Author Archives for Blathanaid Bergin
Breakfasts are still Brutal
March 31, 2025 1:55 pm Comments Off on Breakfasts are still Brutal This is not rocket science, but it is a mystery. You don’t need a team of crack consultants to tell ... ...
Is the VAT reduction the Silver Bullet?
January 20, 2025 8:28 am Comments Off on Is the VAT reduction the Silver Bullet? Why the reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to 9% is not the Silver Bullet. On engaging with a ... ...
It’s still about the money.
January 15, 2025 3:20 pm Comments Off on It’s still about the money. IT’S STILL ABOUT THE MONEY. Much has been written about the demise of the restaurant industry and how hundreds have ... ...
STEALING
January 19, 2024 11:41 am Comments Off on STEALING Why do people steal and what can you do to prevent it? The burglar does not always come in with ... ...
Fear for our Food Quality as EHOs differ.
August 16, 2023 12:46 pm Comments Off on Fear for our Food Quality as EHOs differ. WHAT KIND OF FOOD LANDSCAPE ARE EHOs TRYING TO CREATE? I am raging, properly blood boiling raging. Working across Ireland ... ...
FOOD OF MARGINALLY ACCEPTABLE QUALITY COMING TO A RESTAURANT NEAR YOU.
July 26, 2023 1:55 pm Comments Off on FOOD OF MARGINALLY ACCEPTABLE QUALITY COMING TO A RESTAURANT NEAR YOU. Alarming Rise in barely acceptable food offerings. There is much talk about local, sustainable, seasonal, and supporting independent businesses of ... ...
Can we stop talking about Food Waste Management
July 26, 2023 11:58 am Comments Off on Can we stop talking about Food Waste Management And start talking about Food Waste Prevention. Waste Management has become the new buzz word. We must manage waste, we ... ...
Be careful what we wish for.
June 22, 2023 1:14 pm Comments Off on Be careful what we wish for. We can’t have it every way So, we want it every way. We want the convenience of fast food on ... ...
Credit Where its Due
April 5, 2023 2:18 pm Comments Off on Credit Where its Due Credit where its due. Having recently detailed an awful service experience in several restaurants, it is only right to balance ... ...
Chef Shift
April 5, 2023 2:14 pm Comments Off on Chef Shift CHEF SHIFT Long ingrained habits it is said, take at least 21 days to break and move to a new ... ...
Stop Blaming your Staff
January 16, 2023 4:19 pm Comments Off on Stop Blaming your Staff STOP BLAMING YOUR STAFF ‘He looks terrified!’ As a well-groomed young man wandered from table to table with plates ... ...
Are we Selling our Culinary Souls to Chains?
October 6, 2022 12:49 pm Comments Off on Are we Selling our Culinary Souls to Chains? On a recent visit to the beautiful island of Ischia and the city of Naples in southern Italy, a culinary ... ...
IT’S TEATIME.
August 16, 2022 2:39 pm Comments Off on IT’S TEATIME. Fancy a Cuppa? Has the tea revolution begun? From anecdotal evidence, it is a slow boil. The last two decades ... ...
Is this why we are still bleeding talent?
August 16, 2022 2:36 pm Comments Off on Is this why we are still bleeding talent? On June 30th, 2022, respected food writer Katy McGuinness published an article in the Irish Independent describing what is currently ... ...
THIS NARRATIVE MUST CHANGE.
November 11, 2021 12:28 pm Comments Off on THIS NARRATIVE MUST CHANGE. YOU WANT HOW MUCH FOR THAT? When did the narrative about the cost of food change? At what point did ... ...
TIPPING – WHAT IS THE POINT?
October 28, 2021 1:23 pm Comments Off on TIPPING – WHAT IS THE POINT? TIPPING- WHAT IS THE POINT? So, how has it come to this? The government are once again legislating on tips. ... ...
WHY ARE WE SO CROSS ?
October 28, 2021 11:44 am Comments Off on WHY ARE WE SO CROSS ? WHY ARE WE SO CROSS? Alright, let’s all agree that the last 2 years has not been easy for ... ...
SERVICE SKILLS DEMISE
September 16, 2021 3:24 pm Comments Off on SERVICE SKILLS DEMISE THE DEMISE OF SERVICE SKILLS IN HOSPITALITY. It might seem like whinging when there are much bigger issues to address ... ...
‘ONBOARDING’ TIPPED IT
April 28, 2021 11:39 am Comments Off on ‘ONBOARDING’ TIPPED IT It was ‘onboarding’ that tipped me over the edge. Is there a corporate wormhole where perfectly acceptable words with a ... ...
SELF EMPLOYMENT LONLINESS.
March 5, 2021 12:52 pm Comments Off on SELF EMPLOYMENT LONLINESS. Are you Lonely in Business Today? It’s a different kind of lonely. This loneliness of a business owner is an ... ...
DAYS LIKE THIS
March 5, 2021 12:41 pm Comments Off on DAYS LIKE THIS ‘MY MOMA NEVER TOLD ME THERE WOULD-BE DAYS LIKE THIS’ Van Morrison It’s been a long time since I woke ... ...
AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
July 20, 2020 12:26 pm Comments Off on AM I MISSING SOMETHING? HOW CAN THE CURRENT DELIVERY MODEL WORK FOR RESTAURANTS? ‘Everyone’ almost without exception thinks that having a restaurant quality meal/pizza/curry/ ... ...
MENU PLANNING AND FOOD WASTE
June 30, 2020 12:09 pm Comments Off on MENU PLANNING AND FOOD WASTE FOOD WASTE BEGINS WITH MENU PLANNING and continues with MENU DESIGN. The restaurant industry is about to reopen after a ... ...
REOPENING – WHAT NEXT?
June 29, 2020 12:29 pm Comments Off on REOPENING – WHAT NEXT? The last few months have been tough. Now, as we prepare to reopen to all of the new realities post ... ...
BRUTAL BREAKFASTS
June 18, 2020 1:24 pm Comments Off on BRUTAL BREAKFASTS Breakfast Blues Why do so many hotels, which do so many other things so well; serve brutal breakfasts? Of course, ... ...
CLOSED – WHAT NOW?
June 17, 2020 12:45 pm Comments Off on CLOSED – WHAT NOW? How do we provide hospitality while staying apart? How do we regain control and learn to live with COVID19? What ... ...
PLASTIC BOARDS – WHY?
August 16, 2019 10:57 am Comments Off on PLASTIC BOARDS – WHY? SERIOUSLY! WHY ARE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS STILL ADVOCATING PLASTIC BOARDS? It is incomprehensible in a world awash with information and ... ...
THE FAMILY BUSINESS- FRAUGHT OR FUN?
August 12, 2019 12:13 pm Comments Off on THE FAMILY BUSINESS- FRAUGHT OR FUN? FAMILY FORTUNE Many of Ireland’s best restaurants/ pubs/ eateries are owned and run by families, some third and fourth generation ... ...
ENDING TOXIC CULTURES
July 2, 2019 10:57 am Comments Off on ENDING TOXIC CULTURES ‘IT TAKES A VILLAGE’ ’ There is a proverb that states ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. ... ...
BOILING OVER
June 5, 2019 2:55 pm Comments Off on BOILING OVER Why are commercial kitchens and stress so often mentioned in the same sentence? What is it about commercial kitchens that ... ...
RESILIENT RESTAURANT
January 21, 2019 1:09 pm Comments Off on RESILIENT RESTAURANT RESILIENT RESTAURANTS New restaurants openings are interesting. Many bring new ideas, push out untried concepts, expand our knowledge and exposure ... ...
WHEN TO SAY NO TO THE EHO
October 19, 2018 8:33 am Comments Off on WHEN TO SAY NO TO THE EHO WHEN TO SAY NO TO THE EHO? Regulation is necessary in a fully functioning society. It helps us to stop ... ...
WHAT’S WRONG WITH CHEFS
September 19, 2018 1:28 pm Comments Off on WHAT’S WRONG WITH CHEFS Having spent yet another day listening to a food industry client relate one unpleasant chef related incident after another, it ... ...
HIDDEN POWER OF THE MENU
September 10, 2018 3:42 pm Comments Off on HIDDEN POWER OF THE MENU The Domino Effect of Menu Planning The menu has such hidden power that it can make or break a restaurant/pub/cafe ... ...
ELEVATING FOOD
September 10, 2018 3:38 pm Comments Off on ELEVATING FOOD Elevating Food from Fodder Fodder – noun ‘food, especially dried hay or straw, for cattle and other livestock’. On ... ...
WHY DO RESTAURANTS CLOSE?
September 10, 2018 3:30 pm Comments Off on WHY DO RESTAURANTS CLOSE? There was a horrendous practice termed ‘death by a thousand cuts’in a far eastern country until the early years of ... ...