Knife's Edge - Restaurant Rants & Raves

Don't Get Above Your Raising

Our waiters will be getting two raises soon. One will be a raise in the minimum wage, the other will be the increased tips they'll receive as a result of raised menu prices.

I'm not in this post going to belabor the point that California should have a lower minimum wage for tipped employees (it should), nor talk about switching to a service charge, or service compris system (it would be nice), or moan about a system that to a certain degree, perpetuates a slavery mentality, or demeans those that choose service as a profession (what would happen if the bulk of say, doctors' income came from tips for "performance"). No, the system sucks but I'm not going to be the one to change it.

I do however, need your help. In order to maintain the (slim) profit margin we have we will have to raise prices to cover increased payroll expenses. The increase needs to be at least 3.85%, so I've made a spreadsheet with a variety of percentages. We only do .25 increments on glasses or half glasses of wine and we rarely do .50 increments on food. Obviously, some items will increase by much more than the 3.85% and others may not increase at all.

I have read much about pricing, menu positioning and how those affect diners' decisions. But I'd like your input. Which items at your favorite restaurant would be the most price sensitive? What increases would you notice? What reads better to you $20 or $21 (yes smartass, I know one is a dollar less and hence more attractive, the question is are you going to balk at a $20 item that's priced at $21?)

Any other useful thoughts?

Taxing Matters

We've been investigating health coverage for our employees. This will make probably the third time we've looked into this. The GM and I would like coverage for ourselves. Actually, right now, I have coverage, she does not and the new crew member is being covered under Medi-Cal. We'd like family coverage and we'd like to offer that to our crew as well. The current staff is a bit older than previous crews and we might have more people interested in enrolling. We'll see.

One thing the GM brought up in doing the investigation is reverberating with me though, and I think should for any small business owner not consumed by greed. Let's assume you have a successful sole proprietorship. Let's assume that by successful we mean profitable. Let's also assume that by profitable we mean after your bills are paid you are able to live reasonably. I'm not talking wildly successful as in homes in London, Paris and Aspen, pied a terre in Manhattan and a yacht successful. I'm talking a realistic amount of success for a mom & pop.

If you are a sole proprietor you have to pay self employment tax, as well as tax on your profits. So from a tax-paying perspective it is in your best interests to show little or no profit. From a home buying or other financing perspective this isn't such a hot idea. Let's say you're not trying to secure financing for anything.

If your goal is to reduce your paper profit and you don't have so much profit that you're consulting tax specialists about which off-shore corporation to park your bucks in one option you have is to increase expenses. In this instance the expense increased would be health insurance. If you're not going to be able to keep the cash, because of taxation, then why would you not spend it on providing health insurance, having a lavish holiday party for the staff, taking a company outing to a faraway place, or anything else you can think of that spends money and makes for a superior work environment. Paid vacations anyone?

The answer of course, is cash flow and budgeting. At this time of year with the holiday season looming we would like to offer nice bonuses to the staff. One problem, aside from making it equitable for both long and short-term staff, is that we have no cash at this time of year. If we were better able to budget we might, but being small-time operators we are more concerned with trying to not draw on lines of credit through the winter. When we do have to use them, we concentrate on paying them fully in the summer. Every year save one we have wound up profitable, at least on paper.

So I am looking at expenses through somewhat different eyes. I'd rather spend my money on myself and my crew than on government.

On another note: Our farmer friend is faring well. His spirits are high, his dressings have been changed for the first time and there is no sign of infection, the pulse is still in his index finger and he is still able to move the digits. He should have been released from the hospital today. He still has a long row to hoe as they say, but it seems likely he'll make a full recovery.

And our setting a record? A false alarm. One waiter combined a check and didn't follow proper procedure and so instead of 202 covers, we did a mere 194. There's always Thanksgiving weekend.

You Spin Me Right Round

baby right round, like a record. Yes, we did a record number last night. We broke the glass ceiling of 200 covers, which for some restaurants would be a mighty slow night, but for us up here in the boonies is pretty damned good. They were streaming in from 5pm on. We might have done more but 20 seats were taken up all night with a 7 course, fixed price special event.

Update on our farmer friend. He got out of surgery in Stanford early yesterday morning. They were able to implant the index finger he severed completely and reattach the others. At that point he had a pulse in the index finger and was able to move it slightly. The next few days will tell whether his body will accept the surgery. But it sounds pretty hopeful to me.

A Farmer's Hands

Tomorrow we're doing a dinner with a local farmer. Wonderful guy, takes our compost, feeds his pigs, we buy his pigs and veggies, we're supposed to start playing music together soon. We've got a great menu, significant press coming, should be a fantastic time for all.

However, at noon today, using a table saw, he severed his pointer finger completely and basically severed the other three. Although they were still attached but I'm not sure if only by skin. He was airlifted to Stanford and has had 5 hours of surgery and he may lose feeling in his entire left hand.

For those of us who depend on our hands for our livelihood this our worst nightmare. I cannot imagine not being able to feel an onion in my hand, or not to be able to maneuver pots and pans around the stove.

So if any of you can spare a prayer to St. Isidore (patron saint of farmers) or any deity of your choosing please send them his way.

Pressing Concerns

Yesterday, we did a walk-through of the ridiculously overpriced place that's for sale. Wow, can you say filthy? It was completely redone three years ago, how did the food prep areas get so dirty in just three years? Perhaps they're shooting for proof of Quentin Crisp's famous quote about cleaning, " the dirt didn't get any worse after the first four years".

The owner was a total chatterbox. We just stood and listened. He does seem in a hurry to sell, which might work out well for us. He got the place for cheap, he did put quite a bit into it and he probably will reject our offer, should we make one because it will be about half what he's asking. The space could work. He just set it up weird. Which means we'd have to put a little more into the space ourselves.

Right now we're pondering. Like my old sponsor used to say, "Honey, you've got high class problems now." And it's true. Having the dilemma of wondering whether we'll be able to extend the lease on our current space, make an offer on a building to move to (with money we don't have, that's the rub), or partner with a friend in investment property, these are high class problems. And I'm grateful we have them.

I'm also grateful it has rained, gotten a little cold and now the sun is out because we are starting a mushroom festival here. And it needs to be a little wet and cold for the 'shrooms to start popping. The sun helps the pickers and keeps the mushrooms from getting too soggy. The festival is somewhat disorganized this year, friends in the press have complained to me about the lack of information coming from the umbrella organization charged with promoting it. I'm a board member of the organization and will be raising hell with staff about this. We did get coverage, (for what it's worth) in the Examiner this week.

Today I've got a photographer coming to take pictures of pot pies. One of my press pals called desperate for a Thanksgiving leftovers story. She wanted to run our pot pie. I sent her a few other recipes as well, we'll see how it turns out. For those of you in the restaurant biz here's a little advice in dealing with the press. Be prepared, be responsive, be flexible and be thankful.

By being prepared I mean, have your recipes ready. When you put dishes on your menu, make sure you've got a reader friendly version of the recipe in the computer ready to go. This means a realistic quantity for the home cook, clear directions without professional, or even semi-professional jargon (words like mirepoix for example), with your name and contact information on each page. Have photos ready, 300 dpi or greater quality. The paper I'm dealing with today is unique in that they are sending a photographer, increasingly these days papers and magazines don't have the budget for sending photographers on-site. If you've got images ready to go you've got a leg up on anyone else in the story.

Be responsive means exactly that. When journalists call quite often they are "on deadline" which means they need the information NOW. Stop what you're doing, pay attention and give them what they need. It is certainly appropriate to feed them some other information (upcoming events, other things you think they might be able to use in the future, local news, etc) but make sure you give them clear answers to their original questions. Be respectful of their time and ask them how they prefer to get news from you in the future (email, phone, fax etc).

Be flexible means also don't be attached to the results. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with the woman from the Examiner. She didn't end up using anything we talked about, but did use the photo I sent and we were in the calendar listing. Being flexible also means you wind up in a different piece, at a different time, sometimes years later.

Be thankful. I think this is the most important part. Whenever anyone writes about us, even if it is the barest mention, I send them a thank you note. A note, not an email, not a phone call. A card, hand-written with genuine thanks.

These may seem obvious. They are. But they're also rarely practiced. Ask any friends you may have in the press what it's like getting information from chefs. We are not as a group, typically organized and ready in a way that works for our journalist friends. If you establish a reputation as someone who can deliver in a pinch you will be called again, and again.