By Nancy Caldarola

Reality TV has been bringing the stories of troubled restaurants into our living rooms for several years.  As professionals in this industry, have we learned anything from watching the misfortunes of our brethren? Have we seen ourselves in these shows? And is your operation a candidate for rescue?

We all have to admit, restaurants have good days and not-so-good days. We thrive on the good days when business is constant, when the kitchen hums like a well-oiled machine, when the staff is efficient and effective, and every guest leaves both sated and glowing with praise for their experience. Still, there are those days when things are not as smooth and effective as we would like. Hopefully, you have many more good days for your team and your location than those ‘can we just forget this all happened’ days.

The restaurants we see on television reality shows have hit bottom and need to be rescued to stay viable. However, your restaurant doesn’t have to be in trouble. You can be your own rescue team by stepping outside your management role and adopting a different viewpoint — examine your operations continuously to see how you can improve.

The reasons that often cause restaurant problems can be divided into four main groups: People, Product, Facilities, and Controls. It’s important to understand how each of these groups impacts the restaurant. But first, let’s start with one problem that’s not in any of the four groups.

Mixed Message to Customers. We are all products of our experiences and backgrounds. When most guests think of a BBQ-themed restaurant, they do not envision an upscale location with subdued lighting and classical music, nor would they expect haute cuisine in a western-style chuckwagon setting. We must be sure that when a guest enters the restaurant, the first sights, smells and sounds are a match to our name and offerings. The mixed message confuses, while tired and dated restaurants drag down sales opportunities.

Revisit your business plan and original theme for your operation. Does it match where you are today? Have changes in look and menu moved you from a focused approach to a muddled management headache? The messages we send to guests must connect the look and feel of the physical facility to the menu offerings and the service received to generate guest satisfaction and loyalty.

Now, on to the other reasons that can cause problems for restaurants.

Disconnected Servers, Bartenders and Kitchen Crew. Hiring the right people is key to the success of a restaurant. The owners cannot do it alone, and putting the right people into various positions must be a top priority. Cardinal rule #1: All employees must want to be in the hospitality business. Management should have frequent discussions with employees about what hospitality means in your restaurant — your style of hospitality and how the front of house team should display it.

Watch and evaluate employees on the job. Do performance appraisals at 30 and 90 days for new hires, then at 6- to 12-month intervals. People like to know how they are doing on the job, so use a formal process to let them know.

If there are disconnected employees in any role in your operation, they are dragging down the rest of the team’s morale, efficiency and productivity. You need to remove the cause of discontent. Good hiring practices are essential to the development of a winning team. Interview carefully and select the best candidates to enhance your service and kitchen crew.

Menus for the Masses. If guests are presented with a menu as thick as a textbook, you are trying to please everyone and it may not be working. Large and varied menus require too many inventory items in stock, too much money tied up in inventory, too many items for the kitchen to consistently and correctly prepare and serve, and a muddled theme for the operation. Large menus tend to happen over the years when new offerings are added but nothing gets taken off the existing menu.The result is like a Russian novel with many possible endings and none in sight.

It is important to analyze sales and determine the biggest-selling menu items currently offered. A sales analysis provides information about how many of each menu offering were sold and what day and time they were sold. This list is often printed from the POS system and should be a standard management tool. Drop all slow and low selling items. If it isn’t 4-6 percent of sales, dump it. It costs more to prepare and serve than you are making in profit.

Try to offer items that allow maximum usage of a key ingredient, like the same 3.5-ounce chicken breast made several ways to have both a standard menu item and daily specials. Then, only one size breast is purchased and inventoried.

Unattractive or Dated Dining Rooms. Don’t be fooled, guests see all the flaws and dirt when they visit your restaurant.

Look critically at your dining room from the guests’ viewpoint — are there simple fixes that can be done to refocus the theme and feel of the location? Can a simple fix, such as a good house cleaning and a coat of paint, brighten the look of the restaurant? Will removing dated décor and window treatments simplify the look and add needed light? How about the floors — when was the last time the rugs were steam-cleaned, repaired or replaced?

Don’t forget chairs and tables; they also need regular cleaning and a coat of paint or varnish. No one likes to sit on a torn banquette seat cover or at a table with chipped Formica edges. Get the restaurant in shape with ongoing maintenance and repairs (M&R), and be sure there is a line item and accruals on the income statement (P&L) to cover these expenses. All restaurants must plan on M&R for the entire restaurant facility – exterior, dining room, kitchen and restrooms.

Restrooms that Scare Guests Away. We can all think of a time when we entered the restroom of a facility, saw the condition of the room, and had to decide to stay or to leave. Do guests do that when they enter your restrooms? Will they let their children use the restroom? There is a direct connection between what a guest thinks about the restrooms and what they then assume about the kitchen and the rest of the facility. So if restrooms are an afterthought, your facility is in trouble with your guests.

Is the room well-lit and safe? Are stalls in good repair and do door slide locks actually work? Is there hot and cold running water? Is the trash container covered and large enough to hold used towels or other trash? Is there graffiti or other marks on the walls and stall sections?

Kitchens That are Just Scary! Cleanliness is essential in the food business. All kitchens and the people who work in them must be clean and work with this mentality. Employees must understand the food code rules and use these as their work practices not as exceptions. Management must measure what is expected and should audit operations manuals and observe kitchen behaviors to ensure that there is compliance.

Are employees wearing clean uniforms and practicing good personal hygiene? Do employees prevent cross-contamination when handling raw and cooked foods? Are cooks properly cooking, cooling, serving and storing foods? Does the kitchen staff understand the Temperature Danger Zone and their role in preventing foodborne illnesses?

When is equipment turned on in the morning — are you wasting energy? Does the dish machine reach the correct temperature? Are the hand-washing sinks stocked and functional? Do employees wash hands frequently? Are all clean pots and utensils stored correctly? Are foods on the correct shelves in the walk-in cooler so there is no contamination?

What We Fail to Measure Will Hurt Us. Many restaurant owners depend on their bookkeepers or accountants to tell them if they are making money. This is bad practice and can result in disaster. All business owners must know how to create, read and apply an income statement or Profit and Loss statement for the operation. If you depend upon being told where you stand fiscally by another person, you are at risk. You need to have a clear financial picture of your operation and how it is performing in relation to your business plan. Is food cost within targets? Is hourly labor in line? Are all taxes, marketing, maintenance and other fees and expenses within budget? What are sales per hour? Bar sales per bartender? What are sales per square foot or any other measures you have established?

Restaurant owners and managers find many excuses to explain away not taking inventory on a regular basis. Inventory is the basis of food cost control management, and not completing at least a monthly inventory can adversely affect food costs.

Food cost is the first area that is investigated when there are financial problems with a restaurant; we should not be immediately trying to cut labor costs. Inventory controls will help cut waste, thefts and spoilage. Inventory is tied to the menu, so good menu management should affect and help ensure good inventory management.

Another area where there is a lack of measurement is in recording employee meals. Are these meals accounted for in food cost? They should be. If you give discounted meals to employees, then these are recorded in sales with the discount part applied to the food cost. This process is the only way to ensure correct accounting for all food-related activities in the restaurant.

The List Goes On…

Although our list or reasons for restaurant problems can continue, the items mentioned above can get management started in self-rescue efforts. We are all continually challenged to operate excellent eateries, and the good days should outnumber the not-so-good ones. By classifying issues in the four categories, you start to systemize your efforts to regain control and solve problems. And remember to use your resources in the NRA and GRA to assist you.

It’s been said that guest complaints are gifts to management, and that problems are merely opportunities for improving the way things are being done. By realistically and systematically approaching your restaurant problems, you can turn your current realty into a smoothly operating dining experience.

Nancy Caldarola, PhD, RD, is a  consultant to the hospitality industry. Her group, Concept Associates  Inc., offers operations improvement projects, training programs, food safety training and audits, menu engineering and  nutritional analysis, and profitability improvement consulting.

By Bob Amick

The word “expanding” can be a daunting one, especially in the restaurant industry. I am often asked by my friends, acquaintances and colleagues, “When are you going to open a concept outside of Atlanta?” My answer is often prefaced with a chuckle and a nonchalant response such as “We shall see,” or “When the time is right.”

In all reality and honesty, expanding outside of Atlanta or Georgia, for that matter, is not something I am seeking to do daily. Growth, to me, is an opportunity to create and play, both at home and in other  markets, and see how  consumers respond. The unknown is unpredictable and always brings challenges.

My first thought about expanding is, “Do I have the resources to do so?” Involving myself in a project further from my home base is always more difficult. And my second thought is, “Assume nothing.” When I am creating a new restaurant for a client, it is always about the chemistry of the client, the city in which the restaurant is located, and how exciting the project could be.

First, when expanding, you must get to know your market and determine the voids and the opportunities related to your location with respect to the new city. Consumers’ culinary tastes and expectations absolutely differ across states, and I even find differences here in Atlanta, in the region where I am used to doing business. There is even a huge palate difference across cities and suburbs. I find that the further you are from the central business district, consumers’ tastes are often more conservative and less adventurous; I like to use this same analogy across different cities and regions. There is a bell curve in terms of which cities are at the forefront of culinary dining and where other cities fall in line behind. New York is at the top in terms of innovation and pushing the culinary envelope; every other market falls in line somewhere behind it. You can’t get too far ahead of where that marketplace is; proceed with caution. The challenge is to always be in tune and have an idea of what consumers are ready for and what they will respond to. Being innovative just for the sake of being innovative doesn’t usually work.

Consumers are not the only challenge in this equation. Differing laws across states pose challenges, too. Minimum wage, liquor liabilities, health regulations and union constraints: these are just a few examples, and there are many more. It’s important to understand what uniquenesses there are in every market. This allows you to adjust accordingly. Understanding and adjusting are two key factors in facing these challenges head-on, allowing you to start off on the right foot in the expansion process. Due diligence is key.

Is there anything easy about expanding across Georgia’s border? The answer is no. And I’ve only scratched the surface of potential challenges in this article. There is nothing easy about doing more than one of anything. The easiest kind of expansion is one where you can always be present and involved, near home base; the hardest is one where you cannot always be present.

Our consulting concepts, which includes development and management in other markets, have kept me very busy in other states. With our presence still growing in Atlanta and our projects through out the U.S. keeping us very busy, I am thankful for all the opportunities.

Bob Amick has three decades of experience in the Atlanta restaurant business. After launching his career in 1974 with Peasant Restaurants, Amick started Concentrics Restaurants in 2002. Today, the restaurant group owns and operates seven properties in Atlanta, including TWO urban licks, TAP and PARISH: Foods & Goods, as well as 360 in St. Louis, Mo.,  Luma  and Prato in Winterpark, Fla.

Tin Drum: The Value of the Personalized Ordering Experience

By Helen K. Kelley

Increased revenue. Decreased costs. Decreased customer wait time. Increased customer satisfaction. These are the results achieved by Tin Drum Asia Café after implementing Usable Health’s SmartMenu terminal. But there was one other benefit that Tin Drum owner Steven Chan found so intriguing that he agreed to pilot the technology in his six restaurant locations.

“One of the most interesting aspects of SmartMenu is that it’s health-based. It can help the customer make better food selections by suggesting side items and other add-ons that make up a healthy meal,” explains Chan. “I don’t consider myself that knowledgeable about making healthy choices. I won’t think about how many calories are in the handful of chips I just put in my mouth. The general public just doesn’t have this wisdom. They’d like to make their own choices, but they’re not knowledgeable enough, so SmartMenu give them the tools to help balance their diet.”

It’s all about choice

SmartMenu is an interactive POS system that providers diners with a very personalized ordering experience. The self-service terminal allows customers to select their meals quickly and efficiently and, at the same time, it tracks and addresses their preferences, such as if the person is health-conscious or price-sensitive. When a diner swipes his or her card, SmartMenu recognizes the person and automatically suggests what he or she ordered on the previous visit. If the customer asks for recommendations, SmartMenu will make suggestions for selections, up-selling from the regular menu or the healthier menu based on those stored preferences.

Jiten Chhabra, founder and CEO of Usable Health, says that SmartMenu is a great help to not only health-conscious diners but also to those with specific health concerns such as high cholesterol and diabetes.

“If a customer indicates that he or she has specific health needs, the system will address those needs,” says Chhabra. “SmartMenu incorporates a ‘food swapper’ engine that will make recommendations for menu items and suggest combinations of items, such as ‘have a small salad and a small sandwich,’ to the customer. Even if a restaurant doesn’t have many healthy choices available, SmartMenu can make selections based on portion sizes.”

It’s a win-win situation — operators make more money on margins by selling combinations of menu items that wouldn’t otherwise be found by the customer, and customers are able to satisfy their taste buds and their health needs at the same time.

Customers also have a choice between using the technology or old-fashioned counter service. SmartMenu is meant to work in tandem with restaurant employees, so if a customer feels more comfortable talking to a “real” person, they can bypass the terminal and place their order with a cashier.

Personalized ordering = a healthier bottom line

Point of sale systems are designed to lower operating costs, but SmartMenu takes that design a step further.

“The traditional POS system was not designed with improving the diner experience in mind,” explains Chhabra. “SmartMenu makes the ordering process interactive so that the diner doesn’t feel ignored. It also makes the ordering process ‘intelligent’ by taking food item margins into consideration before making suggestions to the diner.”

According to Usable Health’s data, when SmartMenu is implemented, on average, operators start instantly saving at least $500 a month due to decreased labor costs, and the average increase in check size is at least 15 percent.

Chan agrees, stating that SmartMenu has definitely decreased Tin Drum’s operating costs by cutting down on labor. And since customers enter their own orders, there is less chance for cashier error — this improved accuracy makes for less waste.

SmartMenu also has increased revenues for Tin Drum. “It raises the check average by making up-sell recommendations to customers on a consistent basis,” Chain explains. “It also cuts down on customer wait time, so the orders are coming into the kitchen faster.”

Additionally, the system manages the redemption process, saving the operator valuable time.

“We don’t have to accept coupons anymore. I don’t have to count them manually and track them myself,” says Chan. “The system does it for me.”

SmartMenu as a marketing tool

SmartMenu logs a variety of data about customers including how long a person looks at a menu item and whether or not they order healthy options. This information comes in handy as a marketing tool for operators who want to target certain customers with specific offers.

“The system lets operators configure deals and promotions themselves without paying an outside vendor,” explains Chhabra. “For example, if you see that your restaurant is empty at certain hours, you can notify your customers to come take advantage of a special during that particular time and increase your business.”

Chan adds that SmartMenu has given him the flexibility to launch whatever kind of promotion or loyalty program he desires.

“In the past, restaurants had to go to the expense of printing gift or loyalty cards and setting up a program. With the SmartMenu system, I log on to my account and set up special offers for my customers whenever I like. Then, all I have to do is post the offer on Tin Drum’s Facebook page to get the word out,” he says. “And all customers have to do to take advantage of the offer is log in when they come in to one of our restaurants.”

Personal choice represents opportunity

Serving as a pilot chain for SmartMenu has been rewarding both for Tin Drum Asia Café and for Chan personally.

“In a way, I feel like I’m sort of a partner to [Usable Health] in developing SmartMenu. I can offer them opinions and share real-time experiences, ideas and suggestions,” Chan says. “I think this is just the beginning of this kind of technology. The personal choice terminal presents a lot of opportunity for both restaurants and customers.”

Tin Drum Asia Café has five metro Atlanta locations and one in Forsyth County and has begun franchising in the southeast. All locations will incorporate the SmartMenu terminals. For more information, visit www.tindrumcafe.net.

To learn more about Usable Health and SmartMenu technology and see customer and diner testimonials, visit www.usablehealth.com.

By Ellen Weaver Hartman, ARP, Fellow PRSA

It wasn’t so long ago that a restaurant’s success depended on good word of mouth and maybe – fingers crossed –a favorable review in the local newspaper.

Today, it’s all technology driven. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, emails, blogging or apps, technology is the name of the game and restaurants may, in fact, be the industry segment that is on the cutting-edge of marketing via technology.

Almost $800 million was spent on mobile marketing last year, up more than 160 percent from 2009, according to the media research firm BIA/ Kelsey. More than 100 billion text messages are received or sent each year, and the use of mobile coupons should reach 300 million globally by 2014, according to Juniper Research.

It has not gone unnoticed by restaurant owners that more than 34 million Americas get their dining and restaurant information from a mobile device. Marketing gurus know it’s the wave of the future. Many restaurants, particularly chains or multi-location stores, such as Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks, have their own apps. The W Atlanta Downtown’s Bar has its own app but also is devoting more time to geo-centric apps such as Gowalia that allow for an experiential interaction. Other use third-party vendors such as OpenTable.com and Snapfinger.com.

Today, smart restaurant operators use these apps and other technology to send daily reports about specials, run loyalty contests, allow customers to order, pay by phone, figure out how many calories a dish has, make reservations, view menus, offer feedback and even show maps for directions. And it’s a two-way street; restaurateurs use technology to manage previous and future reservations made by customers.

“If you think about it, a personal device, whether it’s an iPhone, an Android or other smartphones, is the one form of communication that people cling to 24/7,” says Pablo Henderson – W Atlanta Downtown’s Bar Happenings manager.  “We’re communicating with our customers or potential customers in real time. In addition, our relationship with our customers is strengthened because we give them access to something that not everyone has. It’s like belonging to an exclusive club.”

“So many more customers are tech savvy,” says Sari Bernstein, marketing director for Here To Serve Restaurants in Atlanta. “They receive newsletters via email, look for special offers via phone and mail. The money we used to spend on print advertising is going towards other ways to advertise these days with a better ROI.”

Each of the Here To Serve Restaunts, including Coast, Strip, Noche, and Aja, has its own Facebook and Twitter page. “It’s a great way for them to stay in front of their followers/friends with daily specials and events going on in the restaurants constantly,” she says. “Twitter is fantastic to get a message out real quick. If we decide at the last minute to run an offer in the restaurant, we don’t worry about putting together all the artwork to relay the message. We can just easily tweet about it and watch how quickly that message can virally spread.”

Wow Bao, a restaurant concept from Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, offers a telling case study on how it connects with its customers in innovative ways. Wow Bao wanted to engage customers with a mobile offering while building brand awareness and loyalty (and increase revenues) through its social media efforts. To engage customers more fully, it partnered with Mocapay, a mobile consumer engagement platform, to offer its customers exclusive mobile offers and allow them to securely pay using their mobile phones.

Using Mocapay’s platform, Wow Bao started mobile marketing and issued mobile VIP comp cards to its customers. In addition Wow Bao sent out mobile reminders to customers who hadn’t redeemed their card or who still had a remaining balance.

In addition to the mobile comp card, Mocapay’s embedded mobile technology allows Wow Bao to create, monitor and measure campaigns in real-time. In return, it also provides valuable information including redemption rates and purchasing behavior that gives Wow Bao a better sense of its customer, allowing a more targeted and personal relationship with every interaction.

For Wow Bao, the use of integrated social media resulted in increased loyalty and revenue. Its VIP comp card has been extremely successful with a 24 percent redemption rate at the point-of-sale and a nearly $10.00 average ticket.

To promote their breakfast menu, Wow Bao ran a mobile promotion one day for three hours. Customers who were part of the mobile program were sent a mobile message to receive a free breakfast bao between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. the next morning. The promotion saw an eight percent redemption rate, which is three to four times the average of direct mail coupon redemption, according to the Direct Marketing Association.

“We believe mobile is the next frontier for the restaurant industry and an amazing channel to directly connect with customers and build brand loyalty to increase store visits,” says Geoff Alexander, managing partner of Wow Bao. “We are able to take our mobile marketing strategy to the next level by incorporating secure, mobile payments while also reaching our customers in a personalized manner.”

“The restaurant business is the perfect industry to showcase the benefits of an end-to-end mobile marketing solution. People do not always have cash, but usually have their mobile handsets with them at all times,” says Doug Dwyre, president, Mocapay. “There is a shift in the marketplace towards the mobile channel as a viable way to establish customer loyalty and extend the value of a brand in real-time.”

Other restaurants are reaping the rewards with similar technology creativity.

Doc Chey’s Noodle House, which has three Atlanta locations, has active Facebook and Twitter pages, but it also uses technology to increase its operations and entice customers with a prize. Customers who show that they checked in for their reservation using Facebook or Foursquare get a raffle ticket to win an IPad2.

The marketing is both direct and subtle. By enticing customers with the chance of an iPad2, it is giving them an incentive to go to its Facebook page, where they can become more engaged. Checking in ahead of time, just like at an airport, allows diners to be seated promptly, which increases customer satisfaction. The iPad2, at this point, is almost beside the point.

Technology guru Jonathan Kaplan, who sold his company to Cisco Systems for more than $500 million, is starting a California-based restaurant chain called The Melt. Relying on location-based mobile technology, The Melt is using technology in all aspects of the business including ordering. When ordering, customers will receive a QR code that could be scanned at any restaurant, allowing the customers to pay through their phone, skip the line and get their food faster.

So where is technology going these days?

Henderson admits that restaurants are facing technology clutter. “Your message now needs to be a lot louder,” he says. “Being an early adopter of new technology was once enough to reach influencers, but now everybody is on Facebook, Youtube, using S.E.O., and the web has more clutter now. We are looking for new ways. Video, for instance, has become a big part of our story-telling process.”

“It’s really the beginning,” says Bernstein of Here to Serve. “People can use their phones for almost anything these days, and we are constantly looking at new technology to further our relationship with our customers and strengthen our brand.”

Still, Henderson yearns for the good old days. “Word-of-mouth marketing is still the best and oldest form of marketing and one that relies on simple principles such as quality, service and a great story,” he says. “Yes, automatic order takers may become a growing trend, but it won’t replace the role of a friendly cocktail waitress.”

Ellen Weaver Hartman is president and CEO of Hartman Public Relations, based in Atlanta. Hartman has more than 30 years of experience in building strategic communications campaigns for some of the world’s most well-known brands. In addition to consumer and business to business communications, she has expertise in corporate communications, social responsibility, media relations and crisis management. To contact Ellen Hartman, email ellen@hartmanpr.com

By Bob Amick, owner and founder of Concentrics Restaurants

It’s been years since my youngest child went off to college, but my wife and I have never felt like true empty nesters. For me, restaurant consulting is a lot like raising children. My partner Todd Rushing and I treat each new store like a newborn child. We take the necessary steps to make sure that each store is prepared to live a long and healthy life, even after we’re gone.

Much like parents who want nothing more than to see their children thrive, I’ll do everything in my power to help my clients find success. In order for a restaurant to do well, clients need a clear vision, a sense of ownership, and most importantly, a passion for this industry.

I’ve noticed that the biggest mistake restaurants make is thinking that the place will run itself.  If a culture of strong leadership isn’t there, the client is much better off hiring someone to lead for them.

The first thing I do when meeting a new client is to sit down and take some time to really get to know the client’s vision. It’s important that they express their vision with confidence, and I have to understand the proposed market in order to share my ideas.

Markets vary greatly, and the client’s vision must meet the consumer’s needs. When a client’s vision isn’t realistic, we don’t hesitate to tell them. My partner and I don’t do projects just to do them. We must believe in the client and their vision. I know it may seem a little harsh at times, but the client has to be grounded. It’s very important that we’re all on the same page.

I wouldn’t say we have a “winning” formula for consulting, but I will say that if there is a will to make something work, it will show through in everything that the restaurant does. I believe there’s only one way to make a restaurant successful, and that’s to do everything the right and best way.

We don’t cut corners. We demand quality food. Most importantly, a concept must be well executed in a comfortable environment. A good environment is key to a restaurant’s success.

What folks need to understand is that though we do everything possible to help ensure the success of our clients, opening a restaurant is one of the business world’s biggest gambles. The success of a restaurant is never a sure thing. It takes constant tweaking and pushing. Clients have to continually look at what works and what doesn’t and adjust to what consumers need. Fluidity is very important.

Of course, it isn’t easy to keep up with a changing market. All businesses have lives, and restaurants tend to have shorter lives. Most restaurants don’t make it to five years. The staff gets tired, and the place loses spark. It comes back to vision, ownership and passion. You’ve got to have all of those 365 days a year, every year.

Restaurants that survive tend to be the really good ones that make the necessary adjustments and just get better and better. To a degree, they manage out of fear. The constant changes to the market keep them on their toes, and they will always continue to grow. My hope is that when a restaurant steps out on its own for the first time, the staff remembers everything that we’ve taught them prior to the opening and uses all of that information to their advantage.

I pride myself on the fact that we take the time to build relationships with new stores. Todd and I work hard to establish a tremendous amount of trust and mutual respect with clients, and I think that we see the best results when they feel more like partners.

Lastly, when working with clients, I’m always reminded of an important lesson learned in grade school: treat others the way you wish to be treated.

Bob Amick has three decades of experience in the Atlanta restaurant business. After launching his career in 1974 with Peasant Restaurants, Amick started Concentrics Restaurants in 2002. Today, the restaurant group owns and operates seven properties in Atlanta, including TWO urban licks, TAP and PARISH: Foods & Goods, as well as one restaurant in Winter Park, Fla. Learn more about Concentrics Restaurants at www.concentricsrestaurants.com.

By Harry Haff, , CEC, CCA, WSET Advanced Certificate, Chef Instructor, Le Cordon Bleu, Atlanta

Is there any word bandied about more cavalierly in our industry than the word sommelier? There are not many. Sometimes I think that restaurant-goers and foodies have the idea that whoever read the back label of a wine bottle and has the ability to spell gewürtztraminer is a sommelier.

While at a professional level we know this is not so, when someone of casual acquaintance announces that she or he is a sommelier, we are too polite or non-confrontational to ask what has made her or him a sommelier? Can they really spell gewürtztraminer? How many years of service and study has it taken them to be able to have others call them a sommelier?

This word that is so easily decanted is so difficult to come by, but there are options for sommelier training, and they can be an extraordinary addition to any good restaurant’s staff—and the bottom line.

From Driving Animals to Driving Wine
In modern times, the sommelier title is for someone who specializes in the service, storing and purchasing of wine as well as being responsible for training others in the dining room on the service of wines. Often the same person will create the wine list.

One of the most important responsibilities is the ability based on knowledge and experience to recommend an appropriate wine to accompany an item the guest ordered.

The term, according to Merriam-Webster, dates back originally to Roman times and is based on the word sagma, meaning a packsaddle. From there it evolved into Provençal as saumailer, or one who drives pack animals. Retaining this general job description, it entered into Middle French where the name was associated with someone who was responsible for supplies and transportation of supplies, like a quartermaster. Somewhere along the way, it became associated with a specialty in wine service, knowledge and supply.

What Makes a True Sommelier
Although anyone can call him or her self a sommelier, that does not make it so. The Court of Master Sommeliers was founded in 1977 under the direction of several professional beverage and hospitality organizations in Great Britain, including the Masters of Wine. For someone interested in actually being a sommelier, the program is in four levels:
1.    Introductory Level, which introduces the student to a worldwide basic understanding of wine regions, style and taste. The students are expected to do much background reading on their own before sitting for the two-day intensive instruction, written test and tasting test.
2.    Level II, the Certified Sommelier, which is composed of theory and tasting exams. Adding a service component, the candidate must perform decanting, sparkling wine service or standard wine service.
3.    Level III is the Advanced Sommelier level. It is a three-day intensive course, followed by a two-day exam of restaurant service and sales, written theory and a six-wine blind tasting. As is stated on the website, the “Advanced Examination is exponentially more challenging than the Certified Sommelier Exam.”
4.    The Master Sommelier Exam, Level IV, is an oral exam, a blind tasting and a practical service examination. All judges are Master Sommeliers, and the candidate has three years to pass all parts of the Level IV. The past rate for this level is about 10%.

The other main sommelier-training program is the International Sommelier Guild, based in Denver. It is recognized by the American Culinary Federation and also includes a three-tier approach as well as a wine educator component.
1.    This level is an introductory one that also has a component on the early stages of learning to pair food and wine.
2.    The Level II component is 48 hours of classroom instruction with emphases on blind tasting, sparkling wines, fortified wines, beers and ales, food and wine pairing techniques, dining room service as well as an essay on a given topic.
3.    The third level is known as the Diploma Program. Over a six-month time span, the candidate attends one eight-hour session per week. Contents are on viticulture, viniculture, service refinement, cellaring, tasting techniques, menu design and an essay.
4.    The ability to become a certified wine educator is in addition to the other three courses and is a unit unto itself.

As you can see, each of these programs is intensive, rigorous and not for the faint of heart or thin-skinned individuals. But what emerges is an industry professional trained to work in a rapidly expanding segment of the restaurant/hospitality industry.

The United States is now the largest wine market in the world in terms of volume and monetary volume. But our per capita consumption is still low when compared to other industrialized countries.

You may be surprised that the leading per capita wine-consuming country is the Vatican with 70.22 liters per person. According to the Wine Institute, Luxembourg is second with 54.29; France fourth at 42.49; Italy sixth at 38.14; Germany is 21st with 24.44; and the U.S. is 57th with 8.96. But while Germany, Italy and France all showed year-to-year declines in per capita consumption, the U.S. increased by 4.5%, with the Vatican increasing by 18.2%.

Now if this sounds unimpressive, consider that the Vatican has a population of 932, and the U.S. population is more than 307 million. And while Lewis Purdue, editor of Wine Industry Insight, forecasted on-premise sales in 2010 would decline, and they did. Year-to year due to the recession, off-premise increased by a dollar volume of more than 8%. This decline will reverse itself as the economy improves and as more Americans become familiar with wines in general.

How Sommeliers Help Restaurants
When one considers that wine sales across the board are increasing from almost all wine-producing countries — Australia being the striking exception —a knowledgeable person selling your wines and beverages and training your staff to sell as well becomes virtually a necessity in a good restaurant.

It is not enough for restaurant personnel to know the Napa Valley wines produced by a few big-name or trendy/cult producers when the single largest increase in wine sales by country in 2010 came from Argentina.

The wine news report notes that for the first quarter of 2011, imported wines outpaced domestic wines in dollar increase of sales in the $11-$14.99 ranges as well as the $15 to $19.99 range by 13% to 6% in the lower price segment, and by 27% (!) to 8% in the higher-priced segment. These are prime segments for many restaurants wanting a wine list with a sales sweet spot of $30-$60 per bottle. To be able to consistently sell a wide variety of wine, training is essential — sommelier training.

People who do not order wine for dinner in a restaurant are fearful of making mistakes and are looking for strong recommendations from a sommelier or a server. A highly trained sommelier that can also train the staff will remove this looming barrier to increased wine sales.

This is the most effective way to increase check averages overall. Selling a dessert split by two or three people will not increase a check average by more than $3 or $4 per person. But with an entrée price of $25 and two people splitting a $40 bottle of wine, that is a different story. A five-ounce pour will give each guest two and one half glasses. Add to that maybe a cocktail or a glass of bubbles before the meal, and an everyday experience for the guest as well as the operator just became something special.

Remember that well-recommended wines will make your chef’s food actually taste better; ditto for the wine. Poor match-ups will have exactly the opposite effect and are likely to leave your guests, if not downright unhappy, certainly not as pleased as they could and should be.

For those of you with active wine-by-the glass programs, confident servers will sell lots more if they do not have to worry about making a bad recommendation. People sell what they know, and a good sommelier will train the servers to a high level of confidence. When sales by the glass are well tracked, the sommelier will find how to select new additions to the wine list in much the same fashion as a chef tracks daily specials with a nod to some of them becoming new menu items.

There is no substitute for knowledge. We have a huge number of people in the U.S. becoming more interested in wines all the time, and we have a gigantic population base. People used to drinking wine at home will be more likely to order on-premise wines with dinner. But even knowledgeable guests want good recommendations from a trained person, just as they want a well-trained chef in the kitchen.

A good sommelier will cover their salary many times over in sales, provide a better-trained staff and help build a knowledgeable following for your restaurant. Go for it!

Harry Haff teaches Wines and Beverages, Cost Control and a variety of hot foods and baking and pastry classes at Le Cordon Bleu, Atlanta. A hospitality professional for more than 25 years, he has an intense interest in and knowledge of wines and beverages.

By Ellen Weaver Hartman, APR, Fellow PRSA

When someone refuses to take the stand in court to testify in their own defense – even though it’s our Constitutional right – we never quite trust the person’s innocence, do we? If they were innocent, we say, they would take the stand and defend themselves.

The same is true when you have an “incident” in your restaurant or you experience a negative review. It is your right not to say anything, but it certainly isn’t in your best interests. I once heard a police officer-turned-restaurant-crisis-and-media relations guru tell a group of regional burger chain franchisees that the only comment to the media should be “no comment.”

That is absolutely true if you want everyone talking about your restaurant – with the rumors and innuendoes growing with each conversation – while you idly stand by and do nothing.

If you or your company’s representative doesn’t get your side of the story out, then you are conceding to the disgruntled guests, competitors, journalist or nonpartisan bystander who heard the negative story and just wants to pass it on for gossip’s sake.  Ever heard of a story “going viral?”

“No comment” first of all makes you look guilty — as if you are hiding something, like the defendant who won’t face the jury and tell his or her side of the story.

Now, any good lawyer would tell his or her client to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth — and nothing else. That means knowing what you are going to say ahead of time, practicing it and knowing when to stop talking.

At a recent Georgia Restaurant Association Media Training session that Anne Reeves Reich and I conducted, most of the 30 attendees had one goal in mind: learning how to respond when something bad happens at the restaurant, especially if the media is reporting on the story.

The four most dreaded scenarios are a bad review, low food safety score, a customer reporting a foreign object in the food, and the worst: someone gets sick or dies after eating your food.

So, what should your actions be and what should you say to your staff, guests and the media?

1. Be prepared in advance. We have said this before but it is the best advice. Sit down with your staff (and possibly your lawyer and PR counsel) and write down all of the problems you possibly could have at your restaurant. Chart out each scenario. Go through all the questions that could come up and draft a statement and list of actions to take for each. (See the chart on page xx for examples.)
2. Get media trained. Politicians know the value of the message and the value of being prepared with a factual and empathetic answer to his/her most dreaded questions.
3. Be honest with yourself. If it’s a bad review or a customer complaint, take a deep breath and really try to understand if there is validity to their remarks. Maybe your décor is a bit outdated or maybe your staff needs a refresher course on the wine menu.
4. Turn a negative into a positive. Again, it is up to you to respond to the situation, give your side and then show some positive action.

Remember, it is better to be prepared for bad news than to try to respond during an actual crisis. But regardless of the situation, the keys to media training and your response involve the following:

Keys to media training
1. Who is your target audience and what do you want them to know and act on? Reacting to a television reporter is different than dealing with a food inspector. Understanding this will help you craft your message as well as determine the way you deliver it.
2. Your messages should help you achieve your objectives. Calling a food critic a meathead with no taste buds is probably not the best way to get him to come back in a few months and review the restaurant again. But not responding to the critic won’t make that happen, either. The key is to know what you want. The critic isn’t going to retract his story, but he very well may come back and write a positive story – especially if he believes that his comments helped you “see the light.”
3. Know your rights. You don’t have to speak with reporters when you are called or confronted with TV cameras in your face. You definitely should speak with them in time for them to meet their deadline. If you aren’t prepared to talk, promise to call them right back, giving you time to collect yourself and your thoughts. Ask them what type of questions they have so you can be prepared. Get prepared. And then call them right back.
4. Deliver your message regardless of the question asked. If someone had a bad reaction to a meal, acknowledge it, but in the same sentence you might also say that your vendors provide top-quality produce and that you serve thousands of happy diners each year. Henry Kissinger often opened press conferences with “What questions do you have for my answers?”
5. Remember that media training can also help you promote your restaurant. Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss a photo op or a good story because you weren’t prepared to talk to the media and therefore didn’t respond? There are plenty of opportunities for you to create awareness, pre-sell products, build credibility for your restaurant as a responsible community citizen, and differentiate yourself from your competition. But if you don’t know how to say it in 30 seconds, it won’t get reported.

Remember the Tylenol crisis of a few years ago in which the CEO of the company went on camera and truthfully told the company’s side of the story and explained what they were going to do about it? Remember how great everyone felt about Tylenol after that? Yes. Do you remember what the problem was in the first place? Probably not. Many believe the CEO’s candor saved the company.

No comment is never the right answer. But the right answer should be intelligently crafted and honestly delivered, so that a negative can be turned into a positive. But it’s up to you to plan ahead for the day that we all hope won’t happen — but could.

Ellen Weaver Hartman is President and CEO of Hartman Public Relations based in Atlanta. Hartman has more than 30 years of experience in building strategic communications campaigns for some of the world’s most well-known brands, including Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Popeyes, Avon products, Arby’s, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Chili’s. In addition to consumer and business-to-business communications, she has expertise in corporate communications, social responsibility, media relations and crisis management. To contact Hartman, e-mail ellen@hartmanpr.com.

Contributed by Georgia Organics

Shopping for organically grown foods can be as confusing for chefs and restaurant owners as it is for anybody else. The different legal terms and jargon that companies use to market their foods can make it seem like their products are sustainable and humane, but it takes a detective to really figure out whether the food is what the farms say it is.

Georgia Organics put together this handy list to help you be as educated a shopper as possible. Note: some of these terms are regulated, and some are just plain bull.

“Natural” for non-meat products (FDA): In 1989, the FDA issued a definition for “natural,” stating that it meant “nothing artificial or synthetic has been included in or added to a food that would not normally be expected to be in the food.”

“Natural” for meat products (USDA FSIS): Can’t contain any artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredient, chemical preservative or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient. In addition, the product could only be minimally processed (FSIS, 2006). Under this ruling, the definition of minimally processed includes: a) Traditional processes used to make food edible or to preserve it or make it safe for human consumption, or b) Physical processes that do not fundamentally alter the raw product and/or that only separate a whole, intact food into component parts, e.g., grinding meat, separating eggs into albumen and yolk, and pressing fruits to produce juices.

“Naturally Raised” (USDA AMS): “Naturally raised” on livestock and meat derived from livestock would mean that “(1) no growth promotants (hormones) were administered to the animals; (2) no antibiotics (other than ionophores used to prevent parasitism) were administered to the animal; and (3) no animal by-products were fed to the animals” (Agricultural Marketing Service, 2009).

Free-Range Eggs: There are no legal standards in “free-range” egg production. Typically, free-range hens are uncaged inside barns or warehouses and have some degree of outdoor access, but there are no requirements for the amount, duration or quality of outdoor access. Since they are not caged, they can engage in many natural behaviors such as nesting and foraging. There are no restrictions regarding what the birds can be fed. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing.

Free-Range Chicken: The USDA allows for any chicken raised with access to the outdoors to be labeled “free-range.” Nowhere does it state that the chickens have to actually go outdoors; “access” is the only legal binding verbiage of that rule. They may still be raised in the same overpopulated poultry house-type production and be labeled “free-range.” Certified organic chickens may also be raised like this.

Cage-Free: As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as “cage-free” are uncaged inside barns or warehouses, but they generally do not have access to the outdoors. They can engage in many of their natural behaviors such as walking, nesting and spreading their wings. Beak cutting is permitted. There is no third-party auditing.

Knowing these terms will help you navigate through product purchasing and help you decide what’s worth paying extra for, and what’s worth avoiding.

5 Tips for your first trip to the Farmers Market

More and more chefs these days are going straight to the source to get their produce, meats, breads, and herbs. Farmers markets are one of the easiest ways to assess the quality of several farms in one morning. Here’re some tips for first-timers.

1) Get there early. Check the farmers market website to see what time the market opens. Good farmers have very devoted fans and may sell out of food.

2) Ask questions. Get to know your farmer, and don’t hesitate to ask about his or her farming methods, tips for cooking or chemicals they may or may not use.

3) Look for certified organic or certified sustainable farmers. Certification means the farmers use natural methods to avoid chemicals that could harm your health and the environment. Learn more about what organic means here, and why organic foods are better for you here.

4) Bring your own reusable bags. Most farmers markets don’t have grocery bags. Don’t forget the chilled bags for your meats.

5) Check out what’s in season. Consult with a harvest calendar to see what’s in season, and then plan your menu accordingly. (Check out www.georgiaorganics.org/calendars/harvestcalendar.pdf for our version.) But don’t be afraid to try new things. Farmers are helping to keep heirloom varieties around, most of which aren’t sold at a typical grocery store anymore, so they may look weird at first glance. Don’t be scared of purple carrots!

An Atlanta environmental group goes national with National Restaurant Association

By Debby Cannon, Ph.D., CHE

February 2011 marked the second anniversary of Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone (ZWZ).  Atlanta’s  ZWZ is one of the first of such programs for the nation, the Southeast and Atlanta. Launched in downtown Atlanta, the ZWZ promotes the recycling and repurposing of commercial waste into reusable products. The organization also teaches businesses about the importance of avoiding landfills and, instead, diverting assets back into the production cycle.

ZWZ is a division of Elemental impact (Ei) which is also based in Atlanta. Elemental impact is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing sustainable operating practices to the corporate community. Ei uses the foodservice industry as its mobilizing force. Holly Elmore, a well-known environmental leader, is the founder of Elemental impact.

With the celebration of ZWZ’s second anniversary, two major collaborations were announced. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) announced in late February a national collaboration with Ei and ZWZ. This collaboration will identify new best practices, create resources and measure the impact of perishable organics waste management and recycling efforts.

The second major collaboration is with Waste Management, the leading provider of comprehensive waste management and recycling services in North America. The collaboration, announced also in late February, will involve Waste Management exploring the initiation of a post-consumer organics materials solution in the Metro Atlanta area. The ZWZ provided a framework for Atlanta to become a key location for these activities.

The National Restaurant Association and Waste Management leaders praised the success of ZWZ. Scott DeFife, executive vice president for policy and governmental affairs for the NRA stated: “Sustainability is imperative to our industry, other business communities and the general public. Working with Elemental impact, we are bringing industry stakeholders together to enable our members to establish – and succeed in reaching – waste diversion and resource recovery goals.”

Randall Essick, director of business development and government affairs for Waste Management’s three-state South Atlantic Area stated: “Development of a metro Atlanta solution for recycling organics fits with the company’s overall expansion into this arena in the South.”
National statistics support the need for downtown Atlanta’s efforts to spread into other areas of the country. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 31.8 million tons of food waste is generated per year. Of this amount, a significant 97.5% goes to landfills. Organic matter in landfills is the No. 1 source of man-made methane gas, which is 20 to 25 times more potent that naturally occurring carbon dioxide. Diverting the 31 million tons of food waste being sent to landfills annually is the equivalent of taking 5.2 million cars off the road for one year.

Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone maintains impressive statistics on the local impact of participating companies. For example, Fifth Group Restaurants diverted 289 tons of food residuals from landfills since joining the program in the spring of 2009. This tonnage is the equivalent of 20 84 passenger schools buses.

Hyatt Regency Atlanta, another ZWZ participant, generated 540 tons for the 1,260-room hotel since joining the program. If organics collection was available for each full-service Hyatt hotel nationally, 15,871 tons of food residuals could be diverted by its hotels annually, with an environmental impact of removing 2,626 cars off the road for one year.

So where does the waste go and what are the reusable products that potentially can be generated? According to the EPA, there are a number of options. One option is source reduction – avoiding waste. This can be achieved by forecasting business demands more accurately, encouraging employees to prevent waste (i.e. save items that can be reused instead of throwing them away – such as portion-controlled/packaged creamers, jellies and butters) and adjusting serving sizes to more closely mirror consumer appetites. Another option is to donate food, when and where appropriate, to homeless shelters or other “feed the hungry” efforts.

Composting is an additional option for organics. Compost creates healthy soil that prevents erosion and keeps the top soil from washing or blowing away. In areas that regularly experience drought, such as Georgia, compost increases water retention. Soil mixed with compost provides the nutrients necessary to create a dynamic microbial community that in turn builds structure within the soil. Healthy soil with a strong structure requires 30% less irrigation due to water retention.

Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone continues to grow with the addition of large and active new participants such as the City of Atlanta, the Woodruff Arts Center, Georgia Institute of Technology and the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Holly Elmore, Elemental Impact founder, commented: “The Zero Waste Zone’s second anniversary brings amazing new relationships that are staged to expand the environmental and economic impact across the nation within the foodservice industry and beyond.”

Author’s Note:  Special appreciation is given to Holly Elmore for providing statistics and timely data and information for this article.

Debby Cannon, Ph.D., CHE, is Director of the Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality, located in the highly ranked Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. The school offers three different programs: A B.B.A. degree with a major in hospitality; a certificate program (a post-baccalaureate program) in hospitality operations, event planning and meeting planning; and an M.B.A. degree with a concentration on hotel real estate. Visit the Cicel B. Day School of Hospitality’s website at www.robinson.gsu.edu/hospitality or call 404.413.7615.

Click to view: What Restaurateurs Must Know About Food Allergies – Part 1

What is the responsibility of the food service industry in meeting needs for allergy sufferers?

There is a level of protection that only the allergic customer can provide. But there is also an aspect of protection that can only be provided by the foodservice establishment, and it is this aspect that must be evaluated to bring the highest standards possible to food safety.

Best Practices
In order to meet these standards, kitchen and waitstaff should follow specific protocol concerning allergens. First of all, they should know what to avoid and substitute. There should be a list of appropriate substitutions should typical items be unavailable and an understanding of the ingredients contained in each menu item.

Reading labels is essential. Sometimes items contain unexpected ingredients. For example, one child who was allergic to legumes suffered an allergic reaction in her school lunchroom after eating cheese pizza. It was later discovered that the ingredient label listed beans; the beans were added to the pizza dough to meet protein requirements. Who would suspect that pizza would have beans? Had the staff conscientiously read labels, the child would not have had a reaction.

Another suggestion by the Food and Anaphylaxis Network is to prepare a “safe zone” in the kitchen where allergen-free preparation can take place. Chefs should avoid using the eight main allergens in this area to greatly reduce the likelihood that someone would have a reaction. In addition, servers should be counseled to avoid assuring the customer that an allergen is not a part of an item unless they are completely sure. Instead, they might say to the patron, “I’m fairly sure that it does not, but let me check with the chef to be 100 percent.” Being sure is worth a little extra time.

Finally, cleaning procedures should reflect conscientious attention to food allergens—fresh cleaning cloths for allergy-free areas should be used.

Although it may seem a costly and labor-intensive process to make these practices a standard part of the operation, it is necessary to meet standards of health and safety. Once these procedures are in place, the restaurant will be able to confidently address customer concerns about allergies, which will speak of the restaurant’s overall commitment to customer satisfaction.

Employee Training
The success of a prevention policy will depend on the level to which everyone in a foodservice operation—customers, servers, managers, supervisors, cook, food preparation workers—collaborate to ensure the safety of all people involved.

For this reason, it is evident that education will be part of a proactive plan to reinvent the foodservice industry’s approach to food allergens. Strategies can include educating staff on the seriousness of food allergies and their vital role in ensuring patron safety. Staff education should result in all staff members having a complete knowledge of ingredients in all menu items. If this goal is not met, supervisors should at least provide a list of ingredients and/or product labels to offer to concerned customers. If a server is not sure of ingredients or preparation techniques, he or she should say so—complete honesty is essential. Ideally, there should be a designated point person on staff during each shift who is prepared to answer questions about ingredients, but if no one is available, the customer should be aware of any uncertainties concerning ingredients. All foodservice staff should be aware that even traces of an allergen can prove fatal, so complete avoidance of the allergy-causing food is necessary—it is not acceptable to remove an ingredient after it has already come into contact with a patron’s food. In addition, staff should be informed about anaphylactic shock so that in the event of such a reaction, staff can provide a cause for the paramedics. Also, menu items containing already prepared or store-bought ingredients are always questionable, as the ingredients may not always be clear and allergen-free substitutions often cannot be made. Restaurants would do well to offer appointments in non-busy times for allergy-sufferers desiring a kitchen tour. Then should an accident occur, the efforts that have been made by the restaurant to accommodate an allergic customer will help to answer an accusation of negligence.

The National Restaurant Association advises restaurateurs to always serve complicated items containing many ingredients such as gravies, sauces and dressings on the side to customers with food allergies. In addition, none of the top eight allergy-causing foods should never be casually substituted or used as a “secret ingredient.” The popular “creative cookery” methods pose significant problems for allergy-sufferers as atypical ingredients are included in what are thought to be standard dishes. For this reason, it is crucial that ingredient lists should be made available to customers.

Patrons may often expect to be able to make their own selections without communicating with restaurant staff about ingredients. Placing a statement on the menu that offers ingredient lists for menu items may help to avoid situations in which patrons wrongly assume that dishes are allergen-free.

Having ingredient lists necessitates that food labels on purchased items be read very carefully—cooks should not even assume that products contain the same ingredients as they did last time they read the label because manufacturers sometimes change ingredients. Continual updates on ingredients are required to prevent incidences.

With the legislation requiring food labeling to list the presence of the eight major allergens, ascertaining allergen-risk should be less complicated, but no assumptions should ever be made by consumers or food service staff. Honest and direct communication is essential to ensure the safety of patrons.

Cross contamination is a big threat to allergic consumers, but it can be avoided by conscientious preparation techniques. Cross-contact points include equipment, gloves, baking pans, cutting boards, preparation tables, countertops and other kitchen surfaces, and utensils. In addition, splatters or steam from cooking food and refilled serving containers pose a cross-contamination risk. Due attention should be given to these points, so that cross-contamination with allergens will not occur.

Certainly, the procedures for each establishment will be based on individual issues within each establishment. To determine the best plan of action for your operation, it would be best to enlist the entire staff to develop a plan to make eating safe for allergic patrons.

From training seminars to wall posters to customer awareness strategies, there are many different ways these goals can be accomplished. Resources are available to guide managers in the process of reinventing service with the goal of avoiding food allergic reactions. To aid managers in communicating the responsibility of staff in preventing allergic reactions, a Food Allergy Training Guide has been developed by the cooperation of the NRA and the FAAN and is available through the NRA at www.restaurant.org/store or by phone: (800) 482-9122. In addition, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network offers the guide and other training resources that are available online at www.foodallergy.org.

Isn’t one life lost too many?
From a business standpoint, a restaurateur should be aware of potential food reactions. Moreover, operators can exhibit true hospitality—as well as build repeat business and protect themselves from lawsuits if they educate themselves on the allergies and intolerances of their patrons.

Some substances for which many people have food intolerances include aspartame, lactose, sulfites, monosodium glutamate (MSG), red wine, chocolate and the food coloring Yellow No. 5. While most of these substances result in relatively mild or moderate symptoms such as headaches and hives, the most dangerous food intolerance is caused by sulfites, which are food additives that are used as preservatives in dried fruits, wines and dehydrated potato products like mashed potato flakes. Although not true allergies, sulfite intolerances can cause anaphylaxis. About 100,000 Americans are sulfite-sensitive, mostly those with asthma. If restaurants would become safe for those with food intolerance and food allergies, there could be a significant increase in sales considering more than 2 % of the population could enjoy eating out who previously had no advocate in the restaurant industry.

Summary of how a food allergy order may travel through the restaurant:
• Notify manager of the food allergic diner
• Manager talks with diner to get information about the diner’s needs, helps with menu suggestions, and communicates with chef.
• Chef checks ingredients
• Kitchen staff prepares food using these precautions:
• Wash hands/put on gloves
• Use clean pans, knives, utensils, and work surfaces
• Garnish with fresh ingredients
• Manager, server, or chef hand-carries plate separately from rest of table’s order
• Server checks with diner immediately to be sure everything is satisfactory
Source: National Restaurant Association

Nancy Caldarola, PhD, RD, a consultant with Concept Associates, is active in the GRA and the  Women’s Foodservice Forum.    With more than 35 years in the industry she has held senior operations, training, and marketing roles in several international chains. She is a past lecturer at UGA, and was recently named Education Director for NACS CAFÉ at GSU. 678-523-3080

Allison Barfield graduated from the University of GA with a degree in Dietetics. She is currently a graduate student at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studying Occupational Therapy. A licensed pilot, Allison’s future includes mission work in underdeveloped areas where she can share her knowledge and skills.