Restaurant Books

If you live anywhere in or near Mass or travel there you will want this book! I saw it at the library and since I only live 1/2 hour from the Mass border I thought it would be fun to browse through it. I had post-it notes stuck on so many pages I thought I had better buy my own copy. The book is divided by regions and towns and has suggestions for restaurants, shops, markets, etc. If you consider yourself a foodie or just enjoy sampling local favorites you will want this book! I am now planning day trips around the foods I want to try. Great book. I wish there was one for every state.

Eating a meal at Campanille is a pleasure. The food is wonderful, better every time, rustic, aromatic, lusty and rich. The cookbook helps you recreate their food.

The Gravlax recipe is my favorite. It is easy to prepare, very impresive, and has the silkiest texture.

Compiled, organized, and edited by A.K. Crump, The Food Of Fisherman's Wharf: Cooking And Feasting From San Francisco To Monterey is nothing less than a culinary celebration of Northern California's coastal cuisine. More than three hundred full color photographs and forty in-depth waterfront restaurant profiles make this an ideal trip planning guide, as well as a compendium of superb dishes associated with them. From Stuffed Striped Bass (San Francisco Fish Company, Ferry Building, San Francisco); to Avou Fisherman's Stew (Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Half Moon Bay); to Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut Served with Mango-Papaya Relish (Old Fisherman's Grotto Restaurant, Monterey); to Grilled Salmon with Ponzu Sauce (Shadowbrook, Capitola), this is a kitchen cook friendly, and sea food enthusiasts delight!

This Food Service Professional Guide To Series is a great resource for anyone looking to succeed in the food service industry or improve their existing operations, big or small. For those just starting out, it's a great "A to Z" of every aspect of managing a food service business, written in an accessible and engaging style.

For experienced professionals, the detail and scope in this series will help to fill in any blanks or generate new ideas for establishing, managing, and growing a successful operation.

This series has become one of the first guides I reach for to quickly get an understanding of a topic or pick up some new ideas. Recommended!

While there are several other books in this series, The Food Service Professional Guide To Series, that cover different areas of this book more thoroughly (for example, there are a few tips on how to reduce your beverage costs in this book, but Controlling Liquor, Wine, & Beverage Costs, by Elizabeth Godsmark, is flat-out exhaustive), this book is a great overview.

Often, you won't need to make extensive changes in your food service operation to maximize your profit. A few things go wrong --for instance certain menu items that just won't sell or problems with a vendor who's constantly sending bad produce--and your profits disappear. Or you're in the opposite situation: everything's going wrong, and you don't know where to start.

My advice would be to purchase this book first. The information here will, for the most part, give you a general idea of what you should be looking for in each area of your business. Each section contains valuable hints, but they're usually very basic ones--ones that if you aren't following, you really should be. If, after reading through the book and making sure you're following the general guidelines set out in each section, you find you're still not seeing the profitability you're looking for in any given area, take a look at the book of this series related to the topic. The other books that I've read in this series go over each area of each subject and pick apart the different areas where your restaurant can be improved for better profit and customer satisfaction--everything from employee fraud to what type of light bulbs you should consider.

If you already know where your problem areas are, you may want to go straight to the book for that area, but often one problem (like excess trim from meat) can be traced back to different areas (like employee relations), so it can be a good idea to have a general checklist to work from. If you're looking to improve your restaurant/food service business profits, this is a great place to get started.

I worked in restaurants where I felt unappreciated. I pledged to not cut corners in making my staff feel valued in my own establishment. That seemed impossible once I looked at my bottom line. This book reminded me that cutting labor costs could lead to costlier recruiting expenses once my staff flees looking for other work. A simple improvement, such as outsourcing payroll to an online service, is convenient and saves money. I also learned that making my restaurant a safe and enjoyable environment is an act of employee retention. Encouraging my staff, or playing their favorite music in the kitchen, goes a long way in reducing turnover. Even the worst bosses start off with the best intentions. They eventually become so focused on the bottom line that they do not notice their staff's morale. This book shows you how to keep both in sight.

I wish I'd had something like this when I was working in the food service industry. This book, with brief bullet points that still manage to spell out the practical details as necessary, gives the seasoned restaurateur hundreds of tips on how to cut costs--everything from trimming energy expenses (run the water supply for your ice machine through the refrigerator or freezer to pre-cool it) [...] It seems like it would be very practical to copy pages out of the book and include them in your employee training packets or post them in the kitchen. I've found that the more employees understand the reasons behind your policies--and the big differences they make on profit margins and customer satisfaction--the more likely they are to follow them. The book has tips for all parts of the food service industry, from fast food to fine dining, and states the reasoning behind each tip in a way that would be easy to explain to others. The book is well written, clearly organized, and includes a helpful index. If you're looking for something specific, you should be able to find it in moments. I would recommend this to any food-service business looking to increase its profit margins and willing to do the planning and work necessary to make it happen. This is not a quick fix book (although quite a few of the tips would take little time or money to implement), but a thorough and honest guide on how to cut costs over the long run.

I manage the front desk at a full service hotel. I wanted one book to help me better understand the managers in the rest of the hotel and how they and their departments function. This is it. It is very detailed in my own area, and really does a nice job of showing how all the parts in a hotel inter-relate. Lots of reference material, web site references and realisitc case studies, and an easy to read writing style. I looked at two other books on the topic of hotel administration and management. This one was by far the most detailed and best. Ninemeier is Professor Emeritus from the Michigan State University Hotel School. Hayes is the former Associate Dean of the Conrad Hilton College of Hotel Administration.

The Four Seasons restaurant in New York is a unique American institution, home to celebrities and also commoners who wish to step in for an always-exquisite dining experience. Alex von Bidder--a co-owner along with Julian Niccolini--has teamed up with John Mariani to write this most enjoyable history of the 41-year-old restaurant. The book bubbles over with rich anecdotes, it captures the social drama of New York, it tells a delightful story of success with a touch of humor and humility. The book is, most of all, a great read.

I always wanted to take a "restaurant French" course. With the help of this menu guide, I don't have to take a course. It's all things France. It has over 1500 English and French words with translations and pronunciations. It provides useful French phrases. It's a comprehensive overview of French cuisine. It even has some recipes. This compact guide has a plastic book cover and it fits nicely in my purse.