SmartBlogs on Food and Beverage

Every week, Restaurant SmartBrief editors scour the Internet for the breaking news and best-practices stories that restaurant owners and managers need to make their businesses smarter. However, every week, hundreds of fascinating food, beverage and restaurant stories don’t make the cut. Here are a few of my favorite stories from the past week that didn’t make the newsletter:

• 4 ways to spice up January restaurant sales, courtesy of TheBlackBoard.net.
• How the Internet is influencing your restaurant’s customers — and what you can do about it, according to The Bar Blogger.
• The Guardian’s Word of Mouth blog: Is there a relationship between bad service and pay?
• TBD.com delves into the history of Restaurant Week in Washington, D.C., and asks restaurateurs if the effort is worth it. This piece features a quote from former “Top Chef” contestant and the former executive chef for Zaytinya, Mike Isabella.
• What you need to know about dating a vegan, thanks to Grist.
• Not directly restaurant-related, but certainly food- and marketing-related: The Hairpin offered an homage to stock photos of “women eating salad” that tickled the blogosphere.

Image credit: phildate via iStockphoto