Congratulations Bay Area Top 30 Under 30!

There's no denying it, San Francisco and the Bay Area have some real talent when it comes to the food and beverage industry! While the "Top 30 Under 30" were recently celebrated (and are now being discussed all over the web!), we wanted to help you foodies find and rate the delicious meals that got them there! Not everyone from the list works in a "traditional restaurant" (click here for original list), but quite a number of them do!

Click on the restaurant name to be taken to their DinnerWire page. From there you can connect with the restaurant's website, social media, and browse food photos. When you make your venture to the establishment, bring your free DinnerWire App with you! Check-in, post your own photos, review, and recommend the restaurant to your friends.

If your favorite restaurant has set up their Free DinnerWire profile, you can engage with their owners, chefs, managers, and make reservations right from the page. If they haven't, let them know you want to interact with them on DinnerWire! Then send them here: CLAIM YOUR RESTAURANT with a Free Profile!

Click Restaurant Title to View Restaurant Page!

Celebrating: Heidi Bron  

Culinary Liaison (29) 

Celebrating: Laura Cronin  

Pastry Chef (25)

Celebrating: Jessica Entzel 

Pastry Chef (27)

Celebrating: Maya Okada Erickson

Pastry Chef (22)

Celebrating: Christopher Gaither

Wine Director (29)

Celebrating: Brian Gremillion

Chef di Cucina (28)

Celebrating: Duncan Holmes

Chef de Cuisine (27)

Celebrating: Robin Kloess

Pastry Chef (27)

Celebrating: Lucas Knox

Executive Chef (27) 

Celebrating: Jessica Largey

Chef de Cuisine (27)

Celebrating: Michael Lay

Lead Bartender (28) 

Celebrating: Michelle Lee

Pastry Chef (29)

Celebrating: Jeremiah Morehouse

Sommelier (28)

& 

Celebrating: Gianpaolo Paterlini
Wine Director (27)

Celebrating: Ryan Pollnow

Chef de Cuisine (27)

&

Celebrating: Mike Reis

Beer Program Co-Director (25)

Celebrating: Brandon Rodgers

Chef de Cuisine (27)

Celebrating: Jared Rogers

Chef & Partner (29)

Celebrating: Cappy Sorentino

Bar Manager (27)

Celebrating: Chad Zeigler

Head Sommelier (28)

National Cheesecake Day

Happy National Cheesecake Day! Celebrate this inspired holiday by grabbing a few friends and hitting the town in search of the best slice of cheesecake. :) In San Francisco? We Recommend "Gaspare's Pizza House" for their homemade "Robin's Cheesecake"!

Don't forget to bring your DinnerWire app and share your photos with other foodies!

Turning Problem into Profit

by Paul Katsch

There are a variety of management styles when it comes to running a restaurant, but ultimately how you treat your customers plays a big role in their repeat business. From a marketing standpoint, it's 10 times more effective to ensure repeat business than it is to attract new customers to your establishment. Your patron's satisfaction is directly related to their expectations, which reflects on the food and ambiance, as well as the service.

It's naïve to think that everything is going to go perfectly all the time. Mistakes can and will be made by the waiter/waitress, chef, bartender, or multiple parties. Sometimes even if you staff performs exemplary, you'll have a very difficult customer that just isn't happy. Whatever the cause, if your customer feels like your establishments performance was less than satisfactory, how you respond can either lose you business or convert that customer to a life-long patron. There's more than a single transaction on the line, when 90% of consumers trust peer reviews and only 14% trust advertisements, it's important your customers leave your establishment satisfied. Their satisfaction will influence their friends, family, and anyone else on the web they share their review with. What are your customers currently saying about your brand, and how can you maximize the positive reviews.

In the customer service industry, it's a common phrase that “the customer is always right”. Even when they're wrong, it's your job as the restaurant manager to ensure your employees treat your customers accordingly. If they get their food and say they wanted their meal with no tomato, it's not the waitresses job to say “but you said WITH tomato, I have it written down right here”. It's important to train your staff not to argue, but to agree with the customer's assessment. It's not about pointing blame, it's about going above and beyond for your customer to solve the problem quickly and efficiently. When your patrons have a range of choices for their dining establishment, it's up to you to dazzle them so the next time they're looking to eat out, your restaurant is the first name on their mind.

My aunt has never been one to complain too much about her food, in part because her fear of the horror stories of sending food back and having it spit in by rude and inattentive staff. At the same time, when she goes out to eat she expects the quality and satisfaction with her food to be comparable to what she's paying for it. We went out to dine at a local steak house, and her meat was grossly overcooked. She politely told the waitress who immediately apologized, took the steak back and had a new one cooked perfectly and brought out to her. Not only did they fix the problem, the managers gave the waitress permission to comp that item, which pleasantly surprised her and surpassed her expectations. The real icing on the cake was that after we had finished our meal, the manager came to our table, personally apologized for the error, and brought us a comped dessert. The quality of service was remarkable, and for that reason whenever we discuss going out to eat this restaurant is always my aunt's first recommendation.

 So how can you develop this kind of customer loyalty in your own restaurant? The first step is to anticipate the issues your managers and staff will face and implement a streamlined system for dealing with it. If you're not sure what your biggest customer complaints are, its a great opportunity to discuss it with your staff. You can begin by searching review sites, taking note of the best, worst, and average tone of your customers' responses. Once you have a starting place, its important to discuss it with your staff, both to hold them accountable and receive feedback from the employees that have the most face time with your guests. Say your problem is that you're tossing a lot of wrong orders. Is the error in the way your staff takes the orders? Are they being clearly communicated to your cook? Is your cook making the right thing? Are you customers just not satisfied with the finished dish? Whatever your personal complaints, start by attempting to address and minimize the problem. After you've worked that out, put an order of operations together for your staff to follow with a clear chain of command. Anticipating the problems will make your response time quicker, more consistent, and it will let your customer know how important their happiness is to you. It's your job to make sure your customers leave with a smile, and they'll do there job of telling everyone they know and coming back time and again. 

The Face of Your Restaurant

The Face of Your Restaurant

by Paul Katsch

Whether you're an Italian Bistro, Mexican Taqueria, Western Steakhouse, or any other type of dining establishment, you're brand is built on more than your own marketing efforts. Once you get your patrons to your restaurant, your host or hostess is the very first impression they'll have of your company. So how well are your employees representing you?

Restaurants can be stressful environments, and a meal-time rush can come at you all at once. It's important to train all your employees to deliver service with a smile, and your front-of house staff need to be excellent problem solvers as well. The importance of the host or hostess is often overlooked, but they serve as the ambassador of your restaurant. One thing that can help the process is having a superior reservation management system, like DinnerWire, that makes it easier to take reservations and manage the floor. By minimizing the wait time, your hungry patrons can be sat quicker, maximizing your turnover and your potential for profit. Even with a reservation management and seating system, there will be times when you patrons just have to wait to be seated. This wait time affects their opinion of their service and experience at your restaurant, so is your host capable of keeping those patrons happy and making them feel valued?

Engage with the customer the moment they walk in the door, you have the opportunity to set the precedence for their experience. How do your staff greet your guests? Will they open the front door for them? Is your patrons' happiness your hosts' Number 1 priority? Satisfaction is directly correlated with expectations, and your host can help show your customer the quality of service they can expect. You don't want to under-estimate the wait time, and leave your customers feeling like you've forgotten about them. Quoting a longer than expected wait could lead them to be pleasantly surprised when they're sat sooner, but it can also point them to the door if the wait is overwhelmingly long. By training your hosts to anticipate this, they can word their conversation in a way that makes your customer feel like you're excited they chose your establishment for this dining experience. Your patrons have a variety of dining choices, it's up to you to demonstrate why no other restaurant compares, not just in food quality but in customer satisfaction.

So your host may have done a fantastic job getting your new customer in que to be seated and making them feel like their business is important to you. The next step is anticipating how your guest will experience their wait. Is there enough seating, a good ambiance, and something to occupy your patrons as they wait? Ultimately, it takes much more time and energy to put out problem fires as they rise than to prepare for the possibilities beforehand. When problems do arise (they're almost impossible to avoid), how will your host react? Nobody is perfect, and mistakes will be made, but what's more important is how they're handled. You can train someone how to go through the motions of a job, but it's much harder to teach people to have a good attitude. It's harder to change a negative opinion once it's been developed, so from your first interaction, how are you making your customer feel?

“People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
- Maya Angelou

Granted not every customer is a pleasant patron, so it's your employees' job to please even the most difficult of guest. It's difficult to work under the motto that “The customer is always right”, because in today's world it's taught customers that those that complain the loudest will get special treatment. What you also need to realize is that as important as it is to keep your rabble-rousers appeased, it shouldn't be at the cost of your other patrons' experience. Your quieter patrons may not make as big of a fuss in your restaurant, but in today's world your online customer reviews can make or break you. According to 2013 Socialnomics (http://youtu.be/QUCfFcchw1w), 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, whereas only 14% trust advertisements. It's important to have a clearly established chain of command, so your hosts know when it's time to get a manager involved. Having an established process for comping or offering alternative added value will give your staff the ability to deal with these problems, and there needs to be safeguards to ensure these benefits aren't abused.

 What's the best way to ensure that your employees behave in a manner that ensures repeat business? Well the easy answer is to focus on hiring team members with a track record of superior customer service and a good attitude. Training can help, rather than expecting your employees to know how to deal with difficult situations, giving them wordage and tools to anticipate these situations will lead to a quicker response time. Possibly the best way to engage your front of house staff is by finding a way to help them make their job personal. Whether it's offering incentives for superior performers, rewarding with scheduled shifts, etc., as the employer you need to find a way to help your staff see your customers as their guests with a personal pride and responsibility for their treatment. They can be aware of the way you want to treat your guests, they can pay attention to your branding as a company, but when they find a substantial purpose for personal responsibility, you will undoubtedly see a call-to-action by your staff.  

Episode 4: Writing a Sense-ational Dinner Review

Stay Tuned as the Saga Continues!...

(Click on the Image for a Larger View)

Life's Better with Bacon

Here's a FlowChart to Illustrate the Point

  Follow DinnerWire on Pinterest

For More Bacon and Food Fun! 

Team DinnerWire - Episode 3: Setting Up

(CLICK IMAGE to View Larger)

Begin your own Foodie Adventure Today
at www.DinnerWire.com

(PSSST - What do you want to see in Episode 4?
Let us know in the comments!) 

Explaining Social Media, with Bacon!

LOVE FOOD?

Want to Share It?

Are you Feeling the JOY of FOOD?!?!

 

Then Scan this QR Code

Download the FREE APP
Then get to sharing,

You Foodie Expert! 

www.DinnerWire.com

Meet #TeamDinnerWire

JOIN THE TEAM!

Scan the Image Below with "QR Code Reader"

Download the App

Create Your Profile with Facebook or Twitter! 

(or CLICK HERE to go straight to DinnerWire.com)

Using Social Media to Maximize Your Restaurant

Using Social Media to
Maximize Your Restaurant

by Paul Katsch

From the viewpoint of the Marketing industry, social media has changed everything. According to the 2013 Social Media Industry Report released by Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers participate in social media. If you haven't noticed, technology has revolutionized the way consumers search and engage with products and services. Rather than a “push” industry, where corporations research what they think consumers will want and then make it available, technology shifts the paradigm. In today's “pull” industry consumers tell corporations what they want via social media, and those who react first get the business. So how does this affect the restaurant industry and what can you do to embrace this new interface?

The National Restaurant Association estimates that the restaurant industry will see $660.5 Billion in sales during 2013, a whopping 4% of the GDP for the entire United States. The truth about social media is that your customers are already looking for you and talking about you. It's up to you to decide if you're going to participate in that conversation or let your competitors grab the spotlight. So how do you get started, where should you focus your time, and how do you get the most bang for your buck? Like many things, social media requires the most time commitment in the beginning while you're learning, but by using your resources, setting an integrated social media plan, and a posting schedule it's much more manageable than it may seem. Don't have the time to commit? Look to a Marketing Manager, or hire a social media intern from your local college to lighten the load.

So you've decided you want to actively pursue social media, but there are so many sites that it can be quite overwhelming to get started. I highly recommend the resources and podcasts available on SocialMediaExaminer.com, as the social media industry is constantly changing they offer regular updates from industry leaders. In their 2013 Social Media Industry Report they list what marketers rated as their top focus, interests, and areas for future growth. The top sites were listed in this order: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging, and YouTube, followed by Google+ and Pinterest. 69% of marketers are planning on investing more in YouTube, and 66% are planning on increasing blogging efforts. So whats the point of maintaining ALL of those different sites? 75% replied the saw increased traffic, 69% reported their efforts gave them insight into their marketplace, and 65% saw it as a tool to develop a loyal fan base. Now the National Restaurant Association reported that 66% of restaurant patrons would likely support establishments with loyalty and reward programs, so are you using your resources to bring these consumers back to your establishment?

Each of these social media tools could take hours to fully explain their use and opportunities, and if you're serious about being an industry leader I highly recommend you explore more resources to get a better grasp on each. In the simplest form, here is a brief description and the opportunities associated with the sites I previously listed. Facebook is the juggernaut of the social networks, with over 1.1 billion active monthly users (665 million daily!). 751 million of these users are on their mobile devices, which is a challenge and opportunity to share your content in a mobile-friendly format. So what can you do with Facebook? Share updates, spark conversations, and ALWAYS reply to comments as it makes your customers feel unique and appreciated which will increase their loyalty, engagement, and your potential of going viral. Also, create Facebook events and share other specials and promotions with appealing graphics. Twitter is more news oriented than Facebook, giving users 140 characters to spark conversation or lead to videos, photos, blogs, and webpages. Imagine your tweet as a newspaper headline, send your message to trending topics with a “#” hashtag word, or talk to other users and businesses with “@+username”. With 500 million registered accounts, 21% of the world's internet population are using Twitter each month, with the 55-64 year old demographic growing quickest. On Twitter you can follow influencers, spark conversations, and find interesting content to share, but its a great place to exist as a central newsfeed for the articles you blog and photos of your food to keep your restaurant top of mind.

LinkedIn is geared for professional networking with over 200 million users, and it's important to remember not all your social media marketing should be focused directly on your customers. You can also engage with industry experts, B2B, news agents, and your own employees and managers. LinkedIn is a great way to connect to people you already know, learn from like-minded groups, create a business profile so others can learn about your establishment, and post job openings so the most qualified candidates worldwide can find you. The next biggest social media focus is blogging, which can be done from a number of sites such as WordPress or Blogger. Your blog should represent your brand, in a consistent voice that echoes through all of your social media accounts. The best way to engage on your blog is looking at it like having a dinner guest over. You don't want to do all the talking, but you want to bring up topics that will get people to respond and share with you as well, maintained at a steady and regular pace. If all you ever post is about your own restaurant, it will work for some, but you risk losing credibility with others who may have been genuinely receptive to your marketing if it had been packaged differently. YouTube can be used for a number of things, promotional videos, clips of excellent events, or turn your managers and chefs into virtual celebrities. People like to see faces, and supplementing your other social media with short, crisp, clean, and fun videos is a great way to quickly turn up your exposure.

Google+ is similar to existing social networks, but differs in the fact that it really helps your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and can really help streamline between your Google+ page, your Blogger blog, and your Picassa photo album. With 359 million monthly users, this site should definitely not be overlooked. Last, but certainly not least, let's discuss Pinterest. Though there are more men joining the site, it hovers around 97% female and is one of the fastest growing social media sites today. Especially for professionals in the food industry, you need to be using Pinterest to share photos of your best dishes. By posting photos of your best plates online, you can download a Pinterest extension for Google Chrome, and pin those images right from the website to your board. Pinning this way creates a link, so as users share your photo, anyone that clicks on it will be directed back to your website. Ultimately, thats the goal with all your social media endeavors, grab users' attention, give them something they want to share, and let them promote your business for you.

If you've studied social media before, it's likely that most of these sites are familiar to you, so I'd like to share one NEW social media site that can help differentiate you from the pack. DinnerWire offers a free app for your patrons and a superior reservation management system for your front of house needs. Unlike other sites than run solely off of patron reviews (good AND bad!), you can set up your own restaurant profile for FREE, highlighting your restaurants best features. Patrons can find your restaurant based on their location, food preferences, and a number of other criteria such as venues with live music. From the app they can call, make a reservation, check-in, recommend your restaurant to their friends, then leave a photo and review. With a simple sign-up through Facebook or Twitter, they can share their photos and reviews with social media friends and family. This also creates a new opportunity for you as the restaurant owner. DinnerWire was designed to “Connect Foodies to Great Restaurants and Chefs”. It was created to turn your chefs and managers into local celebrities, simply by having them login to create their account. They can follow other influencers, and their fans will follow them and their reviews. By having your chef engage with your customers, it creates a stronger relationship between your restaurant and patrons. It also gives you the opportunity to promote your best meals with a picture and review that will be shared directly with the people most interested in your cuisine.

DinnerWire for Restaurants: 

DinnerWire for Foodies: 

Overall, work with your own team to determine which social media sites are best for you. It's important to first have a discussion on your goals with social media, how you want to position your brand, and what kind of online persona fits your company. Creating a friendly and consistent voice encourages users to build a meaningful relationship with you. You're after more than a one-item-sale, you're developing repeat business that will come back over and over with their friends and family. THAT is the goal of social media for restaurants.  

Statistical Sources: 
Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2013/
National Restaurant Association: http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/Research/Forecast-2013

Additional Resources: 
Socialnomics 2013 (YouTube): http://youtu.be/TXD-Uqx6_Wk

Social Media Madness! - What is Social Media, How is it Used, and Why Should I Care? (SlideShare): http://www.slideshare.net/lulufemmefatale/social-media-madness-what-how-and-why
New Incentives for Dining Out (Infographic):
http://www.creditdonkey.com/image/1/550w/restaurant-trends.png

Tricks to Hire a Customer Service All-Star

Tricks to Hire a Customer Service All-Star

by Paul Katsch

If you are self-employed you undoubtedly understand the value of great employees. We've previously discussed “WhyYou May Need to Fire Your Top Performer”, but when it comes time to hire a new food services employee how do you approach the task?

The traditional approach is to post listings anywhere and everywhere. Those on the job hunt will be searching for opportunities like this in local newspapers, but more contemporarily on sites such as Craigslist, Monster, Career Builder, and let's not forget LinkedIn! If you choose to go this route, you can certainly get your posting in front of a number of eyes, but how can you be sure they're the RIGHT eyes? If you're looking for an experienced waiter/waitress, you don't want all your applications coming in from lifetime construction workers. Where sites such as Monster and Career Builder can help users set up resumes and profiles, LinkedIn displays useful resume, educational, and networking information. Additionally, you can see an applicants specific skill set as endorsed by those in their own network, as well as any letters of recommendation they may have posted. Another benefit of online applications is your ability to demonstrate who your company is and what exactly you're looking for. Establishing your expectations before applicants submit their resume can help weed out the completely unrelated applications and save you a good deal of time. Unlike former hard copy job listings, posting an open position online gives you space to list much more information. You can list out qualifications, job responsibilities, a link to your company website, or even your own personalized online application.

With so many educated and experienced individuals trying to enter (or reenter) the workforce, it can be a blessing and a curse for you as an employer. The upbeat is that you have a larger potential applicant pool to choose from, however you will likely also get a number of underwhelming candidates looking for any job without a particular passion or purpose. You can train a new employee on the daily functionality of business, but it's exponentially more difficult trying to train someone to have a good attitude. That may not be AS big of a deal if you're looking for someone to sit behind a computer screen, but a bad attitude can ruin the morale of the rest of your staff. In the restaurant industry this is especially important, as your employees are an extension of your brand identity as an establishment. If your new hire can't play nice with your customers, they can begin to destroy your hard-earned reputation. It's a fact, happy employees work harder for you. When you have such a large potential applicant pool, you have the ability and obligation to be selective.

So you posted your listing, you're getting a slew of online applications, is this really the best way to build your staff? Many will tell you yes!, but there are other ways worth considering. When scouting for your own talent, a good place to start is with people already in your industry. This can be tricky, as you don't want to ruffle feathers walking into an establishment and trying to “steal” their star employee. However, it's likely that good people know other good people. So let's say you're a restaurant owner looking for a new waiter/waitress. You go out to dinner, and are dazzled by your host. Before you bust out that, “How would you like to work for me?” trying asking, “Do you have any friends as amazing as you that are looking for work?” Like with your online posting, you want to be able to highlight what you noticed about this waitress that impressed you, as those are the qualities you'd be looking for in her friends. Was she pleasant, responsive, attentive? Paying a compliment is a good way to highlight these traits, followed by a business card with contact information. Though you do not want to upset the owners of the establishment, if you make a good case and a good offer, it's likely your host will personally apply as well.

At the end of the day, your employees are the face of your company. It is critical you devote the necessary time to not only finding the right people in the first place, but maintaining a positive and productive work environment. 

Happy Made in the USA Day!

Our American Restaurant Recommendation

Here's our recommendations of one of the best spots for American cuisine in Sacramento, CA! 

LINK: https://dinnerwire.com/ca/sacramento/seafood/mulvaneys-b-l/

What's YOUR Favorite Food
"Made in the USA"?

Login to DinnerWire with your Facebook or Twitter to let us know

Then Share your review with your Family and Friends!

Don't have the DinnerWire App Yet? 

Not a Problem! It's FREE! 

Go to www.DinnerWire.com to signup through your Browser

AND/OR Search for "DinnerWire" App for Foodies in the Apple or Google Play Store!

OR Scan the Image Below with your phone's 

"QR Code Reader" App

Let's Be Friends!

Hello fellow Food Enthusiasts! We hope you're enjoying the new blog and content,
and make sure to follow us on our other social media sites.

Social Media Links: 

Or INSTANTLY Download the App for FREE!!!

1) Download "QR Code Scanner" App

2) Scan Image Below

3) Download App from Apple or Google Play Store

4) Start Sharing your Favorite Restaurants and Meals

^^ Scan this Image w/ Phone QR Code Reader App! ^^