Hospitality Magazine February 2015

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No.711 February 2015

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Print Post Approved PP100007268

No.711 February 2015

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foodservice

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THE GOOD

OILS How chefs are utilising different culinary oils

PLUS:

7 technologies transforming the industry

Kids these days

Display refrigeration

Finding & training the next generation

Keep your food safe & your customers happy

Holiday harvest Three destination venues share their Easter menu plans

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12 editor’s note

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Editor: Danielle Bowling danielle.bowling@ cirrusmedia.com.au

PUBLISHER Martin Sinclair martin.sinclair@cirrusmedia.com.au MANAGING EDITOR Danielle Bowling Ph: (02) 8484 0667 danielle.bowling@cirrusmedia.com.au JOURNALISTS Brea Carter Ph: (02) 8484 0661 brea.carter@cirrusmedia.com.au Aoife Boothroyd Ph: (02) 8484 0907 aoife.boothroyd@cirrusmedia.com.au

No.711 February 2015

Print Post Approved PP100007268

know it’s easy for me to say from the comfort of my air-conditioned office, but I struggle to understand why fewer and fewer young people are deciding to become chefs.

While writing a story on the state of apprenticeships in food service today (head to p. 24) I learnt that in NSW alone, the number of people starting commercial cookery apprenticeships has continued to decline since about 2008.

Sure, the hours are long and crappy, but you’d stuggle to find an industry more creative and passionate than this one.

Oh wait ... perhaps it’s those few unscrupulous operators who are ruining it for the rest.

I’ve been back from the Christmas break for less than four weeks, and already we’ve published five stories on restaurant owners being caught out by Fair Work for underpaying young and/or vulnerable staff.

Abnsynthe Restaurant on the Gold Coast, together with its operator, was fined more than $15,000 for ignoring a Compliance Notice and refusing to backpay an apprentice the more than $4,000 he was owed. Then there’s the Sydney operator who was ordered to reimburse a South Korean cook on a 457 visa after paying him only $15,000 over a 13 month period.

So before we can complain too much about labour shortages and “kids these days”, we should focus on getting those who make a bad name for the industry out of it.

foodservice

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accommodation

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beverage

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management

THE GOOD

OILS How chefs are utilising different culinary oils

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PLUS:

7 technologies transforming the industry

Kids these days

Display refrigeration

Finding & training the next generation

Keep your food safe & your customers happy

Holiday harvest Three destination venues share their Easter menu plans

Frank Camorra’s Saffron and Seafood Paella.

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Image credit: MoVida

cover

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contents FEATURES

12 The good oils We discuss the best applications for different culinary oils.

16 Holiday harvest Three destination venues share their Easter menu plans.

18 Display refrigeration Ensure your food is fresh and your customers are happy.

24 Kids these days ...

How to find, train and get the most out of the next generation.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Justine Dunn Ph: (02) 8484 0757 designer2@cirrusmedia.com.au ADVERTISING NATIONAL Rhonnie Merry Ph: (02) 8484 0642 Fax: (02) 8484 0915 rhonnie.merry@cirrusmedia.com.au PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Mary Copland Ph: (02) 8484 0737 mary.copland@cirrusmedia.com.au

REGULARS

6

News online

29 Workplace

The latest industry news.

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New openings Some recent arrivals on the hospitality block.

10 Wine Snag a bargain from Burgundy.

Don’t let social media burn your business.

30 Rant Fad ingredients aren’t worth the trouble or the expense.

31 Tech talk Seven technologies that are transforming the industry.

27 Industry Observer Has the tipping culture died?

28 Facebook

32 Shelf space

Spend money to make money.

Six new products to hit the food service market.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Ph: 1300 360 126 ONE YEAR: $132.00 incl GST TWO YEARS: $220.00 incl GST

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newsonline

Outdoor smoking ban for NSW

Glynn Baynham commented:

door areas of hotels, restaurants and cafes, so it’s not surprising to hear that many restaurants and cafes that have already gone smoke-free and have found strong support from the community and particularly families with young children.”

South Australia will also be introducing similar legislation in mid-2016 with health minister Jack Snelling stating that the ban will allow the 80 percent of South Australian residents who are nonsmokers to enjoy a meal outdoors, smoke-free.

Early last year, a smoking ban in outdoor dining areas was lifted in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, after local operators claimed the regulation was costing them business.

“The whole reason there is an outdoor dining culture in Australia is because of the smokers! Back in the ‘90s before smoking was banned from indoor dining areas, outdoor dining areas were few and far between! I am a non smoker! Why are people so concerned with cigarette smoke, but are happy to sit outside in their carbon monoxide (car pollution) diesel fumed air?

Give the smokers (a legal product) a break! if you don’t like the smokers smoking, go back inside and eat, because remember it was the non-smokers that wanted the indoor eating [options], and they kicked the smokers out.”

Pie_t commented: “Under which rock are you living?

Smoking is a filthy, disgusting habit that is dying out in all civilised countries.

Good on the government for introducing the ban.”

WHICH INDUSTRIES PROVIDE THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE?

As of 6 July 2015, all commercial outdoor dining areas in NSW, including hotels, clubs, restaurants and cafes will be smoke-free, under the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000.

NSW Health director of the Centre for Population Health, Dr Jo Mitchell, said the ban represents the next step in the NSW government’s efforts to protect the public from the effects of second-hand smoke.

“Creating smoke-free outdoor areas reduces exposure to second-hand smoke and can support those who have quit and are trying to quit. It also makes smoking less visible to children and young people,” said Mitchell.

Under the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000, all ignited smoking products including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and water-pipes will be banned in seated outdoor dining areas while food is being served, attracting fines of $300 for individuals and up to $5,500 for occupiers who ignore the ban.

“There is strong public support for making outdoor dining areas smoke-free and a number of businesses have already voluntarily banned smoking in their outdoor dining areas, with positive results,” said Mitchell.

“A 2013 survey showed that 75 percent of respondents supported banning smoking in all out-

reader comments

*The top six of 19 industries have been included. Source: Kudos2 Consumer Survey

Out & about

Industry events the Hospitality team has attended recently...

4 December 3 December 2 December The Butler opening @ Seaweed masterclass Opening of Goros @ T Surry Hills with Jared Ingersoll Potts Point

10 December Opera Bar reopening party

16 December 10 December Bugs masterclass with Four Pillars’ first birthday @ The Rook Anna Polyviou

For other stories and information please visit our website: www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au 6

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newopenings

Coogee Pavilion Rooftop Merivale has officially opened the rooftop bar of its beachside venue, Coogee Pavilion. Executive chef Jordan Toft leads the Rooftop kitchen with a menu inspired by his travels throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The menu includes whole baby calamari in ink vinaigrette; haloumi wrapped in grape vine leaves with lemon oil; ground lamb and beef with washed onion and sumac; pork neck with sea salt and fresh dill; and kefta meatballs with warm spice and Arabic string cheese. The drinks menu features a long list of cocktails and sharing pitchers, alongside a selection of wine chosen by Merivale’s group sommelier, Franck Moreau. Designed as if it was once the conservatory of an eccentric botanist, Coogee Pavilion Rooftop has been brought to life by a design team including Kelvin Ho and Emilie Delalande of Akin Creative, Amanda Talbot, and Justin and Bettina Hemmes.

Owner: Merivale Head chef: Jordan Toft Where: 169 Dolphin Street, Coogee P: 02 9240 3000 W: www.merivale.com.au/coogeepavilion

Johnny Lobster

Bathers Beach House

Mr Grubb @ Oakdene

Johnny Lobster is a modern take on the classic Australian fish and chip shop, serving sustainably sourced, contemporary seafood dishes and hand cut triple cooked chips on Sydney’s north shore. The kitchen is headed up by Vilan Wijesekara, who cut his teeth at a number of Sydney’s fine diners. Wijesekara’s menu boasts sustainably caught New Zealand Hoki prepared in sourdough batter; soft shell crab; pan grilled barramundi with slaw and burnt leek; Maine-style lobster rolls; and a selection of salads and sides. Fried chicken, pork sausage and falafel rolls are also on offer for those who aren’t partial to seafood.

Following a major renovation and revamp, Fremantle’s historic Fisherman’s Co-op Building has reopened as Bathers Beach House. The new venue offers alfresco dining with panoramic views of Bathers Beach and a menu created by head chef, English-born Ross Tyre, who has a wealth of experience under his belt, including stints at two Michelin star establishments. The menu focuses on quality, casual dining with options for people to enjoy share plates or have traditional two or three-course meals. Local seafood and dishes with an Australian twist are on offer, together with a selection of local craft beer on tap and extensive wine and cocktail lists.

Mr Grubb @ Oakdene is a relaxed casual eatery located in Wallington, Victoria. Mr Grubb represents the latest addition to the Oakdene Estate which is home to the award winning fine dining venue, Oakdene Vineyards Restaurant and the Oakdene Cellar Door. Mr Grubb was built to offer diners something more family- and budgetfriendly. Executive chef Marty Chichester heads up the kitchen in both venues and has designed an exciting menu of share plates, salads, pizzas, burgers and sliders. The venue’s interior features artistic renderings created by renowned artist David Bromley, and alfresco dining amongst the Estate’s birch trees is also available.

Owners: Jason Hall and Andrew Summers Head chef: Vilan Wijesekara Where: 48 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, Sydney Hours: Daily, 11.30am – 9.30pm P: 02 9436 4672 W: www.johnnylobster.com.au

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Owners: Long Jetty Holdings Head chef: Ross Tyre Where: 47 Mews Road, Fremantle, Perth Hours: Daily, 11am - late P: 08 9430 4211 W: www.bathersbeachhouse.com.au

Owners: Bernard and Liz Hooley Head chef: Marty Chichester Where: 255 Grubb Road, Wallington, Victoria Hours: Daily from 11am P: 03 5255 1255 W: www.oakdene.com.au

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MAGGI Recipe Mixes are a range of spice mix blends made from chef inspired recipes. It is now easier than ever to deliver a menu of popular, contemporary and delicious Asian dishes. From classic Butter Chicken to Thai Fish Cakes or even Satay Chicken pies without compromising on taste or quality!

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beverageswine

The bounds of

BURGUNDY Don’t be deterred by Burgundy’s complex appellation system, writes Christine Salins, for there are some bargains to be had.

T

he name Nuits-Saint-Georges is so famous that in 1971 members of the Apollo XV mission named a crater on the moon after it. This appellation in Burgundy is located in the “Golden Mile”, a narrow strip of land that produces some of France’s most expensive reds.

It’s Pinot Noir through and through here, although if you take a few steps further south, you’ll find that Chardonnay is king. It was the monks who first determined many hundreds of years ago that these varieties grew best in Burgundy.

They also identified the slopes where the grapes grew best, laying the groundwork for the modern appellation system and the concept of ‘terroir’, the combination of special characteristics that define a region.

By medieval times, there was already a great difference in the price paid for certain parcels of land in Burgundy. In the mid-1400s, the Hospices de Beaune, a former almshouse and still home to a world-famous wine auction, bought one vineyard for 17 francs per ouvree and another for just two francs per ouvree.

The first vineyard was on the slopes, the second on flat land.

Today, Burgundy is probably the most terroir-conscious region in France. Unlike Bordeaux, where classifications are awarded to individual producers, in Burgundy the classification goes to a vineyard or region, regardless of the producer. This is reflected on the labels of Burgundy wines, where the name of the appellation is often more prominent than the name of the producer.

The appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) classification system was in-

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troduced in the 1930s and has been largely set in stone ever since (sometimes controversially so). It includes, in descending order, Grand Cru, Premier Cru, Village appellations and Regional appellations.

Grand Cru wines generally come from the best slopes and need to be aged for at least five to seven years; Premier Crus for three to five, although like the Grand Crus, the best wines can keep for much longer. Village wines are made from grapes produced within the boundaries of one of the many Villages in the region, while Regional (Bourgogne) wines can be blends of fruit from anywhere in a region.

It all sounds terribly complicated, but as Brendan Moore, a wine consultant who has lived in France for decades says, “like it or not, it’s a natural phenomenon.”

“In Bordeaux, the Dutch and British created a wine for their palates,” says Moore. “In Burgundy, you have to adapt to the field and the wine. These are pure, totally natural wines.”

Appellation is everything and yet it’s nothing, according to Moore. “Appellation is a guarantee of location, not quality.” While a Grand or Premier Cru is likely to be more complex and there are “certain moments that call for some real gravitas, you have to put [Grand and Premier Crus] in their place. We don’t follow the appellation. We follow wine in the glass. I don’t buy because it’s Premier Cru.” Moore firmly believes the best bargains to be had are the wines that sell in Burgundy for between seven and 12 euros.

“At the end of the day, I want a Village wine or a Bourgogne. The entrylevel wines are far more interesting. If you can make a great wine from the sim-

“You have to go through the small independent importers to find those little gems.”

plest vineyard, that’s far more indicative of the skill of the winemaker.”

Burgundy has long had a complex distribution system, with a heavy reliance on négociants who assemble wines from a variety of sources and on-sell to private customers, importers, restaurants and retailers. But Moore says this is changing.

“There are more producers who are not selling to négociants now. That’s where interesting things are happening.

Nowadays it’s very much more about independent importers.”

The key to a good importer, he says, is to buy every year. “Importers can’t just cherrypick the best year. Relationships are very important.”

Not only are the Village and Bourgogne wines cheaper than Grand and Premier Crus, but Moore says they are food-friendly wines for restaurants.

“In Australia, New Zealand and North America, there’s a complete renaissance in appreciation of food and wine, and I think there’s a place for French wines there. It takes a bit more legwork to explain to your customers what they are looking at with these wines, but it’s worth it.”

Wouldn’t such a rigid classification system discourage winemakers from trying to produce a better wine? Not so, says Moore.

“If you’ve got a Grand Cru you can be more lackadaisical about it. When you have a bottle of wine that’s Bourgogne, that’s when you can tell the man from the boys. There is more pride in a wine producer producing a good Bourgogne. You have to go through the small independent importers to find those little gems. Once they’ve got the confidence of their clientele, that’s where you get some really interesting wines.”

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The good oils Virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil ... A plethora of cooking oils are available to chefs today, but which ones are best suited to which applications? Aoife Boothroyd reports.

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here are many misconceptions in the culinary world when it comes to cooking oils.

Everything from smoke points, health benefits and refining processes have been scrutinised over the years, so Hospitality decided to catch up with a number of movers and shakers in the industry to set the record straight, and discuss the best applications for the most popular varieties of cooking oil.

A staple in Mediterranean cuisine and a firm favourite amongst chefs and diners alike, olive oil is the subject of a great deal of misinformation, especially in relation to its smoke point.

Rob McGavin, CEO of olive oil company, Cobram Estate, says that confusion relating to the smoke points, cooking applications, refining processes and health benefits of different cooking oils is common both amongst consumers and those within the food service industry.

“Many people think you can’t cook with extra virgin olive oil, but this is not true,” says McGavin.

“High quality, extra virgin light olive oil has a smoke point well above most cooking temperatures, which is between about 200 and 210 degrees, and refined seed oils are slightly higher at about 220, generally speaking, and virgin coconut oil is about 170 degrees. Low quality extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point, and would typically start to smoke at around 170 to 175 degrees.”

McGavin says that once oil reaches its smoke point, the antioxidants can start to burn and create free radicals. The fatty acid composition of the oil also changes and can create trans fats.

“No one will be confused as to whether their oil is smoking or not smoking,” says McGavin. “It’s not like a bit of vapour is coming off it; it will seriously smoke the kitchen out. People often get confused with vapour coming off the oil when it’s heating up, but that’s not the smoke point.”

McGavin notes that in addition to a relatively high smoke point, high quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), unlike many other vegetable oils, doesn’t need to undergo a chemical refining process to extract the oil.

“Of all the mainstream edible oils, EVOO is the only oil that has not been chemically or physically refined. EVOO is 100 percent natural juice squeezed from the fruit of the olive and contains lots of healthy minor components derived naturally from the olive.”

Although high quality EVOO has a

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“Many people think you can’t cook with extra virgin olive oil, but this is not true.”

higher smoke point and more nutritional benefits when compared to many other vegetable oils, it does tend to come with a higher price tag. McGavin says that when chefs are choosing their cooking oils, first and foremost they need to consider what they’re putting on the menu.

“Obviously chefs are very into flavour so it just depends on what they are looking for to complement the dish that they are creating … Essentially, you should be able to put the oil that you are going to cook with into your mouth, and it should leave your mouth feeling clean, not oily. If the oil leaves your mouth feeling oily then that is exactly what it is going to do to the food that you’re cooking.

“The same goes for the smell of the oil. If the oil smells fresh and reminds you of something like fresh cut grass, then it’s good, but if the smell reminds you of something like the oil in your car, or mouldy cheese, that means it’s gone

rancid and is going to taint the food with that flavour.”

When asked about the increasing popularity of coconut oil, McGavin says that while it’s a good product, there are a number of facts relating to the oil’s smoke point that have been largely miscommunicated.

“There are two types of coconut oil.

There is refined coconut oil which has been through a chemical refinery and that has a pretty high smoke point of about 230 degrees. The refining process does however take all of the goodness out of the oil and essentially leaves it as a fat with a high smoke point.

“Then you’ve got virgin coconut oil, which hasn’t been refined. Virgin coconut oil is a really great product, but its smoke point is about 170 degrees. So it’s not right to say that coconut oil has a high smoke point. Refined coconut oil has, virgin coconut oil hasn’t.”

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“Soybean oil by far is the most cost effective.

The industry would not be able to work without it, from a cost perspective”

Martin Heierling, group culinary director for the Urban Purveyor Group, says he uses a wide variety of cooking oils throughout the company’s venues – located across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Heierling says he tends to favour corn, grapeseed and soybean oil for frying and when it comes to dressing salads, extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil take centre stage.

“A really high grade, high quality sesame oil works really well on salads. Another raw oil is pumpkin seed oil which is predominately used in Austrian cuisine and is extremely tasty and also very healthy. Grapeseed oil is also very good as it’s 98 percent unsaturated. Coconut oil is also a very good oil. I’m not using it right now in Australia but in my previous life in the United States I used it a lot in Asian cooking.”

When it comes to frying, Heierling says that it really depends on what flavours you are going for.

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“If you are going for an old school classic British dish for example, then you would use lard because of the high temperature resistance – the conduction of the heat is very good and it doesn’t deteriorate very fast either.

“When I lived in Europe, we used to actually render kidney fat which is pure white tallow basically. It’s the fat that protects the kidney inside an animal’s body, so there’s a lot of fat to protect the organs, making it a very good fat to work with when it’s rendered. It’s also a good fat to make flakey pastry with. When you keep it cold, there are applications for flakey pastry and benefits that you don’t get with other fats.

“Soybean oil is also good, but a very good fat for deep frying, believe it or not, is grapeseed oil. It’s a very good oil to work with as it’s great for deep frying, dressing and cooking. It’s probably my preferred oil to cook with.

We steer clear of peanut oil though, because peanut allergies have become such a prominent factor.”

In regards to costs, Heierling says soybean oil is the one to look for.

“Soybean oil by far is the most cost effective. The industry would not be able to work without it, from a cost perspective, to be honest.”

Frank Camorra, chef and coowner of MoVida, favours olive oil because the flavour of the oil complements the Spanish cuisine that MoVi-

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1: MoVida’s Seafood Paella 2: Rob McGavin 3: MoVida’s Bocadillo de Chorizo 4: Frank Camorra 5: MoVida’s Creme Catalan 6: Martin Heierling 7: MoVida’s Remolacha 8: Bavarian Bier Cafe’s Big Schulz Burger

da is famous for, however he reserves the EVOO for raw applications.

“EVOO is generally just for finishing plates – for salads and anything raw; once you heat up EVOO, the delicacy of the flavours tend to be destroyed.

“We use pure oil for any sort of base pots or anything like that, so it’s still olive oil but it’s just more refined. Anything that we finish with, or for any salads we make, we always use extra virgin. Anything that we are cooking – like frying off onions and garlic, we use olive oil, but we don’t use EVOO.”

In Camorra’s experience, cottonseed oil and sunflower oil are the best performers when it comes to deep-fried dishes.

“I don’t use olive oil for deep frying because I can’t bring it up to temperature enough before it starts to burn, so I tend to favour either cottonseed oil or sunflower seed oil for deep frying.

“We have also used lard for pastries and as a shortening for different dishes, but not for cooking in. Lard works really well as a substitute for butter,” he says.

Choose wisely Oil is an essential part of any commercial kitchen and there’s no doubt that a good oil has the ability to transform a dish from good to great. While the quality of the oil most definitely plays a part in the final product, you don’t have to blow the budget by purchasing the highest quality oils and using them where they’re not really suitable. Different oils have different chemical compositions, giving them unqiue characteristics and their own place in the kitchen, so choose wisely when it comes to using the high ticket drops.

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easterplanning

Homage at Spicers Hidden Vale.

Homage’s beetroot kingfish ceviche, charred octopus, cucumber, garden radish

Holiday harvest With Easter just around the corner, it’s time to start planning for the chocolate-fuelled holiday. Brea Carter spoke with the chefs behind three uniquely placed venues about what they have in-store for guests.

E

aster is a great time to indulge in seafood and chocolate with family and friends, and it’s safe to say business owners who adhere to this simple formula are setting themselves up for success. But how they leverage the location of their venue at Easter can also influence their success over the holiday period.

The regional restaurant Local produce sourced from the Lockyer Valley and surrounding areas will feature prominently on the menu at the new Homage restaurant at Spicers Hidden Vale in Grandchester, Queensland.

“As the name suggests our food is about paying homage to the land, the farmers and our amazing local produce,” says head chef, Ash Martin.

“Our Easter menu will be based around the best produce that our suppliers bring forward at that time.

Because we visit the farms and farmers’ markets, we take home the best and freshest produce and ultimately, that’s what will end up on the plate that week.”

He explains the food focus will vary between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. “Good Friday will be Murray cod done our way – sourced locally.

Easter Sunday will be indulgent share plates with loved ones.”

Easter wouldn’t be complete without chocolate

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and hot cross buns, and guests can expect to find both at Homage.

“We like to celebrate the weekend in the traditional way [with the smell of] freshly baked hot cross buns wafting from the kitchen, and an Easter egg hunt for the young and the young at heart,” says Martin.

“It is going to be very chocolate-based, obviously with Easter – we are going to be doing some handmade chocolates and that sort of thing.”

Easter proves a busy time of year for Spicers Hidden Vale and its adjoining Homage restaurant, Martin explains.

“Easter weekend for us is quite huge with families, we generally book out quite early and have the whole family stay, and they come into the restaurant as well.”

In an effort to make the most of this busy period, Martin plans to tailor the restaurant’s offering accordingly.

“There will be a lot of shared plates and a selection of small dishes for people to graze on over the course of the night – diners will be encouraged to make a night of it – gone are the days of turning over the tables.

“A more relaxed version of the tasting menu – which showcases the venue’s showstoppers – also

seems to be popular,” he adds.

To maximise profitability over Easter, Martin advises other regional hotels and B&Bs with restaurants attached to encourage their guests to stay for multiple nights.

“Having guests stay two or three nights is great for us and the guests. It allows them to really unwind and have quality time,” he explains.

The beachside destination Darren Elmes, executive chef at Ravesis in Sydney’s Bondi, will focus on seafood on Good Friday – a tradition for the public holiday and also reflective of the venue’s close proximity to the ocean.

“Our major influences are from the sea – we will use plenty of fresh fish,” he says.

“My favourite fish is Blue cod from the Chatham Islands [800km east of New Zealand]. This fish feeds on scallops and lobster and it is worth its weight in gold.

“We will also use classic salt water barramundi from Queensland, salmon from Tasmania, and something local that is priced well, such as silver dory or bream from the south coast, dipped in clarified butter and golden bread crumbs and grilled with chips,” Elmes adds.

He explains that business owners may need to

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easterplanning

Oysters from Bondi’s Ravesis

A meal with a view at Ravesis

The Langham’s Anthony Ross

Scallops with cauliflower and toasted almonds at Homage

change up their offering in order to guarantee profitability over Easter.

“With three public holidays plus Sunday rates, Easter is a very expensive time to trade.

“We trade as a restaurant only on Good Friday lunch and for the next three days we have a wine bar menu with casual mains, small plates, platters and pizza. It is all casual dining over the three days – customers order at the bar, pay, get their table number and sit anywhere they like, and then we deliver the food to the table.”

This enables the venue to save on wages at a time when penalty rates can mean the difference between the business making a profit or a loss.

“We use less wait staff and chefs over the weekend, meaning profitability is more viable. The approach works well because we can keep turning tables all day long.”

Elmes predicts the trend towards share plates and casual dining will continue to gain traction, and points out that this style of dining could be the key to success over Easter.

“Have one or two staff on the floor to clear and set tables, less staff in the kitchen and an easy and simple menu that can be prepared fast to suit your clientele.

We will have burgers, pizzas, grilled fish and chips, dumplings, sashimi, oysters and more,” he says.

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

The Langham, Melbourne

The inner-city sanctuary Melba restaurant at The Langham, Melbourne will showcase a broad selection of fresh and cooked seafood on Good Friday.

“We will have Moreton Bay bugs, fresh Australian cooked prawns, fresh open oysters, clams from Cloudy Bay and Spring Bay mussels as well as our sushi and sashimi station,” says the hotel’s director of food and beverage, Anthony Ross.

“We have an in-house sushi chef from Tokyo – he will prepare the sushi and sashimi as per the guest’s requirements – they can choose from fish including tuna, kingfish, salmon and also calamari.”

A series of interactive dessert stations have recently been introduced in the restaurant, and Ross says the Opera Torte in particular, which is smoked to order in front of each guest, will be a great addition to this year’s Easter celebrations.

“It features many thin layers of pastry and cream and is topped with a shiny chocolate ganache.

“The twist is that the torte is served under a glass dome and just as it is being served one of our pastry chefs uses a smoke gun to gently smoke the torte. The glass dome is then removed and the guest can take their smoking dessert back to the table,” he adds.

There will also be a chocolate fountain, as well as handmade chocolates and a range of desserts.

“We have a very creative pastry team in-house and they create things like the tiramisu, chocolate truffle tart and chocolate brownies. We choose to use Callebaut and Valrhona chocolate,” Ross says.

He explains Melba’s unique buffet-style offering makes the venue a popular choice among families at Easter.

“Easter is all about the family gathering, and I think our restaurant has become the venue of choice for families on Easter Sunday lunch because there is so much variety – everybody from children to grandparents will find something that they like to eat.”

Ross says success over the Easter period will largely be determined by a venue’s product offering.

“You need to have a good product that you are able to differentiate from that of your competitors.

“When you deliver premium products people find they have a value there – the value is not because they feel full, it is because of the overall experience.”

He adds it’s important to be organised in the lead up to the long weekend. “I start planning in late January or early February.

“We need to pre-order a lot of seafood from our suppliers; there is menu planning to do and chocolate ordering – some of the ingredients we order from overseas so we need to give enough lead time for them to deliver.”

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DISPLAY REFRIGERATION: how to get it right

If you’ve got food on show and you want to keep your diners safe and your costs down, you need a good understanding of how display refrigeration works, writes Tim Smallwood.

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ffectively presenting food for sale and keeping it in good condition is a big challenge for food service operators. You’ve spent time and money making food ready for sale, arranged it in the display refrigerator and before half of it is sold, the remainder has dried out. Maybe you experience customers complaining that the item they bought is warm when it should be cold, or worse still, the cream filling has turned.

The objective is to avoid this by

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maximising quality and therefore sales, while also minimising waste, particularly in the summer months when the holiday trade is at its best.

All refrigeration is purchased to keep the ingredients and the food you make safe for consumption.

This is achieved by ensuring that the temperature of the food is kept on or below five degrees Celsius. With certain exceptions such as sushi, this is a regulated requirement under the food safety plan and applies as much to refrigerated food displays as to

cabinets and cool rooms. However there are many different types of refrigerated displays and understanding how they work will aid the decision making process.

Firstly, you need to know how refrigerated cold air behaves. This can be as simple as understanding that cold air is heavier than warm air and in fact will behave very much like flowing water. Open the refrigerator door and feel the cold air running out of the bottom of the open refrigerator onto your feet.

The refrigeration in food display cabinets can be provided in a number of methods, each of which will have a different effect on your food; how cold it gets, how long it stays fresh and how much the display will cost to run. The basic low cost display only refrigerates the base of the unit which causes a frost on the surface, which might look good but is not very effective in keeping your food at the right temperature and condition (see Diagram 2).

The alternative is the fan forced display which blows refrigerated

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Diagram 2 warm food

limit of cold food

refrigerated surface

air into the display in a number of different ways. Some configurations are more effective than others in maintaining food condition: too much air can dry the food out, and too little may not be effective in maintaining the temperature of all the food in the display.

The other thing to remember about refrigerated displays is that they are generally designed to maintain the temperature of food which is already refrigerated and not to reduce the temperature of warm food.

Refrigerated displays are also generally not designed for the storage of food unless all the glass is fully insulated for the ambient temperature where they are working.In cooler

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or air conditioned spaces that can mean double glazing, but in hotter and more humid climates argon filled triple glazing might be necessary to maintain the display refrigeration.

In all cases, adequate insulation will mean lower running costs.

A conduction chilled plate will run at nearly freezing so that the platter or bowl will get cold and in turn conduct the cold to the food in the bowl. But the cold cannot penetrate very far into the bowl because it will be heavier than the surrounding air and just like water, will naturally flow to the surface. This means that the food at the very bottom of the platter in contact with the surface or bowl might be at five degrees

Celsius, but food at the top will be much warmer (see Diagram 1).

These plate refrigerators are most effective in butcher’s meat display refrigerators.

There are two types of convection displays, those that use a fan to circulate the cold air and those that use a natural convection without the use of a fan. These are used where the use of a fan forced convection would tend to dry out the food but also have limited cooling effect because the cold air is sitting in the base of the display and not being continually replaced as it warms. The air from the fin coils at the back of the display will drop (because it is heavier) as it gets further from the refrigeration coil, meaning the display can be warmer at the front than the rear, which is closest to the fin coils (see Diagram 2).

These static displays are generally designed for delicatessens but can be used for self-service salad bars and antipasto bars.

The fan forced refrigerated display is the most used retail catering

“Maybe you experience customers complaining that the item they bought is warm when it should be cold, or worse still, the cream filling has turned.�

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SMART WALL

Diagram 1

Innovation is about the ability to recognise that nothing is impossible or cannot be improved upon. The Metro Smart Wall offers an innovative solution, optimising your wall storage using a grid system with customised accessories to take advantage of wasted space in all applications.

shelf

glass front

warm food limit of cold food

refrig coil

refrigerated air flow

Diagram 3

warm shelf

glass front

line of cold fill glass web

Solutions refrig coil

display because the fan can move the cold air to fill the display space so that all the shelves are refrigerated.

The fan moves the air through a refrigeration coil under the display so that it blows out into the rear of the display. The air is taken back to the coil under the display from the front so it is continuously cooled down.

Because of the way that refrigerated air, being heavier, tends to want to flow, the design of a display that cools all the shelves is more complex, and therefore more expensive than a display which is only cooling the

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refrigerated air flow

bottom shelf. But it will ensure that the food displayed on all the shelves is safe and is maintained in the same condition that it was when it was originally put into the refrigerator (see Diagram 3).

If you are displaying items which do not need full refrigeration, such as biscuits and pastries without cream, then the type of display which only refrigerates the bottom shelf is suitable: as long as you make sure not to put risk items on the upper shelves.

This type of display is ideal for selfservice where there is no front glass

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Diagram 4 glass top breather screen

reach in

line of cold fill glass front

glass web

limit of cold food

refrig coil

refrigerated air flow

Diagram 5

air flow at each end of display

line of cold fill

glass front

refrig coil

screen. Even with these fan type displays, in some cases the temperature at the front will be higher than where it comes out at the rear because the design does not ensure that the base of the display “fills up” with refrigerated air: it just “drains away” through the front air return vent (see Diagram 4).

A correctly designed display well will have a second strip of glass in the front to create a weir which ensures the bottom shelf area is full of refrigerated air before it spills over (just like if it was water) and into the return vent. This ensures that all the food piled up in a bowl is refrigerated.

To make the most of the dis-

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refrigerated air flow

play, it is best to select a cabinet which will refrigerate the whole of the interior.

This is achieved by ducting the refrigerated air up the rear of the cabinet so that it flows out at the top of the cabinet. Sometimes this is done through a double rear panel of the sliding glass doors, but can also work through ducts each end of the display so that the rear doors can be opened. This is the same way that supermarket display cases are refrigerated and requires more refrigeration power, and therefore cost, to run. The upside is that with more shelves you are able to display more food, which means you may be able to use a shorter unit and

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leave more counter space for other items (see Diagram 5).

An important thing to consider when loading a display is not to cover vents with bowls or platters which block or partially block the flow of refrigerated air. In some cases the positioning of a bowl can redirect the air flow on to the front glass where it will cause a patch of misting on the glass front even in an air conditioned environment.

If this is happening to a display, try moving the plates and bowls until the problem stops. Other solutions are to consider heating the glass to eliminate misting up; although the electricity costs will increase considerably.

In non air-conditioned areas it is most important to use insulated glass to avoid misting up caused by the difference in temperature between the display and the outside air and humidity. This choice of insulated glass can affect the visibility and sight lines of the display because of the size and positioning of the framing, as well as the clarity of the glass, and can have an impact on the visibility of your food.

High quality display cabinets will use what is described as “museum quality” glass which almost results in the glass being invisible so there is no barrier between the customer and the chef’s creation and therefore no barrier to a sale.

If you are investing in a quality refrigerated display it is important to remember not to fill it with low value and margin product such as drink bottles or bought-in snacks.

For these items a lesser specified display will be adequate which will cost less to buy and to run.

It is well worth researching the best display refrigerator for your food and your business: display the food well and in good condition and you will maximise sales.

In all cases the display should have a thermometer located at the highest point that the food is being displayed: if it’s cold enough there, everything below will be cold as well; and if the supplier won’t provide the thermometer at that point, I suggest you look for an alternative.

Tim Smallwood FFCSI, MDIA, of Foodservice Design Management.

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education&training

KIDS THESE DAYS‌ Despite the industry’s growth and its promotion both here and abroad, commercial kitchens are struggling to find good quality apprentices to one day take the reins. Danielle Bowling reports.

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sk any chef what keeps them up at night, and no doubt at the top of the list will be staffing concerns.

Not only do employees represent one of the biggest – if not the biggest – expense, quality staff who are reliable and skilled, or at least willing to learn, can be almost impossible to find.

Apprentices are an obvious solution: their wages are much more affordable than qualified chefs, and, if trained and supervised appropriately, they can be moulded (for lack of a better term) to ensure their skills and philosophies match that of the business.

If only they were around. The number of people commencing commercial cookery apprenticeships in Australia has taken a dive in recent years. Just in NSW, 1,489 people commenced commercial cookery apprenticeships in the financial year to June 2014. This is compared to 1,580 in 2013 and 1,670 in 2012. In 2011 the figure was 1,855. The MasterChef effect has well and truly worn off.

“Over the past three to four years there has been an absolute shortage of people who are taking up apprenticeships in the hospitality industry, specifically in the commercial cookery area,” Anne Cazar, assistant director of tourism and hospitality at TAFE NSW told Hospitality.

“Hospitality is a massive growth area, and we’re just not attracting enough people to meet that increase in the market.”

Sydney restaurateur, Nino Zoccali, couldn’t agree more.

“The Stafford Group is an economic consultancy group which was commissioned to do a study, and they found that the Sydney employment area is one of seven really bad hotspots for human resources. There’s a huge shortage of skilled labour in our area.

“There’s really a shortage of staff at all levels in Australia. The foreign visa laws at the moment, and the changes that the previous Labor government [introduced] have made it worse. The tourism and hospitality sector has grown at about 10 percent a year since 2008, since the start of the GFC, so it’s an industry that even if you take pricing increases into account, is probably 45 to 50 percent bigger than it was six years ago, and there’s no real increase in the supply of labour,” he says.

Zoccali, who operates two Italian restaurants in Sydney, La Rosa and Pendolino, sources his apprentices from group training organisation, Hospitality Training Network (HTN), and his industry associates there agree there’s been “a gob-smacking reducing in the amount of apprentices.”

“It’s a critical problem,” he says.

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Hospitality a no-go zone?

Speaking specifically about apprenticeships rather than the labour shortage in general, there are a number of reasons why fewer young Australians are deciding that a career behind the pass is for them.

Anne Cazar lists a number of familiar reasons: antisocial and long hours, sometimes repetitive and uninspiring work, and those few unscrupulous operators who tarnish the industry for everyone.

“There is also a push to have people stay in high school longer, which means apprentices start at a later stage,” she says.

Zoccali says some young people are being actively discouraged from starting a cheffing career. “There are certain bands within the Sydney metropolitan area where people consider it to be a desirable thing to do, and would encourage their children to [start an apprenticeship], and those bands are really on the periphery of the city, or in the western suburbs.

They don’t have problems getting apprentices so much out there, in all the pubs and clubs and restaurants. But if you go to the centre of the CBD it just gets harder and harder.

“When you get close to the city it becomes unaffordable for young people to live there; transport becomes really problematic and nowadays you’ve got this social, economic mentality where people from the eastern suburbs, lower north shore and inner west are not encouraging their children to become hospitality professionals. What’s even worse is that some career guidance councillors are actively discouraging people from entering the hospitality industry because the perception is that it’s not a great industry to get into,” he says.

The silver lining, Cazar says, is that the quality of people who are commencing apprenticeships is improving.

“The people that we have coming in are really interested, so they’re probably making more informed decisions. A lot of the people are staying longer,” she says. “People are becoming savvier because they can start to research where they want to work, whereas before people would often just go in and do an apprenticeship. Now they’ll look around a lot more and ask a lot more questions.

“In general, most of the apprentices are more informed. It could be maturity; we get a lot more mature-aged apprentices now – over 21 year olds that are coming through – and they’re better informed about their rights; they know what the working conditions are.”

The investment factor Luke Reynolds is proprietor of CBD Industries, a hospitality consultancy company, and has had extensive experience managing nightclubs and hotel kitchens.

While he acknowledges that all aspiring

A SUCCESS STORY Regie Soriano, 3rd year Gold (heat winner) recipient at the 2014 HTN Apprentice Chef Culinary Competition Why did you decide to join the hospitality industry?

I chose this apprenticeship because it’s something that I love doing, something that I love waking up to each morning. I love making people smile when they see what’s served up right in front of them.

Entering culinary competitions has motivated me to become the best I can possibly be, to push myself to my limits, learn as much as I can, and take everything on-board for my future.

What have you found most challenging throughout your apprenticeship?

Every day is a challenge; waking up to a brand new day thinking to yourself ‘What am I going to be learning today? Am I going to be able to cope? What new faces will I be seeing today?’ It’s definitely a challenge doing long hours every day and worrying about getting enough sleep for the next day.

What have you found most rewarding?

This is the best question. I enjoyed my whole apprenticeship - the roller coaster I’ve been on to get where I am now. I was surrounded by the most inspiring mentors, who have helped me reach my culinary goals.

All the hours I put in before and after shifts actually paid off.

What are three traits that an apprentice needs to get the most out of their training?

Firstly, surround yourself with inspiring, motivated and supportive people. I’ve been successful during my apprenticeship because of the people I was surrounded by. My mentors have pushed me to become the best I could possibly be.

Secondly, do not expect to work 38 hours or less a week. This is the hospitality industry, you give up your weekends, your eyes are shut for a split second then you’re back to work again. Make sure you keep yourself motivated.

Last but not least, always have that “can do attitude”.

Without that you will get pushed around and just feel like you’re not good enough. Get your name out there and be willing to learn about everything that is thrown at you. To become a chef you must know how everything works, be strong and stand on your own two feet.

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wards embracing a more flexible apprenticeship model, which could include adjusting the training attendance requirements, and potentially clustering the TAFE days into blocks rather than having the apprentice out of the kitchen one day a week.

“There’s also a whole new group of people coming through asking for more flexible training options such as online learning, access to computers and alternatives to sitting down in a classroom.”

Both parties bring something to the table

Sydney’s Pendolino has a number of apprentices in the kitchen.

chefs deserve a fair go, he says apprentices can – when not managed appropriately – quickly blow out the kitchen’s budget.

Reflecting on his time as licensee of a Sydney pub group, Reynolds says the time that apprentices spend at TAFE rather than in the kitchen can be a significant burden for the bottomline.

“At the time we had four apprentices on the books … and I had to use my comm, demi and sous chefs to cover the apprentices’ shifts, which was overtime, which as you can appreciate is a huge financial burden when you’ve got senior management to answer to. I had to keep my wages budget down to around 11, maybe 12 percent at the very top end, and with the apprentice chefs, my wage budget was blown out to 14, maybe 15 percent,” he says.

Reynolds feels there are certain business models that are more suited to recruiting apprentices.

Large hotel or restaurant chains that are closely monitored by a board determined to see strong financial results is not one of them.

“If it was a small, family operated pub environment – yep, awesome. That environment – small to medium sized restaurants and cafes – for sure, they should bring apprentices in because they need to start somewhere, and in those sort of environments the operators aren’t under so much pressure. It’s a little bit more laid back and casual. Yes, the businesses are still financially driven, but it’s not as critical as [it is] when you’ve got a board of directors.”

Now a hospitality trainer at various TAFEs across Sydney, Reynolds says if he had his time again, he’d still recruit apprentices, but maybe just one, and most likely not a first year.

“I’d be looking at a second or third year. That way they’re not so green that they need baby-sitting. They are hopefully mature enough to work unsupervised to a certain extent, and they would have had some sort

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of experience and diversity in their culinary skills.”

Despite the fact that apprentices make up about one-third of his kitchen brigade, Nino Zoccali is also reluctant to recruit first years, but unlike Reynolds, it’s not because of the time required to ensure they’re productive.

“First years, and to a degree second years, are a big investment for probably not a great deal of return. Particularly with first years, because the attrition rate is so high. In our restaurants, because of the standard of what we’re doing, we’re reluctant nowadays to take on first years because more than 50 percent of them drop out. If you get six months [out of them] you’re doing pretty well.”

TAFEs are recognising that the time required to bring a new apprentice up to speed is a deterrent for business owners, and so are introducing a number of measures to assess and upskill them before they get into the kitchen.

“Apprentices aren’t necessarily highly productive in the first six months to one year of their apprenticeship. Sydney TAFE is doing a lot of work in that area to try to build up the speed and knowledge that they have,” Cazar told Hospitality. “One of the things that we’re doing is running a lot of pre-voc (pre-vocational) courses, to get people into the industry and to make sure we are getting the right people. They’re like taster courses; short, sharp courses and skill-set training. If they like working with food, you can see it. You can see if there’s a passion.

“The courses help to ensure that we’re not wasting their time and we’re not wasting our time, and so the employer gets a good quality person hitting the ground. Also, the apprentice feels better because they go and work for their employer and they already know how to do certain things, so they feel more comfortable and it helps to build their confidence.”

Cazar says Sydney TAFE is also working to-

As mentioned, in order for both an apprentice and his/her employer to get the most of out the training experience, a significant investment in time and effort is required.

Cazar insists that if you’re a business owner that’s just after cheap labour, employing an apprentice is not the answer.

“They have the responsibility to provide training. They have to actually have a designated time for training. There has to be a regular training time that is adhered to, so that’s a huge undertaking for an employer.

“Of course the apprentice also needs to feel safe, so basic foundational aspects need to be met.

They’ve got to be in a safe environment where they’re not going to get hurt or burnt, and where they’ll be paid [correctly].”

Zoccali’s qualified chefs have a strict process to follow when training apprentices. Each new recruit has a training sheet and needs to show his/her competency in all major areas of the section of the kitchen they’ve been working in, in order to work their independently. Once they’re comfortable in one section, they move onto another. Every six months, team members take part in an appraisal process where feedback is shared.

“A lot of it is in your management. If you’re not checking them, they’re not going to learn what’s right and what’s wrong; they won’t have certain standards. What we’re really talking about here is ongoing and regular auditing of what they’re doing.”

The apprentice, he says, must have the right attitude. Everything else can be taught.

“The traits of a good apprentice are the traits of any good employee, I think. First of all, they have to know that they want to do it and they’ve got to enjoy it. They’ve got to be motivated for whatever reason it is, to really stick at it and keep going.

“We want kids that are pretty serious, that appreciate being treated really well and having really good working conditions, but they’re also really focused and know that they need to produce a certain standard.

“Talent is important, but I think it’s secondary.

It’s a bit like great sporting athletes. Most of them will tell you that they didn’t really believe they were that talented, they just really worked at it. Shane Warne will tell you that in his opinion he’s not the best spin bowler Australia’s ever produced; he’s the guy that worked at it the most. And I think cheffing is the same.

“Natural ability isn’t worth much if you don’t have the tenacity to stick with it.”

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industryobserver

Is tipping a dying art?

Have tap-and-go payment systems and the desire to turn tables quickly killed the romance of tipping?

Was there ever really a tipping culture in Australia? Yes and no, says our Industry Observer.

On average Australians tip 2% of their bill, but 70% of Australians never leave a tip!

Source: Dimmi

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mericans are big on tipping – all over the place. They add 15 to 20 percent to the bill and folk Stateside don’t bat an eyelid. This is born from a culture where horrible minimum wages are matched to the overly polite manner of many of the country’s citizens.

Anecdotally, floor staff in the US hospitality sector can make many times their salary in tips, and see them as a crucial part of their income.

The ratios were never the same in Australia, as we had a higher starting wage, but there are some with good memories that can go back to days of decent tips – often due to the payment method; “will that be cash or card?”

How things have changed. We can now just tap on the machine that a waiter brings to the table and our credit card (linked to a Frequent Flyer scheme somewhere...) is automatically debited with the amount on the bill. We are such a cashless bunch that often there isn’t a decent tip between us if we wanted to give something to the waiter – who has long since disappeared…

Has the new technology, matched to a stronger desire to turn over tables, robbed the floor staff of the opportunity to ‘work’ for tips? I think the

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answer is a resounding yes, but the consideration should instead be whether we should tip at all in this day and age.

A restaurant in the US has taken the very unusual step of offering their staff reasonable wages ($35k a year) as well as a number of company shares and health care benefits. They say that this deal was struck with employees to create tenure, security and provide a career platform. Part timers will still be paid $10 to $12 per hour. It will be interesting to follow the success or otherwise of their plan.

Admittedly, Australia is not the US and ‘working for tips’ has never had the same resonance here as there for a couple of reasons – firstly, our waiters were paid much better than their US counterparts (if measured on standard award versus award rate); secondly, the Australian psyche doesn’t support the overt ‘pan handling’ for tips that is considered good practice in America.

Furthermore, the chain store or fast food style reward systems of pins and badges are similarly not part of the historical Aussie culture and consumers over 40 seem to struggle with their relevance or see them as embarrassing. While much of the TV we watch and fast food we consume has an American

origin, the mainstream consumer has much closer links to Europe where ‘pumping up your own tyres’ is frowned upon, not rewarded.

How does this link to whether or not we tip, you may ask? It’s simple really, as it comes down to opportunity and motive (a bit like a crime) … where is your motivation for tipping the staff at a restaurant if you believe that they are being paid fairly for their role? And, with the advent of tap-and-go payment and fast turning tables, how much opportunity are we given to tip anyway? There are some modifications being made to the technology platforms that allows for tips to be easily added when you settle the account, but even this capability removes a crucial part of the process – the romance.

Tipping was often something done with a little sleight of hand. Many times (when working in hotels or restaurants) a handshake with a customer came with a neatly folded note pressed in the palm.

It was discreet, rarely showy, and was almost part of a gentlemanly code. In these more brash times, have we lost the art as much as we have lost the reason? Furthermore, does tipping deliver better performance? Probably not – unless you are a regular guest known for your generosity. Good waiters have great memories. In some cases the maître’d is tipped on the way in to the restaurant to ensure a table in a good spot or better service. Now that process I understand – you are ‘buying’ service up front and reducing the risk of poor performance. If you leave tipping to the end of the meal, it’s more of a lottery. Perhaps we should just expect service to be great all the time and hope that a fleet of well trained and personable floor teams will all be paid appropriately to permanently perform at their peak. That’d be nice ...

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managementcomment

SPEND MONEY

to make money Just when you thought you were getting the hang of social media, Facebook has made it more difficult for you to target prospective diners.

But spending a little will deliver big returns, writes Ken Burgin.

P

eople are frustrated that ‘free’ promotion on Facebook doesn’t work anymore. But most of your Facebook fans never saw your posts. Until last year, about 20 percent of what you put on your page was seen by them, but now it’s just a fraction of that. In 2015 and going forward, if you really want to be seen, you’ll have to pay. In fact, the options for targeted ads to reach exactly the people you want are much more exciting than the random results of free posting.

Want to just reach local mothers with young children, for a mid-morning promotion? You can do that with precise targeting that won’t be seen by anyone else, and the ad will only show on a weekday. How about a special offer for males over 40 within 20km, who like wine? That’s easy to organise. Even better, if you have an email list you can run ads that just show to these people, and create another much larger list of people who ‘look like’ them but have probably never visited your business. This is powerful stuff!

We’re not talking about the ‘Boost’ button that appears on the bottom of each post, tempting you to spend $20 to reach more people. It’s not totally

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ineffective, but resist that and go to the Ads Manager, where a whole world of opportunity opens up. Use ads to get people to click through to your website, respond to a particular post you’ve put up (e.g. announcing a coupon or menu change), get more page ‘Likes’ or promote an event.

The Ads Manager also gives options to set up special Custom Audiences by uploading your email or SMS list – another reason it’s important to keep collecting contacts. Facebook compares your list with the profiles it has, and if they match, adds them to your Custom Audience. In my experience, you’re likely to match 40 to 50 percent of your own list. You can then use part of this list for targeting your ads, for example young males on your list for a football night, or women who say they are engaged. You can also use part of your list to create a special Custom Audience, like club members who have not renewed; they can be targeted with a special renewal offer that noone else would see, and at much less than the cost of a mail out.

Another Custom Audience is one based on people who’ve visited your website. Facebook has a method for you to add a ‘pixel’ (a piece of code)

on your website that is activated every time someone opens a web page where the code is installed.

This piece of code sends general, hashed, information about the actions people take on the website to Facebook to help the advertiser target ads to those people. For example, people who visit your Functions page could become another Custom Audience that starts to see ads related to your event packages.

Once you’ve created a Custom Audience, you can build a Lookalike Audience. Facebook explains ‘We look at the common qualities of the people in your source audience, such as demographics and interests, and then find the people who “look like” your source audience the most.’

If your email list is 5,000, this could give you a matched Custom Audience on Facebook of say 2,000. From this, you could build a local Lookalike Audience of maybe 20,000 to 40,000 (proportions based on my own use of this tool). From this new and much larger audience you’ve now got a solid number of leads to use for very targeted Facebook advertising.

Excited by this? I am. With 13 million Aussies using Facebook,

Ken Burgin

WHAT’S ALL THIS COST? • If you want to build fan numbers, you’ll probably pay 60 to 70c each, using the ‘Promote your Page’ option in the Ads Manager.

• A carefully targeted campaign with a link to your web page offer could cost as little as 20c per click, using the Boost Your Posts option. Once people reach your website, it’s up to you to have an offer good enough to buy.

• Start with a campaign that costs $10 per day and watch it over a week. Track the results and compare to the $70 you spent. If it’s a good return, rinse and repeat!

most of them daily, the options are fantastic. Look around your venue – more than 80 percent of your customers use Facebook, and some of them are on it right now. It’s time to explore this new advertising frontier.

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workplaceissues

DON’T LET SOCIAL MEDIA BURN YOUR BUSINESS Social media can blur the line between your employees’ personal and professional lives, so it’s important to have clear rules and regulations in place, writes Restaurant & Catering Australia.

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ngagement with social media has been a problematic issue for business owners since the very inception of mainstream online blogging. Unlike other areas of the employment relationship, social media usage has the propensity to bridge the gap between personal and work life. This is not inherently a bad thing, in fact it can at times allow for positive dynamism within the workplace. However, inevitably the interaction between an employee’s work and personal duties can present circumstances that have the potential to harm the business.

The challenge comes with how to deal with this, should it eventuate. In certain situations the options available to employers are quite clear. Other circumstances however, have a natural layer of ambiguity. One where the consequences are less clear.

Fundamentally, it is important for businesses to plan in advance for these issues. Often a response to negative social media use is reliant upon the workplace having an active and up-todate social media policy – something the employer may refer back to when dealing with an issue that may arise.

These can often be broad policies that encompass the use (or misuse) of the business name within a social media setting, or simply social media use within work hours.

Modern use of social media presents a problematic convergence of business and personal life, where the two competing interests can interact and occasionally be detrimental to one of the parties. On the one hand, there are privacy considerations when employees utilise sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; yet on the other hand the business must, and will prioritise its reputation and profitability.

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

sequently reinstated. In the decision, Commissioner Spencer cited the harshness of the dismissal and questioned the level of risk the incident posed to the business. Whilst the internal policy was clear on social media usage during work, it was insufficient to rely on as grounds for dismissal. A more balanced approach would have seen a warning being provided to the employee along with a reminder of the policy.

“A response to negative social media use is reliant upon the workplace having an active and up-to-date social media policy”

The Fair Work Regulations 2009 define serious misconduct as including, but not limited to “conduct that causes serious and imminent risk to the reputation, viability or profitability of the employer’s business.” The benchmark to terminate an employee summarily for serious misconduct is high, and so the application of this sub-regulation needs to be done conservatively. Nonetheless this goes to show that activities that may take place outside the work environment

can have an effect on one’s employment. This ought to be made clear to all employees, and ideally in the form of a workplace policy.

In a recent case Faulkner v BHP Coal P/L [2014] FWC 9330 an employee was dismissed for posting a Facebook comment during work hours.

This was specifically prohibited under the mobile phone usage and workplace social media policy. The employee filed a claim of unfair dismissal with the Fair Work Commission and was sub-

Social media is a dynamic area of modern life, and as such policies should reflect this fast-paced and ever-changing nature. It seems that every day a new means of establishing person-toperson interaction is achieved; it’s important to keep workplace policies up to date to facilitate this.

This article was written by the Workplace Relations Team at Restaurant & Catering Australia.

Contact them on 1300 722 878.

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managementcomment

WAISTLINES vs

BOTTOMLINES The fitness food fad, in all its raw Manuka honey, chia seed and acai powder glory, is seriously not worth the effort for today’s food service operators. By Tony Berry.

Tony Berry

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ell folks, that’s it – thankfully – it’s all done and dusted for another 12 months. Although, given the way the marketing moguls decree things, it’s more than likely that the so-called festive season will this year begin somewhere around the first week in August. You can’t get enough of a bad thing in their minds.

For this scribe, a brief escape from the end-ofyear mayhem provided a chance for a bit of catchup reading. From this it soon became apparent that the season of gluttony and boozing (which more genteel folk call feasting and drinking) had brought with it more than the usual glut of culinary volumes. The world and his wife had seemingly delivered a cookbook for Christmas and beyond.

This sudden flood was in some part heightened by a deluge of books dedicated to the overall theme of dieting. The fads and their followers were out in force. They were extolling the virtues of a plethora of so-called fitness foods. These they use for dishes promised to rid the body of the unwanted weight and toxins accrued during our annual celebration of excessive consumerism.

And thus the food service industry needs to be on sharp alert. There is a new breed of diner about to haunt the streets. They will be more demanding, more selective and fussier than any of the freaks and faddists that have gone before.

No longer will it be sufficient to offer dishes that are allergy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, lactose-free and generally devoid of all things tasty and edible.

Nor will it be sufficient to continue the trend for “foraging” – the PR person’s word for picking your own fruit and veg. A few weeds and grasses from the backyard garden will no longer satisfy the seekers after the green and natural.

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Kitchens will need to stock up on quinoa (current leader of the fave foods), acai powder, agave syrup, all manner of nuts and seeds, buckwheat and something called teff flour. And that’s just for starters. Then there are the oils – not simply olive or virgin olive but also coconut (very trendy), safflower and various other exotics.

As a sweetener, mere honey is far from sufficient; it has to be raw Manuka honey because it apparently does what no other honey can do.

Almond milk and coconut milk are other staples along with chia seeds, goji berries, pink (not black or white) peppercorns, raw cacao powder, medjool dates, Himalayan pink salt and, regardless of any thoughts of seasons, such fruits as cherries, blueberries and raspberries – one recipe even calling for the latter to be halved lengthways.

No consideration seems to be given to the economies of stocking up on all these exotics; nor of the portion control and wastage factors. Many are used in such minuscule amounts, even in a dish to serve eight, that frequent purchasing will be needed to ensure supplies remain fresh.

Such recipes could be dismissed as fripperies for fringe-dwellers. Many are being offered and publicised by high profile celebrities whose wafflings and ramblings seem to attract large numbers of ardent followers. Their words – and their recipes – are gospel. This is “healthy” eating and the sure-fire route to fitness, longevity and perpetual youthfulness.

There is to be no wavering. This is not only what they are urged to survive on in their domestic routines but also the content of their meals when dining out.

So restaurants and kitchens everywhere, watch out.

Food service has mainly done a good job so far in noting the preferences of vegetarians, vegans and those with definite allergies – especially if the kitchen is given the courtesy of some advance warning.

But these latest trends are a step beyond what could be defined as necessary. This is whimsy. The alleged benefits of many of these regimes are unsubstantiated, even disproved and in some cases said by health experts to be more negative than positive. Yet it’s a fair bet that many eateries are going to have to bear the brunt of their adherents’ demands.

When they eat out, they expect food service to cater for all their peccadillos and slavish routines as decreed by some wafer-thin model or Hollywood megastar, each of whom has all the time and resources in the world to while away the hours weighing, chopping, juicing, soaking, mincing, blending and dry roasting the minute amounts of exotics essential to creating what passes for a meal. Restaurants have no such luxury.

Many of the recipes for these concoctions (they are not meals) call for a pinch of this, half of that, a quarter of a teaspoon here, 30 grams of something there and so on – teeny amounts that ensure huge remainders that soon go stale and become useless.

The cost factor is enormous, but never mentioned.

Once the catchword was “buyer beware.” Perhaps now – at least in food service – it should be “seller beware.”

Gwyneth Paltrow’s shopping list…

• • • • • • • •

Coconut aminos Lacinato kale Gluten-free flour Manuka honey Xyliltol (natural sweetener) Roasted piquillo peppers Quinoa flakes Vegenaise (egg-free, all-natural mayonnaise) • Safflower oil • Wheat free tamari • Coconut sugar *Ingredients from recipes found on goop.com

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apps&technology

TECH TALK Almost every industry is undergoing a technology-driven transformation, and hospitality is no different. By Phil Bickerton.

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here are a number of solutions that have already begun to change the way that business is done, or the way that it will be done in the near future. The common attribute that they all share is the fact that they allow businesses to have a more convenient, informed and valuable relationship with their customers.

Here are seven areas in which technological advances are transforming the hospitality industry and enabling a new level of customer service:

1. Online booking systems Online bookings are now extremely widespread in the hotel industry, with many restaurants also beginning to accept them as their popularity increases.

There will always be some people who prefer to pick up the phone, but online booking systems mean that customers can reserve a room or a table outside the venue’s business hours, or any other time when calling is not convenient. This brings a new dimension to customer service and marketing, as many industry insiders now consider it essential to have an online booking service, which also requires a well-designed, mobile-friendly website with a simple interface.

An important decision for many hotels and restaurants is whether to use a third party online booking service, or to develop their own customised system. Both approaches have their own pros and cons, so businesses will need to choose based on their individual needs.

2. EPOS Electronic point of sale (EPOS) systems are becoming more and more sophisticated, allowing hospitality venues to operate more efficiently and provide better customer service. By integrating with CRM, inventory management and other tools, information on capacity, reservations, stock, loyalty programs

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

and more is accessible at the touch of a button. In addition, cloud-based POS applications are becoming more common, which means that staff can process orders, bookings and payments directly from a tablet. This affords them greater mobility and adds another level of convenience for the customer.

3. CRM Customer relationship management (CRM) software allows contacts and information to be organised and managed in one place. An effective CRM makes it easier to build ongoing relationships with customers, as well as making important details easily accessible to all staff via a cloud-based application.

4. Marketing automation Marketing automation allows personalised emails to be sent to customers and prospects based on their activities and personal information. A basic example is to automatically send a discount email to customers on their birthdays. However, advanced marketing automation software allows much more complex tasks to be performed, such as emailing customers who have been visiting or clicking on certain areas of the website or social media pages.

While this may be out of reach for restaurants and smaller venues, many larger hospitality businesses could benefit greatly from monitoring and nurturing their prospects to encourage repeat business.

5. Social media A social media presence is crucial in the hospitality industry, particularly given that Facebook is a popular platform for check-ins and reviews of restaurants and hotels. Attractive images are usually the most popular type of post, so restaurants and hotels should take the opportunity to share beautiful and interesting photos of their food and their facilities. Businesses should

also choose their social media platforms carefully based on their target audience, rather than simply joining all of them.

6. Smartphones The proliferation of smartphones is yet another opportunity to improve customer service. If restaurants and cafes are able to build a list of people who have opted into receiving messages, then promotions and offers can be distributed via SMS. It’s also vital to ensure that websites and online booking systems are properly optimised for smartphone screens.

For more creative uses of smartphone technology, scannable QR codes can be placed on promotional materials and within venues to encourage customers to connect on social media or to view other online content. And perhaps in the near future, if it hasn’t already happened, innovative bars and restaurants will experiment with allowing patrons to order drinks and request songs from their phones.

7. Smart appliances Advances in smart appliances and home automation are beginning to reach the hospitality industry, and will no doubt have a greater influence in the future. Lighting, temperature, TV channels and music can all be controlled from a single tablet device, which allows staff to easily adjust the environment to deliver the best experience to their guests.

Despite the many changes that are being brought on by these technologies, the truth is that they are there to enhance, not to replace, the core offerings of a hospitality business. The best food, the best customer service and the best environment will still be what matters most.

Phil Bickerton is sales manager at Saxons IT Solutions and Saxons Learning Solutions.

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shelfspace

1

2

3 6

5

4 1. Stay cool with outdoor air conditioners Ozmist has recently introduced the Italian-designed and manufactured Fresco, Aurora and Atmosphera outdoor air conditioners to the Australian market. The Aurora and Fresco are designed for small to medium-sized areas and the Aurora is equipped with a light, making it ideal for night time use.

The Atmosphera is best suited to large spaces including bars, restaurants and pubs. All of the models keep mosquitoes at bay, neutralise odours and dust, and are available in a number of different colours.

Head to www.ozmist.com.au

2. Gluten free gravy Nestlé Professional has added Maggi Gluten-Free Supreme Gravy to its range of Maggi gluten-free gravy mixes, which currently includes Chicken and Instant Rich mixes. The new variety is described

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as a full-bodied traditional beefstyle gravy, and it can be used to add flavour to both beef dishes and other grilled or roasted meats and vegetables. The ‘cook on stove’ gravy takes minutes to prepare, is fat-free, has no added MSG and is bain-marie and cook/chill stable. www.maggi-professional.com.au

3. Keep customers connected New USB powerpoints from HPM and Legrand enable business owners to cater to tech-savvy customers. The powerpoints include two USB modules that allow customers to charge their phones and tablets, eliminating the need for bulky adaptors. They have a charging capacity of 4.2A and can simultaneously charge any combination of USB devices at the maximum charging speed of the device. They are available in more than 40 colours and are suitable for new or retrofit installations.

Visit www.legrand.com.au/usb

4. Organic European cereals Muesli and porridge products from Austrian-based company, VeríVal are now available locally through Spiral Foods. Each of the 10 flavours are hand mixed using organic ingredients, and they include crunchy muesli blends and toasted and untoasted mueslis, including a coconut and apricot variety, which is gluten-free. The range also includes two flavoured porridges: Mango and Physalis and Poppy Seed and Plum.

The cereals are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives and are non-GMO. They are available in 1.5kg food service sizes.

See www.spiralfoods.com.au

5. Egg-based dishes, ready to go Sunny Queen Farms has launched a new egg bake range, available in two flavours: ham and cheese and fetta and spinach. It’s also expanded its Everyday Gourmet omelette range to include a number

of flavours: roasted vegetable with pumpkin, corn, capsicum and onion; and goats cheese and caramelised onion. The omelettes are ready to serve fresh from frozen in less than 90 seconds. They are free from artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and have a 12 month shelf life when frozen at -18°C. www.sunnyqueenfoodservice.com.au

6. Rose revolution Luc Belaire Rosè, a sparkling rosè from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the south of France is now available in Australia. It’s made from a combination of three different grape varieties: Grenache adds body and imbues the wine with hints of blackberry and blackcurrant, Cinsault smells of cherry blossom and creates a supple texture to finish, and Syrah adds richness, and is responsible for the wine’s coral colour. Once the varieties are blended, the wine is aged and then bottled.

See www.lucbelaire.com

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eventscalendar

hospitalitydiary FEBRUARY 22 - 23 February, ACF Chef’s Conference The Australian Culinary Federation is hosting its inaugural conference at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast for chefs from across Australia. This is an opportunity for chefs and culinary friends of the food industry to meet in the relaxed environment of Lily’s on the Lagoon for two days of cooking demonstrations and presentations from guest speakers including Tetsuya Wakuda (Petuna Ocean Trout), Peter Wright (Cheese from Mainland) and Leo De Battista (Chefs and Businesses). The conference will also include an intimate trade show on Monday afternoon featuring Robot Coupe, Melrose Meats, Pasta Riviera and The Good Grub Hub. www.austculinary.com.au

MARCH 10 March, Foodservice Industry Association tradeshow – Dubbo See the latest in food service trends all under one roof at the FIA tradeshow in Dubbo. Be part of this exciting event, held on Tuesday 10 March at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre.

This one day only event will run from 10am – 6pm. Talk to some of the largest food manufacturers in Australia, taste and sample the latest products and get the edge on your competitors with some of the latest products. www.foodservice.org.au 12 - 15 March, Taste of Sydney Taste of Sydney will be returning to Centennial Park in 2015 where festivalgoers will be able to sample over 60 dishes from 15 of Sydney’s hottest restaurants.

The event will bring together some of Sydney’s best restaurants, chef collaborations, artisan producers and a host of new attractions including masterclasses, workshops and other hands-on experiences.

Recently awarded NSW’s Best Exhibition in the Australian Event Awards, Taste of Sydney represents the perfect opportunity for food and wine enthusiasts from both customer and industry backgrounds to enjoy the spoils of the city’s culinary scene.

Taste festivals are now enjoyed in 24 different cities around the world. www.tasteofsydney.com.au

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MAY AY 14 - 15 May, Restaurant Industry Summit The Restaurant Industry Summit is a two day conference that will be held in the lead-up to the Noosa International Food & Wine Festival in May this year. The conference aims to address some of the biggest challenges that the Australian restaurant industry is currently facing including constant pressure on pricing and escalating operating costs for all food and wine related businesses and suppliers. Created by concerned industry bodies and leaders including federal MPs, restaurant owners, media professionals, large business chain CEOs, and industry stakeholders, the event will aim to start a collaborative dialogue to affect change and stabilise the situation. The conference will focus on areas of concern including workforce issues, consumer trends, cost of business issues, taxes and regulations. www.restaurantsummit.com.au

MAY/JUNE May 31 - 2 June, Foodservice Australia The Foodservice Australia tradeshow will be taking place at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne from 31 May. Spanning over three days, Foodservice is the only tradeshow focused on the restaurant and catering sectors, and last year featured over 160 exhibitors together with a range of events designed for chefs, food managers and hospitality operators. 2015 is shaping up to be

the biggest show yet with most exhibitors rebooking immediately after the 2014 show. Popular features include the Regional Producer’s Pavilion and the Chef’s Corner, as well as the Global Pizza Challenge, World Masters and Australia’s Best Pie Competition. The tradeshow also includes the annual Foodservice Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony, which celebrates excellence achieved by individuals and companies over the past 12 months. Categories include Food Distributor of the Year, Food Supplier of the Year, Innovation of the Year and Service Supplier of the Year. www.foodserviceaustralia.com.au

AUGUST 17 - 18 August, The Drinks Industry Show Exhibitions & Trade Fairs has announced a new industry trade exhibition, The Drinks Industry Show, which will take place on 17 and 18 August at the Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island. The show will connect producers and distributors of alcoholic beverages with buyers from bars, clubs, restaurants, hotels, liquor stores and catering companies. It will feature an interactive exhibition, taste testing, educational seminars, mixology demonstrations, networking functions and the 2015 Australian Bartenders Guild Classic & Flair National Cocktail Championship. www.drinksindustryshow.com.au

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

HP4274_TrustedBrand

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YOUR

VOTE

WIN

VOTE

COULD

YOU A N IPA D AIR 2 !

FOR AUSTRALIA’S TOP TRUSTED HOSPITALITY BRANDS For 47 years Hospitality Magazine has been a trusted partner to Australia’s hospitality professionals. In every issue we report on the latest industry innovations, applications and performance in Australian hospitality.

In order to recognise the businesses that have influenced Australian food service – Hospitality Magazine is launching a new survey to industry professionals to rank the country’s most trusted brands.

Companies will compete for a place in the Top 100 Trusted Brands for 2015 and for recognition in one of 20 categories including: • • • • • •

Bakery Beverage & Beverage Systems Catering Equipment Heating & Cooling Systems Housekeeping & Hotel Supplies Laundry Equipment

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YOUR OPINION WILL INFLUENCE WHO IS AWARDED ONE OF THESE PRESTIGIOUS TITLES IN 2015.

VOTE TODAY! Your vote could win you an Apple iPad Air 2 – so go online to

www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au/trustedbrands

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Capture The

MOMENT AND

WIN

OVER s6,000 worth of prizes to be won Right now Perfect Italiano is inviting you to capture that special moment at your workplace on your iPhone, Android or digital camera.

Simply take a creative photograph at your workplace, UPLOAD the image on the Club Perfect website and you could win some great prizes including a Robot Coupe Vegetable Cutter or a Canon 70D Camera.

Competition starts on 16th February 2015 and ends on the 30th March 2015, so hurry and get clicking.

For more information and full competition details simply visit www.clubperfect.com.au

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