1. Click-to-Call

The click-to-call button should be easily accessible so people can

contact you easily with questions.

2. Business Hours

Make sure business hours are easy to locate and up to date so you

don’t miss sales from on-the-go customers who think you’re closed

when you’re really not.

3. Mobile Maps

A mobile maps feature opens up the smartphone’s GPS so customers

can navigate to your business right away. Include any special parking

instructions near the map, too.

13DAY THIRTEEN

Maximize Your Mobile Site


DudaMobile. @DudaMobileOpenTable offers customers a free, customizable mobile site through DudaMobile, a DIY mobile site builder for small businesses.

4. Reservations

If you take reservations, make them easy to access on your mobile site so

visitors can book with the push of a button.

5. Menu

62% of consumers are less likely to visit a restaurant if they can’t read

your menu on their mobile device. Make the menu prominent in your

mobile website’s navigation, and use a menu feature from Locu or Single

Platform so it’s easy to update automatically. (Don’t link to an image or

PDF, which can be frustrating for the customer.)

6. Pictures

Add great food photos for customers to scroll through, and make sure

they are high-quality.

7. About Page

On-the-go customers want answers to questions like: What type of food

do you serve? Do you source local ingredients? Keep it short and sweet.

8. Social Media Icons

Place icons at the bottom of your mobile site (the footer), but skip the

“Follow Us” prompt. Mobile users aren’t there to follow you; they want to

see new menu offerings or information about hours and location.

As for everything else, like events and specials? Nix it. Hungry customers

are looking for information fast -- and if they can’t find it, they will move on.


14DAY FOURTEEN

Improve Your Social Media Game

As a restaurant owner, you understand the importance of delighting your customers both online and in person. These five tips will help you stay on top of the most important platforms where your customers are talking.

Make sure all of your social media sites are up to date and reflect

your personality

All relevant information about your business should be easily

accessible on your Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Google+ and TripAdvisor

pages -- that includes hours of operation, location, menus and

services offered. Why risk a customer leaving your page to find

additional information and getting distracted?

Respond genuinely to all reviews

Thank positive reviewers and let them know how much you

appreciate their business. When you receive a negative review,

apologize for any missteps and tell the reviewer you’ll work hard to

improve. That shows anyone visiting your review sites for the first

time that you’re committed to pleasing customers.

Cross promote your pages

Let your Facebook followers know they can also find you on Twitter


Erin Myers. @MainStreetHubErin is the Content Marketing Associate at Main Street Hub, a do-it-for-you marketing platform for local businesses that’s published more than one million pieces of content for thousands of restaurants across the country.

and Google+. You will gain more followers across channels and drive

traffic to your review sites.

Post regularly on Facebook and Twitter

Your fans want to hear from you! Engage them by posting two to three

times a week on Facebook and even more frequently on Twitter.

Actively request and listen to feedback

Show customers you care by giving them opportunities to provide

feedback. A simple “let us know how we’re doing” post will alert you

to any issues you may not be aware of and, best of all, give people a

chance to show some love.


DAY 15—DAY 23

Marketing &PR


In 2011, Fabio Adler and Tracey Howes created the London Restaurant Network to give industry professionals a platform to socialize, learn, and get to know others in the business. Here are their top tips to grow your list of contacts:

Get out there -- in person

The LRN is all about meeting people face to face, focusing on

personal introductions to peers and experts who can help you

understand your business better. Look for events online, join

networking groups, follow hospitality shows, and sign up for

restaurant and hospitality newsletters to make the most of

opportunities.

Do your homework

Before an event, visit the Facebook and Twitter pages of the event

or organizer to see who else is going to be there. Research other

attendees so you can start relevant conversations.

Meet up beforehand

Fabio and Tracey try to meet with attendees ahead of time so they

already know someone when they enter the room. Reach out to an

event organizer to set up a coffee date to introduce yourself.

15DAY FIFTEEN

Network for Success


Fabio Adler & Tracey Howes. @LDN_Restaurants Fabio and Tracey are the creators of the London Restaurant Network, a membership-based organization for industry professionals. Fabio has worked in restaurant marketing for four years; Tracey has worked in hospitality and marketing for 15 years and runs a marketing, PR, and social media consultancy for restaurants.

Be strategic

To make a networking event worth your while, you have to prioritize

and strategize. Before the event, select a handful of companies you

want to meet with from the list of exhibitors. Be proactive!

Follow up

Following up after an event is as important as the introductions

themselves. Connect with new contacts on social media or set

up a time to talk one on one. Even if business doesn’t happen

immediately, you’ve still made a valuable contact.

Support with social media

Look for peers to connect with on LinkedIn and Twitter, which are

great for networking online and following up with people after

events, as well as sharing knowledge and content.


Restaurant promotions create reasons for customers, media, and your employees to engage with the restaurant throughout the year. They also provide a great opportunity to build revenue during softer times and allow your chefs and staff to experiment with new ideas. Here are tips on crafting promotions that will work for your restaurant, from Philadelphia’s Garces Group.

Know your audience

Build the promotion with your audience in mind and know how,

where, and when to reach them. Distrito is located in the heart of

University City, so we crafted weekend specials such as “Kegs &

Eggs,” a $10 brunch with beer that’s perfect for college students.

Keep it simple

Promotions need to be easily understood and memorable. Amada’s

“$5 Tapas Menu” is self-explanatory and helps keeps us relevant.

Have a call to action

Make taking the next step easy and intuitive. It’s not enough just to

announce the promotion; let them make a reservation with the click

of a button.

16DAY SIXTEEN

Try a New Promotion


Scott Steenrod. @scottsteenrod Scott is the Vice President of Restaurant Operations for the Garces Group in Philadelphia, where he provides overall operational, sales, and marketing leadership to more than a dozen restaurants throughout the U.S.

Define success in advance

What are the goals and how do you measure them? Our restaurants

have often been perceived as special-occasion dinner destinations;

lunch tended to underperform. We implemented a pre-fixe lunch

special for $15 across the group and set a goal to improve lunch

traffic by more than 15%. Our teams became laser-focused on

mobilizing their teams and tracking progress, and lunch traffic has

improved across concepts.

Be creative and have fun

Collaborate with the staff to develop the promotion. Many of our

employees were sad when we closed our restaurant Chifa to make

way for a new concept, so the staff at Volver came up with the idea to

hold a Chifa pop-up in Bar Volver, bringing back signature dishes. The

event was a sell-out on what would have otherwise been a slower

night -- and it generated positive nostalgic moments for guests.

Build in a staff incentive

We offer an incentive in which our top gift card sales team members

earn cash rewards: up to $1,000 for the first-place salesperson and

additional cash prizes for runners up. The program has been a

powerful tool in motivating our teams, and our gift card sales have

improved by more than 30%.


17DAY SEVENTEEN

Send a Perfect Pitch

Even after a successful opening, continued press coverage is the key to keeping up momentum around your restaurant. Andrew Freeman shares an insider’s tricks of the trade.

Read, read, read!

Carve out some time in your day to stay on top of relevant industry

news. If you come across an article that interests you and that’s

relevant to a client, send the reporter a note letting them know you

enjoyed the article; tell them about your client and why you think the

story is of interest to them.

Be relevant

Leverage current trends. We do an annual trends report that shares

our predictions of what’s to come in the new year as it relates to the

hospitality industry. We use the report in a lot of our pitching and

timely outreach.

Tailor your outreach

It’s so important to take a targeted approach in your outreach.

Read the reporter’s stories; show you are a resource and know their

audience. I recommend reaching out to 10 reporters that would most

likely cover your news instead of sending it to hundreds of media in a

master list that, in the end, won’t help your PR reputation.


Don’t always pitch

Building relationships with the media is key. Once in a while, send an

email that’s not a pitch. Mention an article you read of theirs that you

found interesting, set up a time for coffee, or just introduce yourself

and let them know what you’re working on.

Use social media

Show an interest in reporters’ work and retweet/favorite their stories

that you like. Many reporters post on social about what stories they

are working on, which is a great way to stay on top of timely topics

you can pitch. When your story and client get covered, post the

article and tag the journalist and publication.

Say no to fluff

Hook them in the first few sentences of your pitch. The media are

bombarded with thousands of emails a day and simply do not have

the time (or interest) to read lengthy pitches. Bullet points are your

friend.

Subject lines can make or break you

None of these tips matter if your email doesn’t get opened. Take

the time to craft an effective subject line that tells them what they

will find inside the message. Stay away from all caps, too much

punctuation, and common spam-filter words.

Respect boundaries

Excessively following up with a journalist that is not interested won’t

get your story covered. Make a strong case, but at the end of the day

know that the journalist has the right to say yes or no.


Andrew Freeman. @AFCOAndrew is the president of Andrew Freeman & Co., a San Francisco-based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm. He previously worked as the Vice President of Public Relations and Strategic Partnerships for Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants.

Double-check everything

Misspellings, using multiple fonts, and other signs of quick cut-and-

paste jobs are quick ways not only to get your email deleted, but to

put you on a blacklist.

Make it timely

Give reasons why a journalist should write about the subject matter

NOW! Provide specific story ideas, show why it’s perfect for a column,

offer an exclusive, or tie it to something happening in the world now.

If you don’t believe in it, don’t pitch it

If something in the restaurant is not where it should be, wait before

you pitch it to media. Your reputation is on the line, and sometimes

waiting is the best method to secure great results down the road.


18DAY EIGHTEEN

Make Cool Restaurant Swag

Merchandising helps turn regulars into fans not just of your food, but of your company’s culture and personality. At Milk Bar, Creative Director Ursula Viglietta has created a range of products, including branded aprons, tote bags and even an adorable baby onesie, so that customers can bring something of Milk Bar home with them. Here are some tips to get started:

Define your brand

What style and personality does your brand bring

to the table? What makes your company stand out?

Creating guidelines early in the process will help

you develop products with a strong, consistent

visual identity. Seek out an artist or designer who

can take your ideas to the next level.

Check out what other businesses are doing

Think critically about what you see and what speaks to you as a

consumer. What are you not seeing that you wish existed? Make a

wish list based on what you find, and think about which products will

resonate most with your audience.

Find vendors and printers

The process can be time-intensive, but it’s worth it to find a company


Ursula Viglietta. @milkbarstoreUrsula is the Creative Director at Milk Bar, responsible for all aspects of visual branding and merchandise development since 2011.

you can partner with for the long haul. The

research will also help you determine the

budget you need to produce your items and

the price point you’ll need to set to make a

profit. Find someone who can produce a high-

quality product, but who can offer wholesale

pricing that’s built for resale. Lowering

production costs will open the door for you to

expand your line to include more designs and fun products.

Experiment!

Don’t commit to the first idea you have. We typically go through a few

dozen versions of any idea before settling on a direction. Get outside

feedback on a prototype when you don’t think you can improve it any

further -- criticism at the development phase is an integral part of

creating a strong product.


19DAY NINETEEN

Land a Cookbook Deal

For chefs, publishing a cookbook can help them up their profile and establish their authority in the world of food. For restaurant owners, cookbooks can act as marketing tools to lure people in. Amy Treadwell has helped produce cookbooks with some of the top chefs in the industry (think Michael Chiarello). Here, she tells us what every chef should ask themselves before writing a proposal.

Why do you want to write a cookbook?

What are you doing that is different from everyone else? Today, a

book with recipes is not enough. Stories are what matter.

Who is your audience?

Define who would buy the book -- and why. And the big question:

Are there enough of those people in the market to either make it

profitable, help you elevate your profile, or otherwise accomplish

your goal?

Will your idea be interesting in two years?

It takes one to two years to publish a book. For a hot chef known for

working with pork, you need to be confident that pork will still be hot

in a couple of years.


Amy Treadwell. @ATreadwell Amy is a senior editor at Chronicle Books, specializing in food and drink titles. She has edited hundreds of titles over her 15-year tenure.

Are you a good writer or do you need help?

Many people get co-authors, usually professional food writers, who

can turn loose restaurant dishes into recipes the average person can

make at home. Be realistic about what your strengths are and the

time you really have to devote to writing.

Do you need an agent?

Probably. Agents can help you formulate and refine your ideas. They

can also help you find a writer and negotiate your contract; most

importantly, they have established relationships with editors and

know how to get your project in front of the right eyes.

Research what is out there

Look on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, gourmet

stores and food magazines. What other cookbooks are being talked

about or promoted? If you see competitive titles, ask yourself if your

idea offers something more, new or different. Try to see your idea

from the perspective of the customer.


20DAY TWENTY

Upgrade Your Restaurant Uniforms

With so many options and concepts bubbling up in the restaurant world, it takes more than just great food to stand out. Uniforms are a detail that’s incredibly important but often overlooked -- here are tips to upgrade any uniform, regardless of budget.

Don’t be afraid to play with textures

Canvas is great and all, but unique textures and fabrics add more

character to the typical uniform. Whether it’s a full denim apron or

a bright accent on a strap, textures and colors are a great way to

play with the style and overall look of the uniform. You can slowly

integrate a color palette or fun detail without going overboard and

foster one-of-a-kind first impressions.

Research trends

Look to designers and fashion trends for inspirations that buck

tradition. Some of the most unique uniforms don’t actually look like

uniforms at all. Keep in the same vein of your restaurant’s aesthetic

and feel, then see what silhouettes are practical but stylish and could

fit in with your restaurant brand. Explore style sites or Pinterest so

you can keep a visual log of what catches your eye.

Explore local artisans

Since many restaurants have a strong connection to the cities and


Angela Tafoya. @angelatafoyaAngela is the San Francisco Editor at Refinery29, the fastest growing fashion and lifestyle digital media company in the United States.

neighborhoods where they’re based, see what local designers are

out there. Not only are you supporting the community, you’re able to

work with someone who can help streamline the vision and look.

Pay attention to fit

This is probably the most important tip on the list. Take the time

to understand size and tailor uniforms to fit -- making sure all

employees are wearing a uniform that’s flattering and well-tailored

will make any fabric look luxe (especially if you’re on a budget).

Be original

Opt for what really feels like your restaurant and concept. Try new

things and keep an open mind when it comes to the look and feel.

Guests will notice when thought is put into the uniforms, and they

will be more apt to share the news and discovery of them.


21DAY TWENTY-ONE

Make the Most Out of Restaurant Week

Every year during Restaurant Week, restaurants in a metro area offer special affordable menus to draw in new diners. Here’s how to make it work for your business.

Build a menu around your goal

Is your goal to bring new diners into the restaurant, or to increase

traffic generally? If it’s new diners you’re after, create a menu to

highlight your greatest hits and showcase what you do best as an

introduction for newcomers. Alternatively, use the opportunity to try

out new dishes, a tasting menu, new cocktails, or an amuse bouche.

Spread the word

Use your social channels to show off your Restaurant Week menus

and dishes and encourage diners to book a table. Add content and

images to dedicated Restaurant Week social channels, too -- you

can take advantage of the program buzz and tap into the larger

community. You can also promote Restaurant Week via your email

database and in-restaurant collateral. Include the logo on your

website to show you’re participating, or talk about the menu in your

newsletter.

Train your staff on all promotions

Every single staff member in the restaurant should be familiar with


The Golden Gate Restaurant Association. @GGRAtweetsOpenTable’s partner in San Francisco Restaurant Week -- celebrates and empowers the restaurant community through advocacy, education, marketing, events and training.

the Restaurant Week programs. Present diners with the special

menus as soon as they sit down -- don’t make them ask. They may

feel awkward requesting the discounted menu, and the experience

may make them less likely to become a repeat customer. Servers may

worry that they won’t be tipped as well on the discounted menu, but

over-delivering from a service standpoint is the best way to generate

repeat business.

Over-deliver on expectations

Restaurants submit menus for Restaurant Week before the event,

so make sure you deliver nothing less than what you advertise. Add

in a wine pairing or something else to add even more value to the

experience. Note clearly which days and times the menu won’t be

served, if any, to avoid disappointing diners.

Work with program partners and organizations

See what other companies, apps and services are doing in

conjunction with the program and how you can team up. Whether it’s

a parking service offering a promo code or a charitable component,

communicate offers to potential diners to drive business to your

restaurants.


22DAY TWENTY-TWO

Build a Loyalty Program

El Gaucho Hospitality’s Reveler’s Club is a loyalty program created to show guests they are valued and appreciated. Since our guests are typically business diners, special-occasion celebrations, and travelers, we knew our loyalty program needed to be based on spend rather than frequency of visits.

The Reveler’s Club offers a point-based earnings platform, along with special promotional spending dollars. When guests dine with us and use their loyalty card, they receive one point for each dollar spent. We also administer promotional dollars for guests’ birthdays and anniversaries, according to our three-tiered loyalty system. Here are some Dos and Don’ts we have learned along the way:

DO find a trustworthy rewards tracking system that works with

existing systems.

Paytronix, our partner company, was able to manage our loyalty

program as well as our gift cards, which made the implementation

process much smoother.

DON’T make rewards unattainable

We agreed on a generous 10% ROI for our Reveler’s Club and set

expiration dates on birthday and anniversary rewards as well as

earned rewards from dining. The sense of urgency encourages

members to spend earnings before they are gone. Setting boundaries

helps make the program beneficial to the company and the guest.


Chad Mackay. @ElGauchoSteakChad is the President and COO of El Gaucho Hospitality, a group that operates four El Gaucho restaurants, AQUA by El Gaucho, and The Inn at El Gaucho.

DO promote the loyalty program to all guests

Our servers are encouraged to invite guests to the Reveler’s

Program. We send a monthly eblast including a statement of the

guests’ rewards, as well as monthly reminders to guests celebrating

birthdays and anniversaries.

DON’T make joining and participating complicated

We offer both an online and in-person option for joining so guests

can sign up immediately. We recently launched a mobile app

allowing guests to sign up from their phone -- no physical card

required! We included a “check-in” feature so guests can check in

at the restaurant from their app and their check is synced to their

account.

DO communicate

Earning rewards is useless if customers aren’t aware that they have

rewards to redeem. We set “triggered” emails into our system so

guests are alerted when rewards are about to expire or when they

receive awards for birthdays and anniversaries. We also send a thank

you after dining, indicating how many points they earned.

DON’T be afraid to let the program grow and change

Being comfortable with changing the structure, benefits and terms is

imperative to keep it thriving and, in the end, profitable.


23DAY TWENTY-THREE

Reinvent Your Restaurant Marketing

When marketing his lounges and restaurants, indieFORK’s Matt Levine uses two approaches:

Help, Don’t Sell

Come up with content to help drive traffic, then let your customer

service and quality cuisine do the rest. When Chalk Point Kitchen

started catering, we had a videographer follow us for an entire week

as we catered runway shows for New York Fashion Week. We created

entertainment around the new offering instead of sending out a

press release.

Teach, Don’t Preach

We use Instagram to introduce users to our team, promote our

purveyors, and explore our neighborhood. We even teach guests how

to make our cocktails at home via YouTube.

Here are five creative marketing ideas that have been successful

for us:

1. Listen to your social media followers

I train my managers to utilize real-time metrics and social media,

giving us instant information and feedback from guests while

pointing out any potential influencers.


Matt Levine. @TweetMattLevineMatt is the owner of indieFORK, an NYC grassroots food & beverage company that owns and operates the market-to-table restaurant Chalk Point Kitchen and cocktail bar The Handy Liquor Bar.

2. Produce photo-friendly content beyond just food

At Chalk Point Kitchen guests receive a customized chalkboard with

their name on it when they arrive -- a picture-friendly place setting.

3. Use your OpenTable confirmation message

This automated message can be customized and used as an

innovative marketing tool. Guests at Chalk Point Kitchen tour our

backyard with an introductory video about the restaurant and meet

the team with our “Day in the Life” series. We also use the email to

announce new initiatives and promote upcoming activations.

4. Solicit feedback from guests

We created comment cards to present with the check, which have

been helpful in shaping our restaurant. Every Monday we compile all

of the email addresses from OpenTable of guests that dined with us

the previous week, and I personally email each of them to hear about

their experience. I forward any complaints and compliments to my

teams.

5. Build your restaurant inside out -- community first

Local outreach has been extremely effective to reach a targeted

audience with an immediate ROI. Rather than press tastings, we

did neighborhood and resident tastings when we opened, and we

created a neighborhood email address for people who live in our

‘hood. We will always have a table available for regulars.


DAY 24—DAY 30

Food &Hospitality


24DAY TWENTY-FOUR

Source Better Products for the Kitchen

The Kitchen restaurant is committed to serving food from local farmers, ranchers and purveyors. Try these tips for making local sourcing sustainable, efficient and effective for the business.

It all starts with relationships

Go to the farmers’ market and get to know the farmers in your area.

Look for farms, ranchers or any producer that has a three-tiered

structure: CSAs, farmers’ markets and a restaurant business.

Ask the right questions

Who and where is it coming from? Is it in season? Does it taste good?

Look for people who share your vision.

Educate your staff

Visit farms to learn how products get from there to your kitchen.

Guests want to know these things too, and servers should be able to

tell them. We discuss the food on the menu every day in pre-service

so that servers can talk about the people behind the products.

Be flexible and seize opportunities

The economics of sourcing locally only works if your menu is flexible,

so you can get things when they are in season. Because products

are perishable, a farmer will be motivated to sell 50 lbs. of tomatoes


Kyle Mendenhall. @thekitchenKyle is the Executive Chef at The Kitchen, which has restaurants in Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and Chicago.

today, before they go bad and aren’t worth anything. Buy what

farmers have left over from the market at a discount and make space

for it on your menu.

Focus on what’s realistic

We source locally when possible, starting with the city. If we can’t

find what we need we move on to the metro area, state, region and

country. Start with produce -- it’s seasonal but has a quick growing

cycle, so you can get it in quantities large enough to support the

restaurant’s needs. Then see what ranchers are raising animals

nearby and what you can buy whole. The important thing is knowing

our dollars are going to the producers of our food, not to middle

companies, a processor or a distributor.


25DAY TWENTY-FIVE

Raise the Bar on Your Cocktail Program

The Bon Vivants’ Josh Harris has consulted on cocktail menus across the Bay Area, so he knows what makes a bar program successful. Read on for tips.

Start early

Bring on a consultant or in-house bar manager at the earliest

possible moment. By waiting, managers are missing out on

opportunities for increased revenue and marketing. The programs

Josh has joined early on have been the most successful to date.

Be nice and work fast

Creative cocktail bars used to be associated with “frowns, mustaches

and long drip times,” says Josh. Now restaurant and bar operators

know consumers want high-quality, well-balanced drinks -- fast

and with a smile. If a guest orders a liquor or drink you don’t serve,

recommend something similar. Prep cocktails earlier in the day to

save time during service; the extra labor up front will lead to higher

revenue later on.

Keep costs and revenue in mind

When it comes to cocktail menus, creative and low-cost are not

mutually exclusive. Decide on a beverage cost that makes sense for

everyone involved, communicate it, and stick to it.


Josh Harris. @bonvivants_sfJosh and his business partner Scott Baird make up The Bon Vivants, the cocktail, hospitality and marketing firm behind the San Francisco bar Trick Dog.

Get to know your customer base

Watch how people consume the cocktails on your menu instead of

jumping on board new trends at the first opportunity or constantly

changing your beverage menu. At Trick Dog, Josh and Scott change

the menu every six months, modifying the flavors within the core

categories of drinks instead of reinventing the wheel each time.

Make friends with the wine person

It’s crucial that the wine, beer and cocktail programs function

together seamlessly. Many customers will drink a cocktail and wine

over the course of one evening, so teams should know how they work

together and how they work with the food.


26DAY TWENTY-SIX

Engineer Your Menu for Maximum Profits

Gregg Rapp has spent the last 30 years helping restaurants grow profits and increase customer loyalty and frequency -- often just by changing the presentation of what’s already being offered. Here are his Dos and Don’ts for writing a restaurant menu that sells.

Descriptions

DO add descriptions that make your dishes sound different (and

better) than the place across the street

Give the background and story behind the dish. Be specific about

where it’s from, including the state, town or even the farm that

produced the ingredients. It attaches more significance to the dish,

and the diners feel like they are getting more for their money.

Pricing

DO remove dollar signs, and DO match your pricing format with

your restaurant concept and stick to it.

Gregg sums it up: “95 cents is comfortable; 99 cents is a little cheesy

and deceitful; a ‘.00’ price has attitude; and no ‘.00’ has even more

attitude.”

DON’T use a line of dots to connect the price to the dish, and

DON’T list the dishes in order of price. You’ll force the customer to

order by price. Instead, write the description, add two spaces, and

the price.


Gregg Rapp.Gregg is a “menu engineer,” which means he consults with restaurants to make their menus more profitable by designing them with visual and verbal psychology in mind.

Placement

DO give the dishes you want to sell the most of (i.e., the ones

that generate the most revenue) prime real estate on your

menu -- ideally, the upper right corner. But remember that it’s more

important to earn a loyal customer who comes back 12 times than to

sell someone the most expensive item on the menu.

Size

DO keep all of the entrees on one side so people will see them.

Guests order more from a two-panel menu than from a single-panel

format.

DON’T limit yourself by the size of paper you’re using -- figure out

what you want on your menu, then select a paper size.

Wine & Drinks

DO use drink menus to direct sales, along with bar displays,

signage, and the presentation of bottles behind the bar. 70% of

customers don’t know what they’re going to order when the sit down

-- that’s a huge opportunity to guide the decision.


27DAY TWENTY-SEVEN

Reward Your Regulars

When restaurants create memorable experiences for guests, they instill a desire for someone to return. Union Square Hospitality Group’s Sabato Sagaria works with his entire team to earn guests’ trust and tailor the experience personally to them, from taking the reservation to guiding them through the meal.

Know your guests

Don’t be a stranger -- get to know new guests. Are they there for a

special occasion? A blind date? Understanding their agenda will

allow you to understand how they will measure the success of the

meal and what role you play in it.

Make each experiencing as welcoming as the last, but unique

Guests return to recreate some aspect of their previous visit. By

delivering on that and providing an opportunity for new discovery,

you can increase their excitement to return yet again. Find ways to

personalize the experience and build on that last visit to elicit the

“You outdid yourselves again!” response on their way out the door.

Everyone plays, everyone wins

The information you collect on the guests who come through your

door is priceless; gather and share it with your team, starting with a

guest’s first visit. Today’s first-time diner could be tomorrow’s regular.

Create a culture that encourages everyone from the reservation team


Sabato Sagaria. @Sabato3As Chief Restaurant Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, Sabato oversees operations and growth for USHG’s award-winning restaurant teams: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, The Modern, Cafe 2 & Terrace 5, Maialino, North End Grill, and Marta.

to the chefs and bartenders to collect, share, and use the information

to enhance the guest experience. The staff wins, the guests win, and

the restaurants win.


28DAY TWENTY-EIGHT

Build Up Your Brunch

Brunch can be instrumental in bringing more diners into a restaurant mid-day and giving you another way to build a loyal following. Plus, it includes everyone: kids, families, locals, and visitors. Try these best practices below.

Start with what you have

The functionality of brunch begins with product utilization; add

poached eggs to a dinner menu item to turn it into a brunch item.

For your staff, it’s easier to lay out a new menu that’s similar to other

menus offered during the week. Familiarity for both the staff and

guest will ensure you transition smoothly for the new meal period.

Stick with the classics

Classic dishes work now and have worked throughout the decades.

Eggs Sardou, biscuit sandwiches, French toast and Bloody Marys

are cost-effective and classic items that help use product already on

hand.

Work as a team

Use the opportunity to share knowledge amongst the kitchen staff.

Younger cooks can try modern spin-offs of the classics to exercise

their creativity.


Drake Leonards. Drake began working with Chef John Besh seven years ago at Restaurant August and was part of the opening crew at Lüke, where he’s now Chef de Cuisine.

Get the word out

Tell local guests about your brunch through check presenters. Train

your servers to point out that brunch is available and they would

love to see them again sometime. Sending out an e-blast is also

a useful way to spread the word -- just be sure you aren’t sending

out too many or your followers will unsubscribe. Get some great

photos of your brunch items and featured cocktails and post away on

Instagram and Facebook.


29DAY TWENTY-NINE

Book a Catering Job

When Jessica Goin asked her sister, Lucques Chef Suzanne Goin, about opening a catering operation, Suzanne said, “You can do that, but if every bite is not as good as Lucques at its best, I’m going to shut you down.” Jessica’s tip: set up an infrastructure and grow into it. Here are guidelines for every aspect of operations.

Staffing

Catering demands a different skill set than a traditional restaurant

business. Look at your team and ask: Who loves a challenge? Who’s

very nimble? Catering is full of unexpected challenges. Look for

people who can think on their feet and are easily bored by routine.

The right person may not be your go-to GM, it might be a younger

manager who is interested in taking on something new.

Vendors

Catering requires you to build a new restaurant from the ground up

at every event. Find a guru who can help you start a checklist you

can build on for each individual event. Visit a rental company to look

at the equipment available and think about how to build a kitchen

off site. Where are cooks going to get water? Wash their hands? Do

you have power? Think about every logistic and surround yourself

with teammates who can solve problems. Feed the other vendors on

site; help them out and answer questions. You never know when the


Jessica Goin. @LucquesLAJessica is the Catering Director and former General Manager at Lucques in Los Angeles.

guy in charge of the lighting will be asked to recommend a catering

company for his next event.

Customers

Visit the venue and meet your clients before an event so you know

what to expect. Communicate details to your kitchen team. When

you arrive for the event, introduce customers to your kitchen staff

by name and note their individual roles. Make sure your staff is

aware of being a stranger in another person’s home; ask before

moving anything and treat items with care. Look for ways to form

connections with clients -- they could become repeat customers.

Restaurant

Stay true to yourself and the vision of your restaurant. To Jessica and

Suzanne, the catering business is still Lucques. It’s critical that every

event you cater is going to result in more positive feedback for your

restaurant -- and more customers. Are you bringing in more people?

Hand out your business card and encourage party-goers to come in

for dinner.


30DAY THIRTY

Find a New Jam

Music sets the tone for your restaurant and communicates who you are as a brand. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Know your customers and cater to them

Choose music for your guests, not your own personal taste. If you’re a

four-star restaurant in a quiet part of town, dance music might not be

appropriate -- even if you love it.

Match music to your brand and decor

If you have modern, cutting-edge decor, your music should be

contemporary, too.

Mind the volume and tempo

Keep the tempo (beats per minute) consistent between songs. You may

want to choose different tempos for different times of day, playing

slower songs early in the evening and upbeat songs when the room is

full. Be aware of the volume, too. It should never compete with people’s

conversations -- keep it a notch lower than the voice level.

Turn down the bass

Avoid too much bass, loud electric guitar, or screechy horns, which

can be distracting and overwhelm the room. For songs with strong

instrumentals, tweak the bass and treble settings on your sound system

to lessen the impact.


Jeremy Abrams.Jeremy is the co-founder of Audiostiles, a company dedicated to creating customized atmospheric music for restaurants, hotels, retail, and branded digital promotion tools.

Don’t be afraid of vocals

If you’re using only instrumentals your playlist can start to sound like

elevator music.

Avoid the obvious

Ella Fitzerald, Louis Armstrong, and Norah Jones are the standards

of the restaurant world -- everyone is playing them. Use iTunes,

Pandora, Spotify, or LastFM to recommend a good artist similar to the

ones you like best. Try The Hot Sardines, Caro Emerald, Ben l’Oncle

Soul, and Kat Edmonson.

When in doubt, choose jazz

Jazz, R&B, and Brazilian music are easy genres: smooth, consistent,

and low-key. These will always work in a pinch.

Source all of your music from one place

Files you’ve uploaded from CDs will have a different volume from

ones you’ve bought on iTunes. Also, most music systems have tools

that will equalize volume for consistency, like iTunes’ Sound Check.

Have fun with it!

Use B-sides of music you like, not just the hits. Or, try unexpected

cover versions of well-known songs. You’ll give guests something

familiar in a way they haven’t experienced it before -- and they’ll

notice.


Thanks to the expert chefs, restaurateurs and industry leaders who shared their tips!

Amy Treadwell, Chronicle Books: Land a Cookbook DealAndrew Freeman, Andrew Freeman & Co.: Send a Perfect Pitch Angela Tafoya, Refinery29: Upgrade Your Restaurant UniformsBrian Reccow, Lolinda and El Techo de Lolinda: Get Smart with Your FinancesChad Mackay, El Gaucho Hospitality: Build a Loyalty ProgramCharles Bililies, Souvla: Organize Your SpaceCharlie Roberts, OpenTable: Optimize Your Reservation BooksDrake Leonards, Lüke: Build Up Your BrunchDudaMobile: Maximize Your Mobile SiteErin Myers, Main Street Hub: Improve Your Social Media GameFabio Adler and Tracey Howes, London Restaurant Network: Network for SuccessFederico Castellucci, Castellucci Hospitality Group: Set Up a Staff MeetingGolden Gate Restaurant Association: Make the Most Out of Restaurant WeekGregg Rapp, menu engineer: Engineer Your Menu for Maximum ProfitsJeremy Abrams, Audiostiles: Find a New JamJessica Goin, Lucques: Book a Catering JobJoe Hargrave, Tacolicious: Scale Your BusinessJonathan Black and Matt Cirne, Quince: Train Your Staff for SuccessJosh Harris, The Bon Vivants: Raise the Bar on Your Cocktail ProgramKyle Mendenhall, The Kitchen: Source Better Products for the KitchenMatt Levine, indieFORK: Reinvent Your Restaurant MarketingPhilis Fraschilla, The Chef Agency: Hire the Best PeopleSabato Sagaria, Union Square Hospitality Group: Reward Your RegularsScott Steenrod, Garces Group: Try a New PromotionSquarespace: Give Your Site a FaceliftTori Tsu, OpenTable: Cook for a Cause Ty James Largo, Awe Collective: Build Your Email DatabaseUrsula Viglietta, Momofuku Milk Bar: Make Cool Restaurant SwagWill Guidara, Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad: Tackle a Reading List


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