Good Time To Go Out To Eat On A Budget…….

Times are getting harder for restaurants and their falling business. Restaurants are trying to get people in the door anyway possible, going online to Restaurants.com to offer coupons to customers. The Wall Street Journal posted a article called Dining Out on Deals, the articles states “Technomic, a Chicago restaurant consultant, predicts no restaurant-industry growth for 2009, following 2% growth in 2008. Special offers are the rare thing getting people in the door these days: In the quarter that ended in August, 23% of all restaurant visits occurred because diners wanted to take advantage of some kind a deal — a 9% increase in deal-driven visits over the previous year, according to NPD Group, a market-research firm.” Wow! When your working in it, you never really know just how bad it is. It’s becoming very common in the lower states and big city restaurants to join online discount sites.
In Fairbanks on the other hand I don’t really see these sites really hitting home in the restaurant community. Many just post a add or coupon in the local newspaper. This will see a larger response than any online site. Some radio stations in town are doing 50/50 Tuesday where customers can receive 50% off gift certificates to many local businesses in town. With many questions and no answers, who really knows where local restaurants are going to go to push in customers. Fairbanks is in it’s own little bubble for the time being, maybe can ride out the storm a little longer. May I take your ordered?

A Whale of a Tail….

Did you know, after a 20-year ban on commercial whaling, Iceland in 2006 resumed limited hunting of minke whale, one of the smallest and most numerous of the main whale species stated by The Wall Street Journal, article Supersize Me: Whale Meat Resurfaces on Iceland Menus.
“Whale was once among the least expensive mammal meats Icelanders could buy. We ate a lot of it back when we were all poor, says Gudlaug Thora Kristinsdottir, a cashier at Reykjavik’s popular Saegreifinn seafood shack”. Many want to make it a staple food for everyone. The Wall Street Journal states “Mr. Jonsson, 30 years old, wants whale to become more than comfort food for retirees and a novelty item for visitors.” Wow, I never thought that a restaurant would put whale on the menu and people would actually eat it, seems so wrong. On the other hand I’m from Alaska and it isn’t that far fetched, especially this time of year.
Alaskan Thanksgiving Feast: Whale Meat Posted on CBS news site, November 18, 2006 talks about Alaska’s native villages and what they eat for Thanksgiving.  ”tables this year will be set with store-bought turkey and all the trimmings. But alongside will be delicacies such as reindeer stew, moose roast, stuffed moose heart and whale-blubber salad. For dessert, there might be akutaq, which is whipped animal or vegetable fat that is mixed with sugar, berries and sometimes fish.” In our back yard people are eating whale and probably never think twice, it’s a normal day. I spend my days running to school and work and haven’t really thought about the people and communities that are outside the “Big city.” When I’m sitting down to eat turkey many people, just miles away, are eating whale and whale-blubber salad. What a wonderful, diverse state I live in. May I take your order?

 

Put Down and Step Back From the Oreo’s!

With less people eating out at restaurants and eating at home more often, I thought I would write about improving what goes into all of our shopping carts and mouths. I was reading in the Local Daily News-Miner “Working the market: How to shop to stay healthy” the article gives simple tips to grocery shopping in a healthy manner.

• The biggest tip is “Be label conscious. Who are we kidding? I know you’re not going to study the food label like you would the new fall line of your favorite designer, but at the very least you need to glance at the ingredient list”.  Consumers should be aware of what is being put in the shopping carts and their bodies.
• “Get in and get out. You’ve heard it before: shopping with a list prevents straying”. Stay with a plan and you are not liking to stray from that plan.
• Eat before going groceryshopping. A empty stomach, makes a full cart ( of stuff that isn’t healthy and also expensiveve).
• “Buy seasonal and local. Why are seasonal and local products optimal? First, they taste better and fresher. Second, they’re more nutritious”. For Alaskans this time of year isn’t the best to buy local, but you could always buy organic (which is more expensive). It’s a good option!
• Try something new every week! I recently started eating meatless, soy-less, chicken patties and love them. They taste just like the real thing and are much better for you!

Hey, I know I’m writing about the grocery store and not a dining room, but times are changing and pocket books are getting tighter. Just remember if you burn the meatloaf you can always come and dine at my restaurant. I will be there waiting to take your order. May I take your order?

What’s a Girl to do?

As my shifts at work seem to be getting shorter and shorter, with less and less tables a night, my pocket book is getting smaller as well. I went shopping for groceries on Monday and bought just two bags of food and spent $47.15. I’m trying to eat healthy and try to buy organic, but when organic eggs ring up at $5.39. I am at a lost. The restaurant I work at is higher end and we don’t run a  nightly special, so I believe people are eating at fast food joints instead of buying higher quality food at a restaurant. Value meals sound a lot better then a $20.00 plate of food at a nice restaurant, specially to larger families.
The New York Magazine wrote a article titled “Money Is Tight, and Junk Food Beckons” published on November 3, 2008. the article is very insightful in to middle-class families trying to eat healthy. “ Studies show that junk foods tend to cost less than fruits, vegetables and other healthful foods, whose prices continue to rise”. I believe that middle-class families in Alaska are feeling the recession even more then families in the lower 48. Alaskans’ produce is two times more expensive then that of the rest of the country. When Alaskans’ have to eat on a budget it seems like fast food would be cheaper then a bag of apples.
A study found in The New York Time found “Last year, Dr. Drewnowski led a study, published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, comparing the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. The study showed that “energy dense” junk foods, which pack the most calories and fewest nutrients per gram, were far less expensive than nutrient-rich, lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. The prices of the most healthful foods surged 19.5 percent over the two-year study period, while the junk food prices dropped 1.8 percent”. As a consumer and server, I’m walking into the unknown. As society we are walking into the unknown. May I take your order?

Hello, Can You Hear me? Hello!

“Sir, what can I get for you”? The man points to a item on the menu and shakes his head yes. As I walk away, I hear in a loud tone “Did you get that”? I turn back around and start to reply to the man and he isn’t talking to me but is on the phone. I continue to walk away and can still here the man talking loudly. This is a common situation in the restaurant world.
Many people come into have dinner by themselves and still have a lot of business to attend too with other people and the cell phone is the only way to make that possible. I love my cell phone, I just do! So I can understand that the man has issues to attend to, but when is it just plain rude? Cell phones are a new big world for most people and many people just don’t know the right etiquette for cell phones. In the article “Where are all the Wireless Manners“? posted by CNN.com states “A recent poll by market research company Synovate showed that 70 percent of 1,000 respondents observed manner-less technology use in others at least on a daily basis”. When eating by yourself it is alright to text other people, but make sure your phone is put on the vibrate option instead of a loud ring-tone. Texting isn’t fine when dinning with other people and that’s a whole new set of rules. I will write about dinning manners with other people in another post.
I think when people are on a business trip and are dinning alone, they may want to pick and choose where they decide to eat and take that important call. A place where people are celebrating their 50th anniversary and are trying to enjoy a nice expensive dinner, isn’t the place for your loud phone call. You may want to try eating at a low key restaurant, if you’re going to have to take important phone calls, maybe Wendy’s.  A good choice is “take-out” so you will be taking your phone calls in your hotel room and not in a fine dinning restaurant. If it is all possible turn your phone off and enjoy your one hour of dinner by yourself. No matter how you look at it, it’s just plan rude in almost all situations.