Developing A Restaurant Tech Strategy

June 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Food Tech Connect will be hosting a series of classes on June 28th in NYC on how to save money on technology in a restaurant. The first class in the series will touch upon how to choose the POS system best suited for your restaurant, how to budget for your restaurant IT and how to drive more traffic and keep customers coming back. Overall the class will teach how to create a tech strategy that is straight forward and that will save you time and money. Mike Dulle, who leads the Restaurant & Bar Initiative at ShopKeep POS, will be leading this first 90 minute class.

Here are a few of the steps that will be covered in the class:

  1. Operational Setup: tech to purchase (Hardware & Network), website creation, POS
  2. Workforce Management: employee scheduling, payroll
  3. Demand Generation: reservations, local business listings, menu management, yelp
  4. Customer Retention: loyalty, email marketing, social media

The second class in the series is taught by Felicia Stingone, former Senior Managing Director of Brand and Marketing for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. The class focuses on different marketing strategies and how to really leverage and build your brand.

Here are a few takeaways from the class:

  • Learn about the marketing strategies restaurant powerhouses use to grow their business
  • Get an inside look at how to start to leverage “brand” to scale a business, from opening more doors or new concepts to publishing books and launching products
  • Walk away with insights and practical tactics that you can use to shape a brand strategy and develop a marketing plan to help grow your business.

The last part of the series is a panel led by the founders of Culintro, Easy Pairings and Culinary Agents. The panel discussion will focus on how to streamline hiring processes and which technologies can help make this process easier. It will also share tips on how to empower employees to succeed and give an insight into how these three startups are working to improve and simplify the hiring process.

The series welcomes already established brands as well as startups and anything in between. The course will take place on June 28th in NYC but will also become available online on Aug 6. To read more about the event click here

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Museum Of Food And Drink Displays Puffing Gun in Chinatown

June 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Puffy the Puffing Gun, a machine that explosively puffs food, will be coming to NYC’s Chinatown Weekend Walk on Saturday, June 28th from 11AM to 4PM. The event is hosted by the Museum of Food and Drink , who will be setting up the puffing gun on Mott Street near Pell Street and the admission is free. The 3,200 pound machine was originally patented in 1939 and was the workhorse of the breakfast cereal industry.

At the event MOFAD will teach you about the history of  breakfast cereal, show a demo of the puffing gun, and let you taste some puffs! To read more about the history of the puffing gun and to view some pictures you can visit MOFAD’s website here

 

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Summer Fancy Food Show

June 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Fancy Food Show is considered to be the largest specialty food show in North America. It will be taking place in New York City from June 29- July 1. There will be over 180,000 products to discover including coffee, spices, confections, cheese and more. There will be over 2,400 exhibitors from 80 countries and regions around the globe. Major for buying channels and influential members of the trade and consumer press will be attending the Show as well as other related businesses. It is a great opportunity for retailers, restaurateurs and distributors to discover new food and beverage products.

There fancy food show is an excellent networking opportunity in the industry as there will be an estimated 24,000 attendees to build new relationships with. There will also be over 15 education seminars as well as tastings and tours. The annual Sofi Awards will also be taking place at the Fancy Food Show to celebrate the most innovative products of the year.

To read more about the event click here

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New Dining Hall in Grand Central Terminal

June 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central terminal has hosted many pop up shops, private events and temporary displays in the past. Now it is on its way to installing a permanent dining hall. It would also become home to a fine-dining restaurant headed up by Claus Meyer, founder of Noma in Copenhagen.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority revealed the food hall plans last Friday which has been endorsed by a committee in charge of managing the proposals for the space. The Metro-North Railroad committee will hold a preliminary vote with the committees financial advisors and then the board will meet to make a final decision.

This project would add more casual dining choices in addition to the food court at the terminal’s lower level as well as other retail shops and cafes. There will also be  large 100-person Nordic Brasserie and a grab-and-go in the space that is currently a Hot & Crusty stand. The idea of the project is to generate more traffic for existing tenants and to have enough new variety and choices to engage all price points. The project is set to be completed in the next two years.

To read more about the future plans for Vanderbilt Hall click here

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