digital mag

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W IN TER 2011


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CONTENTS

Business

InsightsTechnology4_ Apps and Appetite

28 Why Digital Menus Could Work For You

Features

87Would You Make a Good Restaurateur?

10 Upgrading Your Skills

26 Menu Psychology

22 Restaurant Cost-cutting 10179Staffing Your Restaurant

11 Sommeliers and Your Restaurant

12 Using Locally Grown Foods

20 Dishing Inspiration

24 Unwrapping Red Tape

tastingsuccessmagazine.com

Tasting Success Magazine

@Tasting_Success

Marketing5 Positioning Your brand

6 Internet Coupons

3Winter 2011

CraftingCulture

14

His journey to success

16Mark McEwan:

FEATURE


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For the last six months our editorial team has been out hunting or issues that matter toorontos restaurateurs. We have sat down with many o you, heard your thoughts and weknow your concerns.

oronto is a very diverse place with over 3,000 restaurants. We understand the pressure involvedin building your own distinct brand. Tats why in our premiere issue, we bring you innovativeand exciting new ideas in areas ranging rom stang matters to digital technology and red tape.We have tips on how to improve your menus with eye-catching designs, how to use social mediato market your business and how locally grown oods give your business an advantage.

Tis is only the frst o many issues o cutting-edge ideas that will not only inorm you, but alsoinspire your thoughts as to how to expand your bottom line.

Tasting Success aims to help your business grow by becoming your go-to guide and orum on theins and outs o running a restaurant. We want to hear about the concerns you have in your indus-try or ideas you want to share with others.

Cheers,

EDITORIAL

CONNECT WITH US: Twitter: @Tasting_Success Facebook: Tasting Success Magazine

we invite youTo the premiere edition of Tasting Success

4 Winter 2011

Tasting SuccessEditorial Team

From top right (clockwise): Yeamrot Taddese, Kaitlynn Ford, Jessica Lee, Nadia Persaud and Hina Jasim


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Social and Digtal Marketing

Blog.TO

TECHNOLOGY

Hospitality social media expert Jill Clark begins her work by

looking for keywords related to the venue she is representing.

When she is on Fish Bars Twitter account, she searches for

words like oysters in Toronto, dinner in Toronto or Ossington

Avenue, where the restaurant is located.

I look for real time conversations about any of the keywords Im

looking for, she said.

If she nds that a person likes wine, she suggests they try the

special for $5.99 at Fish Bar. Marketing through social media is

much more targeted.

Qunice Bistro owner co-owner Jennifer Gittins uses Facebook for

information that needs a larger platform, like new a new menu

and pictures. While time restricts her venture into other outlets

like YouTube, Gittins nds that social media advertising is a

winner compared to print.

Ads do nothing. They cost you a lot of money and do nothing,

Gittens said blatantly. She added that a small ad in Toronto Life

costs her about $1,000.

It brings me about... Ill go really high - 25 people, she said.

One thing is for sure when restaurant owners take their

brands online, customers will take their complaints to the same

venue.

People complain and now they do it online, Clark said. She

added that the key is to apologize quickly and sincerely.

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, it works, she said. All

[commentators] want is for the business to know theyre pissed.

Dine T.O. Now Magazine

Were actually the only

restaurant guide in the

world that integrated

restaurant menus on our

app as opposed to justlinking them to [restaurants]

website, Pantelley Damou-

lianos, vice-president of the

company, said.

Thousands of people also

use Foursquares app on

their phones to locate the

nearest restaurants in their

vicinity. 35,000 new users

join foursquare everyday.

Restaurants can add specialoffers users can see when

theyre in the area. Best of

all, its free to use!

Blog.TOs iPad and iPhone

app has a lot of the web-

sites content, which allows

users to access and share

restaurant information,

inluding photos, reviews,

location and phone number.Users can also look up Dine-

Safe info if it is available.

Now Magazines food critic

Steven Davey goes out to

Toronto restaurants and

reviews them based on their

food, ambience and service.The review, which appears

in both print and online, is

automatically uploaded on

their restaurant app.

Apps and Appetite

Tweeting: Social Media and your Restaurant

Foursquare

Creating an online presence beyond websites

5Winter 2011

BY: YEAMROT TADDESE

Photoby:YeamrotTaddese


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MARKETING

Marketing is the best way arestaurateur can distinguishtheir eatery rom its com-

petitors. At the very least, they shouldknow their target demographic, theimage they want to project and theavenues and types o media they plan to

use or advertising.Pantelly Damoulianos, the vice-presi-

dent o Dine.O says online presence isincreasingly becoming important.

Tere are so many other websitesout there and i [restaurants] brand isnot portrayed in the right way, it couldharm their business, he said.

Restaurateurs can dierentiate them-selves rom the competition by appeal-ing to quality and price, unctionality ordesign, sales promotion and advertis-ing, availability, and location.

Restaurateurs should also considerFacebook, witter, email blasts, restau-rant directories or marketing online aspart o their advertising strategies.

An independent [restaurant] will setup a Facebook page or witter page andthen they kind o orget about it and itdoes more harm than anything else,Stratos Papachristopoulos, president oDine.O, said.

I restaurateurs choose to include

themselves in online restaurant-specifcdirectories, they need to make surethey work together with the site hoststo portray their brand the way theywant. I they leave their profle or thehost or the consumer to update, theinormation presented may be wrong

or outdated,missing links,photos andother inorma-tion.

Manytimes withthese websitesyou can havea disgruntledemployee putting up a negative review,or you can have a competitor puttingup a negative review, Papachristopou-

los said.But it is also important to consider

what the reviewers are saying, especiallyi two or more people are posting theirconcerns.

I they keep on seeing the samereview over and over again then theyshould look into that and do somethingabout it, Papachristopoulos said. Asmart restaurant owner would look atthat and look at it as constructive criti-

cism rom the users.Te owners o the Crepe Kitchen in

Oakville make sure to never miss anopportunity or customer-suggestedgrowth when the situation arises.Within their frst two years o business,they have already altered their hours

o operation, addeditems to their menu,and started bottlingand selling their ownhomemade dressing,all based on customerssuggestions.

You have to takethe opportunities whenthey come, Anns Siles,

co-owner o the restaurant, said. Da-moulianos agrees.

As a marketing company we can

only fll up so many seats at the restau-rant, but whether or not the customeris going to come back depends on therestaurant, he said.

While marketing your brand is great,Damoulianos added the restaurant willalways speak or itsle.

Branding is always great ... butalways stick to the basics which is ser-vice and great ood, Papachristopoulos

said.

....If [restaurants] brandis not portrayed in the right

way, it could harm their

business.

- Damoulianos

BY: KAITlYNN FoRd

brand

How to

your restaurant

6 Winter 2011


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Couponing websites are the newestmarketing tool available or restau-rants, which allows them to advertise

to a much larger audience than the tradi-tional orm o marketing: newspapers.

A lot o restaurants do traditional market-ing in magazines and newspapers like Now

Magazine but that has blind spots. You dontknow how many people will come into yourrestaurant rom that ad in Now Magazineunless it is an oer o some sort, Je Herm-sen, President o LivingDeal.com, said.

Couponing websites display local dealsor users who sign up using their email ad-dress and enter their location. Tey then getdeals rom salons, dental oces, restaurantsand services in their neighbourhood. It alsoshows how many people bought certaindeals and how much time a user has le topurchase a deal.

Hermsen points out that the website is

a good way or restaurants to fnd out howmany people have bought their coupon aswell as how many people use it, because theywould have to print out the coupon and takeit with them to the restaurant.

But JJ Sytsylt, supervisor at Lai WahHeen, an upscale restaurant, said couponingwebsites might not beneft all restaurants inthe same way. According to Sytsylt, a sisterrestaurant, Lai oh Heen, used a couponing

website to market themselves when businesswas slow.

For an upscale restaurant you are goingto need customers who can aord it, ex-plained Sytsylt.

But with these couponing websites youget people who go to try it out becausetheyve heard o it beore and just want to tryit out.

She said the restaurant did get businessrom the coupon but it slowed down againaer the oer expired.

Hermsen said that could be a problembecause the coupons are oered to prospec-tive patrons at the restaurants cost.

While he agrees this could deer restau-rants rom participating, it is also an impor-tant way to build and market a restaurant.

I had one [restaurant] owner tell me thathe wasnt concerned with the cost, saidHermsen. He just wanted his restaurant to

be busy because i theres people inside therestuarant that would make people rom out-side the restaurant come in and hell makemoney to oset the coupons.

Sytsylt, an ocassional user o couponingwebsites agrees, I used to go to this other res-taurant on the Danorth and aer they oeredcoupons the place just got so much people. Itskind o nice when a restaurant you enjoy issuddenly enjoyed by everyone else.

Internet Coupons:

MARKETING

BY: NADIA PERSAUD

A simple offer brings thousands of customers

Switching it up:Casa Barcelona, a

Spanish restaurant,

hosts amenco dancers,

mariachis and belly dancers

every weekend. But when

the Bollywood awards were

in Toronto this summer, they

offered Indian-style dancing.

Different music

appeal to different

audiences:Miranda Ramrop, manager

of Peoples Chicken, says, If

its jazz on Saturday, we get

a typically older crowd, but

during the week when we

have more top 40s kind of

bands then you see more of a

younger crowd.

You dont have to

look far:A lot of entertainers

will typically approach

restaurants looking for placesto play. We get emails and

phone calls all the time from

artists looking for a place

to play. What we do now is

ask someone to send us a link

for a website that goes to a

video or something that we

can listen to a band perform

and judge on that, Ramrop

said.

You dont always

have to charge a

cover:If you charge a cover, it

might deter patrons. Ramrop

suggests increasing the drink

during entertainment hours

and encouraging patrons to

spend a certain amount of

money.

EntertainingYour Guests

7Winter 2011

Photoby:Na

diaPersau

d


8/44

INSIGHTS

S

o youve decided you want to try running a restaurant.Maybe you have a great idea or youre a fantastic cook. Buthold on for a moment. Being a good chef or having a great

concept doesnt mean your restaurant will succeed.According to Heather and Andy Dismore, authors ofRunning

a Restaurant for Dummies, there are key traits a person must haveto be suited for the food business. In their book, they list pas-sion, presence, creativity, tolerance, flexibility, positivity, leader-ship, business sense and schmoozability - most of which can belearned on the job.

Out of all the traits, the Dismores believe that business senseand schmoozability are the most important traits needed to suc-ceed.

Business sense is essential and sadly, often overlooked, saysHeather. So many people get into the restaurant business for theapparent fun and excitement, without realizing that it is, first and

foremost, a business. Heather added that a restaurant is run muchlike any other business, with the same challenges like managingpeople, retaining customers, and marketing your business andmetrics for success such as controlling costs and turning a profit.

If youre not running your business by the numbers, you wontbe running it for long, she says.

The Dismores define schmoozability as the ability to makethe diner feel welcome, at home, and important in a room full ofother people that youre also trying to make feel important.

Its often the reason that a diner chooses your restaurant overanother, adds Heather.

Further down the list of important traits are creativity, leader-ship skills and passion.

I think that passion and creativity are innate, says Heather.These two traits give you the drive to develop the other keytraits, in a sense.

In a real life example of creativity at work, Andy witnessed aChicago restaurant requiring ser vers to wear double-sided tapeto the bottoms of their shoes to pick up loose pieces of debrison their carpeted f loors. At the same restaurant, the menus werechanged daily to use the freshest ingredients available. Specialmenus were also created at a moments notice to accomodate

Why Personality

MattersYour attitude could makeor break your business

BY: JESSICA LEE

Pangaea restau

manager Peter

Geary says

restaurateurs s

lead their staff b

example.

8 Winter 2011


9/44

guests with specific allergies or food preferences.Heather says once a restaurateur has passion for the

business and a curious, creative mind, they can use themto develop leadership skills, become increasingly flexibleand hone their business skills.

Without passion or creativity, she added, a restaurateurcannot sustain the positive energy needed for their busi-ness.

Ali Gaeeni, a manager at Scaccia Italian restaurant, saysthat restaurant managers should like their jobs.

You have to try to stay positive. You have to enjoy whatyou do, he says.

If a restaurateur doesnt have passion, they will ul-timately fail to keep up with the stresses of the business.Your passion will also ensure your staff understands the vi-sion you have for the business. It affects their performanceand the way they treat customers.

Mark McEwan, a Canadian restaurateur and owner of

several restaurants, two catering businesses and a grocerystore, says that restaurateurs should know what they aregetting into.

[Its] very very important that you dont fall into a posi-tion for the wrong reason, he says. You have to have anego, but you also have to let other people have an ego. Youhave to be fair. You have to be demanding of people butrealistically demanding of people.

Peter Geary, owner and manager at Pangaea restaurantbelieves that a good restaurateur should lead by example.

You [have to] roll up your sleeves [sometimes], he says.Though he usually works behind the bar, Geary says that

if servers are busy with other customers, he will help out

with their other tables.When it comes to hiring staff, McEwan believes in being

a good judge of charac-ter. He uses his instinct todecide whether an employeeshould be fired based ontheir actions.

You [have to] listenintently and you [have to]observe people. I mean,you ask a person a questionand theyll usually tell you what you want to hear. But youwatch them in action, you see them actually executing.

They cant really hide it then. So its very very importantthat you observe people and watch them in their dailyoperation and then you get a realistic portrayal of who thatperson is.

Communication skills are also essential to any tradewhere customer service is involved. Both Gaeeni andGeary stress the importance of handing people well. On adaily basis, restaurant managers must ensure customers arehappy and their employees feel appreciated.

You need good people skills, good conflict resolution

skills, Geary says.At the same time, managers should be flexible and toler-

ant to the many different types of personalities they en-counter in their restaurant. To maintain a steady cash flow,they need to be accepting of all the preferences of their

customers, and work hard to accommodate their needs.Whatever we need to do, we need to do to make sure

the customer experience is as good as we can make it,Geary says.

Restaurant managers also need to be persistent in theirgoals. McEwan believes his success in the food industry isthe result of hard work.

You have to be very determined to see it through, hesays. You have to be very dedicated to the aspect of ser-vice and quality and product and the relationship you havewith the client.

Its a tough business in one way. But once you get theformula moving and going, if you have a good sort of think

tank of people working with you, then you can keep a goodculture going in the kitchen and the front of the house.

Though McEwan has never taken a business course;he learned how to run his restaurants and grocery storethrough experience.

Heather agrees that you learn a lot of what you need toknow on the job.

In this business, time on the f loor and in the trenches isthe ultimate teacher.

Geary adds that your colleagues could also school youjust by doing, or not doing, their jobs.

First guy I worked with in London was just brilliant onthe front door, so I learned a lot of those skills by watching

him and seeing how he handed it, he says. Being aroundbad restaurant managers is also a learning experience as

well because it shows how not to manage arestaurant.

Also critical to success is a sense that goodenough isnt, Andy says. What was cuttingedge and new yesterday is pass and tiredtomorrow.

Having a presence in the restaurant countstoo. Even if a restaurant can function on itsown without a manager to supervise the staff,

the Dismores encourage restaurateurs to visit their estab-lishments frequently so staff know they are there and will

not be tempted to slack off.Making your presence known to diners also ties in withschmoozability - customers like to interact with ownersand managers.

Andy encourages restaurateurs to do their research andknow the market. If there is a restaurant that packs inguests night after night, he says to talk to the guests andthe owner to find out why. Often, the owners pride willloosen their lips and cause them to spill their secrets tosuccess, which is highly useful information.

INSIGHT

You have to try to staypositive. You have to enjoywhat you do.

-Ali Gaeeni

Winter 2011


10/44

Stafng:Choosing the best employees for your business

BY: KAITLYNN FORD

BUSINESS

Finding qualied sta and keep-ing them too is a leading con-cern in the restaurant industry.

According to a 2009 survey o 20national and regional oodservicechains by the Canadian Restaurantand Food Association, the average an-nual turnover rate or an hourly paidemployee is 104.8 per cent at a quick-service restaurant and 62.5 per cent ata casual or amily dining restaurant.

Bliss Associates say that the costand impact o employee turn-over can be grouped into our major categories: costs due to a per-son leaving, hiring costs, trainingcosts and lost productivity costs.

In their article Connecting Missionand alent, experts at ExecSearches.com suggests the best way to ensure hir-ing a qualied che or cook is to know

what you want, how much you are will-ing to pay, use your networks to iden-tiy talent, reerence all nalists, andlet common sense be your nal judge.

WHERE TO GO

Consider avenues that attract a largenumber o job seekers with varied qual-ications and skills, such as orontosNational Job Fair and raining Expo.

It is important to bear in mind the

reach o the internet and employ-ment-based websites like Monster.ca and Workopolis.com. LinkedIn isthe Facebook o business network-ing websites. Tese websites servenearly the same purpose as job airsand training expos with regard tothe volume o applicants and skills,

training, and qualication diversity.

For back o the house positions, col-leges and universities are a great placeto nd up-and-coming new talent.Ofen colleges will have their studentscomplete internship programs as parto the learning experience and a wayto gain practical, real-world exposure.

yler Cardy has been a hiringmanager or imothys World Coeein three dierent locations since 2006.While there are some things you cando prior to hiring an employee to en-

sure that you dont make an oversight,Cardy says that you can never be 100per cent sure about the type o personyouve decided to take a chance onuntil they start.

You may see a resume that looksreally great but until you meet theperson, you dont really know.

10 Winter 2011

Photoby:KaitlynnFord


11/44

here is one product in a restau-rant that guarantees a high rewardon investment: wine. A bottle o

wine in a restaurant can be marked upas high as three times its retail price. Telabour cost associated with uncorkingand serving a glass o wine is signicantlyless than any other restaurant service.

But in order to reach this level o high

return, restaurants cant rely on amateurs,they instead have to hire sommeliers.

Armando Mano, owner and certi-ed sommelier at Centro Restaurant &Lounge says sommeliers enhance the ex-perience o the guest without making theguest eel they lack knowledge. All theservers at Centro are certied sommeliers.

A sommeliers job could be as sim-ple as telling the guest a short his-tory o the wine the guest has se-lected or the region the wine is rom.

Marinno Goazanez, a certied som-melier and manager at Ciao Wine Bar,

says he introduces himsel to patrons andrecommends wines based on the patronsprice range, the oods they have orderedand the type o wine they are looking or.

Ciao Wine Bar carries between 300-350 labels, which are available by thebottle, but only a ew o the options areavailable to buy by the glass. Meanwhile,

Centro has over 600 labels in houseand about 30 wines to buy by the glass.

A lot o people [at Ciao Wine Bar] liketo get bottles, Goazanez says. But not alot o people do get to enjoy a ull bottlebecause they dont have enough time, theyhave to drive or not enough people at thetable want to enjoy the same type o wine.However, Ciao Wine Bar re-corks the re-

maining wine or patrons to take home.Goazanez helps patrons select wines by

recommending certain wines based onthe seasons. Inwinter I choosemore ull bod-ied wines es-pecially or theby glass pro-gram, which isthe strongestpoint on mywine menu.In summer, I bring more lighter wines

like Pinot Noire or a Burgundy.Tis changing wine list also starts to

build regular clienteles because its like astarting place where you are learning anddrinking at the same time, Goazanez says.

Mano agrees that many patrons goto his restaurant to learn more aboutwines but another reason is because

they trust the sommeliers selection.Just because a guest says my budget is

$100, doesnt mean you should choose awine thats $100. I would pick one thats$75, because i you can blow them outo the water with a cheaper priced wine,you build a better rapport with the cus-tomer and this builds good customerrelations so they come back, he says.

Te two restaurants do not participatein orontos Bring Your Own Wine Pro-gram but or dierent reasons. Ciao Wine

Bar does not allowpatrons to bringtheir own bottleso wine to therestaurant whileCentro Restaurantcharges a $35 cork-age ee to deerpeople rom bring-ing in cheaper

bottles o wine rom the nearby LCBO.

I can tell you that i you come hereor $35 you can get a much better bottleo wine, Mano says I want to discour-age people rom bringing things that arenot special, i you want to bring a bottle owine rom home that is an older vintageor a gif and you dont really cook at homethen by all means the $35 is justied.

Wine:What a sommelier can do for you

BY: NADIA PERSAUD

BUSINESS

Photoby:Na

diaPersau

d

Just because a guest saysmy budget is $100, doesntmean you should choose awine thats $100.

-Armando Mano

11Winter 2011


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13/44

Ches in oronto are gearingtheir menus to a sustainabletrend: locally grown oods.

Bonita Magee, project manager oGet Local, a program rom BritishColumbia brings restaurants andarmers together.

Teres an odd disconnect withwhat people are eating and their lack oknowledge o where its coming rom,

Magee said.Te program has an innovative wayo not only encouraging local oodsbut also showcasing what Canadianrestaurants are using.

People need to know the reasonsbehind what theyre eating and chesare now becoming more interestedin local oods. Were actually not

producing as much local as whatpeople are asking or, a disappointedMagee said.

According to the Canadian FoodInspection Agency, local ood isdened as being grown 50 km o wherethe item is sold.Local arms arealso less likely touse hormones in

their oods.By choosinglocally grownood, restaurantscan serve reshood, support the local economy andreduce pollution since the ood travelsless distance. Its better than justtaking out rozen items, derosting and

just serving it, Magee said. Peoplewant local oods!

Deb Mackay, the arm managero Cooks own Green, located inTornton, Ontario, has been inbusiness since 1988 and has arm land

o nearly 100acres with only70 per cent beingused. She was in

the restaurantindustry or 25years beorejoining the arm10 years ago.

She says she knows the needs orestaurateurs and tries to deliver onlythe best products. I have to makesure the products are cleaned and

Giving You An Edge:

FEATURE

I think chefs have more

fun with local ingredients

and menus.- Andrika Dias

locally grown foodsBY: HINA JASIM

Toronto restaurants are embracing locally grown foods to add a unique edge to their

establishments and support Ontario farmers.

12 Winter 2011

Photosby:HinaJasim


14/44

sanitized beore being delivered, Mackayexplained.

Te arm is well-known or theirsalads, seedlings used or garnishing, androot vegetables like carrots, beets andpotatoes.

Local ood has been happening ornearly 20 years now and we were actuallyone o the rst arms to be involved inthe now well-known trend, Mackay saidwith a smile.

Cooksowncatersout torestaurantslike Booca,Pangaea,Canoeand Harbor 60. Tey also provide service

to major hotels like Four Seasons, RitzCarlton and Sheraton.Teres more availability with local

oods now than there was 10 years agoand ches preer it, Mackay said.

According to Restaurant Central, asurvey done by Ispos Reid showed 86 percent o Canadians believe ood producedin Canada is sae. Eight out o 10 agreeits important to know where your oodcomes rom. Another survey done by theCanadian Restaurant and FoodserviceAssociation this year ound that choosinglocally grown oods is the leading trend

in the business. Te CRFAs also claimsthat orontonians spend 20 per cento their ood expenditures on localproducts.

Adam Dolly, the head che at HanksWine and Bar, located at 9 Church St.,only cooks with local products. Teowner, Bryan Burke, took over therestaurant rom Che Jamie Kennedytwo years ago and carried on Kennedyscommitment to local armers.

We have a wide variety o itemsavailable. For example, ourasparagus is unbeatable and

strawberries, which come reshrom the armers market,Dolly said. Us using localoods is a way o supportingour local armers and themoney is being spent in oureconomy and city.

Ninety per cent o our menu islocal oods.

Te restaurant gets all their cattle bee

rom Cumbraes Farm in Ontario andtheir seaood comes rom Lake Erie andHuron.

We make sure we get our producerom a long-time supplier, one the ownerhas known or years. Our produce comes

in daily, seaood is maybe twice a week,Dolly added.oronto resident Andrika Dias is a

restaurant enthusiast and enjoys the localood trend but nds that it doesnt suit

her studentbudget.

Its kindo sad thatyou have topay moreor ood justbecause the

ood is coming rom a certain amount

o kilometers [away], Dias said indisappointment.Mackay says customers are getting

what they are paying or.Our products are more expensive than

a retailer but its because everythingsdone by hand, by all o us here sheexplained.

For Dolly, locally grown oods alsomake or a unique dining.

Using local oods will make us standout rom other restaurants, its a better-tasting product and I believe it will costless to use local items and its resher, he

said.Whats the dierence

between a localood itemversus animportedne?

Lets use asparagus as an example,Dolly said.

Its sweet and juicy rom Ontariobut i you get it rom Mexico, its dullerin taste and color. Our strawberries aremuch richer in taste and bigger in size,

compared to ones rom Caliornia, hesaid.You as a customer know where the

oods coming rom, or you should know.Youre not just supporting local oodsbut also the local wineries we have. Ithink ches have more un with localingredients and menus, Magee laughed.

Local items like burgundy radish,baby pea tendrils and purple basil areall examples o items used to decorateand garnish dishes and the names soundexotic and un.

Local ood is something you can trust,

its not being handled by someone romGod knows where. I think local oodtends to be ancier and in my opinion, ithas an expensive menu, Dias said.

Restaurants and small local armshave a mutually benecial relationship,Mackay said.

According to Cooks own, Canadianproduce gets the premium price in theU.S. market because it has more favoursand Canada has the cheapest ood in theworld.

Che Dolly explained one setback withusing local oods.

Sometimes the items do get limiting,its a really hard season or produce.

You have to go out o the box, gosomewhere else to get specic

oods, he said.But one thing is or sure,Dolly said. You as a

customer need to knowwhats in your ood, I eelits necessary to spread

local ood in the economy.

FEATURE

13Winter 2011

Local food is something you cantrust, its not being handled by someonefrom God knows where.

- Andrika Dias


15/44

Aserver at RendezvousEthiopian restaurantwalks out of a busy

kitchen with a fresh, furiouslysmoky pan of roasted coffeebeans.

Guests enjoying injera and wotdinner at throw out their arms towave the aromatic smell to theirtables.

Owner Banchi Kinde knowswhat it takes to get even themost unadventurous Torotonianshooked on Ethiopian food.

Walking into an Ethiopianrestaurant is a challenge for manypeople, she said. She lookedat guests tearing injera, a thinpita-like bread, with their fingersfrom a shared platter. They use

the piece to scoop some wotorstew and gobble up the bite-sizeroll.

When you eat with yourhands, it creates an attachmentwith yourself, said a soft-spokenbut firm Kinde. Thats whyEthiopian food makes you fall inlove with yourself.

Its a bold statement, but oneKinde strongly believes in. Thekey to getting customers to comeback for more, she said, is toexplain the Ethiopian culture of

eating, likegursha putting a piece ofinjera and wotinto afriends mouth.

Its an intimate thing, she said. Once they [customers]find out [aboutgursha] next time they want to bring theirwives or someone else.

Kinde mentioned a recent episode ofThe Simpsonsin which Marge becomes adventurous and orders thecraziest thing on the menu for her and her children in

an Ethiopian restaurant.After finding out about

gursha, the kids could notstop stuffing food into eachothers mouths even afterthey went home.

Breaking the barrierutensils create andintroducing Ethiopian foodas bonding experiencemakes people want to comeback for more, Kinde said.

The commercialis already made. [Thecustomers] are a ll yours.

Although hospitality is ageneric rule for restaurants,Kinde says its one of thequalities of Ethiopianculture her restaurant takes

advantage of.When people go to

Ethiopia and come back, thefirst thing they talk aboutis about our hospitality, notreally the food, she said.

When they come backhere, they expect the sametreatment.

In a growingly diet-conscious society, the largeselection of vegetariandishes in the Ethiopianpalette also drives business

to Rendezvous, Kinde added. But despite the spice-intolerance nature of many non-Ethiopians, Kinde believesits important to retain the original ingredients.

The way Ethiopians eat it is the way its served, shesaid, adding that Ethiopian food has many

dishes that are not spicy. Watering down the spicydishes compromises authenticity, she stated.

Authenticity is something Jay Yoo, the operations

Yeamrot Taddeselooks into how you can use culture to

entice even the most picky eaters

Rendezvous Ethiopian restaurant owner Banchi Kinde

pours Ethiopian coffee.

Crafting culture

FEATURE

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manager at NamiJapanese restaurant,also values.

From the foodto dcor and

staff uniform,Japanese culture isimbedded in thewhole restaurant,he said.

A lot of Japaneserestaurants areactually Korean- orChinese-owned.At Nami, 99 percent of staff speakJapaneseour headchef is from Japan.

Authenticity at

Nami is also seenin how the staff dotheir job, Yoo added.

Theres a strongsense of team work[among the staff], which is very Japanese, he said.

Most of these staff, he stated, have worked at Nami for avery long time and keep the 25-year-old restaurants foodand service consistent.

We havent been in business this long because of a one-hit wonder thing, he affirmed. We try to make the diningexperience consistent. Every time people come, they knowwhat theyre getting.

The wait staff at Nami are dressed in traditional Japanese

kimono, something Adam Waxman, a food writer at DINEMagazine who has eaten around the world, believes adds tothe dining experience.

If you go to a Japaneserestaurant where the waitersare wearing kimono andanother one where they arewearing black pants and shirts,how you relate to your waiter isdifferent, he said.

But authenticity in clothing, and especially food, issomething only those who know about the culture inquestion can recognize, he said. Authentic food, Waxmanadded, can make one restaurant better than another

but that its not something people think of when theyrehungry.

The motivation for going out for dinner is oftendetermined by hunger, he said. Youre eating for fuel.If you want to have a quick lunch, who cares aboutauthenticity?

He added that people often settle for authentic enoughbut rarely accept bad service or little value for money.

Many ethnic restaurants in Toronto, Waxman noted,alter original recipes either because the ingredients are notavailable or because they want to cater to what they believeCanadians find delicious.

Berber Moroccan restaurant assistant manager MedhatLotify agrees. Owned by Italians who love Moroccanculture, a first glimpse at the downtown restaurantprepares its patrons for a true Mediterranean experience asfar as ambiance and entertainment are concerned.

The tent ceilings, dim lighting and red cushions on

bench sofa seats give a feel of a different world. Bellydancers move around the restaurant ringing shimmysounds of North Africa. But when it comes to the food,

Lotify said local touches are a must.You cant do everything Moroccan,

he said shaking his head. You have toadd North American elements to suit[Canadian tastes].

Moroccan food can be very sweetand buttery, Lotify said, adding that

it could be hard to savour for those who dont have theacquired taste.

The same goes for drinks. While Berber sells Moroccanwine, it also has wines from other parts of the world

because guests have their preferences.Even when changes are made to accommodate localneeds, there are problems. After eating braised lamb withprune sauce for dinner, customers call to complain aboutstomach problems.

Its not a problem with the food, Lotify chuckled,adding that prunes are simply natural laxatives.

Nami Japanese restaurant prides itself in serving authentic food. All staff at Nami speak Japanese.

...Ethiopian food makes youfall in love with yourself.

- Banchi Kinde

FEATURE

15Winter 2011

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Mark McEwan moves like a sh in water at his high-end grocery store in North York. He is the boss

aer all. He laughs with his sta, adjusts products and greets customers with a sincere smile.

Dressed in a pressed navy blue suit with a pale blue dress shirt underneath, he looks every bit the

part o a proud owner.

Aer over 35 years in the ood industry, McEwan has opened our restaurants, a grocery store and

two catering companies. He has also published two books, stars in two television shows and launched an

eco-riendly pots and pans line.

Te road to this point, however, has not been easy.

He rst decided to become a che in 1976, aer nishing high school.

Actually, a lot o people thought I was sort o crazy to be going into the business, he

says. Tey had no understanding o ood. You tell people that youre going to be a che today

and they go oh thats great. Back in my day, they looked at you like youd bumped your head.

Back then, the Food Channel did not exist, nor did the media blitz revolving ood and

restaurants.

It was a very dierent playing eld, McEwan says.

He took an apprenticeship in the kitchen at Sutton Place, an upscale hotel in downtown

oronto, and eventually became the executive hotel che as his career progressed.

MarkMcEwan

Story and photos by: Jessica Lee

shares his secrets to success

I sold my car, I took ouwedding money I didnt

tell my wife this I took a

the money for the wedding

and bought a share for the

restaurant.

FEATURE

16 Winter 2011


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Tat was my rst big job. And then rom there, I seg-

wayed into restaurants, he says.

In 1985 he bought Pronto restaurant with two other busi-

ness partners.

Aer doing the hotel or two years, I was bored already,

he says. I looked around and thought, I dont want to be here

my whole lie. I dont want to be at a ood and beverage meeting

every Tursday and listening to the same people talk about why

they cant things done.

McEwan was passionate about his new restaurant venture

and did what he had to do to make ends meet.

I sold my car, I took our wedding money I didnt tell my

wie this I took all the money or the wedding and bought a

share or the restaurant.

I went rom [earning] $65,000 a year [at the hotel] to a

$32,000 salary.

At the time, Pronto was already a successul restaurant.

McEwan and his team kept the pot bubbling and in 1990,

opened a new restaurant, North 44. It was not easy.

When you go to the bank and you want to open up a

business, you sort o sell your soul, McEwan says.

McEwan and his partners split shortly aer opening North

44. His partners ended up with Pronto and McEwan got

North 44.

Enter the recession.

With $2 million in debt and a restaurant to run, McEwan

FEATURE

Winter 2011


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continued to work in North 44 and managed to establish a regu-

lar clientele. Finally, in 2002, he was ready to embrace another

challenge. He opened his second restaurant, Bymark, in the -

nancial district, which has gone

on to become just as successul

as North 44.

Success is a curvy road.You have to work it, work it,

work it all the time. You have

to nd an idea and i it doesnt

work, you have to gure it out

and be tenacious about it,

McEwan says.

Tough he has never taken

any business courses, he has a natural talent or it. As a young

entrepreneur, the changing o weather meant McEwan mowed

lawns, raked leaves and shovelled driveways.

Te moment I was old enough to get a job, I got a job. Ithink its natural that people sort o all into [business], McEwan

says.

McEwan knows that guests at his restaurant like to eel

special and makes time to chat and meet with them. He

knows what he wants and expects his employees to deliver

it. He tries to visit all o his restaurants every day to oversee

the sta and keep a watch or new needs that may present

themselves.

im Salmon, general manager at One Restaurant in

Yorkville, one o McEwans eateries, describes him as very

on the ball.

McEwan is up-to-date on the latest trends but also uses

good old-ashioned logic to make his decisions. Deciding to

go with the more costly paper bags to be eco-riendly at his

grocery store despite

plastic bags being

cheaper shows how at-

tuned he is to the green

progression that is oc-

curring in the industry.

Hes a very astute

businessman, says

Salmon, who has been

an employee o McE-

wans or 17 years. Hes

very smart. He knows

exactly what gures

need to go he knows

the numbers.

Salmons boss

also knows that quality control in a restaurant is extremely

important.

You dont ever get that moment to open again, McEwan

says o restaurants.

McEwans expectations are ex-

emplied in his V series, Te Heat

with Mark McEwan. In one episodewhere the company was catering

a large event, despite doubts rom

his sta, McEwan outlined exactly

what they could do in the time-

rame and made it clear in a stern

manner what he expected them to

accomplish.

Hes a perectionist, rst and oremost, and hes very simple

and air but at the same time he demands a lot, Sash Simpson,

executive che at North 44 and a long-time employee o McE-

wans, says.

When working with new employees, McEwan relies on his

instinct, which he says are generally right. Employees, he says,

are essentially the most difcult equation o the business to

control.

I dont even believe in the three strikes youre out rule,

McEwan remarks, I believe certain things, one strike and

youre two thirds out the door. Even a hint o it again, youre

gone. Because I know [the character] resides in you and I

dont want to have to deal with people like that.

He says that the ailure rate o new employees in a new

business is relatively high. When he was opening one o his

restaurants, the general manager was red within two weeks

I think [being a middle

child] is a benet. I think when

youre young and you get too

much aenon for the wrong

reasons, I dont think its good for

character.

McEwans ONE Restaurant, located in the glitzy Yorkville district, is a prime spot

for socialites and celebrities.

FEATURE

HIRING AND FIRING

18 Winter 2011


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or ailing to meet standards.

You never know until boots are on the ground and you

start adding pressure to the bottle what happens to a person.

Ten you see the true character o a person come out. And

until theyre tested, you dont know, McEwan says. His

employees agree.

He expects his team to work as hard as he does. I he

thinks youre not working hard and not doing what you

should be doing, hes got no time or you, Salmon says.

Simpson is grateul or the position McEwan gave him

and or everything he taught him in the kitchen.

For me to take over and run [North 44] or him was a

blessing, Simpson says. What he showed me is being really

good at what you do, and that is what he is.

Pretty much everything he touches turns to gold,

Salmon adds.

Not one or supercial talk or time wasting, McEwan

established an empire at age 54 simply due to ocus and hard

work. Where other people like to talk endlessly over plans

but never set their plans to action, McEwan is the kind o

person who gets things done. He sets his mind to his goals,

makes plans, assigns projects to the sta best suited or the

job and waits or it all to come to ruition.

I dont have a lot o patience or unnecessary meetings

and endless structure and paperwork. I like to be hands-on.

I like to see things come about and I think by me control-

ling it, I can be very spontaneous in that way - create a lot o

change and a lot o action in a short period o time.

Hes very strong-minded, Salmon says. Hes not

wishy-washy at all.

McEwans strong vision o what he wants and extensive

expertise in the eld such as knowing what diners want,

what would look good in his grocery store have so ar

brought success. Every detail, down to the employees uni-

orms, were meticulously planned and thought over.

McEwan believes his unrelenting personality comes

rom being a middle child in a large amily. He emphasizes

that everything he has - he had to work hard or.

I think [being a middle child] is a benet. I think when

youre young and you get too much attention or the wrong

reasons, I dont think its good or character.

Out o all his projects, McEwan elt that the most difcult one

was opening the grocery store.

I think it was probably the most satisying [to complete]

because it was probably the biggest thing Ive ever done. Id talked

about a store or 10 years. Probably a good 10 years, says McEwan.

o sit across the street on the park bench and actually see the

store operating was quite a thrill, he remarks.

Having just released a new cookbook on Italian ood last

month and opened an Italian restaurant (Fabbrica) last year, there

is no telling what he is up to next. Tere are book signings to be

done, oods to be taste-tested, events to cater and decisions to be

made.

I like what Im doing at 54 and I think thats a good place to

be, so Im a happy guy, he says.

McEwan begins his day by working out at 7:30 a.m., then immediately hits the ofce to start his work.

FEATURE

WORKING HIS WAY TO THE TOP

LOOKING BACK

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Pie Crust DinnerwareBowl: $16.00Tea cup: $12.00Small plate: $16.00Large plate: $24.00Cutlery (set of five): $28.00

PHOTO

Antique

Playful

Cambria DinnerwareDinner plate (set of four): $51.80Salad plate (set of four): $41.44Cereal Bowl (set of four): $41.44Mug (set of four): $41.44Classic cutlery (20 piece set): $207

20 Winter 2011TA STIN G SUC C ESS


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Minimalist

Dishing OutInspiration

Besides taste, food is often judged on presentation. The food is the

show and the dinnerware is the stage. Both are important to setting thetaste of the meal, which is why we have picked out a few themes to

give you ideas for your winning dish.

Photos:Jessica Lee

Bowl: $4.39Plate: $6.99Cup and saucer: $2.99Eclipse spoon: $2.39

Eclipse fork: $2.39Eclipse knife: $2.99

Available at Tap PhongTrading Co.

21

PHOTO

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RestaurantCost-cutting 101

How to save on expenses you dont need

It is a common practice or people to cut the at o o theirmeat beore cooking it. Similarly, when running a restau-rant, it is essential to cut the at o o whatever is holding

your business back rom making higher prots. In other words,slashing the costs o what is not necessary is important to thenancial health o your establishment.

ypically, the expenses are split up with a third o spending

going into hiring labour, a third going into ood, and the resttowards everything else, including rent.

In a Canada-wide survey o 2,000 restaurants, Te Bot-tom Line, a guide that has statistics o Canadas ood businessbudgets reports that the average Canadian restaurant spent 31.4per cent on ood and beverages, 26.1 per cent on salaries, wages

and benets and 12.2 per cent on rent in 2010. Te rest wasspent on entertainment, utilities and other expenses.

Richard Wade, a hospitality management proes-sor at Ryerson University and restaurant consultant,suggests that no more than 10 per cent o the costsshould go into rent.

Since the cost o rent is oen not fexible, variablecosts in running a restaurant are usually limited to just

labour and ood.o save on labour costs, Mike Wilson, a restaurant consul-

tant based in oronto, advises having the management teamwork longer hours to cover some o the hourly paid employees,since managers are paid by salary. However, Wilson warns thatthis method should not be casually employed as it puts morestress, sometimes too much, on managers, which can lead tourther problems like mismanagement o the sta.

Wilson, who has 35 years o experience in the restaurantbusiness, began his career in culinary school as a che. He hasworked in a hotel, various restaurants, and also or the largestood manuacturer in the world, Nestle.

While he does not openly recommend buying cheaperingredients to save on costs, he says, I its a small part o theingredient, it doesnt necessarily aect the quality.

He advises ches to make the same dish using dierentbrands o four or sugar. I there isnt a dierence in the qualityo the ood, and one brand costs less than the other, it makeseconomic sense to switch brands. For example, i a baker mak-ing bread saves 10 cents a loa by using less expensive four, heends up saving $100 per 1,000 loaves sold.

Te best quality [oods] taste better in the end, Wilson says.But i its a small ingredient like coriander seed or somethinglike that, it doesnt make a big dierence.

I youre talking about something like saron that makesa big dierence, i its something delicate.

Vegetables should be as resh as possible, he adds.Many restaurants will also try to work out a deal with ood

suppliers.

In Canoe Restaurants case, since the restaurant belongs to alarger chain, Oliver & Bonacini, the company has saved moneyby buying in bulk or all o its restaurants, according to generalmanager Paul Martin.

Besides being known or its view (the restaurant is situatedon the 54th foor o the D building on Wellington Street inoronto), the restaurant has a reputation or high-quality din-ing.

BY: JESSICA LEE

FEATURE

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Once the ood is bought and prepared,many restaurant experts recommend mak-ing sure that the right portion is on theplate.

I have stood in the kitchen lookingat all the ood that is coming back on theplates, and seeing what keeps coming backon the plates. Maybe you see a lot o Frenchries that are coming back or mashed pota-toes, Wade says.

At Canoe, ood is weighed beore be-ing served on the plate. Martin says anyserious restaurant would weigh its oodbeore serving. Even drinks are measuredat Canoe.

For glasses o wine, or example, we usea cortino, which is a little cra which hasa lined edge on it so we know how muchto pour into [the glasses]. For everythingelse, we use shot glasses and make surethat everything is proper. We wont do reepouring as some places might do, he says.

While measuring may seem like a hassle,it will save you dollars in the long run.

Monitoring inventory levels and keepingan inventory that matches your needs isalso another way to reduce costs. Keepinginventory low reduces the waste in unsoldood. It also keeps track o what is sup-posed to be in stock.

I theres a fuctuation in [our inventorynumbers], well know that something is notalright, Martin says.

Dishonest employees could also meanlosses. Wilson recom-mends setting upsecurity cameras andmaking sure the backdoor is not close tothe kitchen in case ointernal the. Whenthe restaurant is busy,and managers are ocused on the custom-ers, things can walk out the back door, hesays.

Some restaurants will go as ar as not let-ting the employees take out trash withoutthe managers approval. Dishonest employ-

ees may throw out expensive items such aswine and rescue them later when disposingo the trash.

Wilson also recommends using cleargarbage bags to see what is being thrownout. I there is a lack o training, somecooks may throw out usable product with-out knowing it.

Teres very little waste in the kitchen

[at Canoe], Martin says. Every-thing that we butcher that isnt usedin a specic dish can be used in asauce o some kind.

Removing the garbage cans romthe cooking area, and giving employeesclear plastic bins to throw their scraps in,also helps monitor waste. Managers canthen make comments to the cooks and re-train them i good, usable product is beingthrown out.

raining ches to learn new skills such asbutchering also saves money paid to meatprocessing centres.

When you train your ches, also includeyour managers.

Proessor Wade, who has had over 50years o restaurant experience, says thatmanagers should be able to do everythingthat their sta members can do.

One o the problems restaurants getinto, he says, [is that] they dont knowmuch about ood preparation and theyleave that with the che. Well i the chethen says, Well Im going to leave, thenwhere are you at?

None o your sta should eel indispens-able, he adds. Its much better i theyknow you can do their job.

Wade stresses that conducting research,knowing various skills and being preparedis essential to keep the business running.For new restaurants, he encourages plot-ting out all the expenses they will need, and

to really do theirhomework.

All too oenwhat restaurantswill do is underes-timate their cost oopening a restau-rant and so what

happens is they become under-nanced, sowhen they actually open their restaurant,theyre already sort o tapped-out nan-cially, he says.

He adds that new restaurants should op-erate under the assumption that they wont

be making any prots or three months, oreven a year. He also does not recommendtrying to cut costs or cutting down stawhen rst opening.

You dont want to be displeasing yourcustomers simply by cutting back on staor cutting down on portion sizes or simplytaking shortcuts with the ood prepara-tion.

None o your staf shouldeel indispensable.

-Professor Richard Wade

Leasing:Pros Good when youre just start-ing out with a new restaurantand dont have a lot of moneyto spend. Youre not stuck with equip-ment, can return it anytime if itbreaks or just stops working. Some vendors might waivethe monthly fee, if you have anew restaurant.

Cons Extremely high interest rates

Dealing with credit checks Having to return item oncelease is up

Buying: ProsIt works for ownerswho have knowledgeof taking care ofrestaurant and equip-ment.You have completepower over item, itsyours.

Cons Up-front cost is higher It takes away from your bud-get, prot. You have to deal with themaintenance/ repair yourself.

Depending on your nancialstanding and number ofyears in the business, leas-ing equipment, instead ofbuying it, might leave extrabucks in your pocket.

Leasing might saveyou money

- By Hina Jasim

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Liquor licence, check. No smoking signs, check.Elevator saety requirement, check. Alarm system,check. Correct kitchen sink positioning, check.

I your regulatory compliance checklist looks likethis, youre probably less than a quarter o the way tocompleting your requirement beore you could open a ull-

service restaurant.In addition to hiring, ring, serving and purchasing,

many restaurateurs have to deal with painstakingpaperwork and scattered administration to stay in linewith regulatory laws imposed by municipal and provincialgovernments.

[Restaurant owners] should be ocusing on growingtheir businesses but they are stuck in their oces lling outorms, Brandy Giannetta, a spokesperson or the Ontario

Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Association, said.Regulatory burden is a huge restraint nancially and on

time.A survey conducted last year by the Canadian

Restaurant and Foodservices Association ound that nineout o 10 restaurateurs eel red tape is huge problem or

their businesses.Restaurateurs also have to deal with dierent

departments to ulll each requirements. Giannetta saida one-stop shop or all hospitality licensing will make theprocess more streamlined. She added that a simpler wayo communicating requirements will also be useul sincerestaurateurs are ofen unsure o what is expected o them.

Were not opposed to the regulations; saety is a numberone priority or us, she armed. But each individual

Municipal and federal governments are taking

steps to reduce bureaucracyfor restaurateurs

BY: YEAMROT TADDESE

UNWRAPPING RED TAPE

FEATURE

24 Winter 2011

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requirement should be made clear. Itshouldnt be a guessing game.

Grilled Pit restaurant ownerVictor Alvarez is thankul or having

had experience in the hospitalitybusiness prior to opening hisrestaurant because or someonewho is new, it can be a bit o aguessing game.

Looking back, he thinks theprocess o opening a restaurantcould have been easier.

[Te procedures] are verycumbersome; you have to be veryorganized and detailed, he said,rowning in discontent. But whatsmost rustrating is the wait [orpermits].

Walkingaround hisrestaurant,Alvarez isproud toshow ohis stickerrom theElectricalSaetyAuthority.

Tree years ago, he had to get agreen light rom ocials beore hecould close o his restaurants roolest he break everything down i hedidnt meet the electrical standards.

Like Giannetta, Alvarez saidthe regulations themselves arent aproblem.

I you ollow all the regulations,youre sae, he said. You have tocomply or the saety o yoursel andyour customers.

I there could be one departmentthat can handle these procedures, itwould be great.

Giannetta said organizations like

the Ministry o Health, Ministry oLabour, Workers Saety InsuranceBoard and Alcohol and GamingCommission o Ontario could worktogether to make the process easieror restaurateurs.

She highlighted that each newlyimposed regulation doesnt take intoaccount how other regulations are

afecting business owners.[Regulators] ail to take a look o

the total regulatory burden placed onbusiness owners, she said.

Anabel Lindblad, spokespersonor the Ottawa-based Red apeReduction Commission, said partlybecause o the commissions work,some o Giannettes concerns arelisted in this years ederal budget.

Federal regulators, she said, willuse a small business checklist toensure that new regulations take intoaccount the particular circumstanceso small business owners.

Te commission, created by theederal government last year, is alsoworking to increase transparency and

predictability,Lindbladadded.

Tegovernmenthas made acommitmentto post allregulatoryconsultations

on the Consulting with Canadiansweb portal as well as in CanadaGazette.

Lindblad added that the sharing oinormation allows business ownersto not only oresee new regulationsbut also provide their inputs whenregulations are designed.

Regulatory obligations varyrom one municipality to another,requiring restaurateurs to startthe process o obtaining a licencerom scratch when they open a newrestaurant in a diferent city.

Bruce Hawkins, a spokespersonor the City o orontos MunicipalLicensing and Standards, said the city

is taking steps to make the licensingprocess more streamlined. He saidmost resources are now availableonline to help sel-employed businessowners save time.

Licensees can now pay mostinvoices, including licence renewals,online, saving them a trip to thelicensing oce, he said.

But or those like Alvarez, whowould appreciate some kind omanual on what the requirementsare and how to ulll them, the city is

still alling short.Why doesnt someone write abook about how to do this? Alvarezsaid jokingly.

Unlike Alvarez, who had to starthis business rom scratch, Abyssiniarestaurant owner Sirak Ayele boughtan establishment that was previouslya small eatery near Bloor Street andOssington Avenue.

In addition to having patrons walkin his restaurant since the day heopened, buying an existing operationalso meant the previous owner

could transer most o his inspectionapproval stamps to Ayele.

For me, it was like buying a carwithout tires and then putting on thetires mysel, Ayele said.

But now, Ayele wants to build apatio or his Bloor Street restaurantand his construction applicationhas been in city hall or nearly threemonths.

Every step youre making, the cityhas to know, he said. I you want toknock down a wall, you have to gothrough a process.

However, Ayele is thankul oronline application orms the cityhas made available, which he saidhelped save him a lot o time whenhe opened his establishment.

Handling all the deskworkbecomes so time-consuming thatrestaurateurs ofen hire other peopleto do it.

Beore deciding to take on theinitial paperwork all by himsel,Ayele had contacted an accountantwho could do the job or him.

He [the accountant] asked meor $2,000, Ayele exclaimed. I said,No!

I had the luxury o time, so I didit on my own.

FEATURE

[Restaurant owners] shouldbe ocusing on growing theirbusinesses but they are stuck intheir oces flling out orms.

-Brandy Giannetta

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MenuPsychology

Arranging your spread to sell certain dishes or sell more of them

BY: JESSICA LEE

THE SCIENCE BEHIND BUYING

W hats the difference between writing 9 and $9 on your menu? Making or not making $9.Its all about menu psychology: using research and psychological tactics to influence the cus-tomer to buy a particular item, or buy more of the same item.So where do you start?The first thing youve got to do is write a mission statement, says former restauranteur and current George

Brown hospitality professor Andy Hickl-Szabo. Then from there flows the menu, from that really flows everything

else.In an article by the New York Times, writer Sarah Kershaw used restaurateur Danny Meyers new Indian restau-

rant, Tabla, as an example of how to successfully brand a dish. The name of one of the dishes, Boodies ChickenLiver Masala, draws from the observation that people like to buy products associated with persons. This is becausethe name gives a sense of tradition attached to the product. For Meyers restaurant, Boodie is the name of the headchef s mother. Consume rs are more likely to buy Grandmas Oples apple pie, bu rgers freshly ground at Uncle Jakes,or Aunt Jeminas pancakes.

INSIGHTS

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If the food is from a special place,when describing it in the menu,you want to mention it as well, saysHickl-Szabo. For example writingBerkshire pork or Kenyan coffeeis better than simply offering pork

and coffee.

THE PRICE IS NOT ALWAYS

RIGHT

At Meyers restaurant, the price

of Boodies chicken livers is $9, butits written simply as 9. AccordingKershaw, 9 is a friendly and manage-able number.

Stuff at $9.99 sells much morethan stuff at $10, says Hickl-SzaboAnd if you dont put the dollar signin front of 9.99, it sells [even] better.

However, some researchers saythat the extra .99 makes the priceseem tackyand cheap.Depending onthe brand ofyour restau-rant, the wayyou wordyour pricingis critical tohow manyitems you sell.

Hickl-Szabo, whohas more than25 years ofexperience inthe restaurantbusiness, saysthat a goodmenu doesnot empha-size the price.

Dontdraw dotsfrom themenu item tothe price. Dont put the price all in astraight line. You dont want to hidethe price, but you dont want to drawattention to it because there are a cer-tain number of guests who just lookdown the price column and shop thatway, he says.

Another tool restaurateurs can use

is a simple comparison strategy whenpricing their items. In the heart ofthe trendy SoHo district in New York,a restaurant named Balthazar has aseafood dish for two priced at $80.

It wasnt selling because it was a

ridiculous price, so they made thebox wider and beside it, they put asimilar thing, but for [$125], saysHickl-Szabo.

So what happens now is thatpeople by default look at that, and theone they wanted to sell, which wasthe cheap one at $80 now sells incred-ibly well because its positioned nextto one thats stupidly priced.

WRITING LYRICS FOR YOUR

DISHESNo matter how good the design

of your menu is, if the food does notsound attractive,no one will eat atyour restaurant.

The chefswrite the musicand the menu be-comes the lyrics,and sometimesthe music is gor-geous and its gotthe wrong lyricsand the lyricscan torpedo themusic, Meyerstold the New YorkTimes.

Describing theingredients in thefood stimulatesguests appetites,which encourag-es them to orderthe dish.

Clich wordsand phrases canruin the game.

Hickl-Szabo advises to steer clearfrom grilled to per fection or sen-suous. He also says to use simplerwords when describing food.

Youre not fooling anybody, hesays. Youve got to tell the truth,youve got to sort of dress it up, butits got to be clever and discreet.

MAKE USE OF BOXES, LINES AND

HOT SPOTS

Georgia State University hospital-

ity professor Dave Pavesic says thattoo often, menus look like they are puttogether last minute.

In a carefully designed menu, res-taurateurs can take advantage of primemenu space and strategically placeitems they want to sell in those areas.

Much of the menu design is alsoadapted from retail merchandis-ing principles that set up displays indepartment and other retail stores tocatch the eye of the shopper, says Pave-sic, adding that no one ever purchasedsomething that never caught theirattention.

Boxes, dotted outlines, or even extrawhite space can make items stand out.For efficiency reasons, Pavesic advisesnot to put items in key spaces if theytake more than 10-12 minutes to pre-pare and need to be moved to two ormore stations in the kitchen.

Another way to push sales is to putlittle icons beside the dish. But not toomuch, advises Hickl-Szabo, becauseif everything is special, nothing isspecial.

SIZE MATTERS

Many consultants lean towardshaving smaller menus. According toresearch from Gallup, a news databasefrom the U.S., the more time a cus-tomer spends looking at the menu, thelonger the table turnover time is, whichmeans less tables can be served, andless profit is made.

I would rather not see a humongousmenu, says Hickel-Szabo, If I see amenu thats many many pages, the firstthing I think is none of its fresh. Idrather see a smaller menu that changes

more often. At the very least, youshould change three times a year.He also adds that people will get tired

of the same selections, and that chefsalways want to be using ingredientsthat are in season.

Another reason to keep menus short-er, Hickl-Szabo says, is because toomuch choice will confuse patrons.

27Winter 2011

Celebrity chef Jamie Kennedys Gilead Bistro

doesnt use dollar signs in its menu,

keeping the focus on the food.

INSIGHTS


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Will you miss the waiter?E-menus are eliminat-ing the server romthe ordering process

altogether. Diners usea touch-screen computer located at theirtable to place their order which goesdirectly rom the computer to the che,who is ready and waiting in the kitchen.Te servers are converted to runners whobring ood or the guests. When the patronhas nished their meal, they simply payusing the E-menu computer.

Te computer used or E-menu isntconned to the ordering process it addsanother level to the dining experience byproviding the guest with inormation andentertainment at the tips o their ngers.

Israeli-based company Conceptic, one othe ew providers o electronic menus,allows their users to use their product ina number o dierent ways. Users are alsoable to play a bevy o dierent games, ndlocations or other entertainment venueslike movies or clubs or even order a taxi.

Digital menu boards are at screen

televisions that display user-specic inor-mation. Restaurants are able to upload theitems o their choosing, like their menuand promotions, beore setting up the

slideshow. Tese are most ofen seen in astood chains.

Digital MenuBox is an outdoor electron-ic menu display that allows passers-by totake a look at the menu without having tobe seated, or even enter the restaurant. ButDerek Valleau, a partner at Amaya Express,told Leanne DeLap o the Toronto Starthateven though people dont have to enter therestaurant to see i theyll like the ood o-ered on the menu, the Digital MenuBox isstill capable o attracting more business.

ouch-screen menus mostly come in theorm o iPads, but one o their competitors

is E La Carte, developed by MI drop-outRajat Suri. E La Carte, unlike iPad, alsoallows the customer to pay using the ma-chine itsel in a ashion similar to E-menu.E-menu and touch-screen menus are bestsuited or ne or casual dining establish-ments rather than ast ood companies.

Ease o updating was one o the main

reasons [we substituted hardcopy menuswith touch-screen menus] theyre reallyeasy to switch on the y, Vito Marrinuzzi,owner o 7even Numbers, said. And saving

all the paper we burned through tons opaper printing a new wine list every night.

But starting at $519.00 or each iPad 2and $90.00 or the top-o-the-line OtterBoxprotective cases, the start-up costs cant bespent on a whim. Marinuzzi suggests usingsponsors to help deect the costs i the op-tion is available.

Marinuzzi says the iPads are low-main-tenance. With batteries that last 10 to 11hours with constant use, the only upkeepthey require is charging the battery everycouple o days.

I love the idea [o iPads as menus],

Cory Cook, a server at 7even Numbers,said. I think that theyve made the serversjob much, much easier.

We thought people over 50 wouldnttake the iPad, but quite the opposite,Marinuzzi said. Teyre the ones who loveit because its bright they can read themenu.

TECHNOLOGY

Electronic Trends:BY: KAITLYNN FORD

Digital Menus

28 Winter 2011

Photosby:Kaitl

ynnFord


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To remain competitive and successful in their industry, restaurateurs could always update their skills.

Seneca College offers a number of one-day business

skills seminars, such as body language for leaders,

creativity, innovation and continuous improvement,

customer service excellence and smarter goal setting.

George Brown College offers a two year food and

beverage management program. Courses include

food and beverage cost control, nance and busi-

ness communications, bartending, dining room opera-

tions, menu management, food safety, and wine and

beverage management.

Centennial College

Books from Toronto Public Library

George Brown College

Seneca College

Centennial College offers a two-year restaurant

management program followed by an internship.

Courses offered include nance, human resources,marketing and revenue, labor relations, customer

service and event management.

Public libraries house thousand of books on business

that can help expand your knowledge at your own

time and pace.

Colleges and universities offer a number of

educational opportunities in addition to their

undergraduate programs: continuing education

or studies, graduate & postdoctoral programs,

seminars, workshops and events.

Courses you can take to stay in the loop

Seminars at Toronto Public Library

Sharpening Your Skills:

Many of the seminars the Toronto Public Library offer

are based on nancial information, specically taxes.

The library also offers recurring seminars for entre-

preneurs. The seminars are not too long and are also

offered in the evening for those who are too busy

during the day. Some of these include: Small Business

Information Seminar, Taxation Workshop, Saving on

Your Taxes, Financial Services, Income Tax Clinic, Busi-

ness Communication Circle, 2011 Top Ten Tax Saving

Strategies, and Financial Literacy: Lessons for Life.

If youre not up for spending money, there are

still ways to brush up your knowledge on your

craft.

BRIEFS

29Winter 2011

Paid Options Free Options


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Gee, Thats Funny

The restaurant business is exciting and all, but sometimes it can be too much. Jessica Lee compiled a

bunch of funny and bizarre restaurant stories to keep things light-hearted because working in a res-

taurant can be entertaining sometimes.

LAST WORDS

Other uses for oil

Free falling

A high-end restaurant in a glamour-

ous downtown area was having a

cocaine problem in their bathrooms.

The manager ordered the staff to

spray cooking oil on the toilet seat

lids so that cocaine would clump to-

gether if it were lined up on it. The

problem went away after a week.

It was a sunny morning at a downtown

restaurant patio when suddenly, a

loud commotion was heard from the

hotel above. A nude man was climb-

ing out the window when he acciden-

tally fell onto a brunch table. Not a

word was said and he ran down the

street. It was later discovered that

he was a high-prole businessman.

He was red because of the incident.

Kissing catastrophe

A couple was kissing passionate-

ly all night at a bar. After dinner,

the man pays for the meal and the

couple leaves. The bartender dis-

covers that the man left his credit

card behind due to his drunkenness

and decides to track him down by

searching for his name in the phone

book. Luckily, the man had a unique

last name. The bartender calls the

number and the wife picks up. Yourhusband left his credit card at our

bar last night when you were here,

but you dont have cancel the card,

you can come pick it up. The wife

says, Thats funny, my husband said

he was on a business trip this week.

Penny pinching

After a meal of wings at a bar,

two men decided to split the bill.

One man paid with a debit card.

The other? In fourteen rolls of pen-

nies, forgetting to leave a tip for the

waiter and also shorting him $0.86.

If the shoe fits

A woman found her husband hav-

ing a meal with another woman

at a downtown restaurant. In an

angry t, she took off her shoe

and started hitting him with it.

Lottery loser

A restaurants staff decided to con-

tribute to a lottery pool where the

pay off was $4 million. One em-

ployee was about to contribute, but

decided last minute that he wantedto snack on a hot dog after work in-

stead of chipping in. One of the tick-

ets ended up winning, and the lottery

was split between all the contributing

staff. It was the most expensive hot

dog the employee had ever eaten.

Bad call

At an upscale dining room, a high-

strung lady was yelling and swear-

ing at a restaurant manager, caus-

ing a big commotion because there

were no tables to seat her. She said

she had made a reservation a week

ago and this morning, the restaurant

called back with the conrmation.The manager looked at the reser-

vations list, where her name was

nowhere to be seen. He asked the

staff whether they remembered the

name of the lady but no one could

recall her name. He then asked

to see the call history on her cell

phone for the supposed reserva-

tion. Sure enough, she had made

reservations at another restaurant.

30 Winter 2011


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