Travel Gem - Surdyk's

I was recently travelling through MSP (Minneapolis- Saint Paul Airport) and with a two hour wait between connections, I had the privilege of dining at Surdyk's.

Surdyk's is a boutique-diner with limited eat-in seating, but they do have airport lobby seating and a great selection of grab and go take-out items.

Their "thing" is great wine, paired with gourmet sandwiches and unique salads. The menu has a trendy feel. Their selection is completely out of the ordinary, especially considering its location.

I had a mixed plate of salami and cheese. It was served with a glass tumbler (think big water glass) of fresh crisp toasts, and breadsticks. It was served also with assorted nuts, dried fruit, olives, pickles and mustard. I took their suggested pairing of a full bodied red wine, and really enjoyed it.

My son, who was still feeling "dull" from a cold, chose a bowl of fresh fruit and chocolate milk.

I loved the ambience. We dined in the store. There were multiple screens featuring the Food Network, which was an obvious and perfect combination in this gourmet eatery setting.

Since you are already through security, you can pick up a bottle of wine (vast selection, and half size bottles too) to take on to your destination. I chose a California red to take with me.

What a great spot! With fantastic service to match. If you are passing through MSP, I would recommend you seek out Surdyk's. www.surdyks.com

Trend spotting

Restaurants must continually upgrade, refresh and even re-invent their menu in order to keep guests interested and coming back. Being on the leading edge of a trend gives you longer to ride the wave. (Capitalize on the buzz) Catching the wave the end makes you seem like you're jumping on the bandwagon too late.

How can you spot a trend? Travel. Travel and see new regions, experience new cuisines and talk to people. Talk to local chefs, talk to chefs on the internet. Engage and be a part of social media. Reading blogs is a start. It's not enough, but it's a start.

Last trip I took I saw many examples of "small plates" or "tapas". Even in the fast food joints they are serving "minis." I see these as an opportunity to sell more, not less. Rather than selling one plate of nachos to a table of four out for drinks, maybe you could sell them 2 or 3 small plates instead. Nachos $12 .... then a price point of 3 small plates for $16.  As in, one small plate for $7, 2 for $13 or 3 for $16.

It's the same as a jean store offering one pair at regular price but a second pair for half price. You can always use a second pair of jeans right? A slam dunk sale for a salesperson with a little experience and personality. The same goes for your wait staff.

The customer is drawn to the smaller menu item for several reasons... a perception of fewer calories, less money, less of a diet cheat, less of a risk of trying something new. However, they DO realize without discussion that it will not fill them up and they will need to add something else. A bowl of soup, perhaps another mini or two, a dessert etc.

So ultimately, serving smaller, may be an opportunity to sell more. I shall keep my eye on this trend. What do you think?

The Daily Special

Again, with the Dr. Oz Show reference. Dr. Oz suggested, and his guest discussed the restaurant daily special as being a "clearance rack" for items and ingredients that are near their expiry date or at the end of their shelf life.

I would vehemently argue that's not the case in my diner! I can only speak for my own kitchen, of course, but I would never hesitate to choose our special and here's why:  We are such a small diner, with limited dining space but also limited freezer and fridge space. We operate on an on-demand supply system. We get stock 4-6 times a week. Yes, that's nearly every day. We operate with one head chef, and 2 sous chef. There is constant communication and we always know what's fresh, what's new and how we rotate stock. Fresh is our way of life. And our kitchen motto is "if you wouldn't serve it to your own Grandma, you don't serve it to our guests. Period."

The way we choose our daily special is based on stock availability. What do we have the MOST of. Keeping the right quantities on hand, so you never have to tell a guest "sorry, we're out of your favourite" can be a delicate balancing act. Therefore, in order NOT to run out of chicken fingers, we would discount and feature a burger instead. When something is discounted and marketed as a daily special guests tend to choose it, especially if they are in a rush or consider it in the top 3 items they would eat at your restaurant normally.  So, it takes the "pressure" off chicken, if burgers are the popular choice that day.

Similarly, we can choose a special to counter-act a mistake in ordering. Whoops.... ordered all bottle cokes instead of cans? Then today's special is a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a bottle coke for take-out. It's a perfect set.  Hard to sell a taco salad with a bottle coke.

There have been instances where a supplier will offer you a quantity discount on in-season produce. I like to jump at those opportunities and cook with what's fresh and delicious in the moment. Fresh peaches make amazing parfaits with hot caramel sauce. While it's not on our regular menu it sure sounds good, tastes good and sells well as a special.

That's how we roll at the Retro Diner.

Restaurant Secrets

Today on the Dr. Oz show they talked about restaurant secrets. They video clips and previews they showed made it look like something sinister and like running a restaurant was some sort of sneaky society attempting to deceive the public.

Curious, I watched the show.

Ultimately, they simply offered a few common sense tips. They talked about the bacteria levels on cafeteria trays. You know, the plastic trays you might use to carry your meal to the table at the mall food court. They revealed that they are rarely washed and dozens or even hundreds of hands can touch the trays between washing. Oooooooh.... a good reminder, but hardly shocking.  A real world remedy to this situation would be to use hand sanitizer after you touch the tray and not eat any of the food that comes in direct contact with your tray.

Another supposedly shocking "restaurant secret" was that buffet food can spoil if left out too long, or at incorrect storage temperatures. Yes. Absolutely right, but again I think that is common sense. If something is crusty or dry looking or has been there a very long time, don't eat it. I would suggest, if you do love buffets to go early, within the first hour or so, of the buffet commencing. Never in the last hour. (That food is just minutes away from the garbage, for a reason.) For example, if the lunch buffet is served from 11AM-4 pm, I would never consider eating it after 1 pm. (But I might be more cautious than most.)

Another note was how restaurants design their menus to lead your eye to the items with the greatest profit margin. They can do this with bold print, or feature symbols or even by putting it at the top of the page. Absolutely that's correct. Not sinister, or deceptive in my opinion at all. It's called marketing. The restaurant business has a very narrow profit margin and in order to compete, you need to be able to provide the meals customers want, at a price that the consumer is willing to pay and that the restaurant needs in order to cover its costs. It's BUSINESS. Very simple.

If I could go a little further and add a snippet of my own restaurant advice, I would urge the guest to stick to the popular menu items if they are at all concerned about the restaurant's food quality. If you are at a place that is not very busy, has an incredibly detailed menu, or perhaps has uneducated kitchen staff, ALWAYS choose the most popular item. (Get this info by asking the waitress. - Don't be confused with the daily special, but ask about popularity.) Why do I give this advice?  Because, the most popular menu item will be the freshest, because quantities are always being replenished. Plus, if the staff is weak, or untrained, they should still be able to make the best seller.... because they are doing it 20-30 times a day anyway.  There.... there's an insider tip, not seen today by millions of viewers.

TV Fare

It's a wonder we ever leave the house. The Food Network keeps raising the bar and enticing viewers with fabulous new cooking shows. I'm pretty much glued to the Food Network, if I'm not at work in my own restaurant.

I don't know anyone who hasn't tuned in to shows like Iron Chef, Diners Drive-Ins & Dives, or Cupcake Wars. Or anyone who hasn't referenced an episode in conversation.

Personally, I'm into anything done by Bobby Flay. I think he's a fabulous chef and just as good as a TV host. His show 3 Days to Open is pretty great.

As a restaurant owner, I can related to the challenges shown on TV. None of it appears unrealistic. You'll always face challenges with staff, trends, schedules, suppliers, customers and outside forces (like weather, economic conditions etc). So it is genuinely interesting to see how other restaurants face and overcome their obstacles.

Creative recipes and learning about regional cuisine will always interest me. In order to succeed in this business, you need to stay current and stay inspired. Lucky for me, the Food Network is there, in my off hours (the wee hours of the night) to keep me company and show me what the outside world looks like. It's a comfort that we all face the same challenges, and an inspiration to see how people succeed in their local markets.