Blog posts tagged with 'restaurants'

Porcelain Dinnerware can be a tough nut to crack. Sure, you have great round plates that rent reasonably well, but so do a lot of your competitors. What you need is something that will catch your customer’s eye, something that not all of your competitors have, and something that can make a statement on a tabletop. What you need is Square Dinnerware! With that said, here are three reasons why you should consider investing in square dinnerware.

1) It’s Not What Your Customers Have!

Go into the average kitchen and take a look at the plates in the cupboard. I bet that they’re round. Nothing makes an event feel different or special than something other than ordinary. Round dishes are normal and ordinary. Square dinner plates? They’re different and extraordinary! While Square Plates won’t guarantee an extraordinary event, they’ll help set the tone of the event for your customer. Their guests will look at their plate and be like “Yo dog, this plate is totally square. This event is off the hook!” or at least they do in my unfinished Great Canadian Novel “The Hunger Games: Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Seriously though, giving your customers something special can get them in your door and get your products into their event.

2) It’s not what your competitors have!

If you’ve got competition in your town, city, metropolis, centre of the universe, having something different can help you win business. Square dinnerware can help you stand out from the crowd and provide an important point of difference between you and every other rental company in the area. If customers can get the unique dinnerware from you, they may also choose to rent chairs, tents, tables, heaters, and a whole slew of your other rental products. Differentiating yourself from your competitors can improve your bottom line and drive rentals to other segments of your business. And who doesn’t like making more sales?

3) They’ve got the Look!

If you’ve got catering customers looking to make a splash, or event planners who want to make their event memorable, square dinnerware can help make a table go from blah to boom. Square dinnerware can be mixed and matched with other unique pieces to create a table to remember. Instead of a round salad serving bowl, they could go with a square salad serving bowl. Why use an oval platter when you could use a rectangular platter. And they don’t have to just stick with square dinnerware, small rectangular platters inject a bit of pizzazz into a plate of appetizers, or a fantastic dessert. We eat with our eyes, and plating a gorgeous piece of meat on a square dinner plate can make a good meal great! Don’t believe me? Restaurants are moving to square and rectangle plates because they add a little va-va-voom to the table.

If you think you might be interested in Square Dinnerware why not check out our Quadrato Line. Our Quadrato Line is a full service line with four different plate sizes, eight different bowl sizes, square and rectangular platters, and all the accessory pieces needed for a table that will drive your customers wild! Quadrato Dinnerware is heavy-duty porcelain dinnerware that will excel in a commercial or rental situation, while costing a fraction of what the square lines from Dudson, Steelite, and Royal Daulton which you typically buy at your local Restaurant Supply Houses charge.

It’s hard to believe that July is almost over. It seems like just yesterday that we were bundling up against the cold and using road salt for something other than showing how strong our wood and plastic tables are. While July may be gone, there is still a month of summer left. There is still a month of sitting on the patio at your favourite pub, bar, bistro, or restaurant, drinking cold beer and enjoying the dying sunlight at the end of a long day. Yes, my friends, August is still to come! And if you’ve been dealing with rain, or other inclement weather, there is still a chance to make your patio a glorious destination for those who seek nothing more than to savour every moment of a fleeting summer.

Back in Stock: Bistro Chairs

It always seems that we’re short an item as summer hits its stride and this year is no exception. After a bit of a slow start, we managed to completely sell out of our White Bistro Chairs. When we realised we were going to run out of the perfect chair for patios and outdoor events, we got on the horn and ordered a container to be shipped to us tout suite! And make no mistake; they are the perfect chair for the patio. They’re incredibly comfortable and incredibly strong, perfect for lazy days tipping back a few brews. Unlike patio chairs that you can pick up at any big box store, these chairs won’t buckle or collapse when a larger customer takes a seat. And with their curved and textured seat, your customers can sit in comfort while they peruse your menus. Our NES Reliable Bistro Chairs come in black or white and ship from our Toronto Warehouse. They are priced at $19.95/ea and go down in price with volume.

Beer Glasses

If you’re in the rental business, it can be tough to find beer glasses that have attractive prices and don’t require beer goggles to get past the ugly. Luckily, National Event Supply has you covered. In our Eclisse line we have two different sizes of Beer Glass that would be perfect for any event that you may be hosting. Our 12oz Beer Glass is almost 7 inches tall with a nice thick base to prevent tipping. We also have a 14oz Beer Glass that has a bit of a stem and a bowl a bit like a wineglass. One might call it chalice shaped if one were a bit pretentious. Our 12oz Beer Glasses are $1.75/ea and our 14oz Beer Glasses are $1.85/ea.

Ribs are Nice, Steak with all the Fixin’s is Nicer

In a previous blog article, Jonathan showed off his barbequing prowess with some gorgeous BBQ Ribs. When he showed me the pictures of those succulent ribs with that spicy sauce sizzling over a low fire, the sugars carmelizing… I wanted them. It didn’t matter that it was 9am—those ribs looked like a little piece of heaven.

I went home and thought about it and decided that I needed to see if I could surpass his barbequing skills. Behold the fruits of my labour! Beautiful, thick rib-eye steaks; twice baked potatoes overloaded with cheese, chives, and goodness; and some fresh corn, grilled to enhance its flavour. This glorious meal was served on our Angelika Dinnerware, and was followed by a tangy key-lime pie.

Enjoy Summer, My Friends!

It may be hot. It may be sticky. Highways may be crammed with cars and constantly being repaired. But in 6 months when winter has taken hold of the country and the Christmas decorations are being put away for another year, you’ll miss summer. You’ll miss laughing with friends on the patio; drinking ice-cold margaritas on hot, humid days; and the feeling you get when the sun beats down on your face. Enjoy summer, my friends. And if you need some bistro chairs for your patio, or beer glasses for an event, don’t hesitate to drop us a note.

One of the most common questions that we get asked at National Event Supply is how long will it take to get my order? This of course varies dramatically by your location relative to where the order is shipping from as well as the shipping method. Since the shipping method can have such a huge impact on the delivery time, today I am going to provide you with a guideline for our most cost effective LTL (less than truckload) shipments. This is the most common method that we use when you purchase many of our larger products including plastic folding tables, plastic folding chairs, wood folding tables, resin folding chairs, Chiavari chairs, and when you place a larger order for porcelain. It is additionally important to remember that major centers enjoy faster delivery than most secondary points, especially if our carrier needs to hand the shipment off to a smaller local carrier. When our carrier needs to do a hand-off it will take a minimum of 1 additional business day before the order is delivered to your location by the local carrier. It is additionally important to note that these are estimates only and delivery can be effective by factors outside of our control like the weather.

We'll start by looking at the transit times from Toronto, and then the transit times from Vancouver. So what are the approximate LTL transit times for orders shipping from our Mississauga, ON (Toronto) location?

• Victoria, BC—6-7 Business Days
• Vancouver, BC—5-6 Business Days
• Edmonton, AB—5-6 Business Days
• Calgary, AB—5-6 Business Days
• Saskatoon, SK—5-6 Business Days
• Regina, SK—5-6 Business Days
• Winnipeg, MB—4-5 Business Days
• Sudbury, Hamilton, London, Windsor, the Greater Toronto Area, Peterborough, Belleville, and Kingston, ON – 1-2 Business Days
• Ottawa, ON—1-2 Business Days
• Montreal, QC—1-2 Business Days
• Quebec City, QC—2-3 Business Days
• Saint John, NB—2-4 Business Days
• Moncton, NB—2-4 Business Days
• Charlottetown, PEI—2-4 Business Days
• Halifax, NS—2-4 Business Days
• Sydney, NS—3-5 Business Days
• St. John’s, NF—6-7 Business Days
• Corner Brook, NF—6-7 Business Days

Shipping from Vancouver of course gives different transit times, most of which are much faster for the western provinces. We currently stock most sizes of our Plastic Folding Tables, Wood Folding Tables, and a variety of Chairs in Delta, BC at our third party warehouse. This location in the Vancouver metro area not only allows for faster deliveries, it can also dramatically reduce the cost of shipping. So what are the approximate LTL transit times for orders shipping from our Delta, BC (Vancouver) third party warehouse location?

• Victoria, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Duncan, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Nanaimo, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Courtenay, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Comox, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Campbell River, BC—1-3 Business Days
• North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Delta, New Westminster, Richmond, Langley, Whistler and Coquitlam, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Kelowna, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Kamloops, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Penticton, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Calgary, AB—2-3 Business Days
• Medicine Hat, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Lethbridge, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Red Deer, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Edmonton, AB—2-3 Business Days

Image courtesy of Sula Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For those of our readers in Canada, Happy belated Canada day! Hope you enjoyed some rest with your friends and family while celebrating a wonderful nation. For our American neighbours, Happy Independence Day! Make sure you take some time to celebrate the stars and stripes and count all the ways you’re grateful for your fantastic land of dreams. This month has brought some pretty atrocious weather to the entire North American continent. Arizona is currently fighting a deadly wildfire that has already claimed the life of 19 firefighters. To help out in any way, you can check out this article on ways to donate. Calgary, Alberta is currently cleaning up and rebuilding from the flood that left the city and surrounding areas covered in water. To express your support, you can check out this article on ways to donate. In terms of news though, this month has been chalk full of new trends and more positive tactics to use in your everyday life.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, with more than 65 luxury properties around the globe has released its take on the cocktail trends for the remainder of 2013. Having bars that have created some of the most famous cocktails (the Mai Tai and White Lady to name a couple), Fairmont steps behind the bar to give us their take of what they’re seeing as cocktail trends. Check out this article for some hints on the top trends to tempt taste buds. And if you need some crystal for your cocktails, check out our Serenity Crystal Stemware.

Go behind the scenes in the world’s best restaurant, El Cellar de Can Roca. This video—just over 5 minutes—is worth the look. Apparently the smoke-in-blown-sugar ball that’s part of dessert is out of this world.

Get that social media is the future but not getting the internal buy in? Check out this article from Exhibitor Magazine about how to overcome internal resistance to social media marketing. With Twitter’s active user base generating 90 million tweets (and climbing) a day, it’s in your best interests to lead the pack with social media marketing that has endless possibilities and limited cost.

A Canada Day Long Weekend, like an Independence Day Long Weekend, is a great time to kick back and relax with friends and family. While the weather forecasters were calling for rain here in Toronto, we managed to have a fantastic sunny and warm weekend.

With an extra day tacked onto the weekend, I managed to find some free time to make some ribs which is unfortunately an all too infrequent event. Since I had most of the day to kill, I decided to do things the right way, low and slow. I cooked them for 6 hours on the BBQ at about 200F with mostly indirect heat. Nothing too fancy, just some Chicken and Rib BBQ Sauce applied a few times, starting at about 2 hours to go.

Ribs with 2 Hours to Go	Finished Ribs with Red Wine

The result was fantastic (if I do say so myself!). I plated the two racks of ribs on our A0958 – 9x14 Rectangular Platter, as you can see they fit perfectly, then served with red wine (in our 19oz Serenity Crystal Wine Glass).

Spending some time around the BBQ made for a great relaxing day and the perfect end to a long weekend!I hope you had a great Canada and for our American friends, I hope you have a great Independence Day.