At Restaurant Operations & Culinary Inc., our goal is to assist our partners in any way possible from small projects and services to single and multi-unit rollouts to concept development and purchases. In this current market, times are tough and getting the most out of your dollar and business is critical.

ROC offers customized services and rates to provide our restaurant partners /clients the best value for their overall business. ROC services is an investment potential partners can make for their businesses that will give them an increased ROI on their overall business. We are available around the clock which includes weekends and holidays… we work restaurant hours! ROC prides itself on exceeding our partners’ expectations and services with honesty, integrity and professionalism.

Feel free to contact us at any time with any questions you might have or ROC can come visit you at your location and we can discuss what ROC can do for your business.

Rocky Tarantello

Hello from Eastern Europe! Not the first place you think of when it comes to great food, right?  Well, I wanted to find out for myself, so I decided to kick the summer off with a trip to the Czech Republic in search of great food, new restaurants, hot trends and old world techniques.

A quick flight through Germany (airport in Dusseldorf). Everywhere you look, you find farm raised, organic “fast” food and advertising. Love the concept! What a difference from the US standards!

There is no denying the history you feel when you are in this part of the world. The architecture is amazing and the connection you feel when walking through these old towns and villages is undeniable. The first stop was to get to the farms and find out what grows great in the earth over here. It’s much like the US where different climates produce better ingredients then others. Most of the seasons are pretty close to the Northern US climate. Summer is a great season for fresh vegetables likes wax beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, radish, kales, cauliflower and other root vegetables. All those are amazing right now!

At a local Czech farmer’s market. The pastry was amazing! Can you tell?

So, you ask how did I find great produce around here? Easy! I bought some of the local product and worked backwards from there.  I went to the farmers markets in the local town square, talked to the farmers and showed interest in what they do. Since farmers have a passion for farming and they are proud of they they do, they are usually willing to share with you what they grow. They proudly show the fruits of their labor. And rightfully so! If you’re lucky enough you get an invitation to their farm where you can cook for the family and repay the farmer for their kind offerings.

I bought fresh vegetables for lunch and dinner and then some. The farmer Hana was so welcoming, we ended up taking a picture and talking more about her little farm not far from the town of Frydek-Mistek.

Stay tuned to find out if I made it on the farm. I’ll also share more stories from roaming the Eastern European country in search of great food.

Until then…“Chow Chow”,

Rocky

www.rocinc1.com

Like most Chefs out there I am sure you forgot to include your pantry on the annual list of “holiday” cleaning, didn’t you?  Well, it’s a new year and the perfect time to get down and dirty. Let’s clean the pantry, shall we?

Step 1. Take out all your spices, oils and sauces and lay them all out on the kitchen counter placing them in some organized fashion (spices, oils, sauces, specialty items).

How to clean your pantry.
www.rocinc1.com

Step 2: Go through each one. Smell, taste and visually look at the quality of each item.

Check the expiration date to evaluate if they are still fresh and good to consume.Write an inventory of what bad products you have thrown away and what products you have left. Knowing what you have in your pantry will help you when you are creating food in your kitchen .

Great Tip: As you start throwing stuff away, put the breakables into a sturdy box. Throw everything else in a garbage bag. 

Discarded spices

Discarded breakables: bottles of oils and sauces

Think Green – can you recycle any of the spice bottles? They are wonderful to keep for your own herbs that you may be growing in the garden or a leftover stock, vinaigrette, etc. 

Think Green – recycle the empty spice bottles.

Step 3: Organize your pantry

One good idea is to organize your pantry by ethnicity – Asian , Italian , Mexican, etc.  This will make it easier to cook on those nacho nights or when you have an unexpected company. As you reorganize, keep the ingredients you use the most up front and eye level. The ingredients you use the least go up high and in the back. Remember to keep your favorite few spices that you use all the time handy. I keep mine on top of my stove.

Organize your pantry
www.rocinc1.com

Step 4: Take an inventory

As you are placing your spices, oils and sauces back into the cabinet, take an inventory. When finished, stick it to the inside of the pantry cabinet as a quick reference sheet. The sheet will help to remind you what flavors you have in the pantry. More importantly, it will get your creative juices flowing even before you decide what you will cook.

Take an inventory and keep it updated.

Great Tip: Take a picture of the inventory on your phone. Anytime you shop, you can refer to it and replenish what’s missing.

Follow these 4 easy steps to a better pantry and to be a better Chef in your own kitchen. If you follow them and keep up with them, you will SAVE money! How? By shopping only what you need to replenish and by not having to throw away expired food. That’s a win win situation in my book!

Look what I found in my pantry? 3 salad toppings, one brand new, one half way used, one expired. Save money by only replenishing your missing items.

Phew…Mission Accomplished!

Mission Accomplished! An organized pantry.
www.rocinc1.com

Onto the next conquest the pot and pan cabinet!

How do you organize your pantry? Send me a note, I’d love to hear from you!

Website: www.rocinc1.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rocinc1

Twitter: www.twitter.com/rockytarantello (@chefrockyt)

Now, hear comes the Chef rant! I first realized working in San Fransico learning from a great Master Sommelier Peter Granoff, that wine is meant to be drank with food and that when paired properly they enhance each other much more. I know this first hand after going to many wine classes and tastings. Over the years I discovered my palette never tasted all the flavors in the wine until I ate some food. Then I was able to identify the characteristics and nuances of the wine. What I am saying is when you sit down and order a bottle of Pinot Grigio, then some of your guests order steaks, you can already expect this pairing to taste terrible and ruin both the wine and steak.

My recommendation that I have been doing with my service staff for years is to let the guest order their apps and entrees first and then help them match the best wine that complements the food. I know what your gonna say. What if a four-top orders all different entrees? My answer to that is easy.  Don’t push a bottle and instead suggest individual glasses. Most likely you’ll end up selling more wine because each person will drink two glasses each (on average). Customers like to drink at their own pace not having to worry about taking too much from the rest of the table. More importantly, everyone’s food will be paired properly with their wine and create a much better experience for your guest.

So, the next time you are dinning at your favorite restaurant let your server know your food selection first. Then ask for their wine suggestions that best match your choices. Or, better yet, ask the Chef what he suggest. He created the food after all, right?

Thanks, as always for reading.

Chef Rocky

Service / Check Average

1. Refresh your staff on the core foundation of stellar service – attentive, courteous, anticipating guest’s needs, accuracy of orders, warm welcomes and fond goodbyes. Doing these simple things for your guest equals a repeat customer.

2. The second piece to training your staff good customer service is driving the check average. Teach them how to read the guest’s needs and make sensible suggestions. Some examples are suggesting to share an appetizer, grabbing a fellow service member walking with food and showing it to the table. Nothing gets a guest more excited than seeing the food on the plate! Teach your staff to suggest all aspects of your food and beverage to your guest. It is proven that when a server is taught or taste a product before service their sales go up in that category. Want to sell more coffee, train! Cigars, train! Dessert, train! Specials, train! Getting the picture?

Vino Vino

Just to show you the power of wine sales, look at my sales equation:

Option a) 2 appetizers -$7 + 2 desserts -$7 + 2 cups of coffee -$3 = $34
Option b) One bottle of Kendall-Jackson Reserve $38

Now ask yourself what is easier to sell to your guest and which option has a better profit margin. Training can be as simple as having a wine tasting with your menu items. You can also go as in depth as having an outside trainer come in for a two hour class.  Keep in mind that the more educated your staff is the the more wine sales your restaurant will do.

Daily Food Specials

Ok. I have my Chef hat on for this one. Ready? I have witnessed this over my Chef career so many times – servers fumbling trying to recite the specials for the night. Now, let me say this first. It is the Chef’s responsibility to teach and educate their staff. The Chef’s biggest fans is the staff. Unless they are “emotionally connected” to the food, they are not going to sell it with passion and conviction. Ultimately, the daily specials that the Chef works so hard on and that drive more revenue for the restaurant will not perform (sell) as expected.  Now having said all that. You, the restaurant owner, must support and encourage the Chef to take interest in the education and training of the staff. I take training of my staff even one step further! I conduct post service one-on-one sessions with those staff members who struggle throughout the night. My goal is to help them do a better job of selling and thus making more money for themselves and the restaurant. From my experience I can tell you that this extra help is always appreciated. The staff members seem to respond to the personalized training in a very positive way and usually bounce back the very next shift with great sales. Win win for all!

Invest in  your own people. Give them the right support, encouragement, tools, resources and knowledge. If you do, you will not only develop a team that is emotionally connected to your brand (your food), but you will notice a quick ROI.

I hope you find my tips helpful. As always thank you for reading. If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with me, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Rocky

rocky@rocinc1.com

www.rocinc1.com

I can tell you from experience that people will go to Restaurant B first for a few reasons: 1) It’s a personalized invitation to come in, 2) It’s free and no cost to the guest, 3) It’s genuine and not a marketing gimmick. Guests can see right through that and sometimes are turned off by flyers, and 4) It’s different. Good marketing needs to stand out from the normal techniques to be effective.

Now which marketing plan is cheaper? I’m sure all you restaurant skeptics are saying the flyer! I can hear you now. “I’m not giving away free food and drinks. I’ll go out of business!” The biggest marketing tool you have in your restaurant is food and beverage. I can throw a party for a 100 people for a buck a person. To do flyers you have to pay for graphics, postage, buying of zip codes and when it’s all said and done your marketing looks like every other restaurant marketing program. I have been doing this type of low cost guerrilla marketing for years and it is the most effective marketing from a cost and return on investment perspective.

So when marketing in 2013 utilize your food and beverage. Get out there and hit the streets or a simpler way is to hire ROCinc to do it for you. Thanks for reading everyone. Stay tuned for more tips!
Rocky

P.S. Do you know how much you spent on marketing in 2012? You should!

I hope all my fellow restauranteurs have a great holiday and a Happy New Year!!
Rocky (Not Drunk or Broke, two out of three isn’t bad lol)

1. What are the competition doing around you? Make sure your in line with what your competitors are doing or better yet below their price point if you can. Guest shop restaurants to find the best deals and prices.
2. History Homework! – Study your own history from the previous years on what worked what didn’t and where you need to improve your business from years past. It only helps you become more efficient and provide a better experience for your guest.
3. Chefs Study the P-mix. – Chefs don’t go all crazy on the big day for the most part guest just want great upscale food well cooked! Not Foie Gras french toast with poached duck egg, cured wild boar bacon and truffle syrup (not kidding saw this a few years back on a NYE menu). Look at what sold last year and build around it. Keep in mind that you need something for everyone on your menu, one couple who can’t fine anything on your menu that they like can veto your restaurant for the entire party. (P-mix= Product Mix of sold items)

Getting out in front of the holiday clearly gives you advantages over the competition. Simply put think of how many guest call, visit or social media your restaurant from now until NYE 100’s ? 1000’s? Those are potential NYE guest you can tell and promote your big event to. As always send questions and thanks for reading.

1. Optimize Your Seating – Sitting a 2 top at a 4 top just cost you two seats and two diners sales. Mapping out your reservations properly to fill all your seats is just as important as filling them. Also shy away from large parties (10p or more) they can take up your seating and you can loose a table turn throughput the night.
2. Drive Your Check Average – Creating a set menu for the special day to guarantee a set check average from your customers helps assure you will receive top dollar for the big day. (Note- be sure to add value by upscaling your menu for your guest, they are willing to pay a little more for this day but they want something different then what they usually get at your restaurant)
3. Be Creative – Think outside the box, add some temporary seating, create a late night cocktail party for your dinner guest with a open bar for a set price. Pre sell bottles of champagne by suggestive selling when guest make their reservations all these things add up to $$$

I hope these tips help start your New Years off to a profitable year in 2013!

As always feel free to contact me with your questions.

Rocky