November 19, 2010
David Hayden
Allergies, Foodies, Managers, Servers
Alleric reactions, alternatives, Anaphylaxic, Anaphylaxis, chef, cooks, dining, eating out, FAAN. Egg, Facts, fish, Food Allergies, Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, information, kitchen, label, menu, milk, peanut, responsible, Restaurant Owners, restaurants, Servers, shellfish, soy, substitutions, training, tree nut, wheat
None of these are a good way to end a meal.
I have one hard and fast rule when it comes to waiting tables. No one dies on my watch. I have had several guests leave the restaurant in an ambulance, but none of them have died. It is a simple thing, but it helps me sleep better at night. I may not be changing the world with this rule, but I cannot imagine the guilt of breaking it.
This is why I am particularly careful about food allergies. Knowledge of food allergies is the most basic tool a server has to prevent guests from facing life-threatening reactions in their restaurants. This is too often treated lightly. I once heard a surgeon say that the only minor surgery is the one someone else is having. The same can be said of food allergies. While it may not seem important to every guest, the difference between a peanut and a tree nut can be the difference between an enjoyable meal and a trip to the emergency room for some of your guests.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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September 17, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
Aqua Bounty, AquAdvantage, Atlantic Salmon, Coho Salmon, eelpout, environmental hysteria, environmental risks, Facts, Farm Raised Salmon, Foodie, frankenfish, GE, Genetically Engineered, Genetically modified, genetically modified salmon, GMO, mutant, Restaurant Customer, Restaurant Guests, restaurant server, Salmon, Server, Server Blog, Serving, tipsfortips, Waiter
An AquAdvantage Salmon and traditional salmon of the same age.
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Genetically Modified Salmon
Earlier this week I posted a link to a story regarding the AquAdvantage genetically modified salmon. In the days since, I have become fascinated by this concept. I have consumed dozens of articles on the topic and several related topics. I have also read the companies literature on the topic and reviewed the data they sent to the FDA. I have come to a very specific conclusion on this issue. Everyone needs to take a deep breathe and look at the big picture.
The AquAdvantage Salmon is for all intensive purposes an Atlantic Salmon. As you might recall from a previous post on salmon, all commercial Atlantic Salmon is farm raised since it was fished to near extinction in the Atlantic. The AquAdvatage Salmon has two major differences. They introduced the growth hormone of the much larger Coho Salmon and a cool water tolerance gene found in the eelpout. These modifications allow the salmon to grow to market size in half the time.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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September 16, 2010
David Hayden
A Little Humor, Foodies, Managers, Servers
25 things chefs never tell you, chef salary, chef secrets, chef specials, chef wage, Facts, five second rule, Food, Foodie, Restaurant, Restaurant Customer, Restaurant Guests, Restaurant Manager, restaurant secrets, reused bread, Server, Server Blog, Servers, Serving, things chef never tell, Tips, tipsfortips, Waiter, waitress, wine cost, wine markup, wine profit
Like I would pass up an opportunity to post this picture
I am trying to fight through the worst bout of writer’s block I have had since I started writing this blog. I started at least three different posts yesterday that ended up in the recycle bin. In my last post I promised to get back to some server related posts, but my brain has forced me to break that promise. In the meantime I have been holding this one back for just such an occasion.
An article recently came to my attention that I am surprised none of my fellow bloggers jumped on. The Food Network recently did a survey of chefs around the country. They wrote up the results in an article titled “25 Things Chefs Never Tell You.” For the most part I think it was a balanced and informative article. There are probably a number of points that most diners are not aware of. I recommend the article for those of you who have not put in time working in a restaurant.
Read the full post at Restaurant Laughs
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September 2, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
buffalo wings, Charles Ferruzza, chicken fingers, Clinton, cool winery, customer service, david kessler, diet, dipping sauce, Dr David Kessler, drink ranch dressing, Facts, FDA, Food, Foodie, hidden valley ranch, history of ranch, i love ranch dressing, jalapeno poppers, kesler, nachos, planet ranch, potato skins, ranch, ranch dressing, Restaurant, Restaurant Customer, Restaurant Guests, salad dressing, Server, Server Blog, Serving, the end of overeating, tipsfortips, twisted oak, twisted oak winery, Waiter, Waiting, waitress
Some people really love their ranch
When Escoffier defined his five mother sauces, he did so based on a proud culinary tradition that dated back to Careme and others. These were flexible sauces that stood the test of time. Fortunately, he could not predict how boring the average consumer would become. In most modern chain restaurants the mother sauces would be redefined as marinara, alfredo, ketchup, gravy, and ranch. It is said that if you stand perfectly still above Escoffier’s gravesite, you can actually feel him spinning.
Of these sauces the newest and most commonly used is ranch dressing. It became America’s favorite salad dressing in 1992. It has since only gained popularity as a dipping sauce and suspected beverage (“the lady at table 24 wants another side of ranch, what is she doing, drinking the stuff?”). Ranch’s rise to the top is a modern day success story. The reason behind it will change the way you look at food.
Read the full story at Foodie Knowledge
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August 19, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
catfish, clams, eat seafood during pregnancy, eating seafood safe, expectant mothers, expected, expecting, Facts, Food, Foodie, mercury, mercury in fish, mercury in seafood, methylmercury, mom, moms, mother, mussels, oysters, pregnancy, pregnant, pregnant women, pregnant women eat seafood, restaurant server, Rules for Servers, safe seafood for pregnant women, Salmon, scallops, seafood during pregnancy, Servers, Service, Serving, shark, shrimp, swordfish, tilapia, Tips, tipsfortips, tuna, Waiter, Waiting, waitress, women
If you sell seafood at your restaurant, you will inevitably come in contact with pregnant women concerned whether or not it is safe. During pregnancy the only thing you get more than designer baby clothes that the child won’t be able to appreciate is advice on what not to eat. Seafood is confusing to expectant mothers because it’s health benefits are touted as frequently as it is warned against. The key for servers is being able understand what the warnings are about and what seafood to caution against. Being able to concisely explain to expectant mothers what is and is not safe is relatively easy once you understand the reason for the warnings.
Seafood contains a great number of benefits for both mother and child. Seafood contains DHA a type of Omega-3 acid that actually helps with a child’s brain development. Seafood can also be high in calcium, iron, and vitamin D. It has also been linked to delaying premature births. For mothers, seafood is low in fat, but high in protein. The Omega-3s in seafood have even been shown to reduce post partum depression.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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August 13, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Managers, Servers
breast, buffalo wild wings, buffalo wings, chicken, chicken wing prices, chicken wings, chicken wings cost, cost vs price, customer service, Facts, Food, Foodie, hooters, hooters girl, hooters wings, hot wings, how to be a better restaurant manager, how to get servers to sell, increase sales, Restaurant, restaurant costs, Restaurant Customer, Restaurant Guests, restaurant prices, restaurant server, Rules for Servers, Server Blog, Service, supply and demand, Tips, tipsfortips, Waiter, Waiting, waitress, wing vs breast
I only chose this picture because I heard she was an economist
Yesterday’s post on extra charges for the various items a guest requests caused me to ponder on a larger scale. It is remarkably common to hear guests say, “I could buy that steak/wine/etc at the store for half that much.” This is the same principle as walking into a car dealership and demanding a price based on the total price of the steel, glass, and plastic contained in the car. In both cases, the price of production goes far beyond the cost of the raw materials. Next week, I will be addressing in detail the difference between the actual cost of an item as simple as a burger and also the actual price of production. When the cost of labor and overhead is factored in, a burger is far less profitable than the average consumer would imagine.
First, it is necessary to establish as a premise that food is a commodity. A meal is comprised of many components each of which has a finite supply. There are only so many acres of wheat or corn being produced. There are also only so much beef, poultry, pork, and seafood being brought to market. This means that supply is more of less the same and therefore demand is what determines the price restaurants pay. The commodity we are all most familiar with is oil. When demand for oil rises worldwide the price rises as well. This is followed shortly by a rise in the price of gasoline. We as consumers understand why this affects gas prices, but rarely do we relate it to restaurants.
Read the full post at The Manager’s Office
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August 5, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
atlantic crab, Blue Crab, crab facts, crab jokes, Facts, facts about crabs, Food, Foodie, King Crab, maryland blue crab, maryland crab, pacific crab, Restaurant, restaurant jokes, restaurant server, Server, Server Blog, server jokes, Servers, Serving, Snow Crab, stone crab, Tips, tipsfortips, tipsfortips.wordpress.com, Waiter, Waiting
They say you gotta give the people what they want. In this case it seems to be crabs. The number of searches I have seen this week that landed on my crab post is overwhelming. So I decided to revisit my favorite decapods. The previous post was a bit more scientific and specific. Today, I want to talk some of the more trivial and fun facts you can share with your tables about crabs.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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August 3, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia, balsamic vinegar is made, balsamico, David Hayden, extra virgin olive oil, Facts, Food, Foodie, fun food facts, IOOC, Kansas City, lambrusco. condimento Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Olive oil, olive oil is made, olive pomace oil.Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, Restaurant, restaurant server, Server, Server Blog, Servers, Tips, tiupsfortips, trebbiano, virgin olive oil, Waiter
Regular readers of this blog may have realized already that I hate getting stumped by my guests. I have spent thousands of hours researching food to prevent this from happening. Last night I was asked a question so simple I should have known the answer. They asked me what makes vinegar “balsamic.” One theory was that it was aged in balsa wood while another was that it was made of a particular grape. After the shift, I researched until I could find an answer. This post is dedicated to the guests at table 68.
Before I get to the answer though, I wanted to address olive oil as well. It’s like salt and pepper. Peanut butter and jelly. Simon and Garfunkel. You can have them separately, but they are so much better together. So today I wanted to explore some facts about both.
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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July 29, 2010
David Hayden
A Little Humor, Designated Drinker, Index, Managers, Uncategorized
customer service, Facts, Food, Foodie, how to be a better restaurant manager, how to be a better restaurant server, Restaurant, Restaurant Customer, Restaurant Guests, Restaurant Manager, Restaurant managers, restaurant server, Rules for Servers, Sales, Selling, Server, Server Blog, Servers, Service, Serving, Tips, Waiter, Waiting, waitress
July 12, 2010
David Hayden
Foodies, Servers
cherry limeade, cherry limeade at home, cherry limeade recipe, cherry limeaid, Facts, Foodie, mixologist, paige unger, recipe, Restaurant, Server, Server Blog, Serving, tastebud magazine, Waiter, Waiting, waitress
A brief break between shifts on a double today. I have worked exceptionally little over the last two weeks. This of course meant that it was too hot for anyone to sit on the patio this afternoon for my patio shift. A piece of Sockeye Salmon over a mushroom risotto with a white wine sauce topped with marinated diced tomatoes made it worth my while. This reminds me that I need to write up my post on rule six. Expect rules five and six in the coming days.
The other task I accomplished is sitting down with Kansas City’s most vivacious mixologist and cocktail critic to create a simple cherry limeade recipe. I have written about my cherry limeade line and why it is such powerful tool to read your tables. I have also discussed the number of search engine hits I get looking for a cherry limeade recipe. Today, I decided to finally reveal the recipe to the drink that still officially appears on my restaurants menu as “The Hayden.”
Read the full post at Foodie Knowledge
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Tips on improving your Tips 