About the author: Megan Conniff
Megan Conniff is a senior editor at SmartBrief. She edits restaurant and retail briefs and manages special reports for the editorial department. Megan began working at SmartBrief five years ago as a intern, after working her way through graduate school in both restaurant and retail establishments.
Wine of the summer, wine-flavored chocolates and wine tourism
Our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — SmartPulse – tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about trends and issues. Does your restaurant serve wine? No, my restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol of any kind: 31.31% We don’t serve wine, but we do serve beer: 2.02% Yes, we sell wine by the glass: 9.09% Yes, [...]
The value of a pay-what-you-can concept
Our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — SmartPulse – tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about trends and issues. Would you consider a pay-what-you-can model for your restaurant? Yes, it would fit in with my restaurant’s social responsibility initiatives — 2.33% No, my restaurant probably would end up losing money — 80.23% I’m [...]
The power of produce
Imagine that there is a single solution to help your restaurant demonstrate social responsibility, create delicious meals and tackle health problems ranging from obesity to high cholesterol. Does that seem impossible? A panel of experts at the NRA Show 2011 think all of these goals can be accomplished with produce, and they set a goal [...]
Case study: How Panera is handling menu labeling
Sometime in the near future, most of the industry will have to comply with menu-labeling legislation. Panera Bread‘s Scott Davis showed in an NRA Show 2011 session that menu labeling isn’t necessarily going to result in a consumer revolt. Here’s what the fast-casual chain’s chief concept officer had to say. Panera started looking at menu [...]
Best practices from The French Laundry’s culinary garden
Chef Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry is famous for its culinary garden, and the man behind the garden, Tucker Taylor, offered NRA Show 2011 attendees a tasty peek at the philosophy behind the garden, its purpose and, most importantly, what delicious produce it yields for The French Laundry chefs. The goal of the garden is [...]
4 leadership tips from Colin Powell
This year marks the third time Colin Powell, former secretary of state, national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has delivered the keynote address at this year’s NRA Show. Powell took the stage Sunday afternoon to answer questions, share anecdotes of his life outside the government and share management tips with [...]
Unilever: 3 questions consumers ask about their food
To date, food companies have a lot more experience dealing with food-labeling legislation than restaurants have. That’s what made insight from Lisa Carlson, nutrition manager for research and development at Unilever Food Solutions all the more helpful during an NRA Show 2011 session Saturday. Her basic mantra: “Nutrition only sells when taste isn’t compromised.” Unilever [...]
Case study: How Five Guys implemented online ordering
How can online ordering change your business? How can you guarantee that implementation will run smoothly? What do you need to know before you get started? On Saturday afternoon at the NRA Show 2011, OLO Online Ordering CEO Noah Glass and Five Guys project manager Steven Teller enlightened a crowd of hamburger and smartphone fans [...]
OpenTable debate, food bloggers and the best TV food shows
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 [...]
Amy Sedaris’ Chipotle couture, “Top Chef Masters” and Food Network chefs
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 [...]
