Back in August, you told some of your shareholders that you’d need to increase the price of your pizza about 11 to 14 cents to “shallow out” the cost increases the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) would burden your business with. And when the cost of business increases, ultimately prices go up, right? I can’t argue with that; although some people tried to — notably Forbes magazine, which published an article with a lot of fancy math that basically boiled down to this: The price increase you proposed would likely result in revenue for the company totaling far, far above the $5-$8 million cost increase you estimated you would be trying to offset.
Continue reading Dear (Papa) John
All posts by INDUSTRY STANDARD by Marsha Lynch
Smashing pumpkinsMarsha Lynch – Industry Standard,
Like most everyone else who lives in temperate climes, I enjoy the changing of the seasons. The beauty of a snow-covered hillside. That first warm day of spring when you leave the coat at home. When I was a child, I couldn’t wait for the week the pool opened.
But fall, I am putting you on notice. A season so pretentious it sometimes uses an alternate name (oh, we’re “autumn” today, are we?), so vain it paints itself in gaudy colors, so filled with political campaign signs and so chock-full of pre-holiday madness you can’t seem to catch your breath. And on top of all that, a season so rife with squashes and root vegetables that I’ll probably have to buy a new vegetable peeler.
Continue reading Smashing pumpkinsMarsha Lynch – Industry Standard,
Movable Feasts
Finally it’s picnic weather again — the shank end of the season. Who doesn’t love a picnic? Only the most hardened cynics and eye-rolling hipsters could ever admit to such with a straight face. Get out your favorite cookbook; you know, the one with the gingham-checked cover. You’ll need loads of eggs to devil, lots of sliced meats, cheeses and breads; perhaps a roasted chicken or two. A bottle of wine, some fruit, and don’t skimp on the cookies. Ready to go, yes? Whoops, nearly forgot the blanket.
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Stylin’
We’re going to do it. You can’t stop us, and you don’t really want to. Food styling!
Culinary professionals all over the world (and amateurs, too) are fixated on making food photos look luscious, inviting and perfect. As technology improves on an ascending curve, it’s easier than ever for everyone to do. So I’m inviting you to come down on one side of the fence or the other: Should images of food be manipulated like the airbrushed models on fashion magazine covers? Or should they be as candid as the mug shots in Crime Times?
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Eighty-sixed
“Eighty-six!” We sling this slang around a lot in restaurant kitchens: Eighty-six means the cooks have run out of a menu item, as in, “Eighty-six the trout!” When something’s eighty-sixed, it means there is no more forthcoming – nada, zip, zilch – at least for now.
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Embrace beginnings and ends
There’s a handful of movies I just cannot turn past when channel surfing: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Jaws,” “Carrie,” “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “War of the Worlds” (yes, the Tom Cruise version) to name a few.
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Covering and protecting our own
Did you know that many independent restaurant workers don’t have employer-subsidized health insurance? They are out there, going insurance-style commando with their fingers crossed. If they get injured at work, worker’s compensation should cover their medical expenses. But what if something else happens? What if they get mugged, or involved in a car accident while off the clock? What if their utilities get turned off because they couldn’t work for a couple of weeks due to an injury or illness, and they have children who will be affected?
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Urgency
There’s a meme that echoes throughout the restaurant industry: a sense of urgency. Great cooks and servers have a “sense of urgency” — even when there’s no emergency. I think the first time I heard the phrase, I was watching a Food Network show where several cooks were trying out in a restaurant kitchen to see which one had the juice to get a job there. One of the judges said a contestant didn’t seem to have a sense of urgency: She didn’t move around the kitchen as if anything was crucial or even very important. It appeared that she thought she had all day to complete her current task, rather than execute it with maximum efficiency and quickly pivot to the next one.
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Soldiers of the kitchen
I remember with pleasure and deep gratitude the first time I was paid a sincere compliment in a professional kitchen. As a recent culinary-school graduate, I was working a very busy pantry shift in a downtown restaurant on a “show night.” (A “show night” means there are one or more concerts, plays or sporting events in the area; nearby restaurants get hit hard just before curtain or buzzer time.)
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So you want to open a restaurant?
You absolutely love good food and love dining out. Perhaps you’re preparing for semi-retirement. Maybe you worked in a restaurant when you were younger (or do so now). You have some money saved, or somehow miraculously have a funding source — a backer, a fan, a parent — someone with a fat checkbook who believes in you and your talents. You’re inspired by your culinary experiences and think, “Hey, why not? Let’s open a restaurant!”
Continue reading So you want to open a restaurant?