The Restaurant Doctor - Electronic House Call

ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - January 26, 2001

Today I am actually at home after a great few days with the F&B managers of AMFAC Parks & Resorts. Next week I finish shooting the video for the final report CD on the Viva Cafe 2000 restaurant pilot study.

CAVEAT EMPTOR
It is not the purpose of this newsletter to be a forum for disgruntled operators to bad-mouth their suppliers or for gratuitous commercial endorsements of particular products or services. At the same time, because we are largely an incohesive group of independent operators, we are more vulnerable to scams than many industries. So in that spirit, I will occasionally provide contact information for folks who want to share an opinion, good or bad, about various suppliers or products. The fact that a company's name is mentioned does not imply anything other than that someone has some strong feelings to share. In that spirit, here is the first one

If you are considering an offer from a credit card processing company called MSI, talk with Maggie Pike <jmpike@xprt.net>.

ARE YOU TAKING YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY?
On an entirely different note, Jack Welch of Growth Restaurants shared this little bit of wisdom with me earlier in the week.
"Give in to the power of goofiness. It lets the mind relax and catch its breath. Only goofiness has the inherent power to keep seriousness from killing off all your ideas. Ripples of laughter will wash up the brightest gems on the shore of your consciousness. I believe there is at least one angel named 'Goofy.' In the hierarchy, it is definitely a higher-level angel." -- Dalton Roberts, Columnist, Chattanooga (TN) Times-Free Press

A note from the Doc:
People come to see us expecting to have a good time . . . and it is easier for them to have fun if we are having fun. (You can be professional and have fun too!) What can you do to make your workplace a little less serious? Might be a good topic for your next staff meeting. It might also help your retention rate.

THE POWER OF THE GROUP
Back in November, Jerry Mistretta <jerry@jerryscajun.com> asked about how to clean the cast iron stove burners in his Cajun restaurant. He sends this note alongI really do appreciate your one-of-a-kind site. It is so helpful to get suggestions from the pros out there in this great industry. I wanted to thank all of you who e-mailed me their recommendations on how to clean stove burners. I have read all of the recommendations and now have found the solution, thanks to all of you. I appreciate the many responses. You guys are the best!

But, while I have you, has anyone started a "Smoke Free Workplace" policy for your staff at your restaurant? If so, what has been the response? Any advice would be much appreciated.

ROUNDTABLE DEADLINE EXTENDED
The early registration deadline for readers of my Home Remedies newsletter was January 29th, so it is only fair to offer the same deal to EHC subscribers. If you sign up before then, you can take an additional discount. You already get a discount for being on the EHC list, so act quickly and save some bucks. If you did not get the information on the Hospitality Industry Winter Roundtables (in Denver, Orlando, Columbus and Austin), you can download the information files on my website at www.restaurantdoctor.com, right at the top of the home page.

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