Real information power comes when operators begin to consolidate and review all their data, to reveal the complete picture they need to make better business decisions.

By Dave Bennett

Culinary educators know their students seek out the foodservice industry for many reasons: They simply love to cook, they excel in the high-energy foodservice environment and they see long-term career potential and an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Few, if any, culinary students will profess they are in it for the statistics.

Minding the numbers goes beyond containing food or labor costs. Effectively leveraging restaurant information can be the key to profit and financial success. It can be the difference between driving defensively, stuck forever in the right lane, versus pulling away from gridlock to lead the competition.

There are three main reasons that operators should mind (and mine) their business data. This article will address two of those reasons; the third reason will be covered in the second article in this series.

#1: Information is power
Harnessing a restaurant business’ information can, and should, ultimately increase earnings. Information is power, power that can be converted into dollar signs. The trick is to learn how to put that information to its best use. 

Versatile Idaho^® Potatoes provide the canvas as culinarians get creative.

For a dish of humble Canadian origin, poutine—a savory amalgam of crispy French fries gilded with cheese curds, beef gravy and an optional egg—has quickly established a substantial presence on American menus.

A distinctive variation on loaded fries and an American quick-service favorite, poutines of all stripes are popping up in fast-food and casual-dining operations across the country, much to the delight and enjoyment of customers who enjoy their fries with a side of creativity.

Whether served as an appetizer or entrée, poutine is a popular dish that starts with a menu basic—crisp Idaho^® potato French fries—and can absorb other standard menu ingredients with aplomb and style. For example, surplus short-rib orders make a rich, meaty gravy. Cheeses salvaged from salad and appetizer orders melt atop sizzling fries to offer an intriguing new flavor profile.

Finally, we’ve talked fries, but why stop there? Idaho hash browns, tots and country potatoes also provide an excellent foundation for a signature poutine.

For 17 years, Worlds of Flavor in Napa Valley has been considered by the industry to be America’s most influential professional forum on world cuisines, food cultures and flavor trends. This year’s event didn’t disappoint.

The trend to Asian tastes and techniques has been growing exponentially in the United States for years. It never came together with such enthusiasm and promise as it did at the 17^th Worlds of Flavor® International Conference and Festival, held in April on the Greystone campus of The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley in front of an audience of more than 700 culinary, foodservice and hospitality professionals.

“The vastly varied cuisines of Asia are deeply rooted in traditions that have evolved over millennia,” said Greg Drescher, vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at the CIA. “Today, American chefs are embracing and experimenting with what once was considered exotic. These foods and flavors are poised to continue their ascendance and become ever-bigger players in our national dining scene, whether it is in small independent restaurants, high-volume operations, food trucks or university cafés.”

According to Mintel research, more than half of U.S. consumers think organic labeling is simply an excuse to charge more, and more than a third regard “organic” as a marketing term with no real value or definition.

Organics would seem tailor-made for shoppers seeking foods and beverages that are healthier for them, their families and the planet, but new research from Mintel reveals that Americans appear confused about the benefits of organics, with many perceiving the organic label as nothing more than an excuse to sell products at a premium.

Overall, the biggest selling point for organics is the perception that the products are healthier (72%)—much more so than any environmental or ethical reason. In fact, only 29% of consumers recognize that organic products are highly regulated, and 51% agree that labeling something as organic is an excuse to charge more. While sales of organic products are on the rise, actual consumer penetration has plateaued.

Organics Are Healthy, Right?
Overall, 72% of U.S. consumers purchase organic food and/or beverages for health or nutrition reasons, while slightly fewer (69%) factor environmental or ethical reasons in their purchase decision.

When looking specifically at female shoppers, this consumer group appears to choose products that avoid certain characteristics: 43% purchase them because they do not contain unnecessary ingredients or chemicals, and the same percentage do so to avoid food made with pesticides.

An understanding of “putting in place” is one of the most important skills for culinary students to learn and practice in becoming professionals. Says Dr. Mayo, proper mise en place is actually composed of three parts—all of which do double duty in the kitchen and dining room.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

In the last “Mayo’s Clinic,” we completed a three-part series on using out-of-class learning experiences such as interviewing, structured observation and shadowing. This month, we will talk about a core issue in culinary education: mise en place.

Mise en place—literally, the phrase in French means “putting in place”—has become a personal and professional discipline for chefs. It structures the way they work in kitchens and, for many of them, how they organize and structure their lives. There are even articles such as “For A More Ordered Life, Organize Like A Chef”published in the NPR blog, “The Salt,” that point out how useful the discipline can be in life.

As we teach our students to learn and practice mise en place, it might be useful to remember the three dimensionsof mise en place: physical, intellectual and emotional.

Physical Mise en Place
One of the primary foundation skills we teach new culinary students involves the practice and importance of organizing their stations in a kitchen before they start to prepare food. It is a matter of both arranging the equipment and the ingredients since both are critical to successful cooking.

Telling people to be the best they can be allows them to quit striving whenever they want. To be the best in your field, however, one must always strive for the next level. This is the generations-long American Dream that we, as teachers, offer our students.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

I would like to dedicate this article to my two mentors and instructors for my California Teaching Credential: Susan Clark and the recently passed Lee Clark.

In this article I would like to revisit two previously published articles.

The first article is “Assessing Culinary Math Skills,” September 2011. This article has received more than 3,500 hits, and is one of the most popular articles that I have written. It is a culinary-math assessment test that I believe should be utilized by all instructors within the first week of a student starting your class.

Sadly, I have noticed that in the four years since I first wrote this assessment, scores are dropping. Today, I had a new student ask me how to triple the first ingredient in a recipe. The first ingredient was “one cup of water.”

What can the graduate do for the school? Says Chef Sorgule, the proper question should be, What can the school do for the graduate?

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

Considering the ongoing questions about the value of a degree and the ever-changing landscape of the food business, I am constantly giving thought to how administrators of culinary programs can increase the perceived and real value of an education in food.

Everyone is certainly aware of the pressure pertaining to value being passed on to institutions from accrediting bodies, especially those preparing students for technical trades. The answer moving forward might very well be in shifting how we look at a degree.

For far too long, earning a college education was a two- or four-year process that students went through in pursuit of a degree. In other words, students passed through the college experience, incurring significant debt, with closure coming on graduation day.

The connections that continue to exist between the college and the graduate are limited to alumni newsletters, reunions and gift requests from the Institutional Advancement Office. We might invite an occasional graduate back to speak to a class or provide a demonstration, but, for the most part, the theme is: “What can the graduate do for the school, rather than what can the school do for the graduate.”

High-school culinary-arts programs in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Batavia, N.Y., earn honors for exemplary practices in—and innovative teaching of—ecological sustainability.

Kendall College, Chicago, and the Annapolis, Md.-based Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) presented 2015 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Awards to two secondary hospitality programs during a June 18 reception at CAFÉ’s 11th-annual Leadership Conference for foodservice educators at Niagara Falls Culinary Institute, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Among dozens of submissions from secondary and postsecondary programs nationwide, Kent Career Technical Center in Grand Rapids, Mich., received this year’s top award. According to chef-instructor Sarah Waller, who teaches advanced baking and pastries at Kent, the $1,000 grant from Kendall College will help fund the high school’s goal to become the first water-bottle-free secondary school in Michigan.

On Monday, May 11, fine-dining connoisseurs are invited to enjoy the modern French cuisine of Mélisse (www.melisse.com), a Michelin two-star restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. Event proceeds will benefit Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) Los Angeles, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing underserved students for college and career opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality industries.
 
Guests will have the opportunity to dine in the chic ambiance of the famed restaurant while relishing chef/owner Josiah Citrin’s intriguing season-driven menu. Mélisse has been voted as Zagat’s No. 1-rated restaurant in Los Angeles since 2003, and Forbes Travel Guide named Mélisse “One of the Finest Five Star Properties in the World.” Citrin has been named one of the “Best Chefs of the Year” by Los Angeles Magazine and is also co-owner of the popular Los Angeles eatery, Lemon Moon Café.

Peter “Pete” Mondavi, Jr., scion of one of Napa Valley’s leading winemaking families, was keynote speaker at the March 27, 2015, graduation ceremony for the Accelerated Wine and Beverage and Accelerated Culinary Arts certificate programs at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif. Mondavi advised graduates to use their newly honed skills to help people’s dining experiences become a break from the fast-paced cell-phone world.

“We can’t alter the pace of life here, but we can dedicate ourselves to making sure that fine food, wine and beverages are not the casualties of that pace, but a way to escape from it,” Mondavi told 45 certificate recipients. “Your challenge is to find a way to bring America back to the dining table, to show Americans how to remove their electronic tethers and enjoy the remarkable cuisine and beverages that you and your fellow graduates have learned to prepare and serve.”