When you are hosting a dinner party in your home, serving coffee is an excellent way to signal guests that it is time to find their galoshes and perform the skedaddle. The best way to do this is to prepare in advance. To some, coffee has a catechism. Only single origin beans are accepted! Only … Continue reading Hospitality @ Home: Coffee
The LA Times food section today featured a nice little piece on one new variable in dining rooms across the city, the potential hurdles that the presence of cell phones creates. A couple of additional things to consider: For a restaurant, the cell phone truly is a hurdle to great service. It not only makes … Continue reading Restaurant 101: The Cell Phone Conundrum
Trot into the bar of any dining establishment that teeters on the edge of casual and fine dining on a Monday through Friday between the hours of 4pm-7pm, and you're at ground zero of a daily battle. Happy Hour. It should be simple, right? After work drinks and a snack at a great promotional price. … Continue reading Share Plate: Hostages of Happy Hour?
Horchata is a controversial beverage. A beloved agua fresca, traditional in Spain and Central & South America—Its sweet milky refreshment is ladled out of glass pitchers the size of a small child on the hottest days, its starchy backbone quells the burn of the spiciest foods. Is it just rice? Or nuts and rice? Milk … Continue reading Horchata (cha-cha-cha)
It’s a contentious question in the operation of a restaurant, when to comp or not to comp? Is it better to send an appetizer or dessert to a guest who dines with you frequently, or to bank those freebies to compensate for errors made during service? Each restaurant is different. Sometimes, the policy is to … Continue reading Restaurant 101: It’s Complicated
