Where is winter?  We have had unbelievably warm weather here in Kentucky.  It was nearly 60 degrees on Christmas day.  You would not believe the statistics people are throwing around about this warm winter.  We hear discussions about allergies caused by the weather, bug infestations caused by the weather, slow coffee sales because of the weather.  It’s amazing what the weather can do to our day to day lives and yet it is completely out of our control. 

It’s interesting to think about what could happen in our businesses if we focused our thoughts and talks and actions with the same intensity we focus on speculating what the weather will be.

We have the ability to plan and forecast for our business’ future.  We can free ourselves from the burden of running things on a wing and a prayer.  Facing our business’ opportunities head on forces us to prepare, to act, and most importantly to enforce.

It’s all well and good to post a notice, for example, that all Front of the House employees who come to work in wrinkled or soiled uniforms will be sent home.  It’s quite another situation to send Sally home when you have a lunch reservation for 35 and she is a key player.   Expectations which aren’t enforced can kill productivity.  If Sally can wear a dirty uniform, what will motivate Sam to get up 15 minutes early to iron his shirt?  Can’t you just see the storm brewing?

Enforcement is the key.  What is good (or in this case bad) for the goose must be good for the gander.  Be consistent and coach to the expectations.  Most of all, lead by example.

Weather forecasting seems like the ultimate job, you have a 50/50 shot, then in reality, you experience without warning, really bad weather.  Ultimately, we look to the meteorologist and aim our anger or frustration at them.  “Why weren’t we warned?”  “Why did this happen today, they forecasted bad weather for tomorrow?” 

The same holds true in our businesses.  If we don’t plan, prepare, and enforce, then any little shift in the climate affects us.  Looking to the customer or to our employees as the source of our business’ shortcomings is as silly as letting a groundhog determine our projections for February.

The weather will change, shadows will come and go.  Whether or not you can see your way through the changes will be up to you and your team.

They provide peace of mind and are operator friendly, easy to maintain and produce consistent, precise results.  It does not matter who is executing your prep list, the results will be the same.  These tools are user friendly, quick as lightning, NSF  rated , durable and they provide priceless consistency.  Consistency is key to maintaining repeat guests…just ask Ronald McDonald!

Your menu will help determine your prep needs.  However, it has been Dine’s experience that these tools are so diverse and add so many options for food prep situations that operators go wild with new and innovative ideas to incorporate into daily specials or to even procure a coveted spot on the menu!

Immersion blenders revolutionized food prep in commercial kitchens.  Along the way, they have helped many restaurants improve food quality, food presentation, food safety, and PAYROLL and LABOR expenses.  These sticks can replace the chopping and mixing of numerous employees and get the job done quickly, efficiently, and uniformly.  There are many brands and sizes of immersion blenders available at Dine Company.

The ease of prepping food is what these pieces of equipment offer.  And…. priceless peace of mind.   Affordable, durable and user friendly!  WIN-WIN.

Maintaining a satisfactory atmosphere for inventory, storage, and rotation of assets is crucial in these hard economic times.  Refrigeration is a key component for the safe keeping and rotation process of our food assets.

Quality air circulation, sturdy shelving, and size are all serious considerations when contemplating refrigeration.  You really need to think about the highest volume day for your business and what your options are for refrigerated storage.  Is your highest need for refrigeration on delivery day or is it after the prep process when you turn dry goods into menu items which need to be refrigerated?

The packaging your product arrives in can be a key factor in refrigeration headaches and challenges as well.  If you’re receiving produce or meat in huge, bulky containers it may serve you well to store these items in clear plastic NSF containers which allow for better access, better rotation, and a quick count for inventory and ordering purposes.

As you assess your refrigeration needs, you may come to realize that it’s time for a walk-in.  If you’re cramming everything into too tight a space, constantly loading and unloading shelves to get to prepped product and actually foregoing good air circulation and product safety because of space constraints, it’s time to consider a walk-in.  Our clients are always surprised at the affordability, versatility, and accessibility of walk-ins.  There are tons of sizes and shapes for walk-ins.  You can put them inside or outside.  We can help with the design and install.  Think about it.  Give us a call.  502-637-3232

The right tools in your restaurant can provide consistent, cost effective and safe product preparation.  Once you experience the ease, speed and diversity of these little jewels of the trade, you’ll wonder how you ever accomplished anything without them.

This discussion begins and ends with determining the best equipment for your specific and unique prep needs.  Listed below you will find our top recommendations for equipment vital to the execution of your food and beverage prep needs.

Many restaurants have developed a beverage program AFTER purchasing one of these blenders.  Operators come to realize the ease of maintaining this equipment and the consistent results they get from these blenders.  We want to help you do some investigating and get your wheels spinning on the opportunities you can create with these blenders.

The Waring BB150 blender was developed with your bar blending needs in mind. 

This blender can be used for blending bar mixes like simple syrup or for bases for flavored teas and blended coffee drinks.  It makes easy work of fruit purees for coladas, margaritas and smoothies.  This blender has a ½ HP motor and crushes ice in seconds.  It has a huge 48 oz. container with an opening in the lid to add ingredients as you blend and a 6 foot cord.   A bartender’s best friend!!

The Vitamix BarBoss Advance.  We think the name says it all.  This blender is the essential tool for adding or expanding your business’ blended beverage program.  This blender houses a 2 HP motor.  It offers 6 optimized programs and has an automatic shut off.  That means you can start blending for one guest and go take another guests order without having to worry about over mixing or burning the blender up!!

Pitchers full of smoothies, frozen lattes or gallons and gallons of fruit puree, all at your fingertips and at lightning speed.

The Waring  BB180 blender blurs the line between FOH and BOH applications.  Because the base of this blender will accommodate a stainless steel or a polycarbonate container, this blender can be used for hot or cold blending needs.  However, it is imperative to use the correct container.  Generally speaking, the stainless steel container should be used for ALL hot product blending.  This blender will blend, crush and chop and has a ¾ HP motor.   The operator can choose from high, low or pulse settings. 

These blenders do way more than just mix things up…they are the catalyst for new, boundless opportunities and ideas!  Cheers to that!

The procurement of spices as explorers traveled and discovered the world was as exciting and rewarding to them as finding new lands and their inhabitants. We can trace the discovery and use of spices back as far as history is recorded.  There are stories of great battles and significant trading of wealth and assets for spices. As the people at World Spice tell the story, “as recently as the 1500s, the ‘Spice Wars’ were shaking out between the Portuguese and the Dutch and later the Dutch and the English, one of the most sought after spices on the wish list was nutmeg. And it was not because the Queen desired a new dessert; rather, nutmeg was highly touted as a miracle cure for the plague, which killed more than 35,000 people in London in 1603.

Not only were many men’s fortunes made in the pursuit of spices, spices at many periods throughout history literally served as currency.  Pharisees in Judea paid tithes in cumin seeds. When Alaric the Visigoth held Rome under siege in the fifth century, the ransom included 3000 pounds of peppercorns.

During the fourteenth century, in Germany, one pound of nutmeg could be traded for seven FAT oxen.  At other points in history, rent could be paid in peppercorns, and a pound of pepper could serve to buy the freedom of a serf in France.”

The use and fascination of spices traveled well beyond the kitchen walls.

While today we take for granted the good hygiene habits of most of our fellow companions, throughout periods of civilization, people did not necessarily have free access to water. In other words, a gathering of your fellow men would not be the most pleasant experience for the olfactory sense. Spices served as a way to perfume a room and the people in it.

Spices took on a whole different nuance as cooks and servants and proprietors began to mix them, cook them, burn them and even freeze them.  The complexity of the spices turned everyday foods into special occasion extravaganzas.  Spices were also used regularly to preserve food and for the first time in history, food could be stored in alarming volumes, thus allowing people to thrive and prosper, even in the harsh winter months.

So think about things today.  We still trade, encourage sharing and distribute wealth based on spices.  As restaurant people, we understand the significance of spice.  Can you imagine your apple pie without cinnamon or, your baked potato or spinach quiche without salt?  What about the secret dry rub for your ribs?  Everything old in the spice world is new again and again and again based on your palate and use of the spice.  How lucky are we that our ancestors did all the heavy lifting?  

Dine stocks many different types and sizes of seasonings, spices and breadings.  You can concoct a new house blend for your restaurant or use one that is premixed.  We can ship these spices and breadings straight to your kitchen door.

So this year as you are preparing the Holiday feast, in your commercial restaurant kitchen or in the nook at Grandma’s house, what you are really doing is giving a nod to the past.    As you toss in the oregano and salt and grind the pepper, as you flavor butter with tarragon and rub sage on your turkey, add cinnamon and nutmeg to the sweet potatoes and on and on and on, thank your lucky stars for the abundance of your celebration and remember that spice is the variety of life.  Happy Holidays and best wishes for a blessed New Year from all your friends at Dine Company – The Restaurant Store.

Walk through every area of your business.  Take your time and be thorough.  Look at things through the eyes of your guest or client.  What image are you projecting?  Focus on what the exact vision and core of your operations and discover again what areas you have strayed off course or what areas you need to change to improve your service or customer experience.

Is your exterior littered with debris?  Is that because your employees don’t keep a watchful eye, or because there are no convenient vessels available to discard trash?  Is your glassware chipped and mismatched?  Is that because your employees are careless and stack them too high, or is it because they are being washed in ill fitted racks and purchased from different vendors?  By focusing on the source of the problem, not necessarily the result of the problem, you can begin developing a to-do list to improve your operation.

Are your employees polished and looking sharp?  Do they have clean hands and winning smiles?  Do you supply them with the tools they need to perform their jobs and to be employee’s at the top of their game.  Do they have the right equipment for the right job?  Do they work slow and inefficiently and cause labor to rise, or are they working with broken, antiquated equipment and systems that are really the source and root of the problem?

This exercise can be very cathartic and it frees you up to think about the big picture.  We can be so worried and preoccupied with things; poor lighting, a leaky faucet, chipped glassware, broken down equipment that we end up majoring in the minors.

Making a list can allow you to prioritize the most pressing needs of your business.  The ole’ front burner, back burner scenario is time honored and very, very effective.

Dine Company – The Restaurant Store prides itself on making your job a little easier.  We offer every service and product under the sun to get you moving forward and crossing things off your list.  A couple of quick conversations with the smallwares people in our store, a stop at our website, some consultation with the parts and service guy and you can be moving things off your front burners and into the dining room where your resources and talents belong.

Consistent, crack and chip free, that is the way your glassware needs to be!

A memorable experience at your restaurant begins long before the customer dines on their favorite dish. Proper marketing and advertising entices and tantalizes your potential guests, but will your facility and staff measure up to your guests’ expectations?

What image are you conveying to your guests? Are you sharp, clean and up for the task? Are your patrons looking forward to their experience, or, are they turning away because of a poorly kept facility or a lack of proper execution?

Dine Company – The Restaurant Store can help you with all the opportunities you have in the Front of the House to really WOW your guests and keep them coming back time and again.

Remember, “You never get a second chance to make a lasting first impression.” Let Dine Company help you do it right the first time, every time.

Top 10 Tips for FOH Impressions:

10. Parking Area: Have you ever decided to stop somewhere and before you get out of the vehicle you change your mind because of the condition of the parking area? Guess what, YOUR potential guests do that too!

9. Lobby and Entrance Area: A spotless, fresh smelling entrance is just the thing your business needs to keep your guests thinking of the menu.

Be sure to keep the glass on the entrance doors and windows clean. Keep a small trashcan at the hostess stand.  A bottle of metal polish is great to have on hand for your fixtures and kick plates. Keep your lobby area shining like a new penny!

8. Bathrooms: In the eyes of your guests, the cleanliness of this area in your restaurant is as important as the cleanliness of your kitchen. Make sure you cover all the little steps involved in presenting a clean, fresh smelling restroom area.

If your public restrooms are also used by your employees, you must have a sign above the hand sink instructing employees to wash their hands before returning to work.

Replace any broken paper towel and toilet paper holders as well as soap dispensers and hand dryers.

Think about using automatic deodorizers to always maintain a good smelling restroom.

7. Floor Surfaces: Whatever the surface of your floor; wood, tile or carpet, be sure to maintain it and keep it in tip top shape.

Be sure to use the “Caution: Wet Floor” signs to keep your guests and your crew safe during clean up time.

6. Chairs and Table Bases: Oh my, what is more irritating than a crying baby in a quiet restaurant? A WOBBLY table, that’s what!  All it takes is a set of table levelers and you’re good to go.

5. Table Appointments: Dine stocks everything you need to present a stunning table top. We can show you the newest designs for candles and table lighting from Hollowick as well as an exciting option for using candle oil.

We have it all. A shiny, clean, clutter free table top sends a message to your guests that you care about their dining needs.

4. Beverage Ware: Consistent, crack and chip free, that is the way your glassware needs to be!

Dine stocks many different styles of glassware, from everyday ware to spectacular special occasion and crystal stemware. We also stock plastic tumblers in every size and in several different colors.

3. China and Table Ware: What a difference a beautiful plate can make. Whether china, glass or melamine, the carefully chosen plate is as much a part of your presentation as the food itself.

Once the plate selection is made, keep your plates chip free and in pristine condition with new dish washing racks.  Broken racks lead to broken dishes.

2. Silverware and Eating Utensils: Perhaps you do not notice a salad fork instead of an entrée fork being used in your restaurant, but your guests do. You can choose from a wide variety of beautiful, affordable and durable silverware patterns at Dine Company.

1. NUMERO UNO!!! Staff Appearance: Your entire image and the interpretation of that image rest squarely on the shoulders of the people your guests see and interact with. What message are you conveying?

Give your staff the tools they need to perform their tasks with skill and efficiency. Wine openers, bottle openers, table crumbers, check presenters, tip trays, serving trays and tray jacks are just some of the tools of the trade.

Keep their hands clean and presentable with nail scrubbers and hand sanitizer. Choose from a wide variety of food serving gloves, hair nets and beard covers.

We have everything you need to present a cohesive, clean, concerned, committed and caring environment for your guests AND your staff.

Did we miss anything?  We would love to see some comments with your tips!

Make the Grade

Nothing strikes fear into a foodservice operator like these five little words:

“The Health Department is Here!!”

Let Dine Company, The Restaurant Store take the worry out of health safety inspections. Most operators in our area receive good scores on their inspections. Our experience shows it’s the little things which really take away from their overall score.

Consider these “Top 10 Tips” your first aid kit to stop the bleeding before the inspection begins. After all, who wants an unsatisfactory letter hanging in their FRONT WINDOW for months on end? Ouch!

10. Hairnets: If you want an inspector to move it along, have these nets available in all food prep areas and on the production line.
9. Test Strips: HUGE DEDUCTION for not having these strips prominently displayed in all sink and sanitizing areas. We stock the strips used in chlorine or sanitab solutions.
8. Sani-Buckets: We have every color, size and shape to fulfill your specific needs for sanitation. These buckets are a must for table sanitizing cloths, prep areas and production lines. Non-negotiable.
7. Sani-Maid Tablets or Bleach: These products are used in your sanitation buckets and three compartment sinks. You must have one of these products on hand. Regular ol’ bleach will not do. You must have commercial grade sanitizer tablets.
6. Temperature Sticks: These instant read temperature sticks are a must in the prep area and on the production line. The protective carrying tube with pocket clip makes this a safe and effective way to fulfill this serious requirement.
5. Handwashing Signs: EVERY sink in your building must have a symbol sign posted nearby which instructs employees to wash their hands before returning to work.
4. Day Labels and Rotation Labels: Do not get caught without these. Serious violations can be given if these labels are not properly maintained and rotated on all food products. Clear date codes must be visible on food containers.
3. Refrigeration and Oven Thermometers: The temp must be accurate. The thermometers must be prominently displayed in all refrigeration and ovens.
2. Food Grade Containers and Lids: We have really seen an increase in the enforcement of this regulation. We have every size container imaginable and lids which seal air tight.
1.  Food Handling Gloves: Have these everywhere, for everyone. We stock many different kinds and all sizes from small to XL.

B2B Holiday Gifts

Business to business gifting can be so tricky. In our increasingly tight economic times, these gifts should be as functional as they are thoughtful.  The intention of the gift is as important as the gift itself.   The giver should never lose sight of the fact that for ease and convenience, the gift should appeal to a wide audience.

Statistically speaking, we Americans spend a great deal of time with the people we work with. Over time, our co-workers become like family.  How thoughtful would it be to give a gift which could start a tradition inside your business’ families?  A baking dish with a fantastic Turkey casserole recipe.  A skillet for sautéing vegetables for their families’ epic stuffing.  A cake decorating set with instructions on how to decorate their special holiday cookies.  A colander filled with pasta sauce and noodles for an easy holiday dinner. There are endless possibilities and combinations.  While Popcorn Tins do hold a certain appeal and the container can be used to hide your aunt’s holiday fruitcake, we feel confident that our ideas have the propensity to thrill the masses and inspire your work families’ new traditions.   You can visit us anytime for B2B gift ideas!

Clean hands, clean restaurant

Everywhere we turn these days it seems someone is reminding us that FLU SEASON IS HERE!!  Influenza affects everyone at many different levels.  For those of us in the foodservice industry, it can be devestating.  Lost production, compromised shifts with fewer employees and elevated risks in all food handling situations. 

According to the FDA, “Proper hygienic practices by food employees minimize the possibility of transmitting disease through food.  Employee practices such as eating, drinking, and smoking in food preparation areas and working while experiencing persistent coughing and sneezing must be prohibited. Elimination of these practices will help prevent the transfer of microorganisms to foods and food-contact surfaces.”

Dine Company can help you to stay current, complient and healthy.  Load your flu fighting arsenal with sanitizing stations, food handling gloves, hand sinks, hand washing signs and touch free hand dryers.

It is everyone’s responsibility to try and help control this annual, annoying and aggravating reality.