big changes from small change | restaurantville magazine fall 2013

Restaurantville‘13

fall

MAGAZINE CONNECTINGTHETEXASRESTAURANTCOMMUNITY

How one nonprofit organization is rallying America’s restaurants to feed the needs of the nation’s communities

BIG CHANGE FROM SMALL CHANGE

2 | Fall 2013 R E STAU R A N T V I L L E M AG A Z I N E

PUBLISHERRichie Jackson, CEO

Texas Restaurant Association

EDITORWendy Saari, Vice President, Marketing & Communications Texas Restaurant Association

ART DIRECTOR Joanna King,

Graphic Design Manager Texas Restaurant Association

CONTRIBUTORSChantal Rice, Sandy Korem

ADVERTISINGJoanne Pantaze, JP Solutions

Restaurantville Magazine is published quarterly by the Texas Restaurant Association.

It is the mission of the Texas Restaurant Association

to be the advocate and indispensable resource for the foodservice

and hospitality industry in Texas.

For advertising information contact Joanne Pantaze, 512-273-2639

or [email protected].

Editorial questions can be directed to Wendy Saari at 512-457-4100 or

[email protected].

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MAGAZINEConnecting the Texas

Restaurant Community

Restaurantville

R E STAU R A N T V I L L E M AG A Z I N E Fall 2013 | 3

contents

D E P A R T M E N T S

18 TEXAS 360

26 COMMUNITY NEWS

CL ICK HERE TO

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F E A T U R E S

4 BIG CHANGE FROM SMALL CHANGE

16 ARE YOU PREPARED FOR HOLIDAY CATERING?

‘13fall


How one nonprofit organization is rallying America’s restaurants to feed the needs of the nation’s communities


In early 2009, in the midst of a global reces-sion, executives at California-based Ameri-can fusion restaurant Yard House discov-ered a problem with their resources. Their business, which boasted some 30 restaurant locations at the time, was doing just fine. But when it came to making change in their community, their resources were becoming limited. For years, Yard House had contrib-uted to food banks and other local nonprofit

organizations, sponsored charity golf tour-naments, supported black-tie fundraisers and made donations to various charitable causes. But when the local food bank called Yard House for the third time in a few months asking for more help, President Harald Her-rmann and Director of Brand Management Jennifer Weerheim knew there had to be a better way to support those in need in their community.

By Chantal Rice

BIG CHANGE FROM SMALL CHANGE


That’s when they devised Round It Up America, an incred-ibly simple yet extraordinary program that would enable Yard House’s 90 percent of restau-rant patrons paying with a credit card to round up their bill to the nearest dollar, with that amount going to a charitable cause. It is so easy and not a hard sell at all. Servers simply present the check with the additional line for Round it Up For Charity and customers choose if they want to round up.

Here’s how it works: Patrons round up their credit card pur-chases at participating restau-rants, called mission partners. Round It Up America corporate collects donations from the res-taurants once per month. Then Round It Up America distributes those donations quarterly to the charities chosen by the restau-rants. Of the contributions raised from any given restaurant, 75 percent is distributed to up to three local charities chosen by the restaurant, 10 percent is dis-tributed to American Red Cross national disaster relief, 6 percent goes to the ProStart education program in the participating restaurants’ state, 2 percent to National Restaurant Association Education Foundation, 2 per-cent to National Restaurant As-sociation Education Foundation, 5 percent covers administrative fees and 2 percent covers credit card interchange fees.

The program, which from the beginning was meant to be a so-lution for any restaurant concept, has grown exponentially. Today, Round It Up America is operat-ing in dozens of restaurant loca-tions in 20 states and has raised $1.7 million for more than 42 charities. But that’s just the be-ginning for an organization that is truly turning small change into big change across America.

Servers present the check with the additional line to Round Up

For Charity and customers choose the amount they want to

donate/round up


ROUND IT UP AMERICA CO-FOUNDER

JENNIFER WEERHEIM

ROUND IT UP AMERICA FOUNDER/BOARD PRESIDENT

HARALD HERRMANN JENNIFER WEERHEIM:We tested it in one location in July of 2009. It took a good six months or so of work to put the structure in place.

HARALD HERRMANN:We learned the hard way that, in 15 years, no one had changed the official credit card receipt. And tweaking the receipt to add a line to round it up was crucial for what we needed. So we started venturing into new territory. We had to start real talks with the POS people. We’re also work-ing now to get software that will allow guests to round up at the cash register and just have it added to their total. That way,

guests can pay cash and there’s still an audit trail that’s traceable through the POS system as a do-nation stream. And guests don’t just have to round up to the near-est dollar; they can round up $10, or as high as they want to go.

JW: Also, one of the things that was important to us from the beginning was that this was a solution meant to be for many restaurant concepts. It wasn’t just for Yard House. We put to-gether a business plan to launch it throughout the country at res-taurants that had the POS sys-tems we had at the time. Now we work with a couple of POS companies that have modified their systems to make this work.

RESTAURANTVILLE MAGAZINE: Once you

devised the idea for Round It Up America,

how did you begin to implement it at Yard

House restaurants?

Yard House restaurant, San Antonio

15 MISSION PARTNERS150 LOCATIONS

$1.7 MILLION RAISED42 CHARITIES

(as of 11/2013)


HH: There were nine states that we felt were good markets, par-ticularly because they had strong state restaurant associations. We felt those markets would have good success. That’s why we saw Texas as a launch state. I think Texas is going to go crazy once the program really takes off there. Texas is going to give the rest of the country a run for their money.

JW: Restaurant associations are a big part of the communica-tion flow, and working with their restaurant partners to expose the program will hopefully bring more mission partners. The San Antonio Yard House location launched first in Texas, about three years ago. And we would love to see the program in Aus-tin; there’s such a great restau-rant scene there.

JW: Up until the beginning of this year, it all stayed local. Food banks were the closest in-need organizations to the restaurants. Since the program has grown, now any partner can pick any or-ganization to donate to as long as it’s a 501(c)3. For Yard House, we chose organizations like the American Red Cross and nation-al food banks, where we could contribute on a national level but funds and resources could get to local communities.

HH: Oftentimes, when there’s a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, we’ll have a Yard House team member asking if we can use Round It Up America funds to help. Some of the funds we’re already raising are going to the Red Cross to help people throughout the country during those times of need. Also, when it comes to food banks, many lo-cal food banks are small and only moving food within the immedi-ate community. But national food

RM: How did you

decide where to

launch the program

initially?

RM: What kind of impact can Round It Up

America really have in a community?

Restaurants can choose up to three 501(c)3 charities


banks can leverage food-buying power, so attaching to national organizations means they’re moving millions of pounds of food and bringing down the cost of meals served.

Two out of 10 people round up at Yard House on average. That’s about 20 percent. Of that, the average value is 80 cents. If the average mission partner could raise $25 a day, in 365 days, that’s just over $9000 a year. If you’re a chain and have 70 units, now we’re talking about $630,000 a year at $25 a day. This country has over a million

restaurants. I don’t think we’ll have every mom-and-pop, but if we could get 5 percent of Amer-ica’s restaurants involved, that’s 50,000 restaurants. That means $1.2 million a day. We’re hoping that over time and one small re-gional chain at a time that we get to these numbers. Our short-term goal is to get 1,000 restau-rants. Yard House, with 42 active restaurants raised $378,000 last year. From a food-bank perspec-tive, for every dollar raised, most can generate three meals. So that $378,000 means 285,000 meals served in one year from just our little 42 restaurants.

75% Flexible Giving Each Mission Partner selects up to 3 nonprofit organizations as grant recipients per year

10% American Red Cross Disaster Relief

8% ProStart® Programs 6% Corresponding State Restaurant Association Educational Foundation 2% National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation

5% Administrative Fees Round It Up America®

2% Interchange Fees Credit Card Interchange Fees (recovered by restaurant)

20% of diners will round up $.80


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HH: This is a way to get engaged on a much higher level because there’s giving happening every day. They’re raising good money every day. It’s a way to give even above and beyond what restau-rants are already earmarking in their charity plans. For our mis-sion partners, this is not a com-plicated program. There’s an IT component that has to take place and a legal component in terms of documents and making sure the money is being managed properly. Once we get through that onboarding process, one of the byproducts, besides being able to raise good money and give to local and national chari-ties, is that it does galvanize team members and managers because they’re part of making that happen.

ROUND IT UP AMERICA CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER MICHELLE MCCARTHY: In Texas, restaurants submit their interest in the program to either the Texas Restaurant Association or directly to Round It Up Amer-ica. I share the agreements with them and they sign on. Then we contact the charities that the restaurants chose and establish a grant agreement with the char-ities. We track how much the charity receives and ask them to send us a stewardship report twice a year that we share with the mission partners so they can see the actual change they’ve

helped to create with the chari-ties.

Most of the participating res-taurants already have one of the POS systems they need to be a part of our program, and what we work hard on in the onboard-ing process is to help with the tech implementation. We also provide training materials our mission partners can use with their staff, and that usually helps get them even more excited about what they’re doing. Once mission partners are live, they love it. It’s a very automated pro-cess and we take care of the rest.

RM: What is

the appeal for

restaurants to get

involved with Round

It Up America?

RM: How do restaurants go about

implementing Round It Up America at their

locations? What are the challenges for

participating restaurants?

#1 RESTAURANT CONTACTS STATE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OR ROUND IT UP AMERICA

#2 RESTAURANT IDENTIFIES LOCAL CHARITIES AND COMPLETES PAPERWORK

#3 TECH IMPLEMENTATION AND STAFF TRAINING SUPPORTED BY ROUND IT UP AMERICA

#4 RESTAURANT GOES LIVE WITH PROGRAM


JW: We’ve heard from guests that it’s such a small amount that you’re giving that it doesn’t impact your pocketbook much, but they can still feel good about it because, in the end, they are making a positive difference in their community. Team members tell us all the time that they have guests who are grateful that this program exists.

MM: We have 15 mission part-ners, which equals about 150 locations. In Texas, we have two Yard House locations in San An-tonio and Houston. We have sev-eral more restaurants through-out the country that have signed contracts, maybe another 13, which equals 54 locations in the onboarding stage. In Texas, there are three mission partners in the onboarding process: Moody Gar-dens, three Alamo Drafthouse locations and Parkway Grill and Pelican's in Wichita Falls.

We have a little over 20 mis-sion partners, which equal about 800 locations, in the application process right now that will be on board in the next couple months. We are really fortunate that cus-tomers love the program and mission partners love the pro-gram. Our growth is steady. This year has seen the most growth by far. We had three mission partners last August and by this August, it was something like 14. We anticipate even more growth come next year.

RM: What is the

appeal for customers

to get involved?

RM: How many restaurants are currently

participating in Round It Up America?

How many are in Texas?

Yard House restaurant, Houston


HH: We have not approached them yet but they’re aware of the program. The software was writ-ten on their program in order to accommodate ours, and they’ve certainly taken steps to accom-modate us. But we’re still learn-ing about each other. We haven’t felt like it’s appropriate yet since the program is so new and our relationship is so new. But there are good signs and we’re grate-ful for that.

HH: I think it’s not out of the realm of reality that we could have 50,000 restaurants across the country raising money, espe-cially if large chains get involved. When we get a chain that has 1,000 units, 50,000 restaurant number adds up quickly.

Our aspiring goal is to raise $1 billion in a year. At some point, this will probably graduate out-side the restaurant industry. We decided that initially, it was wise for us to launch as a restaurant

and hospitality industry program initiative and let it organically run its own course.

The restaurant and food in-dustry is always mobilizing to do good work in our communi-ties. We are bound as an indus-try to bring effective change to our communities. A hopeful goal is that more people continue to sign on, everybody stays en-gaged and we’ll do even more good.

RM: Founding

mission partner

Yard House recently

became part of

Darden Restaurants.

Any plans to roll out

Round It Up America

with their many

national restaurant

brands?

RM: What are your hopes for

Round It Up America?

Yard House restaurant, Houston

rounditupamerica.org


Health Care Reform: Guidance and Solutions

�GuidanceThe TRA is committed to helping you understand what the regulations mean to your business and what you need to do to comply.

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Health Care Reform: Guidance and Solutions

�GuidanceThe TRA is committed to helping you understand what the regulations mean to your business and what you need to do to comply.

�SolutionsThe TRA trusts UnitedHealthcare to develop health care solutions for the hospitality industry that comply with the Affordable Care Act.

©2013 United HealthCare Services, Inc. Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or its affiliates. Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates. Health Plan coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare of Texas, Inc. UHCTX638981-001

To discuss UnitedHealthcare’s solutions for your business, contact Clinton Wolf at (312) 348-7064 or [email protected].

Texas Restaurant Association combines your business with other restaurants to provide workers’ comp premium discounts and job-specific safety resources. As a member of the Restaurant Association Safety Group, eligible businesses may also qualify for both group and individual dividends and receive a discount for choosing the healthcare network option.

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PREPARING FOR 4TH QUARTER

EGIKrrMO

The first nip of cold air has finally arrived in Texas and I bet your phones are ringing with calls about catering a holiday event. Are you prepared for those calls or are you just winging it? If you don’t prepare properly, you will lose potential events, lose money even before the booking fee is deposited in your bank account, and not maximize this once a year catering revenue opportunity.

Here are my “do’s” and “don’ts” for holiday catering...

holiday catering sales

Sandy Korem is the CEO and founder of one of a kind catering company, The Festive Kitchen, based out of Dallas, Texas. She was awarded the White House Food Service Medallion in 2008 for outstanding food service to President George W. Bush. Her company, www.thecateringcoach.com, helps restaurateurs take their off-site catering revenue stream to a different level.

Korem uses her 20-plus years of catering expertise to offer in-sight into how to price catered events, the importance of test-ing and testing again, and how to train your staff so that you don’t have to be at every event. Plus, how to learn why “charge for it” will become your company’s catering mantra!


give your custom-ers your restaurant menu as your “ca-tering menu”. BIG

mistake! The Asian chicken on your restaurant menu CANNOT be the same price served in your restau-rant as at an off-site catered event. The COG is the same but that’s about all a restaurant Asian chick-en and an off-site catered Asian Chicken have in common. There is so much more labor involved in the catering process from start to serv-ing that you can’t charge the same amount for the same food item that is produced in your restaurant or you lose money.

have a separate phone line or extension and email address for cater-

ing. Imagine this… it’s 12:30pm on a Monday and a potential catering client whose budget is $6,000 calls your restaurant’s main number. The 17-year old hostess answers the phone and when asked about being connected to someone who could help with a catered event, states “could you call after the lunch rush and I’ll find someone to help you”. WRONG answer. Your $6,000 po-tential client has just decided you don’t have time for her and calls another caterer.

let off-site catering intimidate you. You've got the food, the customers,

the staff, the equipment and your overhead is already paid. It's an easy revenue stream you can start immediately. I know your next question is... what do I pack to cater off-site?

charge more for the busi-est catering weekend of the year. The busiest

weekend in December is always the second weekend of the month. This year it is December 13–14. My cater-ing company, The Festive Kitchen, charges $5 more per person for Friday the 13th and $7.50 more per person for Saturday the 14th. The December 14th has been closed since September for us and all of those events have an additional charge per person.

...charge more for your catering staff during December than any other time of the year. It’s sup-ply and demand. You can provide that trained staff for your client so charge more for them… that is if you are charging for your staff. Yep, many restaurant owners charge one price for events that includes staff, rentals, plates, everything!

BIG MISTAKE!

EGIK rrMO

dont

dont

do

do

do

Email me at [email protected] or call 1-866-484-3056, mention this article and I'll send you our

packing lists that have taken us years to develop.

...be surprised at the late book-ing of events. People are booking later and later. Last year we booked many events only 7–10 days out.

...charge more for the food for your catered events in December than any other time of the year. The demand is high for catering in De-cember. You can provide it, so make more money on it.

require a non-refundable deposit. Do NOT go on good faith. It only takes

one time to be stung by someone cancelling and you don’t have a de-posit.

...visit the event site especially if it is a home. This will skyrocket your closing rate. Also, it makes for fewer surprises the day of the event.

TEXAS 360


INTRODUCING THE Texas Restaurant Association Marketplace!

June 22–23, 2014 | Houston, Texas

An event that has been around for 76 years must be doing something right and as any person of a certain age will tell you, the secret to longev-ity is the ability to evolve, grow and change with the times. Organizations with long his-tories must stay relevant and understand when it is time to make that next big change. The Texas Restaurant Associa-tion, which has been serving the restaurant industry since 1937, recognized that the time to make a big change in one of our signature events is now!

After much research, focus group study, discussions, meet-ings, brainstorming and sur-veying, our annual trade show and convention is re-launching in 2014 as the Texas Restau-rant Association Marketplace. We’ve produced this industry

leading event for 76 years and it has been known by many names:

• The Restaurant Convention

• Texas—Southwestern Regional Restaurant Show

• Texas Restaurant Association Regional Food Service Convention & Exposition

• Texas Restaurant Association Southwestern Regional Food Service convention & Exposition

• Southwest Foodservice Expo

No matter what the name, the goal has always been to produce an event that brings our industry together to share ideas, learn new things and see the latest products and services to help grow our businesses. TRA Mar-ketplace will offer a highly engaged and business conducive environment as distinct and original as Texas. We are Texas proud, future-facing, mod-ern and fun. This is a place to do business and become a better res-taurateur. It is the must-attend event for our industry and we hope to see you in Houston June 22–23, 2014!

www.tramarketplace.com

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TEXAS 360


Celebrating Excellence in the Restaurant Industry

THE DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR BOTH AWARDS IS

NOVEMBER 18

Recognize and celebrate outstanding leaders and innovators who have made lasting contributions to the industry through education, diversity and com-munity service. Nominate deserving restaurateurs for the Restaurant Neighbor Award and the Faces of Diversity Award presented by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation.

RESTAURANT NEIGHBOR AWARDThe Restaurant Neighbor Award, co-founded and sponsored by American Express, recognizes the outstanding charitable service performed by res-taurant members. Each national win-ner receives $5,000 to support their charitable giving efforts. Participat-ing state restaurant associations se-lect winners in their respective states who then go on to compete for the national award.

Apply now

FACES OF DIVERSITY AWARDThe Faces of Diversity Award, co-founded and sponsored by PepsiCo Foodservice, celebrates members of the restaurant industry who, through hard work and perseverance, have achieved the American Dream. Each of the three national winners will have a $2,500 NRAEF student schol-arship presented in his or her name.

Apply now

Friends of the FoundationWith your donations, the TRA Education Foundation:

• Reachesmorethan20,000studentsat200highschoolsthroughTexasProStart,anindustry-basedculinaryandmanagementcurriculum

• Providesprofessionaldevelopmentopportunitiestohighschooleducators• Hostsannualcompetitionsgivingstudentsachancetohonetheirskillsanddevelop

real-worldexperience• Every$30donatedtotheTRAEFsupportsoneTexasProStartstudentforoneday

TheTexasRestaurantAssociationEducationalFoundationisa501(c)(3)charitableorganization.Donationsaretax-deductible.

Become a Friend of the Foundation today!restaurantville.com/foundation

TEXAS 360


YOU’RE EITHER AT THE TABLE OR ON THE MENU

Local TRA Leaders Advocate for ChangeThe Texas Restaurant Association has 22 active local chapters across the state that provide opportunities for our members to learn from each other and work together to address local issues. Most of these chapters are managed by volunteer leaders, restaurateurs who give of their time and expertise to support the associa-tion and the industry.

Our Austin chapter has over 500 members and is led by chapter presi-dent Skeeter Miller, owner of County Line BBQ. Skeeter has been in the restaurant business over 30 years and understands the importance of being involved with the association to promote and protect the industry. You only have to look at the list of local issues the Greater Austin Res-taurant Association has tackled over the past year to understand exactly the impact the association can have.

RECYCLING/COMPOSTING ORDINANCEIn 2010, the City of Austin was close to passing an ordinance requiring restaurants to recycle and compost. Austin chapter members testified before the City Council about their concerns, and met with city staff to implement a Recycling/Composting Pilot Program. This program was critical in demonstrating that there was little to no infrastructure to sup-port restaurant recycling and composting. The mandate was pushed back to a 2016 start date.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY

TEXAS 360


VALET PARKINGThe City of Austin voted to change the $250 per year, per space valet parking fees to an hourly rate that would have been a 1300% cost in-crease to restaurants. GARA worked with the city to initiate incremental increases over a five year period to minimize impact on affected restau-rants and allow for planning to meet future increases.

YOU’RE EITHER AT THE TABLE OR ON THE MENU

Local TRA Leaders Advocate for Change

These wins happened thanks to the time and effort Skeeter and other key leaders devoted to them. Mem-bers testified at City Council meet-ings, attended countless meetings with city staff, formed coalitions with other affected industry groups and coordinated responses with TRA staff.

So the next time you wonder what your association really does for you, look no further than to the behind-the-scenes work done by chapters and our dedicated leaders. Better yet, attend a chapter meeting and learn how you can help make a dif-ference!

Find more information on chapters and events on the TRA website.

YELP REVIEWS TO INCLUDE HEALTH INSPECTION SCORES

HEALTH INSPECTION SCORING

SPECIAL EVENTS ORDINANCE CHANGES

SINGLE USE BAG BAN

SMOKE FREE PATIOS

The city was working with Yelp to possibly post health inspection scores next to Yelp reviews. After Austin members raised serious concerns, the city decided not to partner with Yelp at this time.

The local health department was considering moving from a numerical score to an alphabetical score that would be posted at the restaurant. Any restaurant scoring less than 70 would have been required to post a C or D. The chapter worked with the city to continue the numerical scoring system.

The city is creating ACE (Austin Center for Events) as a one-stop-shop for Special Events Permitting. At the same time they are updating the Special Events Ordinance. Some of the proposed rules, such as allowing final action to approve or deny a permit no later than one business day before the special event, are problematic and GARA is working with the city to revise them.

GARA spent many hours negotiating with the City of Austin to ensure that the proposed single use bag ban included an exemption for res-taurants, resulting in over $38 million in savings for Austin restaurants.

Once again the city was looking at expanding the smoke-free ordi-nance to include patios. GARA shared concerns about the proposal and to-date, patios are not included.

TEXAS 360


How to Respond to Online Reviews

BEST PRACTICES:

Staying on top of all your restau-rant’s online reviews can be tough. It can be even harder to decide when and how to respond to reviews, espe-cially if they’re negative.

Remember, The Goal is to LearnYour main goal of responding to on-line reviews should be to learn from your guests and build goodwill with your more vocal customers.

Respond PublicallyIf you’re responding publically, you’re not only responding to the guest who wrote the review—you’re responding to anyone who reads that review. Re-sponding publically shows readers and reviewers that you care and are paying attention to guest feedback.

Keep Tone LightOnline tone can often be misunder-stood, so keep that in mind when typing your response.

Balance Your Response FrequencyDon’t respond to every online re-view—if you do, it can come off as overbearing. We recommend that you respond to every negative re-view, and perhaps to every 5th posi-tive review.

Tips provided by Fishbowl, the Texas Restaurant Association’s preferred partner for online marketing solutions. TRA mem-bers receive discounts on email marketing, social media market-ing and reputation management products and services. Fishbowl also offers SM3- Full Service Online Marketing, a dedicated online marketing expert to plan, design and execute your entire online marketing campaigns and more. Learn more at fishbowl.com/texas

Positive Reviews

• It’s ok to simply thank them for their review.

•Don’t reward or incentivize guests for positive reviews.

•Don’t ask for more information, or invite them to Like you on Facebook or join the email club.

Negative Reviews

•Take a deep breath. The last thing you want to do is sound angry or combative. Although it may be tough…always be polite.

•Keep it simple. Thank them for their feedback and let them know the problem is being addressed. Address specific concerns when you can.

•When appropriate, encourage them to try your restaurant again. If you feel compelled to offer something to those who had a bad experience, do it sparingly and make the offer via a private message to the guest. Make sure that what you are offering is fair, not excessive and not a quid pro quo for a change in their review.

Tips for Responding to...

We recommend that you respond to every negative

review, and perhaps to every

5th positive review.

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COMMUNITY NEWS


Austin Chapter Hosts Inaugural ATX Elite DinnerThe Greater Austin Restaurant Association hosted its first ATX Elite Dinner October 15 at The County Line on the Lake. Special guest Austin Chief of Police Art Acevedo met with the group to discuss and share opinions, concerns, and ideas. The ATX Elite Dinners are planned quarterly to strengthen ties between restaurant businesses, employees, and customers and the Austin community.

Greater Houston Restaurant Association Golden Fork Awards Gala

January 25, 2014Bayou City Event Center

www.ghra.com

This award night brings together 500 industry representatives to raise funds for the TRA Education Founda-tion, the Texas ProStart program, lo-cal scholarship fund, and the GHRA.

Join us to honor industry leaders with the Golden Fork Awards—Hall of Honor, People’s Choice, Restaurant Neighbor, Faces of Diversity, Educator of the Year, and the GHRA President’s Award.

Texas Restaurant Association extends a special Happy Birth-day! to member restaurant Orlando’s in Lubbock, Texas. Founded in 1965 by Mike Cea and his family, Orlando’s has been serving up delicious and innovative “Tex-Italian” dishes ever since and is the oldest full-service restaurant in Lub-bock. With Orlando’s extraor-dinary service, family spirit, and award-winning meals, it’s no wonder it has been voted the Best Italian Restaurant in Lub-bock!

Watch your inbox for the monthly Chapter Connections email!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

CHAPTER EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

TRA Member Orlando’s Restaurant Celebrates 48TH Birthday

RIO GRANDE VALLEY

COMMUNITY NEWS


Rio Grande Valley Celebrates Diez y SeisOn September 16th the Rio Grande Valley Restaurant Association hosted their 1st Annual "Viva Mexico: a Celebration of Food, Drink, and Culture!" in Mission, Texas. Despite torrential rains associated with Hurricane Ingrid, there was a good turnout and funds were raised for the TRA Education Foundation.

Events included a variety of Mexican themed foods prepared by the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of the Texas Chef's Association. Music and dancing were provided by the City of Mission Parks and Recreation department. A tequila tasting was sponsored by Spec's (formerly Feldman's Wine and Liquor). Beers and other beverages

were provided by L&F Distributors and Glazer's Distributing. Artwork featuring the Mexican culture was dis-played by local artists Benjamin and Anna Varela.

"We had a great time!" said Rob Neagle, chapter president. "No hurri-cane was going to stop us from host-ing this event and raising money for such a great cause like the TRAEF. We can't wait until next year!"

TRA President Bernay Sheffield Visits Fort Worth & Lubbock ChaptersTRA President Bernay Sheffield vis-ited the Fort Worth and Lubbock chapters to meet with local members. The Tarrant County chapter hosted their President’s dinner and mixer at

Bravo! Cucina Italiana restaurant with a beautiful private pavilion, ice sculp-ture, orchestra and over 65 people in attendance!

Brazos Valley Chapter Gets ACA UpdateOn October 1, the Brazos Valley Chapter welcomed Lance Pendley from McGriff, Seibels & Williams and Debbi Toh, TRA CFO to a meeting addressing the Affordable Care Act. The meeting was held at College Sta-tion High School which is part of the TRA Education Foundation’s Texas ProStart program. The culinary arts students from the program prepared and served delicious appetizers for the attendees.

Watch your inbox for the monthly Chapter Connections email!

COMMUNITY NEWS


Texas ProStart Students Take the Prize in Local Chili Cook-Off Congratulations to students from John B. Connally High School’s Texas ProStart culinary arts class who received 3rd Place— People’s Choice at the Pflugerville Pfall Chili Pfest. They competed against 41 adult teams and their instructor, Chef Mike Erickson competed in the Jalapeno Eating Contest—downing 15 but he was beat by someone who ate 30!

Texas ProStart Invitational Regional Competitions

Hurst | January 24–25 Katy | February 7–8

Texas ProStart Invitational State Finals

Waco | March 7–8

National ProStart InvitationalMinneapolis, MN | May 3–5

October TRA Education Foundation Events a Big Hit!The Texas ProStart Golf Classic and Spooktacular Casino Party held at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort were fantastic! We welcomed 75 guests to the Spooktacular Casino Party where they enjoyed great food and fun games. The golf tournament kicked off the next day with a luncheon served by

Texas ProStart students from John B. Connally High School in Pflugerville then 90 golfers hit the course.

A big thanks to our event partners! Their generous support is vital to the TRA Education Foundation’s mission of providing educational opportunities for restaurant careers in Texas.

COMMUNITY NEWS


ADVERTISING INDEX

HEARTLAND ............................................................................ 10

FRIENDS OF THE FOUNDATION ........................................ 21

MARKETPLACE .......................................................................25 CASA COLINA MEXICAN GRILL & CANTINA

GLAZIER FOODS

LOOPER REED

SEAL TEX

POACHED .................................................................................. 19

TABC TO GO ........................................................................... 20

TEXAS MUTUAL ...................................................................... 15

TRA MARKETPLACE ............................................................. 30

UNITED HEALTHCARE .......................................................... 14

Chapters Donate $27,000 to TRA Education Foundation A total of $27,000 was donated to the TRAEF at the September board meeting in support of educational opportunities for restaurant careers in Texas. The breakdown for donations follows. Thank you for your continued support!

Tarrant County | $500

North Texas | $1,000

Dallas | $10,000

Houston | $6,000

Brazos Valley | $1,000

Clayton & Jana Rhoades | $1,500

Rio Grande Valley | $2,000

San Angelo | $5,000

Thankyou!

See full results and more pictures here

June 22–23, 2014Houston, TexasGeorge R. Brown Convention Center

New Look New Name New Ideas

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big changes from small change | restaurantville magazine fall 2013

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