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

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: ,

Papa John’s Entrepreneurial Advice on Growing A Business

June 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

John Schnatter impressively built the global pizza franchise that is now Papa Johns. Schnatter has shared some of his most valuable lessons learned through his experiences to entrepreneur.com last month in Washington D.C. during National Small Business Week. One of the major lessons he learned from his father before he even started building his pizza empire was that hiring the best people did not necessarily mean hiring the most experienced; he stated, ” You look for people who are positive and who have integrity…That’s how he taught me to train for aptitude, hire for attitude.”

Schnatter believes in the importance of being surrounded by people with great can-do attitudes and spirits that are full of passion. The key is not to be too controlling of employees but to give them a direction to head in and provide them with the appropriate resources and lead by example. It is important to motivate and reward them when they are doing things right so that they can begin to motivate themselves.

Of course Schnatter states that one of the most important elements to growing a business is to have an effective business model. However, he also shares some advice on how important it is to make a few mistakes along the way and not get down on yourself because of them; mistakes need to be made in order to learn from them, analyze and innovate.

To read more on John Schnatter’s advice on growing a business, staying competitive and establishing a culture of entrepreneurship, click here

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Meet The Owner(s), Operations Tagged With: ,

Creating a Culture of Hospitality

June 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

This past weekend as part of the 25th anniversary of the American Express Trade Program at the Aspen Food & Wine classic, industry experts discussed a very important topic: customer loyalty. Chef Tom Colicchio (Craft, Colicchio & Sons), Sean Brock (Husk, Charleston), Stephanie Izard (Girl and the Goat, Chicago) and Mitzi Gaskins (Marriott) led a seminar discussion on how chefs and operators can create a culture of hospitality and loyalty.

Colicchio stated that it all comes down to the servers; they have two main jobs: 1) make the customers happy, and 2) create regulars. The goal for the servers is to really become friends with the diners and get to know them so that it really becomes a personal experience. It is important to have the servers make those little extra steps that go beyond the eat-then-pay transaction. The chefs mentioned that they use computer programs (such as OpenTable) to track their guest information. Servers can make notes of the guests’ personal preferences (sparkling water vs regular, etc.) and input it into the computer at the end of service. They then analyze this collection of data to connect more with the customer. Recognition is absolutely key in fostering customer loyalty; as a diner it is the best feeling to enter an establishment and have the staff remember your name and dining preferences.

Gaskins also stressed upon the importance of attracting the right talent. The recruiting process should never be taken lightly. It is important that the staff you keep truly fits the profile created by your brand. It is then equally important have appropriate training systems and provide the staff with the tools necessary to make the guests happy. Colicchio makes an excellent point which is that in order to create brand loyalty among your customers, your staff has to be loyal to your brand; it all begins in-house. Both Colicchio and Gaskins spoke about how a little positive reinforcement can go a long way, and how stories of hospitality successes will spread amongst the staff.

Social media is also a relatively new and important way to connect with fans and customers. Operators should research what works for them and what doesn’t. It is important to keep the customer engaged and incentivize them to come back to your restaurant without flooding their twitter feed or email inboxes. For instance, Izard mentions that perhaps it is smart to run quarterly specials vs running specials every few days. Izard also spoke of the importance of building relationships with customers in the community. She recommends engaging with the community through charitable events and choosing organizations that you are proud to be a part of.

To watch the seminar on the evolution of customer loyalty click here

 

Filed Under: Events, Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: ,

Customer Service is of Utmost Importance

June 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Customer service should always be a top priority for any business, but especially for the service industry. It is simply bad business not to ensure that you have efficient customer service systems in place. You want to be that business that is known for setting high customer service standards. Put simply, a lack of strong client services will lead to a lack of business. Here are a few suggestions to strengthen your customer relations:

ONLINE:

  • Make the business able to be easily located and accessed online
  • Build a professional website
  • Index the website on the most popular web search engines
  • Make the website easy to navigate from desktops, tablets and smart phones
  • List your business on popular directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.
  • Establish your business through social platforms such as LinkedIn or Facebook

PHONE:

  • Make sure customers rarely get a busy signal when trying to reach your business by phone
  • If you can’t hire a full time receptionist, consider hiring an answering service
  • Install a hosted phone system such as VirtualPBX or Grasshopper so you can receive alerts when a call is received
  • Have a system in place to record when calls are received (a simple Excel spreadsheet would work just fine)
  • Always return phone calls

The most important aspect is to always be available and accessible. Keeping in touch with your past customers will most likely lead to continued service and loyalty. This will make your customers want to write good reviews online, refer you to a friend, and generally create a positive buzz about your services.

To read more about the importance of smart customer service, click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: ,

Summer Specialty Drink Trends

June 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment

With the arrival of summer comes too the arrival of limited time only specialty drinks being served in restaurants and food chains. These specialty drinks which include flavored ice teas, frozen coffees, flavored lemonades, etc. are high margin drinks as the customer is more than willing to pay extra for these sorts of beverages; especially during the summer months where the idea of cooling off with a nice cold beverage is very attractive. Guests are willing to pay extra for a beverage that cannot be easily obtained in a grocery store (such as a soda) and that is not simple enough to make at home (blended beverages).

Soda company sales are declining as guests continue to opt for alternatives to bottled water and sugary or diet sodas. Sonic, the drive-in fast food chain, has launched a Summer of Shakes campaign with half-price shakes after 8 pm. According to a recent report by newBrandAnalytics, a social media monitoring and online management company, the mention of Sonic’s shakes and slushes on social media was off the charts.

To read more about the summer beverage trends and what other restaurants will be offering, click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Trending Now

Oracle Acquires Micros Systems in $5B Deal

June 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Oracle, the world’s leading supplier of information management software, is now close to acquiring Micros Systems for over $5 billion. Micros Systems sells point-of-sales hardware to restaurants, stores and hotels; it also sells customer-relationship management software, invetory-tracking software and analytics software. This acquisition would diversify Oracle’s product lineup as it would now include more hardware. It will also enable Oracle to pick up many of Micros’ customers in the food , retail and hospitality industries.

Last year a few of these customers included:

  • Cracker Barrel
  • Burger King
  • Arbys
  • Hard Rock Café
  • Hilton

To read more about the acquisition click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With:

Halal Guys to become Middle Eastern Chipotle

June 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The street vendor Halal Guys, whose original location can be found on 53rd and 6th Avenue in Midtown, will soon be turning its cart into a restaurant chain. Halal Guys just signed a deal with the franchise consulting firm Fransmart. The firm hopes to have outposts in Canada, Los Angeles, along the East Coast and in the Middle East within a year’s time. In the next five years it also hopes to include more US locations as well as some in Europe. Fransmart is the firm responsible for the franchising of Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba. The chief executive officer of Fransmart, Dan Rowe, has stated that he believes this deal could turn Halal Guys into “the Chipotle of Middle Eastern food.”

Two other locations within New York City were already in the works before this deal was finalized; one in the Lower East Side and one near Columbia University. These locations will operate independently of Fransmart. The other five carts around the city will also continue to stay open for business.

To read more about the franchising of Halal Guys click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

Top North Fork and Hamptons Bakeshops

June 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Hapmtons.com compiled a list of the top ten bakeshops to visit this year in the Hamptons and North Fork. From breads and pastries  to cookies and cakes, here are a few bakeries to visit in the area:

Ye Olde Bakeshop: This bakery is mostly known for their giant linzer tart cookies, but the cinnamon buns, cinnamon cookies and cherry turnovers are also worth the trip.

Simon’s Beach Bakery Cafe: This bakery has been around for nearly 25 years and recently underwent a renovation. They acquired a liquor license, have a larger selection of baked goods and are also serving kosher breakfast and lunch foods.

Levain Bakery: Levain Bakery’s famous chocolate chip cookie can now be found in Wainscott. Aside from their amazing six-ounce cookies they also offer an assortment of rustic breads. As a nice touch, the products that are not sold during the day are donated to the needy.

 

To see the full top ten list of bakeshops click here 

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: ,

Modernist Cooking not Immune to Modern Real Estate

June 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment

After 11 years Wylie Dufresne is forced to close his lower east side modernist restaurant, wd~50. November 30th will be the influential restaurant’s last night of service. Wd~50, named after the chef’s initials and the address, 50 Clinton St, is a fine-dining New American restaurant known for the chef’s experimental cooking methods and unique use and manipulation of ingredients. Wylie Dufresne had a vision and he admirably stuck to it for 11 years, never rethinking his concept or straying from his original idea.

Unfortunately, a developer has plans to build on the site which is forcing the restaurant to have to close. Wylie is looking for a new location in the city but has nowhere specific in mind at the moment. After Wylie announced that the restaurant would be shutting its doors, a number of disappointments with the situation were expressed by fellow chefs and thoughtful testaments flooded the twitter feed. David Chang, Korean chef/entrepreneur and founder of Momofuko added “This is unfortunately what’s probably going to happen to almost everybody, unless you can buy the building.”

To read more about the closing of wd~50 click here

 

Filed Under: Closings, Opportunities Tagged With: ,

Cherche Midi Restaurant to Open Tomorrow Night

June 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Keith McNally will open his new French restaurant Cherche Midi in the same space that used to house his Italian restaurant, Pulino’s Bar and Pizzeria on Bowery. The space has been completely renovated in the past six months, and although the main structural aspects have not changed much, the space now has a completely different feel. The kitchen will be run by Shane McBride, former chef de cuisine at Balthazar and Schiller’s, and former sous chef of Minetta Tavern, Daniel Parilla.

The menu is classic French including dishes such as salad niçoise, steak tartare, frogs legs, and skate wing meunière. A special burger with roasted mushrooms, gruyere cheese and bacon marmalade will also be featured. The final menu will be revealed tomorrow at the opening!

To check out a few photos of the new space and to read more click here

 

 

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,
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