August Top Restaurant News Stories
New Premium Grapes Sold for $910 in Japan
A new breed of grapes has made its debut in northwestern Japan where it has been a state-led project since 1994. Slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, the Ruby Roman grapes have a tomato like color and fetch for about $26 per grape. That is what one Japanese hotel paid for to serve its guests at the upscale hotel. 700 grams, 35 grapes and $910, Wow!
Score a Last Minute Table for a Price
Gabriel Erbst is co-founder of www.tablexchange.com. Based out of New York, the company has caused a ruckus between several restaurants who are angered by people who are making reservations for the sole purpose of selling them to someone else. Recently the company has offered their online services to Chicago and already many restaurateurs are wary of the site. Miae Lim, co-owner of Mirai, Japonais and Brasserie Ruhlmann believes, “It make you feel like you have no control over your reservations and that there is some guy at home making all these reservations and just selling them.” Erbst and his partners have installed safeguards to prevent multiple reservations of one restaurant. For most, that’s not enough. In the first week of August, there were dozens of reservations for hot restaurants L2O, Charlie Trotter’s, Frontera Grill, Graham Elliot and Mirai Sushi all being sold for $10 to $20. Although the site practices are on the border of illegal scalping, the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Licensing has approved it, calling it a service like any other service offered. According to Erbst, the Chicago site has attracted more than a hundred registered users within 10 days of launching. Would you pay for a table?
Fat Kids Pay More to Eat
Managers of the Oulton Hall Hotel in Leeds, Yorkshire has started weighing kids to determine how much their meal will cost. Although the owners of the hotel say it will be voluntary, kids who are not weighed will be automatically charged 11.25 pounds, half the price of adults. Overweight kids are charged more. Although some view the tactics politically incorrect, general manager Sean Boyce believes it’s a way to help reduce the cost of dining out. If a child weighs five stone then the meal will be charged 5 pounds while children weighing 10 stone will be charged 10 pounds (one stone = 14 lbs.).
Coca-Cola Goes Hybrid
Coca-Cola Bottling Company announced it will purchase 142 made-in-Canada commercial hybrid delivery trucks for its North American operations. The heavy duty trucks will run on gasoline and electricity. Twenty-two of the trucks will be used in Canada. Fuel consumption will improve by 32% and reduce polluting emissions by 32%. When traveling under speeds of 50km/hr, the 340 volt battery will kick in to power the hybrid vehicle. This results in reduced exhaust emissions during slow traffic.
Baskin Robbins Launches Upscale Cafe
Café 31 is Baskin Robbins’s latest concept. The ice cream chain revealed its 2000 square foot prototype in Foxborough, MA which offers upscale desserts such as fondues, cakes and other sweets all created by an in-house pastry chef. Parent company, Dunkin’ Brands Inc. plans to open next year in New Jersey, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Café 31 is described as a fast casual restaurant in the ice cream segment. Menu items range from $3.95 to $5.95 including a shareable fondue dessert for $11.95.
No Pay Increase for Starbucks’ Executives
In an attempt to focus on Starbucks turnaround efforts, salary raises will not be awarded to vice presidents or senior management this year including CEO Howard Schultz. However, store and regional level employees will still receive a 3.5% increase while other employees would receive 2%. Last month, Starbucks reported their first quarterly loss due to restructuring. The coffee chain is closing a total of 600 stores and has already cut 1,000 non-store jobs.
Wal-mart’s Latest Retail Concept: Marketside
Wal-mart’s latest venture is Marketside, a one-stop shopping solution for bargain priced meals and fresh grocery items. The first four Marketside stores will open in Mesa, Arizona with each covering 15,000 square feet. Wal-mart’s total revenue is expected to top $400 billion this year. With the addition of Marketside, it should be interesting. Check out their site, www.marketside.com
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