The National Restaurant Association (NRA) launched the the third annual NRA Show Hot Chef Challenge 2010 this week, inviting professional chefs to submit a video to www.youtube.com of themselves preparing their favorite recipe using fresh produce.
YouTube users will rate the video submission to select the top three finalists, from which one will be chosen as the winner by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. The winner will travel to Chicago to showcase his or her winning recipe and cook alongside Samuelsson at the 2010 NRA Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show’s World Culinary Showcase on May 22 at McCormick Place. The winner will also receive accommodations for three days and two nights at the Affinia Hotel Chicago and a special dinner with wine pairings at Samuelsson's Chicago restaurant C-House.
Interested chefs and cooks should submit an original video demonstrating their recipe at www.youtube.com/hotchef2010 or www.restaurant.org/show by April 29. Videos should be no longer than two minutes and recipes must include at least one fresh produce item, plus any other ingredients of their choice.
Contributed by Dave Mischler, Inner Circle Chicago
It is no secret that 2009 was tough for a lot of restaurant owners. However, 2010 is setting up to be a year of growth for many businesses, and there is no reason your restaurant cannot be a part of that. There are some straightforward but important steps that you can take to help reinvigorate your business' performance and get it on track to achieve your long-term goals.
Clarify your direction
Initially, it is critical to clearly understand where your business is headed. Look at your current situation with a fresh set of eyes and then establish goals for where you would like it to be. Do not be constrained by what you think is likely to happen. Consider what you want, what you really want, first.
Of course, every owner wants to become successful and build a profitable business. But this year, start with realistic, "stretch" goals. For example, you might consider making it a goal to take more time to analyze metrics for efficiency opportunities or hold more regular staff meetings. Push yourself just a little, and then break your goals down into pieces while designating milestones to measure progress.
Create accountability
Once you have decided upon your goals, it is crucial to build in accountability for yourself. How will you ensure that these things will happen? What systems, processes or people are you going to put in place to drive them to completion? If you are not willing to put such checks and balances on your own actions, re-examine your goals. Without true accountability you may be setting yourself up for mediocre results. However, if you are able to create these assurances with meaningful deadlines, you have taken an important step to improving your business.
Open up
When you run a restaurant, it is easy to get stuck by yourself at the top. With no one to talk to about the business, your own blind spots, knowledge gaps and shortcomings can get in the way of success. Let's face it, nobody does everything well. The problem is many owners prefer not to rely on others--they have an urge to try to do it all.
Open yourself to accepting help. First, while it might not seem to make sense right away, consider hiring to fill the roles that take you away from performing the most critical functions. Owners often do not take this step and lose out on the opportunity to serve their own "highest and best use." But doing so might be another significant step to building your business.
Second, look for support organizations in your area. Peer-to-peer advisory groups are a great way to harness the experiences of other business owners who are facing the same problems. Groups like this can offer you the opportunity to identify solutions to your business problems while at the same time strengthening your skills as an owner and the leader of your company.
Third, if you already have the staff to support some of this effort, move past fears of delegating. Putting trust in someone else with the vital elements of running your company is a critical rite of passage for building a business. Thus, if you truly want growth, this step is necessary and unavoidable. Doing so will afford you the time to lead the initiatives that really drive success and stop turning you into the choke point to progress.
Monitor your work/life balance
Running your own business is complex, and the strain it puts on your personal life can be counterproductive for the business in the long run. All too often, business owners become so consumed by their businesses that they forget to enjoy important events and everyday moments in their personal lives.
Letting life pass you by can have a huge impact how you run your business. An unhappy business owner has greater difficulties becoming a successful business owner because a person's mental outlook can negatively or positively affect how everything else falls into place.
This year, take some time to examine your business life and your personal life to identify those areas that are not working as well as you would like. Understand that sometimes you need to let go of control, trust in others and, most importantly, trust in yourself. Also, be mindful of your stress levels. Just because you own a business does not mean you need to be there 24 hours a day.
Get excited about your business again
The fact of the matter is that 2009 was among the most challenging times restaurants have ever seen. But, you have weathered the storm and you can take pride in that accomplishment. To capitalize on that in 2010, get yourself excited about the business again. Consider the possibilities and let yourself dream just a bit. Remember the energy and enthusiasm you had when you first started your restaurant, then re-inject that vigor into your business today.
With just the right kind of extra effort, you can make 2010 your best year ever.
Dave Mischler, president of Inner Circle Chicago, is managing director and facilitator for several Inner Circle Chicago groups. His unique background in topics from accounting to marketing and business development has enabled him to gain both a broad and deep perspective on business challenges. To learn more about Inner Circle Chicago, visit www.il1.theinnercircle.com.
Optimism in the foodservice packaging industry is up this year compared to last year, according to the results of the Foodservice Packaging Institute's (FPI) Foodservice Packaging Industry Surveys, released earlier this month. The surveys gauge the state of the industry among top manufacturers and their suppliers in North America and Europe as well as operators and distributors.
According to one of the surveys, 82 percent of foodservice packaging manufacturers in North America expect their sales volumes to be better this year than last, up from 42 percecnt in 2009. The surveys also found that 55 percent of North American manufacturers expect their profits to be better than last year, which is on par with 2009 expectations.
The foodservice packaging industry's customers also are more optimistic this year than they were in 2009. According to 53 percent of North American foodservice operators surveyed, sales are expected to be better this year. This is a slight increase from 2009. Among foodservice packaging distributors surveyed, 67 percent said they expect 2010 to be better than last year.
For more information, visit FPI's Web site.
The California Raisin Marketing Board (CRMB) is calling on entries from professional and student bakers for the third annual America's Best Raisin Bread Contest. The contest, open now through Aug. 16, has expanded the categories of artisan and commercial breads to now include breakfast breads such as rolls, pastries, scones and coffee cakes containing California raisins.
Preliminary judging will take place in September to select nine finalists from each professional category to participate in the final bake-off, which will take place at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan., Oct. 14 to 16. The winners will receive a five-day California vacation with visits to the Culinary Institute of America, Yosemite National Park and the San Joaquin Valley--the home of California raisins.
The contest application, complete set of rules and examples of past winning formulas are available online.
The United Fresh Research & Education Foundation has named the winners of the 2010 Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards. The awards, sponsored by Pro*Act, will be presented at United Fresh 2010, April 20 to 23 in Las Vegas.
Winners were selected in five business categories from nearly 100 nominations submitted by produce companies and restaurants across the industry. The 2010 winners in each category are:
Business in Industry and Colleges
Fred Reynaud, corporate executive chef of Guest Services Inc., Fairfax, Va.
Casual and Family Dining
Christopher Jackson, executive chef/owner of Ted & Honey, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fine Dining
Sydney Meers, chef/owner of Stove, The Restaurant, Portsmouth, Va.
Hotels and Health care
Michael Reich, executive chef of Renaissance Chicago Hotel, Chicago
Quick Service
Thomas John, senior vice president and executive chef of Au Bon Pain, Boston
For more information, visit www.unitedfresh.org.
SPONSORED POST
Enter the Grade Me Recipe Contest for foodservice professionals, sponsored by Bush Brothers! Contestants have until May 14 to submit to www.grademerecipecontest.com an original side dish that incorporates at least one Bush's Best product. Anyone who visits the Grade Me Recipe Contest Web site can vote on the entries using an A to F scale. Contestants will have the chance to win $5,000 or an XL Big Green Egg grill in addition to being showcased as a Bush Brothers featured chef. Voting ends May 31, and the winners will be notified by June 11. For more information, visit www.grademerecipecontest.com.
This week, Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association (NRA), issued the following statement outlining the NRA's concerns with the U.S. House passage of a health care reform bill.
"On behalf of the association representing the nation's second-largest private-sector employer, we are very concerned about the impact many of the provisions in this health care bill would have on the restaurant industry. The changes included in the modified version of the bill would severely and negatively impact restaurants by weakening the small business exemption, increasing penalties on employers and imposing onerous administrative burdens on the industry.
"The NRA has worked actively during the past year to advocate for provisions in the bill that would protect the industry and was successful in achieving several improvements. When changes to the final version of the bill were announced last week, the NRA Board's Executive Committee voted unanimously to publicly oppose the legislation.
"We are committed to reducing costs in the health care system and expanding health care coverage for the industry's workforce. However, we are extremely concerned that the health care bill that passed [March 21] will impose tremendous burdens on America's restaurants and hurt our industry's ability to create and sustain jobs.
"We will continue to look for every opportunity and explore every avenue to create jobs, strengthen the economy and protect the restaurant industry as this legislation moves forward to the Senate, as well as in the regulatory process. We will ask the Senate to address the protections for small businesses when they take up the reconciliation provisions. In particular, we call on them to address the provisions regarding part-time workers, which will directly impact the creation of jobs during this critical time for our country."
For more information, visit the NRA's health care resource center.
This fall, chef Ferran Adrià will join chef/restaurateur José Andrés to teach a course on culinary physics at Harvard University, according to an article in The Washington Post. In the 13-week course, students will attend chef demonstrations, labs and physics lectures to learn the structure and characteristics of techniques such as emulsions and foams.
The news comes on the heels of Adrià 's announcement last month that he would close his famed El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain. In 2014, the restaurant will become a foundation that gives culinary scholarships to avant-garde chefs. Read the full article here.
Coinciding with the National Peanut Board's (NPB) 10th anniversary and National Peanut Month, NPB held its "Peanuts: Energy for the Good Life" event in Washington, D.C., attracting more than 150 attendees from Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as the culinary industry.
Chefs Katsuya Fukushima, Brian Voltaggio and R.J. Cooper with kids from Brainfood
Brainfood, a nonprofit organization that promotes active learning and healthy living in kids through culinary activities, was the recipient of NPB's Energizing for Great Causes award. D.C.-area chefs R.J. Cooper, Brian Voltaggio and Katsuya Fukushima created globally inspired canapés and dishes for the luncheon featuring U.S.-grown peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil and peanut flour. And more than 100 different retail peanut products were showcased for attendees.
About
Chef's Stirrings is the official blog of Chef Magazine, the industry publication for restaurant and foodservice professionals. The blog offers culinary news and online exclusives from the editors ofChef.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) launched the the third annual NRA Show Hot Chef Challenge 2010 this week, inviting professional chefs to submit a video to www.youtube.com of themselves preparing their favorite recipe using fresh produce.
