Blog posts from September, 2015

Convection ovens are a god-send for restaurants as they help bake or roast foods faster by using a fan that circulates the heat more evenly and more quickly. Because of this they’re a frequently used item in commercial kitchens around the world with the most frequent users including Banquet Halls, Caterers, Restaurants, Hotels, and Bakeries. When an establishment first decides to purchase a convection oven (whether as a new start up or to replace an existing oven) one of the search terms people will look for are the best convection ovens on the market. Though we don’t sell convection ovens ourselves (we’re front of the house supplies primarily), we believe in educating our customers and providing value to them to help make their lives easier. Because of this, we’ve rounded up the top 3 convection oven manufacturers you should base your convection oven search around.

1. Blodgett

Founded in Vermont, Blodgett is located just 1.5 miles from their original location which dates back to 1848. Blodgett Convection ovens have been Overall Best in Class for 10 years running in Foodservice Equipment and Supplies and many exceed energy star efficiency standards. Additionally Blodgett has a full line of gas and electric ovens to ensure your needs are met no matter what your industry requirements are. Blodgett believes there are only two types of people of buying Blodgett convection ovens, those whose first oven was a Blodgett and those whose first oven wasn’t a Blodgett.

2. Hobart Food Equipment

As part of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a fortune 200 company that owns other renowned food equipment manufacturers including Traulsen and Baxter, Hobart is able to put their more than 100 years of manufacturing expertise into practice. They combine the latest technology and your choice of gas or electric power sources to improve your results and reduce your costs. Hobart backs their ovens with a nationwide factory-trained service network.

3. Alto-Shaam

Alto-Shaam is another leader in the industry and has won Best in Class for Cook & Hold Ovens from 2002-2014 in Food Equipment and Supplies. Furthermore they were awarded Wisconsin Workforce Development’s 2013 manufacturer of the year to recognize their commitment to providing training and resources for employees among other programs. As you would expect Alto-Shaam offers both gas and electric ovens, many with industry leading features.

Chiavari chairs are a special event staple partially because of their stacking abilities as well as their elegant design. Most event venues and party rental companies know they’re going to stack their Chiavari chairs – especially when they’re buying 100 – 200 chiavari chairs at a time. What they don’t always know – is how to stack them.

We’ve had a few customers ask us this question and thought it best to write a blog post on whether you should stack chiavari chairs with cushions on each seat – or whether you should stack Chiavari chairs without cushions.

Our answer: We would not recommend stacking your Chiavari chairs with the cushions still on the chairs. We will not replace cushions that have been damaged in this way and do not stack the chairs in our warehouse in this fashion.

Why don’t we stack Chiavari’s with cushions on them? We don’t stack Chiavari chairs with cushions on them as the weight of the Chiavari chair stacks can damage the foam insert of the cushion. This leaves permanent indentations in the foam which in turn could prevent a bride from renting the chairs (or a bride from renting your venue space with the chairs). We would recommend taking the cushions off prior to stacking. This will ensure your chair and cushion investment is maintained. This also applies if you have Chiavari chair storage covers. We would still recommend the cushions be stored separately from the Chiavari chair and Chiavari chair storage cover.

Photo source (clockwise from top left): @halfbakedharvest / @forequarter / @rosaritofish / @thebeachhousepb

I think we can all agree that when you are looking at places to eat, the restaurant’s that draw you in are the ones with beautifully plated and photographed dishes. While it definitely takes practice to achieve a gorgeous photo, we thankfully live in an age where all the tools needed are at our fingertips. Not only can you take some pretty spectacular pictures nowadays with just your smartphone and a few apps, you also have the ability to look up other food blogs and restaurants for food photography inspiration. As a foodservice operator, it’s in your best interest to upgrade your food photography skills to help market your restaurant. I stumbled across some fantastic food photography classes while looking to take a class to expand my hobbies – and thought them worth sharing with you. All of them are online classes.

Food Photography: Shooting at Restaurants on Skillshare

Skillshare is an online learning community for creators. You can take classes in design, photography, business, technology, culinary, etc. It is $10.00/month to sign up or you can pay for a yearly membership for $8.00/month. There is also a 14 day free trial. In this 30-minute class, Daniel Krieger, a freelance food photographer teaches how he styles food as well as how he photographs food. The video lesson covers gear, ordering, shooting in daylight, and the images that make his portfolio stand out.

Story on a Plate: Food Photography & Styling on CreativeLive

CreativeLive is another online learning community who brings the world’s greatest experts directly to you. They host live and taped online workshops. This class is $129.00 USD. This class is a really comprehensive online course with 44 videos taught by notable food photographers Diane Cu and Todd Porter. You’ll learn how to use natural light for photography as well as how to style food to share a believable and fresh looking dish. When you’re done with this course, you’ll be armed with the technical skills necessary to capture your restaurant’s essence.

Food Photography with Andrew Scrivani on CreativeLive

This class is $129.00 USD and taught by world-renowned commercial photographer, stylist, and NY Times columnist Andrew Scrivani. This 3-day class (that you can do at your own pace) is said to be great for students of all levels and will introduce essential food styling techniques, the photography gear required, different shooting styles and post-production processes to make your food photos really pop.

Food Photography School

If the first three courses aren’t comprehensive enough for you there’s always the food photography school. This is a school comprising 130+ videos that have been organized into 14 courses including equipment, natural and artificial lighting, photo composition, styling a shot, angles, editing and sharing your photos. For $99 you get lifetime access to the videos and so much more.

People who accomplish remarkable things process inflection points differently than the rest of us or so says legendary filmmaker Brian Koppelman. His podcast, aptly named “The Moment by Brian Koppelman” is a podcast that looks at how and why successful people deal differently than us. I came across an episode of this podcast talking with David Chang, the extraordinary culinary visionary who at a young age opened his first NYC restaurant Momofuku Noodle Bar and sought to change the way the world thinks of food. This podcast is a fascinating look at how people generally don’t know what they want, how to stick to your gut instincts and how David’s emotions fuelled him to become the success he is today. It’s well worth the time to listen - check it out:

Opening a full-service restaurant takes a ton of money and capital and if you don’t have an idea of budget numbers, it’s a shot in the dark in terms of the financing required. I found this extremely detailed infographic on the costs it took a restaurant called Roija, based in Denver, CO, and the 2013 Winner of The James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Southwest. This infographic shows in great detail costs for equipment, wages, and general costs – along with the total investment required to run the 4400 sq. ft., 110 seat establishment. Here are example costs to open a full-service restaurant:

by mikhall.