Good news! This blog has now moved to a new home...
In the process it's expanded in several directions:

Restaurant Marketing Update checks the latest on website, email, SMS, menu design and general marketing for restaurants, cafes and hotels.
Hotel & Restaurant Training Update reviews new approaches and tested methods for staff and management training.
Chef Jobs in Australia has information on work, immigration, travel and lifestyle in the great south land. Come on over...

Smart pricing - 'Twenty's plenty' (for main course and a glass of quality wine), and delicious local olives which this pub buys in bulk and marinates with garlic. The 'local' word again - so powerful, and a great way to stay away from the price competitors - these olives cost $4 and the chips $7! Nice tableware too, but Google searching was frustrating - "whitehorse hotel sydney" produced no useful links on the first few pages and the site is unfortunately typical of too many - beautiful but annoying. Can't even click on the email to send a message, or turn off the music...

Great tip from Seth Godin - giving front line staff authority and the means to round down the 3c or 5c on that $3.03 or $5.05 purchase (which often arises where tax is added after the purchase). A tiny cost to create a pleasant surprise - staff feel they have delegation, and the customer gets a kick out of it. Almost a feeling of conspiring in something not quite allowed?

> I asked a good friend why on earth she went to a cafe well-known for it's grumpy service and questionable hygiene. Her reply: 'because the coffee is absolutely the best around'.
> A Lavazza rep told me they welcomed the growth of Starbucks, Gloria Jeans and similar chains because it gets young people 'onto the real stuff and they will switch to us in due course'.
> My favourite waterfront coffee place has recently changed owners, and the last visit saw three (3) unsuccessful attempts to get the coffee right. They get one more chance then deletion.
> Coffee is the fifth most traded commodity globally -- after oil.

Hmmm...

Rather than boring promo posters or a view into the shop, great use can be made of photography at quite low cost, adding a powerful message about the abundance and quality. At Whole Earth in Chicago.

McDonald's is shooting for clothes 'so hip that employees will want to wear them outside of work'.

The goal, said McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman, is to "capture that spirit of being forever young." Others involved in developing the program say the new look will likely have a retro feel that takes its cues from the era when McDonald's was first expanding, in the 1960s. It's an effort to update the fast-food giant's image and connect with young employees and customers. It's unclear if the new look will sell more burgers, but experts say cool clothes could help its mass-market image and make its entry-level jobs a little more attractive. If the fashion is good, employees will probably see getting the clothes as a good reason to take the job, said Rick Levine, publisher of Made To Measure, a uniform industry trade publication. Story from the Washington Post.

The Aroma Coffee Festival was a hoot - thousands of fanatics listening to jazz and imbibing. Serious discussions about 'texturing' (milk frothing!) and 'single origins'. The Segafredo boyz knew how to push the brand up front, unlike the rather timid stands of most of their competitors. Sure, they're meant to stay within the 3m x 3m white stand, but colour is good! The main turn-off - long lines. 5-10 m. queues don't help to promote a 'love brand' experience.

I saw some sassy gals doing this in Dallas years ago - mixing the fudge, pulling and stretching, singing and teasing the customers. Sales flowed like water. Today, these guys were technically 'doing the job' at this tourist location - but it was more like a chore. All the fudge nice and plastic wrapped - the endless concerns about hygiene do put a damper on the taste testing. Gentlemen - smile!

My first cafe sign was neon - everyone wanted it.
It's still magical (this is outside Andy's Jazz in central Chicago). The bold colours against the dark night - nothing else does it.

Are we a little too tasteful and restrained with much of the signage now being used? Often.

This was Flicks Cafe - in the middle of a cinema strip and, in it's day, a money pot for the owner. He was always there, always, and who knows what he paid the staff. Basic toasted sandwiches, salads and over-sized cakes. Technically, a 'little' business, the type I warn the Cafe Startup Course attendees against, unless they're prepared to live in it like he did. This pic will be one of the 'exhibits' when I present How to Start your own Cafe at the annual Aroma Festival at The Rocks. Must keep reminding myself - they want to know 'how to' not 'should I'. Big smile now...