The movie Ratatouille was just released and as always My wife had to run out and buy it asap. No, I do not mind, these new Disney/Pixar movies are great to occupy my children’’s attention for sometimes days. Ok this got my attention also. I do recommend the movie it reminds us why we gravitated to the industry to

cheers factor Restaurant marketing

begin with. The story went through the regular I am an oddball of my clan scenario, (we know, this story line, we are all cut from this cloth). I don”t want to analyse the socio-economic position of the characters but lets just say they are close to the bottom of the food chain. Sound familiar? The movie does a nice job revealing the snobbery and stupidity of the so called up and coming elites in the business. This include the negative bullshit tossed around by these so-called critics. Just like sports writers that have never played the sports they criticize. The Hospitality Industry has seemingly gone to far from its roots. It seems it is no longer about the food, it is about the marketing, customer loyalty, butt’’s in seats, repeat visits, check averages, add-ons, up-selling, bounce back coupons, larger portions, unlimited refills of flavored sugar, overpriced water, and deserts the size of Rhode Island, ticket times, cross-utilization, answer the phone on the third ring or talk to the guests, table touches, guest visits, screwing managers on their bonuses, work harder do more! (sorry, corporate food came up on me again). Chain food serves a purpose and serves a market that is necessary. But the true foodies that ones that work in the industry for the love of wowing people with their artistic creations is hopefully growing. I at this time only remember a few of them they seem tireless, motivated and some how they keep getting better. They will never have an article written about them in Gourmet, Food & Wine or Food & Art magazine. These select few work in a “secondary market” That is chain speak for fewer people. It seems that I have gotten off of the topic of Ratatouille, the wonderful movie from Pixar Studios. With the number of operating food service outlets topping 900,000 it seems the growth is not stopping. So why is this a bad thing? Many of us started in the industry in a Mom and Pop restaurant that amplified the so called “Cheers Factor”. They were small homey quaint environments where all of the customers become a kind of family, a simple concept but hard to create. Ratatouille pulled off the feeling. The stress, pressure and cost of conceptualizing, building and designing the next Olive Garden concepts drives thousands of entrepreneurs into the industry annually. Yet they always seem to forget one thing. It is about the food and beverage, not the franchise deal. “Gusteau’’s” ( the restaurant in the movie) survives the onslaught of corporatization from a talentless chef that once worked for the famed Chef Gusteau. The genius behind the cookbook entitled “Anyone can Cook”. I have seen amazing creations from the most unsuspecting sources proving Chef Gusteau’’s theory. The restaurant industry has become to complex it is no longer about the food. I hope you keep searching I know I will, let us know when you find your “la Ratatouille” in your town.

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