The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - January 21, 2000

MILLENNIUM MENUS, TAKE 2
In the January 7 edition of EHC (www.restaurantdoctor.com/ehc/ehc101.html), I commented that I thought the new century would bring a longing for familiar menu items rather than brave new entrees. I received this note from my colleague, Phyllis Ann Marshall of FoodPower <foodpower@aol.com>, probably the best "food person" I know in the industry. She writes:

I enjoy your newsletters because you write as you speak. I feel you're just talking to me and that is incredibly powerful. Your comment about menus interests me...while I agree with you and your premise I don't believe it is that simple. Menus vary greatly at different price ranges, in different parts of the country/world, and when positioned for various age groups.

The comfort foods have been around now for several years (meat loaf, macaroni & cheese, etc.) The successful restaurants in leadership positions have not returned to the past in a completely retro move but incorporate new ingredients and new techniques to create exciting variations on the original theme. In a way this is truly where the discernible difference lies and I believe makes a terrific difference. In addition, while many want familiar comfort foods one day, the next they are looking for new experiences, new tastes, international flavors, even completely new ways of nourishing themselves. We're spoiled...we want it all.

A note from the Doc:
You will be hearing more from Phyllis Ann on an upcoming Management Insight Series™ program.

NUMBER PLEASE
Richard Schenkar <schenkar@aol.com> sent this little goodie along in his "Wednesday Wisdom" message:
Have you ever had a phone number with no name attached to it, or a blind ad with a phone number and nothing else? You now know about Reverse Phone Directory, at <www.reversephonedirectory.com> where you type in the phone number (in this format with area code first: XXX-XXX-XXXX) and the system responds with the name of the person along with a number of follow-up opportunities.

PLEASE BE SEATED
I had the following e-mail exchange with Reggie Frederick, owner of Chalet Bowl in Tacoma:

On the way home, [my son] was hungry, so we stopped at The Outback Steakhouse. Everything was great ...except on one thing I noticed another server do. She sat in her guests booth to take orders!!! Three times she did that. If she had done that to us just once, I would have let her have it (verbally that is)! What would you have done as a casual observer? I wanted to let you know about this. Sometime down the road, maybe you can re-address this issue to your subscribers!

My response:
I had a server in my San Francisco restaurant who did this . . . but it was his style and it always worked. (At least, he never tried it when it didn't work.) The trick is what works for the guest. If it worked at the table she was sitting at, I don't have a problem with it, at least in a casual operation. I like to think that, had that server been at your table, she would have sensed that sitting down would not be welcomed and stayed on her feet.

Do any readers have anything they would like to contribute on this topic?

THANKS . . .
to everyone who responded to the inquiries last week. The ideas were so good, particularly related to Jim Covert's request for ideas on how to recognize potential leaders, that I will develop them into a feature article in my January Home Remedies (hard copy) newsletter. (It will be far too long for EHC.) If you are not already a Home Remedies subscriber, the small print at the bottom of this page will tell you how to get a free trial subscription. Free is good!

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