Look after your staff because healthy, happy staff are not only good for your soul but good for your business Wander around the back streets of any big city and you'll see shadowy figures in chefs' whites and waiters' get-ups, clutching...
New air-conditioning legislation designed to help reduce global warming comes into force this month A new piece of environmental legislation will come into force on July 4 which will affect all restaurants with air conditioning. The new F-gas ...
Nobody wants to bar a customer, but if you feel there really isn't any choice, here are some ways of doing it right. Barring customers is an uncomfortable thing for most restaurateurs, and getting anyone to acknowledge that it happens is very ...
Fine dining Nottingham favourite picks up top prize again World Service in Nottingham has reclaimed the title of Nottingham Restaurant of the Year in the 2007 awards. The restaurant, in Nottingham's Lace Market, won the award in three consecutive...
The biggest single charge that a restaurateur has to pay is usually the rent, and with most leases specifying five yearly rent reviews (although there are some that have them every three or four years), it's worth getting to grips with how they ...
Here is a good scam for you restaurant owners keen to bolster your profits. Offer fresh mint tea and fresh ginger tea. Put a few leaves of the herb or a few slices of the root (don't bother peeling) into a teapot, add boiling water and charge ...
Restaurants are under increasing pressure to reduce levels of salt in food. Here's how to do it It is a widely acknowledged fact that much of the UK's population eats too much salt. Government guidelines recommend no more than 6g a day for ...
Terry Durack of The Independent on Sunday Review picked up the Restaurant Critic's award at the Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards 2007 at a ceremony held at Sketch in London's Mayfair. Judges, which included restaurateur Bruce Poole of Chez...
Of course we all want to keep the customer happy, but what about when they're just plain wrong? The customer is always right. Aren't they? What about if one goose-stepped up and down in front of a group of horrified German diners, shouting ...
Chef turnover is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, generating massive annual costs, recruitment expert David McHattie suggests ways to tackle the £95m question When you last recruited a chef, the chances are it took you a while .
The first contact a potential guest makes with a restaurant is what will keep them coming back A casual enquiry about the price of the set lunch; a request for a copy of the menu; a reservation for two on a Saturday night. From surprisingly small ...
A rise in expendable income means diners are likely to eat out more, but this is no time to sit back and relax It's never been more important for restaurateurs to get really good at marketing. Customers are more choosy about where they spend ...
Selected by the largest, most internationally diverse panel yet, with 22 voting regions worldwide, Restaurant magazine presents the list everyone's been waiting for...The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants How we did it The academy system of voting that...
When a customer's big night out finally comes around, it's vital that service meets expectations You've been planning this meal for a long time, the reservations were made months ago. The food is excellent, the building is beautiful, but...
Restaurateurs are advised to pay attention to the latest amendments to the Work and Families Act With the introduction of the new Work and Families Act at the beginning of April, restaurateurs need to ensure they're up to speed with the changes ...
Waiting on tables is all about serving the customer, not a management brief, writes Fay Maschler The brief encounter that is the relationship between a waiter and a customer in a restaurant is fraught with the same difficulties that attended Celia ...
Silver service or pub grub? We ask those behind some of the most successful gastropubs how they strike the balance It's a familiar scenario. You knock back a couple of halves in the downstairs bar, ascend the rickety staircase to the dining room...
After a High Court case making employers liable for staff harassment, there's a very real risk that robbery could hit you twice over if you don't take precautions Restaurateurs risk claims of negligence if they fail to protect their staff ...
Bar dining is the height of fashion, with many restaurants catching on. It’s a good look, but only if you get it right Trendwatchers, particularly those who visit New York with any regularity, will be well aware of the trend for bar dining. ...
Breakfast is the perfect time to put distance between yourself and the competition The nature of a successful breakfast service is speed and numbers, getting as many customers in and out as quickly as you can. Employing staff with the right attitude,...
All aboard!Restaurant magazine's College Restaurant of the Year Awards for 2007 went with a splash on the Thames It was a night to remember – 100 catering college students celebrating their success on board The Symphony cruising the River ...
Fernando Stovell, Head Chef at the Cuckoo Club in the West End of London, lays out his armoury of essential tools for the kitchen Fernando Stovell worked for four years in the Wellington Club in London before moving to the Cuckoo Club in 2006. ...
A new High Court ruling has made the employer liable for any sexual harassment, be it boisterous, discontented or amorous, of their staff at the hands of the public A new law has been passed in which the High Court ruled conclusively that employers ...
How to keep your restaurant and staff in line with the new H&S regulations Three out of five restaurants in the UK admitted putting false information in their health and safety, food safety and fire safety books in order to pass inspections, ...
A successful ‘no reservations' policy means you'll need to learn line management When the L'Atelier concept came to London, it opened with a ‘no bookings' policy normal to chains. That changed only a few weeks after ...
Fay Maschler ponders the apparent evolution of restaurant PR and finds many a missing link My late, much-missed pal Alan Crompton-Batt was often credited with having invented the profession of restaurant PR. It was in the early 1980s, after he got ...
As new laws make employers liable for employing illegal workers, the Home Office offers some guidance The Home Office has launched a new toolkit to help restaurateurs who hire migrant workers to stay on the right side of the law. This follows the ...
Alex Renton wrestles with the notion of a truly green restaurant and empathises with Pizza Express workers My new restaurant idea is the Carbonara Neutral: at this serious-minded neighbourhood ‘organo-bistro', electricity will be generated ..
It's all about you – but remember, when it comes to effective CVs and applications, it's what potential employers want to see that counts When a busy manager receives hundreds of applications for a single position on their staff, very ...
Tragus, owned by Blackstone, has bought Ma Potters restaurant company, which includes the Ma Potters Bar Restaurant and Chargrill brands, for £14.15m. The 16 UK sites are predominantly in shopping centres and have an average of 100 covers per ...
Why the Boisdale has decided to bottle its very own series of limited edition single malts I felt like I had finally made it. To my right was sitting a beautiful columnist from Wallpaper, to my left was the editor of Whisky Magazine. Other guests ...
The highs and lows of energy costs vs energy savings, and some balancing incentives With energy prices at an all-time high, it is becoming increasingly important for restaurants to take a closer look at their energy-saving methods and technologies. ...
How one restaurant has set the record straight A libel verdict in the Northern Ireland High Court earlier this month may help to give reviewers pause for thought and affronted restaurateurs greater confidence in setting the record straight. In August...
Fay Maschler digests the new-look Red guide to London and is struck by its methods and its madness Derek Bulmer, Editor of Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2007, has been quoted – in this very magazine – as saying that ...
You don't need a big kitchen to produce great food, but you do need to be organised. That's the message from chefs who work wonders in small spaces When it comes to kitchens, it's true that size doesn't matter, it's what you do...
Going all the way to please your guests is a must when it comes to giving exceptional service Service is second nature to the hospitality industry, going out of your way for your guests should be par for the course. Enzo Cassini, General Manager at ...
When buying or selling a restaurant as a going concern the process can be riddled with potential pitfalls. So how can restaurateurs be sure they are making the right decision and ensure they get the best deal? Reasons to buy include: to increase ...
How to prepare for the environmental legislation coming into force in July The WEEE directive, which stands for waste of electrical and electronic equipment and deals with how electrical appliances are disposed of at the end of their lives, will come...
Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney on how they plan to keep the quality high and get the staff in place as they get ready to take Roka and Zuma worldwide Rainer Becker has probably thanked his hairdresser more than a few times. I'm not talking about ...
Toss the old '70s carcass aside for a sharp new-wave carvery When the news broke that Posh Spice had taken her kids to a Toby Carvery for lunch, the nation gasped. Surely even La Beckham's blessing couldn't save these '70s throwbacks?...
Jean-Luc Naret is the public face of Michelin and the man navigating Les Guides Rouges into the 21st century Jean-Luc Naret has the perfect poker face. Sat in the lounge of Lanesborough hotel, the week before the announcement of this year's Great...
Don't trust to providence, provide for yourself If you are a restaurant owner, fit and well with a bustling business, a pension may be the last thing on your mind. After all, your business is your pension, right? Well, maybe, but to ensure you ...
Pourcel brothers pull out of Pulze partnership deal at 11th hour The Pourcel brothers have pulled out of the partnership deal with Claudio Pulze to take over ailing fine dining French restaurant W'Sens and turn it into a more mid-market concept....
To win the battle against bacteria, scrub your staff daily and make sure their habits are clean The chef wipes his nose with his hand and then dips a soiled finger into the sauce to taste it. The waiter bringing the starters to the table has an ...
It’s time to sort out the inconsistencies surrounding service charge in the uk. That’s our mission for 2007 and we need you to lead the debate. By 2008 we hope to have a solution that suits everybody.
To help restaurateurs save money and the planet, free workshops are available from the LDA Being energy efficient and minimising waste is not just about benefiting the environment, it is also a great way to save restaurateurs money and improve ...
Knowing about good food and having great presentation skills simply isn't enough if you're thinking about jacking in the day job to become a restaurateur say first-timers You're sociable. You give dinner parties. You have ‘mine ...
If you reckon museum food is tired and boring, think again. Forward-thinking operators are dusting off its image and upping the takings A top-name chef and museum food isn't a traditional pairing. Usually, those unfortunate enough to be struck by...
Brand extensions of restaurant food can be a lucrative sector to get into, but only if it matches the reputation of your business ;You cannot bottle the experience, but you can ensure that when the customer uses the products at home they are of ...
At around this time each year, since around about 2004, I, along with my colleagues at Restaurant, have been forced to pause, scratch my chins and magic up a list of candidates for The Lifetime Achievement Award. Given out in April each year as part ..
