“If it works, it’s obsolete?
Marshall McLuhan
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Why ask why?
https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2004/12/why_ask_why.html
If your front line people are unable to answer a “why” question, what do you tell them to do?
Most bureaucracies don’t want the whys working their way up the chain. Most bureaucracies encourage their people to be the first and only line of defense. “That’s our policy.” “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that.” “Insurance regulations, sir.” The goal is to get the customer (questioner) to go away.
To go away.
They want you to go away.
Does that make any sense at all? The single most efficient (and lowest cost) technique for improving your operations is answering the why questions! You should embrace these people, not send them away.
“You know, sir, I have no idea why you have to do that. But I can tell you that
Dining out takes a (small) bite out of savings – Food – Food and Beverage – Food & Beverages – Personal Finance
Survey: Young adults eat out almost once a day
By Andrea Coombes, CBS.MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) — “Have access to take-out food, will eat it” sums up Americans’ dining habits these days.
Generation Y Americans, those age 16 to 27, eat out 24 times a month on average, according to the November survey of 1,000 consumers by Technomic, a Chicago-based market-research firm focused on the food industry…
Yum Brands to Open More Outlets in China
Yum Brands Inc., operator of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurant chains, plans to open 300 restaurants a year in China, its fastest-growing market.
Yum is focusing its expansion in Asia. China will overtake the U.S. in sales for Yum at some point, Chief Executive David Novak said.
Word of Mouth: New York hotel offers $10,000 martini
https://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/12/01/expensive.martini.reut/
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Drinkers might want to keep a clear head when ordering a martini at New York’s historic Algonquin Hotel or they might pay $10,000 for that cold sip.
The landmark hotel, where famed wit Dorothy Parker and fellow literary lights at the Round Table imbibed, offers a $10,000 martini, complete with a loose diamond at the bottom.
No one has ordered one yet, in the martini’s first week on the menu, but the hotel hopes some romantic soul will buy one any day now.
“We haven’t had any buyers yet, but a lot of people are talking about it,” said Anthony Melchiorri, the hotel’s general manager, on Wednesday.
The throne room .. no kidding
The toilets in higher-end eateries have become seriously designed conceptual comfort stations, with restaurants attempting to outdo one another. Relieve yourself at The Federalist in the XV Beacon hotel on Beacon Hill, and you’ll find a grotto atmosphere of cobblestones, discreet stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors, and white porcelain sinks raised off the counter so no spills dampen clothing or purses. With two-ply toilet paper rolling freely and waffled-cloth hand towels amusingly stacked like mini Mayan temples, the Fed has got to be Boston’s poshest public powder room, followed by The Four Seasons, with new restaurant Sibling Rivalry in the running. [Read more…] about The throne room .. no kidding
Milk's Makeover
https://www.qsrmagazine.com/issue/69/milk.phtml
Today milk is the second most popular beverage in America and number one in homes, according to Milk PEP. Indeed, it seems milk is everywhere, featured on television and in magazines and filling the shelves in convenience stores and supermarkets. There are even single-serve milk vending machines. But there is one place where milk remains conspicuously absent : restaurants.
Sure, there have been a few isolated incidents, but for the most part, milk’s place in foodservice has been in crates in the back of the kitchen. Kurt Graetzer, CEO of Milk PEP, says that while milk is present in 97 percent of restaurants, it only represents a 5 percent volume share of all beverage sales. But how could this be, one might ask.
Showing the Frennch how to run a cafe….
Paris exceeds Starbucks’ expectations
Starbucks brewed its first cup of coffee in Paris in January, and by month’s end will have nine stores up and running in the French capital. “We have a solid and sound basis that operates well,” says Starbucks’ general manager of the Paris operations. The coffeehouse chain has no plans to expand into other areas of France at this time.