What A Minimum Wage Hike Could Cost You

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama called for the federal minimum wage to raise from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour.  The wage for tipped workers, which has been $2.13 per hour since 1991 is also expected to rise.  So far, major restaurant groups have been silent on the issue since the president's announcement.  Analysts however, have not been so silent.
Projections show that the hike in wages could result in higher prices for meals at your favorite restaurants.  In fact, they project that inflation in relation to labor costs could rise as much as 18%.
What does this mean for the restaurant industry?  A projected 50 cent increase in wages for tipped labor would result in a 4% cost increase in prices for meals at sit down type establishments.  In an economic period where discretionary spending is still low this could cause a significant problem for the restaurant industry.
Currently, the proposal is not in the legislation phase.  Until that happens, major restaurant industry leaders will refrain from lobbying for any change regarding the issue.

What do you think?  How will the restaurant industry be affected by the proposed change in minimum wage in the United States?

Fast Casual Restaurants - The New Trend

So, you want a meal but you're in a hurry.  You're past the point in your life where going through the drive through and getting something quick and incredibly  unhealthy is an option.  Sure those Big Macs have been great to you through the years, but you're sticking to your health pledge.  Seems like you've got quite the dilemma doesn't it?
Lucky for you, the fast casual trend has taken hold in the United States.  The idea itself is not new.  Fast casual was introduced in the 1990s.  The idea is really quite simple.  Restaurants offer a limited form of service while providing a higher quality meal.  Restaurants like Five Guys have used this model to become leaders in the industry.  Five Guys does not offer table service.  Customers order at the counter and are then called when their food is ready.  The process takes more time than a drive through, but significantly less time than a sit down restaurant.  The food is also much more nutritious than a traditional fast food restaurant because the food is cooked to order and is not sitting around waiting for someone to purchase it.
This operational model can be beneficial to new redcurrants looking to break into the business.  Without table service, the business can save money in labor by not having to hire servers.  This saved money can be used to invest in the most important aspect of any restaurant operation: the food!  

We'd love to hear your thoughts about fast casual dining options.  Please join us in this conversation!

Adapting Menus for Different Seasons

All restaurants do it.  We make different menus based on what season of the year it is.  Most of the time we do this because ingredients change from season to season and some things just taste better in the winter than they do in the summer.  When was the last time you ate a summer salad in the middle of January? Probably never because those summer greens are so much more crisp in the summer.  But what about times of year that aren't exactly "seasonal" seasons.  Last Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent. The 40 day period in which Catholics refrain from eating meat on Fridays.  No, everyone who eats at a restaurant is not going to be a practicing Catholic, but we've found that adapting to this request presents an array of unique opportunities for restaurateurs across the country.  Typically, no meat on Fridays meant fish of some sort for Catholics (our favorite always used to be fish sticks).  Fish doesn't have to be the only solution, however.  Chefs across the country are incorporating new menu items for the season of Lent to keep their menus fresh. Instead of just fish, try incorporating a new type of salad that is both tasty and healthy.  We recommend the beet salad at Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge.

If adding new items to the menu isn't your style, try re-marketing some of your classic fish dishes.  This is exactly what chains like McDonalds and Carl's Junior have done recently.  This new, fresh spin on fish allows the chains to keep selling their classic items while attracting new customers with the fresh look and new advertising.

All in all, Lent is a short season when looking at the scope of an entire year for a restaurant.  However, it poses an interesting challenge and opportunity for chefs.  Creating new dishes will enhance their menus and keep customers happy all in one fell swoop.

The Changing Food Allergy Landscape

It is no surprise that restaurants always need to be able to adapt.  On a frequent basis customers' tastes can change, the FDA can make a key ingredient illegal, or the price of food can make cooking a particular dish highly impractical.  These challenges can often be overcome by simple menu tweaks and innovations.  However, what happens when two of the primary ingredients in almost every dish suddenly become something that has to be monitored so closely that some customers will stop coming to the restaurant all together?

This is exactly what is happening across America lately.  More and more Americans are being diagnosed as celiac and lactose intolerant.  This means that executive chefs across the country must drastically change their menus to curtail the usage of wheat and milk in their dishes.  These two ingredients are among the most commonly used ingredients in many recipes.  It's difficult for people with both of these allergies to shop to find sufficient food in a grocery store to meet their dietary needs.  It is much harder for a chef to change the entire menu to accommodate this need.  However, if he or she does not, then the restaurant risks losing a significant amount of its customer base.

While this is a significant challenge, it is not impossible.  Chefs have already begun adding gluten and dairy free items to their menus with great success.  The key to this is awareness.  All menus include a small disclaimer asking patrons to tell their server if they have a food allergy.  By promoting awareness, chefs can adapt individual dishes to meet their customers needs instead of changing the entire menu to ensure that no one in the restaurant is affected by any of the allergens.  As allergies become more and more prevalent in the United States, it is important that both restaurateurs and patrons alike join together to promote awareness detail in food preparation.