Select the Right Cookware. To ensure optimum performance of your kitchen range, make sure your staff has the right type of cookware.  The best cookware will be sturdy, without uneven bottoms.    This will ensure the efficient heat transfer, and that the bottoms of the pans heat evenly.   The pan size should correspond to the burner size to ensure the efficient heat transfer.  If you use a smaller pan on a larger burner, a large amount of the heat energy produced by the burner will be wasted and will not transfer to the pan but instead will heat up the kitchen.

Clean It Thoroughly, Regularly, Use a Checklist. Train your staff to clean the kitchen range as they go.  Throughout the day, there will be spills in the range area, on the open burners, griddle tops – it is important to take care of them right away so that they don’t build up.  When cleaning, make sure to remove all the grease and any food remains.  Also, be careful not to damage the electrical components with the cleaning solution or water.   Detail cleaning of your kitchen range will result in improved heat transfer when cooking.    Dirty burners have to exert a lot more energy to heat up the cookware, which is why keeping your stovetop clean-looking will also result in more efficiency and saved gas/electric bills.    Make sure your kitchen range has casters.  This allows kitchen staff to move it easily if they need to check a problem in the back of the range or clean the area behind it.

Monitor and Calibrate Gas Burners. The flame should be of the right color and shape.  If your flame becomes other than a steady blue flame, examine your burners.  Gas burners need periodic adjustment to produce the flame of the right color and shape.  Unscrewing and repositioning the flame shutter will often help in properly calibrating your stove-top.   Clean burner heads and burner ports regularly to prevent them from getting soiled and clogged.  Use warm soapy water to clean the area and unclog any clogged ports with a damp cleaning cloth.     Ensure that there is a proper air flow through the flame shutter.  Also make sure the pilot port is not clogged – clean it regularly and unplug the range for safety reasons when cleaning.

Implement Energy Solutions. When it is time to buy a new kitchen range, consider spending your money on the equipment with energy-efficient features that will help you save money on electricity or gas.  Some modern kitchen ranges have infrared elements, which can reach full power in a shorter time than a regular range, resulting in the elimination of the long preheat times.   Other energy efficient solutions include ranges with higher energy outputs and shorter cooking times.

Health and Safety Considerations. Your restaurant’s cleanliness standards should reflect local health code stipulations. Inform and educate your staff regarding what local code expects from a restaurant in terms of cleaning procedures. Create checklists to define how often a certain area of a restaurant or an object should be cleaned, what it should look like, etc.

Hire 3rd Party Cleaning Service. Many restaurants opt for hiring 3rd party cleaning service providers instead of hiring cleaning personnel directly. This has many advantages, and the major one is that you’re hiring cleaning professionals that have experience in cleaning restaurants, and these professionals are familiar with the safety and health regulations of your local area. Professional cleaning providers should always be checked for proper credentials, licenses, and accreditations.

Set up Cleaning Procedures. Examine the needs of your establishment to create proper cleaning routines and procedures. Depending on the size, the type of your restaurant, the average number of diners every night and other factors, you may require a thorough cleaning of entire restaurant premises on a daily basis. Other dining establishments may require detail cleaning weekly, with cosmetic cleaning activity throughout the week. Define what kind of cleaning services your restaurant needs, what kind of tools, cleaning solutions and chemicals you want your cleaning personnel to have.

Set up a Cleaning Schedule. Determine the frequency with which you want your premises cleaned, whether by professional cleaners or your personnel. Ideally, cleaning service should come in every night to ensure the highest level of cleanliness to the patrons for the next day. Many restaurants schedule the cleaning during the late evening hours or early morning hours, so that the customers do not have to see the cleaning process, just the end result.

Train Restaurant Staff. Make sure your regular personnel (kitchen staff, waiters, bar-tenders, etc.) are trained on how to upkeep restaurant’s premises in a clean condition. Educate your staff members to clean as they go and that their job is to constantly ensure the premises are pristine. All restaurant staff should be assigned clear cleaning tasks to be performed throughout the day to maintain the constant appearance of cleanliness at a restaurant. Train your staff to use common sense and safety precautions when cleaning. This includes removing food from the areas to be cleaned into proper storage units so that there is no possibility of cross contamination or cleaning chemicals penetrating food products. If using outside cleaning service, train your staff to always seal and store away all food products and ingredients before the cleaning crew arrives.

Once a customer has shared his/her email address with you, your objective as a restaurant owner is to take a full advantage of this valuable contact information and stay fresh in a customer’s mind without being irrelevant or overbearing. Here are some of the best practices for effective email marketing campaigns:

Set the Objectives. Before you start your email marketing campaign, it is important to plan in advance what kind of email communication you will have with your customers. As a business owner, you need to establish the objectives you want to reach through email campaigns. Such objectives may range from promotion of special events, promotion of your wine list, cuisine, or motivating more repeat business, to name just a few. Knowing the “why’s” of your marketing campaign will help you not only plan, it will make your campaign have a tangible impact on the bottom line.

Use Email Marketing Providers. Using a regular email function to send out emails to multiple customers is not the best way to communicate because, if used improperly, it may expose customers’ email addresses for others to see. Also, sending numerous emails this way will often result in your email ending up in a customer’s spam box. Sending a large number of emails might also cause the search engines to blacklist your IP address. While you can get your IP address reestablished and “white-listed”, this process often takes a long time. Using professional email marketing providers is cheap and the best way to send out “blast” emails. These companies will manage the large email lists for you, will make sure that customers can opt out if they don’t want to receive emails from you, and that your emails look sharp and professional.

Determine Frequency. Many businesses struggle with determining the frequency of the emails sent to customers. Frequency depends on your restaurant’s concept, the occurrence of special events, etc. The ideal frequency range is from weekly emails to 1 or 2 emails per month. You don’t want to go any less frequently as it will look like there is not much going on at you restaurant or that your email campaign is not managed effectively. Another great strategy is to offer diners an opportunity to set the frequency options regarding how often they want to receive the emails from you: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.

Analyze the Data. Email marketing campaigns will do you no good if you don’t keep track of the results and don’t analyze how the campaign performs. Analyzing the results allows you to make necessary changes along the way based on what works best for you and the customers. Looking regularly at your tracking data allows you to see whether your emails get opened, if customers are clicking through to your promotions or coupons. You can monitor customer response and see which promotions, coupons or specials are effective, and which are not. Analyzing your email campaigns also teaches you more about your customers.

Acquire First-Time Customers. Consistently introducing your restaurant to a wider audience is one of the key ways to increase sales and bring volume to your restaurant, even create possibility of expansion.   Acquiring new customers is also one of the most expensive marketing strategies, yet it is a critical element in growing your numbers.   Acquiring first-time customers is done through variety of methods, including planning the strategic location, brand-building, properly positioning your restaurant compared to the nearby competition and demographics, using social media and other tools.   It is also critical to make the right first impression the very first time the customer visits your establishment.

Improve Customer Retention. Once you acquired a customer, it is important to have programs in place to keep him/her coming back.   Strategies utilized by restaurants today in this area include anything from developing enduring personal relationships with clients to introducing loyalty programs similar to the ones used by airlines and hotels.  Building successful customer loyalty programs includes implementing appropriate software to help you in this process and keeping track of the trends in your customer profiles and preferences.

Increase Check Averages. Increasing the total amount of money spent by customers at your restaurant can be achieved in a number of ways, provided that you did your due diligence and know marketing basics, such as the market you’re in, your competitors, customers, and any outside influences that may impact your business.  These measures include suggestive selling practices, internal merchandizing, staff training, upgrades, price increases, direct mail programs, and so on.  It is also critical to have the right tools and systems to monitor the actual effects of the strategies to increase check averages.

Host Special Events or Larger Parties. One of the most efficient ways to grow sales is to promote the hosting of private parties and the celebration of special events at your restaurant.  Make sure your dining establishment is equipped with the right facility/rooms to handle special events on a regular basis.  This includes private rooms or other ways to ensure privacy for special events.  Implement programs that encourage customers to host big size parties.  This includes quantity discounts, upgrades, and free gifts.  Market your restaurant’s capability to hold large party events and have your operations and logistics in place to deliver the value you promise.

Implementing the above strategies through spending more time and resources on staff training, marketing basics, learning about your customer and competition and properly positioning your restaurant will definitely bring desired results.

Choosing the right ice machine. Consider the capacity of the ice machine that your restaurant might need for properly serving the needs of your customers, including the size of the ice maker and the ice bin to ensure you can satisfy the demand without too much over-production. Also consider how much available space you have in your kitchen for the size of the ice machine that you want. Keep in mind that it is cheaper to store ice than produce it, so consider getting an ice machine with a large ice bin. Next thing to take into account is what kind of ice you want to be producing: flaked ice, cubed ice, or any other type of ice. Select which method of chilling water you want utilized in your ice machine: air-cooled or water cooled. Water-cooled ice machines can be pricier; however, they operate more efficiently and are quiet. On the other hand, air-cooled machines are cheaper, but at the same time, they are noisy and not as energy efficient.

Antimicrobial protection. Ice machines often build slime and mold growths over time. To avoid this issue, make sure to buy antimicrobial pouches. These antimicrobial pouches inhibit the growth of slime and mold and should be placed inside the ice machine. Some modern ice machine models have built-in antimicrobial protection that automatically prevents the formation of slime and mold during the lifetime of the ice machine – something to consider when buying a new piece of equipment.

Sanitize ice machine regularly to keep it in good working condition. Every couple of months, empty your ice machine entirely and sanitize it thoroughly. Use ice machine sanitizing substances and scale removers to deep clean your equipment. Make sure to unscrew any removable parts of the ice machine for a deep, thorough cleaning. Do not miss condenser and air filters – clean those regularly as well, and replace them when necessary. Keep the condenser free from lint and any other build-up. This will increase ice machine’s operating capacity and efficiency.

Replace water filters regularly. Make sure to replace water filters to your ice machine on a regular basis, at least twice a year. Replacing filters regularly will help keep ice machine free of sediment from the water, and it will result in higher quality ice that is clear and tasty. Water filter’s function is to trap the sediments from the water in the filter. Proper filtering will remove bad odors and tastes. Water filters also prevent the formation of scale, which over time decreases the amount of ice that can be produced.

Timely repairs. Promptly address any equipment break-downs and use professional service to repair your ice machine. Ideally, always buy your ice machine with a comprehensive extended warranty so that the manufacturer will directly handle any potential issues and problems.

Controlling pests. Pests are a great threat to any food service establishment, as their proliferation can create serious health risks for both staff and guests.    Pests can be carriers of infectious illness, and they can also be the cause of allergies and asthma in some individuals.  Many pests, including cockroaches, mice, and rats can spread bacteria and infections through leaving their droppings, urine, saliva, or skins.   Any restaurant should do its best to prevent pests from infiltrating the establishment.  Proper cleaning and sanitation efforts are some of the most effective ways to keeping pests away.

Inspect shipments. Often pests enter your establishment by travelling either on somebody’s belongings or via supplier shipments.  It is critical to inspect all your supplier shipments before putting them away for storage.  Look for any signs of pest presence, including dead pests, marks, droppings, skins, etc.

Proper cleaning procedures. Keep your facility well maintained.    Various insects, critters, and rodents usually look for food and water.    Properly sanitizing your premises is one of the major ways to prevent pests from settling in and dwelling in your establishment.  If you properly and regularly (daily) clean your storage areas, kitchen, dining areas and other rooms, it should prevent unwanted pests from ever making your establishment their new home.

Preventive storage practices. Maintaining an effective sanitation program also includes proper storage practices.   Avoid storing your products, such as canned items or produce, in cardboard boxes.  Often, insects, critters, or cockroaches can get into the box unnoticed until it is opened.  Instead, keep products in pest-proof containers.  Store your goods on stainless steel racks with a high enough clearance between the floor and the lower shelf to prevent any rodents from reaching.

Monitoring. Make it a company policy for all employees to monitor any signs of pest activity and take a proactive action if such activity is spotted.  While pests typically are more active at night, when everybody is gone, train your staff to spot any signs of pest activity, such as droppings, marks, dead pests, skins, etc.  Make sure your staff reports all suspected pest activity to the manager or other responsible individual.   Conduct regular training sessions to explain pest management methods and techniques to your employees.

Using reputable vendors. Sometimes chemical treatments are necessary to maintain the appropriate level of sanitation.   Not all pest management companies are as effective as they claim to be.  Do your research, ask around, and choose the right vendor who will regularly perform thorough examination of your premises during each visit and will determine the correct treatment methods as dictated by each such examination.  Good vendors should be able to provide you with written reports describing any applied preventive or corrective actions and any recommendations.   Make sure to evaluate your vendor’s performance on a regular basis.

Mr. Stox -  Anaheim, CA. This family-owned restaurant boasts a great menu and a wine list with over 1000 selections!    Located near Disneyland, it is one of California’s premier fine dining establishments, featuring innovative American cuisine.  For Father’s Day, Mr. Stox offers a special T-Bone Steak, Kobe Flat Iron Steak, and a Prime New York steak.     Fathers will enjoy Mr. Stox’ ambiance and decor, with rich mahogany molding, a wonderful collection of fine art, and old world porcelain from Italy.

Fluke Wine Bar & Kitchen -  Newport, RI. Located in the downtown of Newport, Rhode Island, this restaurant overlooks Bowen’s Wharf and Bannister’s Wharf, offering breath-taking views of the harbor.  Fluke’s is rightfully considered one of the best restaurants in the Newport area.  The restaurant features seafood dishes, prepared with the best local, seasonal ingredients, including famous New England lobster.  For Father’s Day, Fluke is offering fathers a complimentary beer or Stone Fruit Whiskey Smash – one of restaurant’s many famous innovative specialty cocktails made with fresh pressed juices.

Abe and Louie’s – Boca Raton, FL. This upscale steak house offers the finest cuts of prime meats, fresh seafood, and a great wine list.  The restaurant features Hollywood-style booths, grandiose bronze chandleries, and the gold leaf barrel vault ceiling, creating an intimate, yet sophisticated atmosphere.   For Father’s Day, Abe and Louie’s will serve delicious chef specialties, such as its famous Louie’s Carpetbagger Steak – a tender filet mignon stuffed with seasoned fresh oysters.

Nicholas – Red Bank, NJ. This highly acclaimed restaurant is located just steps away from Red Bank’s downtown area.  The restaurant is known for its “Grand Tasting Menu” with a chance to go behind the scenes and see the Four Star chef at work.     For Father’s Day, Nicholas offers a number of prix fixe dinners, including 3 course Prix Fixe dinner at $59 per person, 6 course menu $79/per person, and even a child menu at $28/child.

Oceanaire Seafood Room – Denver, Co. At an Oceanaire Seafood Room, guests can relax in the lounge area, enjoy the oyster bar, or recline in a horseshoe booth.  Menu favorites are all seafood dishes, including Alaskan Steak-cut halibut, Copper River salmon, Dover Sole, or Blue fin Tuna.  The freshest seafood is flown in daily from around the world.    On Father’s Day, Oceanaire is an incredible way to treat fathers to great seafood dishes and spectacular marine views.

Churrasco -  Chicago, IL. This classic Brazilian steakhouse is notorious for its do-it-yourself concept, with guests carving individual portions of roasted meats from long skewers.    Many of Churrasco’s meats are open-flame roasted over a glowing bed of hardwood embers.  For Father’s Day, the restaurant features their traditional 3-course menu, which includes unlimited salads and unlimited meats and a guest’s choice of dessert at a special Father’s price of only $31.99.

Biodegradable disposables. Majority of restaurants are accustomed to using many disposable products, such as packaging for carry-out orders, Styrofoam cups and plates, plastic products and so on.  Although these products are cost effective, they are not reusable and when thrown away, they create a great amount of waste that will not break down naturally for many years (decades or centuries) to come.  In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, many restaurants are turning to an alternative to standard plastic and Styrofoam products, – namely, biodegradable disposables.  Also called bioplastics, these disposable products are typically made from corn, sugarcane or other renewable vegetable material.    Biodegradable disposables exhibit plastic-like qualities, but when thrown away, they will break down naturally in landfills within the matter of months.

Environmentally friendly disposables. Another popular type of eco-friendly packaging products is sugarcane bagasse products.  Made from renewable sugarcane pulp, these products have paper-like consistency; however, they do not contain tree fiber.  They can be used in the freezer, microwave, and they naturally degrade in the landfills within months.

Composting is a popular “green” method of dealing with the organic waste.  Composting is a process of combining organic waste products together in a bin and creating the right aeration conditions – which will allow microorganisms to consume the waste products and leave behind a natural product, called compost.   Because almost all of restaurant’s waste is food waste, composting is a great way to handle majority of restaurant’s organic waste.  Compost can be used for a variety of purposes, most commonly as a soil additive to enhance soil condition due to the nutrient-rich consistency of compost.   Currently there are many technological solutions that can provide restaurants with the capability to turn any organic waste into compost in a very short time.   The cost of such composting machines can be high; however, long-term environmental benefits are tremendous.  Materials that can be composted include food waste, cardboard, newspapers, napkins, paper towels, tea bags, and so on.

Managing waste. There are other ways to wisely manage your waste handling.  Use internet, your trash pick-up service provider and other sources to find out if there are local alternatives to the way you currently handle trash, such as if there is an option for organic waste pick up.   Analyze the type of waste your establishment generates and look for ways to make your waste as organic and biodegradable as possible.  Decrease the amount of disposables you use (unless they are biodegradable) and increase your recycling efforts, using more re-usable products.   Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins and cleaning clothes in place of paper towels.   Purchase recycled products.  Re-use fryer oil and collect it for further recycling.  These and other waste management efforts will not only reduce the amount of waste your restaurant contributes to the environment – it will also reduce your financial expenditures due to more efficient use of resources.

Style is an important factor when selecting the flatware for your restaurant. Select the flatware that matches the overall concept of your restaurant. Select classic flatware for a classic restaurant, and funky and trendy spoons and forks for contemporary establishments. Make sure you buy the flatware of the right heaviness: not too light, not too heavy, just right for your restaurant’s concept. Pay attention to the design of the flatware to ensure it matches the plates and will satisfy the tastes of your customers.

Quality and Specifications. Keep in mind that your flatware should be commercial grade as it will last longer. Buy your flatware from a reputable manufacturer. It is always advised to purchase stainless steel flatware as it presents the most economical and long lasting solution. In fact, stainless steel flatware will likely last for years without wearing out. Stainless steel flatware typically has important specifications, such as 18/10, 18/8 or 18/0, denoting the percentages of chromium and nickel content in the stainless steel. Nickel helps resist the corrosion in stainless steel, while chromium increases the hardness of flatware. The first number represents the percentage of chromium present, such as 18%, while the second number indicates if there is any nickel present. If there is 0% of nickel, it means the flatware will not be able to keep its silver-like shine over long periods of time. Flatware with 0% nickel usually features soft shine and is a more economical solution, while flatware denoted as 18/10 typically has a shiny luster, is durable and is more resistant to rust.

Matching Flatware to Dinnerware. The flatware of your choice should complement, not contrast the dinnerware. Just like all pieces of dinnerware typically match by having the same colors, designs, themes, or patterns, so should your flatware match the overall design of your dinnerware. Enhance the presentation of your restaurant tables by choosing the right flatware design.

Popular Types of Flatware. It is important to understand what pieces of flatware are essential to have on a table. The most basic flatware items are dinner knives, forks, and spoons. However, depending on the style of your restaurant, you might want to make sure you have other specific types of flatware if your restaurant so requires. It is often appropriate to have separate salad forks for eating salads, and specialty fish forks for easily separating fish meat from the bone. Other types of forks are dessert forks, which are typically smaller, and are of a thinner build.

European dinner flatware is usually larger, heavier, and more durable than regular dinner flatware. Such flatware is appropriate for more formal restaurants. Cocktail forks are often used for small appetizers, for instance, cheeses and olives. Teaspoons are popular utensils used for coffee, tea, and desserts. Soup spoons are wider and deeper than regular ones to hold more liquid.

Flatware Table Arrangements. Train your staff to properly set the table and know the names of each flatware piece. The correct table setting usually involves placing flatware pieces, which are to be used first, the furthest from the center of the plate. Servers should know basic flatware table arrangements for breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, banquet, and a formal dinner. Proper table arrangement involves not only properly placing the flatware; it also involves proper arrangement of plates, glasses, and napkins.

Knives. Commercial knives are generally categorized into the following types: chef knives, paring and specialty knives, and butcher steels.   Chef knives are typically suitable for the large variety of cutting jobs and usually have a blade between 8 and 10 inches long.   These knives are forged and are made from stain-free steel, with non-slip handles and textured finger points, such as the knives featured here: non-slip knives.   Paring and specialty knives are used for slicing, trimming, coring, and peeling of small food items, such as produce.  These knives typically are made from high-carbon steel; they have non-slip hands and no stain blades, such as paring knives found here: paring knives .    Butcher steels are used to hone the blade right after it has been sharpened on a sharpening stone.  Butcher steels are not used to actually sharpen the knife.  Typically, steels are designed with a guard between the handle and steel to protect you from any accident.   Take a look at butcher steels offered here: specialty knives.

Cutting Boards provide a stable cutting surface and are an essential element of any restaurant’s kitchen.   High quality cutting boards should be durable enough to withstand vigorous cutting, chopping and the impact of the heaviest knives.  Cutting boards are typically made of wood, such as maple, acacia and Birchwood, or plastic, such as high-density polyethylene.  Modern plastic and wooden cutting boards have attractive looks and can be used for cutting a vast variety of foods, as featured here: attractive, multi-use cutting boards.

Properly Utilizing Cutlery. Make sure to only use your knives on food products.  Do not use your cutlery for cutting metal, plastic and any other non-food items.  Do not use cutlery to open bottles.  Use cutlery only for cutting the foods.  Make sure you use the appropriate type of knife for the right job.  Use a meat knife for cutting the meat, carving knife – for carving tasks, and bread knife – for bread.    Make sure to use cutting boards while cutting foods.  Do not cut on metal, ceramic, granite or any other surface as it will dull the knives and may lead to cross-contamination.

Cleaning Cutlery. Do not wash your cutlery in the dishwater.  Hot water will loosen the handle from the blade.  While in the dishwasher, knives will move around, hitting other objects, scraping and affecting the appearance of your other utensils.  Do not water-soak your cutlery, especially knives with wooden handles, as wood tends to expand when exposed to water for prolonged periods of time.  Once you have washed your knives, make sure to dry them right away to prevent rusting.

Storing Cutlery. It is critical to store your knives in a special knife rack.  Make sure to keep the edges away from hard objects as they can dull the blades.  Do not store knives in drawers with forks and spoons, which also dull the blades and create hazard for anybody reaching in that drawer.

Sharpening. Knives should be regularly sharpened to make them an efficient and lasting item in your kitchen.  Chefs often sharpen their knives daily to keep them in the best condition.     Dull knives are actually more dangerous than sharp ones, because they are more prone to slip as you have to apply more pressure to cut.    Make sure to sharpen your kitchen’s knives regularly to maintain the safety of your employees.