Continue to Site >>>

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Articles by
Patricia Cobe

Page 168

My best mistake

"I lost my cool—at the wrong person."— Kat Cole, President, CinnabonAccording to a business fable that’s made the rounds, a mid-level executive...

Breaking the stainless steel ceiling

Recent research from the National Restaurant Association reveals that nearly 50 percent of restaurants are now owned by women. The impact of this stat was in full view on Wednesday, June 29, when several renowned female chef-owners gathered with a group of illustrious women in the culinary field for lunch at Millesime in New York City. I was privileged to take part in this delicious and lively experience, in which we dined on an expertly prepared multi-course lunch accompanied by spirited conversation on breaking the barriers to success in the restaurant industry.

Simplifying the seafood supply chain

High prices and spotty supply are not the only challenges restaurants face when purchasing seafood. The seafood supply chain has a reputation for being fragmented and inefficient.

The quest for the perfect lobster roll

The only way I got through the long, icy winter we recently endured was by dreaming about sunny summer beach days. The beaches in the Northeast are some of the most beautiful in the world. And for sunbathers looking for great eats, close to the sand and waves are shacks, stands and restaurants serving up the best lobster rolls in the world.

How to attract locals to a hotel restaurant

When Christopher Cramer took over as executive chef at the Sonesta Bayfront in the Coconut Grove area of Miami, the restaurant was a cookie-cutter dining venue geared to hotel guests. A menu of standard-issue steaks, burgers and salads didn’t do much to excite local residents and workers.

Wheying the options

Dairy prices seem to be going up faster than cream rises to the top of a vat of milk. While relative bargains were available when cheese prices crashed in January 2009, there's been a surge upward since then. To ease the pain, some operators can cut down on the number of cheesy appetizers and entrees they serve, but concepts that focus on pizza, cheeseburgers, enchiladas and quesadillas simply can't do without it.

Eating my way through NRA 2011

I always approach the aisles of the National Restaurant Show with a plan: hit my favorite coffee places first for a cup of extra-bold java or a latte, then snack on samples of bacon, cheese and bread so I can have “breakfast” before the big graze begins. This year started out the same, as I walked the floor at Chicago’s massive McCormick Place, but I soon got caught up in a feeding frenzy, elbowed by the thousands of attendees all vying to taste the latest and greatest of 2011.

Financing

What's happening at the table across the pond

Restaurant Business sat down with Peter Backman, managing director with Horizons, a London-based foodservice consultancy, to compare restaurant trends in the U.S. and the U.K.

Catching the spirit of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic kicked off with its 2011 gala. An estimated 3,000 revelers in cocktail party garb—none of whom seemed like sober scholars—traversed the four floors, sampling handcrafted cocktails at 100 stations manned by the industry’s master mixologists.

How to do a TV cooking demo

Bottom line: A very specific need here: a restaurant needs to do a cooking demo on TV and doesn’t know best practices. If they do it right not only will...

The logistics of serving 500 tasting portions to a crowd

Bottom line: It can be hard for a restaurateur to know—without practice—how to figure out servings for a massive crowd at an event. Some guidance can...

How to

You can’t learn everything in culinary school. Or business school. Some lessons you’ve just got to learn on the job. With that in mind we set out to gather a little collected wisdom from the industry on how to do some of the more obscure tasks an operator might face. Challenges abound out there. Hopefully this will help get you through a few of them.

  • Page 168