August 11, 2023 – 8:42 pm
When I was with Max & Erma’s 25 years ago, I gave the keynote at the annual Akron Women in Communication Dinner. I began by holding up a vintage Barbie and asking, “How many of you owned a Barbie doll when you were growing up?” Laughter rolled through the banquet room as I continued, “I […]
I just heard MLB consultant, Theo Epstein, who was instrumental in recent rule changes, and all I can say is, thank you MLB. In case you don’t have a best friend that moved to Chicago and became obsessed with the Cubs or you’re not following the story, here’s what MLB’s doing: Since I only know […]
A while ago I was in LA on a Discovery Tour and visited a haute hotdog concept called Slaw Dogs. The line-up of builds was impressive. They had dozens of variations from a Hotdog Rueben to a Breakfast Dog, but most impressive was when they brought out their ‘Secret Menu’ for two women who were […]
Recently, I participated in an interview for an LA Times article on menu names. Here are my top ten thoughts on, ‘What’s in a name?’ 1. Do you consider menu naming serious business? Naming is really important for two main reasons, first, to encourage ordering of menu items, and second to set the right expectation about the […]
Advertising: Which Half is Which? By now everyone has heard the saying, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Most people attribute it to a friend or business associate, but the comment was originally made by retailer John Wanamaker, a marketing pioneer in the early […]
October 18, 2011 – 5:42 am
I recently had a columnist interview me about value. Her assumptions were purely financial…getting value by avoiding high mark-up menu items that are low-cost to the restaurant. Frankly, I don’t buy that paradigm. I think that value is in the eye of the beholder. By that I mean, a simplistic view of menu item prices […]
A 20-inch baby cobra escaped from the reptile house of the Bronx Zoo about a month ago and became an instant news story. OK, it was probably a slow news day, being that it preceded Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations and the capture of Bin Laden, but that only half explains why this event became such […]
September 25, 2010 – 11:23 pm
Summer Vacation Years ago, I taught high school. To this day, what I miss most about it is Summer Vacation. Think about it. Summer vacation is way better than regular vacation. When you go on regular vacation, the work doesn’t stop, you just get farther and farther behind the longer you’re gone. Not so with […]
I had dinner with a friend last night at a great new little Mexican restaurant, Cabo Cucina. When I met him for dinner a year or so ago, we ate at the same restaurant…well, not actually the same restaurant. It was the same building but a different concept—it was a great little Italian restaurant (the […]
April 14, 2010 – 11:28 pm
I was on a conference call the other day where we discussed whether we needed valet parking for a new project that was a little thin on dedicated parking spaces. The price tag for valet parking is a little daunting when number crunching an initial pro forma, so it sometimes falls by the wayside when […]
