What Synergy has found as we conduct restaurant operations assessments is that where strong HR departments exist and are considered strategic partners with other senior management, there is also a highly developed employee culture and employee relations climate.

With budget cutbacks and staff downsizing even the best HR teams need help. Synergy can provide that help. We know that mature HR teams can also benefit from an outsider’s seasoned restaurant industry perspective. And, in newly developing restaurant concepts the entrepreneur gains an immediate advantage by having an experienced HR professional providing contract HR services well before the first restaurant opens.

Whether you have one restaurant or a thousand you can rely on Synergy’s Human Capital Solutions to help ensure your HR programs are strategic, practical and timely. Take a look at the full range of our human capital services and request a confidential, initial consultation.

I tend to write a lot of posts on pizza because we know and love pizza. We at Synergy have tenaciously studied the nuances of making a quality and delicious pies so that we can become the pizza experts. Just a few weeks ago, we wrote an article describing our pizza mission we took with our client, browsing some of the best concepts in California. I wanted to dedicate a single post just for one of my favorite pizza restaurants, Pizzeria Mozza brought to you by famed chefs, Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton, and Joseph Bastianich.

When we assess restaurants, what really stands out in our minds is that one thing that a restaurant excels in, or in other words, what a restaurant is known for. Whether it’s amazing marinara sauce or perfectly seasoned halibut, a restaurant must make a distinctive statement. At Mozza, I believe it’s all about their delicious crust—a crispy exterior and soft interior, the quality and flavor is superb, where many other restaurants simply leave the aspect of the pizza as an afterthought. What do you look for in a pizza?

Check out our photos from our visit to Mozza

for more information about some of the best Pizza in the country, call Synergy.

Have you heard of the type of restaurants that always on are-the-go? No, we’re not talking about the mobile food truck trend or even the “test kitchens.” Pop-up restaurants are literally popping up in classified locations, emerging as if out of nowhere and are attracting major hype from food blogger-foodies and critics alike.

The concept is ingenious and adventurous at the same time – set up a temporary restaurant with stellar food, create a buzz, fill up the scene to room capacity, and move on to the next location. Take for instance the famous, LudoBites, created by celebrity Chef Ludo Lefebvre. Lefebvre was very close to establishing his own traditional restaurant but was apprehensive on signing a long-term lease and making a huge commitment. So, he launched the newest dining phenomenon by setting up shop at a new restaurant (he would rent out the space from an existing restaurant) for only a few weeks, and then he’ll move on to the next location, wherever it may be. Wildly popular, each night at this “guerrilla style” restaurant has become sort of an event in and of itself. Even prominent food critic, Jonathan Gold, described LudoBites as one of his 99 Most Essential Restaurants in LA despite it having no permanent address.

Pop-up restaurants are also becoming popular overseas. In London, many rising chefs who just don’t have enough capital to open their own restaurants are choosing pop-ups to showcase their talents. Also known as supper clubs, these pop-ups provide the chefs a lot of creative control over menu and ambiance. And as for the diner, participating in the supper club is like a culinary adventure.

So how do you find a pop-up restaurant? Keep your eye on Twitter and the blogosphere in general for upcoming events. If you want to experience LudoBites, check out their website.

How has green found its way into restaurants? Just a few weeks ago, we wrote a post highlighting Forage in Los Angeles, a unique new concept based entirely on cooking and serving foods grown from local farmers and amateur green thumbs. This movement is better known as “growing local” and is beginning to become a popular choice for restaurants interested in promoting healthy eating, green environments and sustainable foods.

“Growing local” in the truest sense of the term is growing your own produce, and that’s exactly what many restaurants are doing today. In fact, in a survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, one-third of the 2,000 chefs surveyed named restaurant gardening as the top trend. So what are the benefits?

In-house gardening benefits for restaurant owners:

–    Money-saving: it costs less to grown your own produce rather than buying and having it shipped.

–    Quality and freshness: gardens allow restaurants to control quality, plus it virtually eliminates the need for pesticides.

–    Cater to your clientele: you can have the ability to offer foods that people are looking for and also grow foods that are in season.

The Blue Water Grill in Grand Rapids, Michigan now boasts a 3,000 square foot garden that grows tomatoes, strawberries, squash, herbs, squash, sweet coarn and 12 fruit trees. Ken Vos, general manager, commented, “We just thought it was a great opportunity that supported doing what we wanted to do and that was to be a local restaurant.”

And the best benefit of all? Research has shown that restaurant customers are actually willing to pay more for local food – meals made with local ingredients. In fact this recent study “shows that restaurant patrons prefer meals made with local ingredients when they are priced slightly higher than meals made with non-local ingredients, said Amit Sharma, assistant professor, School of Hospitality Management, Penn State.” Interestingly, the higher prices given to locally grown menu items conveyed a sense of higher value. The study showed there was a limit, however, to how much restaurant diners were willing to pay, which showed 18 percent markup was acceptable but a 36 markup deemed too much. The full experiment detailed report will be printed in the fall/winter issue of the International Journal of Revenue Management.

Perhaps this project sounds like quite a lot to take on at once. If you want to start thinking green and taking advantage of the benefits of locally grown food, you can definitely start small with baby steps and begin growing from there. Think about the most commonly used herbs on your restaurant menu (basil, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, mint etc)– get input from your chefs as well. How about just growing a few these herbs outside your restaurant that would be strategically placed in view of your restaurant guests? Your guests will certainly appreciate the view as it depicts an atmosphere of freshness and healthiness. If you want to go all out but just don’t have the space, consider researching local public gardens that allot you your own space to grow produce. Follow this link to search for the closest garden in your area.

The bottom line is restaurant gardening is smart and environmentally friendly. Start small and slowly grow your vision and soon your restaurant will be reaping the rewards of the growing local movement.

As a restaurant owner, how important is it for you to be “green?” Some restaurants go green by using smart packaging, saving water, recycling, and even do in-house composting. Others think big and seek LEED certification for their entire location. But what exactly is LEED? This very trending topic speaks volumes to the green movement because LEED certified restaurant buildings undergo rigorous requirements to achieve this status.

LEED is the acronym that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – a project or building that uses environmentally friendly building practices like using recycled materials, sustainable green building material and reducing amount of waste. In short, the LEED certification system aims to encourage building projects that help our environment. There are four levels of LEED standards which are Certified, Gold, Silver and Platinum. We recently took a trip to Platinum LEED certified restaurant, Claire’s on Cedros in Solana Beach. They are without a doubt the standard for LEED certified restaurants. In the building process for Claire’s, careful enviromental strategies were taken place to implement energy and water efficiency.

A quick rundown of the just some of features of Claire’s green building:

– Parking: priority spaces are given to eco-friendly cars and carpoolers. – Green roof: their vegetated roofs, “have minimal irrigation needs. During rainstorms they absorb rain reducing the amount of stormwater running off the site.”

– Renewable energy: Claire’s boast 54 photovoltaic panels on site

– Appliances: only Energy Star efficient appliances are used – Interior: nearly all the interior finishes are made from reclaimed or recycled content

– Insulation: Creatively uses blue jeans in the walls and ceilings for insulation.

– Heating: hydronic floor heating is used to heat the commercial space

– And much more!

Although it is quite an undertaking to become a LEED certified restaurant, the environmental payoff is huge. Synergy’s expert design team can meet much of the challenge that comes with LEED certification. Our goal has always been not only to design amazing functional restaurants that are warm and comfortable but also design restaurants that are environmentally sound.

How would you like to visit the same restaurant every week, but each time you get to try never-before-eaten dishes from talented chefs? Think of it as a sort of rotating restaurant. That’s the essence of Test Kitchen in Los Angeles.

The story behind this unanticipated hit concept came from restaurateur Bill Chait, who was initially just temporarily looking to rent out his closed restaurant location to local chefs while he worked on the space. But word soon spread like wildfire as the foodie public of L.A. anxiously awaited to try out food from renowned chefs like Top Chef Michael Voltaggio, Waltern Manzke, formerly of Church & State and John Sedlar of Rivera. Here at Test Kitchen, these chefs get to cook and test recipes from new menu items for their own soon-to-open restaurants.

But not only are foodies flocking to Test Kitchen to discover who the next guest chef will be (seats are sold out 3 weeks in advance), but an ever-growing list of chefs are also lining up for the chance to cook in the Kitchen to showcase their talents and garner buzz for their unveiled concepts. Every few days, a new concept is arranged with a new chef who is paired with his own bartender, serving up fixed-price menu or family-style service to keep things simple.

Also Synergy Consultants has been using a “Test Kitchen facility in Chicago called LSK short for Logan Square Kitchen.  It has been awarded LEED status. Could this become a trend for financially strapped restaurants?

The term “street food” may once have conjured up images of vendors selling hot dogs from a cart, or even hawkers from a foreign city pushing out the favorite local snack. But these days, street food means food trucks!

Food trucks have come a long way from your basic truck selling sandwiches and sodas. The mobile food scene has gained immense popularity as entreprenuers started to think outside the box, serving up gourmet offerings from every type of cuisine you can imagine – there are food trucks serving Latin, Asian, American, Mediterranean, European, and even fusion flavors. Ever heard of Kogi? The forefather of the modern-day food truk, Kogi dishes out fusion Korean BBQ tacos. Typically headed by experienced chefs, mobile food trucks offer gourmet dishes that quick to order and affordable.

From the August 2010 American Express MarketBriefing report, they found an increasing number of consumers ditching the traditional restaurant and flocking to food trucks. Here are the stats:

• In 2009, one out of eight consumers (13%) reported going to a mobile food truck in the preceding six months.
• In 2010, more than one in four consumers (26%) reported visiting a food truck in the last six months.
• Mobile food trucks owned by restaurants are a worthwhile complement and business builder to the brick and mortar location.

With such competition on the rise, we at Synergy believe that in order to maintain their edge, many more restaurants will venture into this arena. Actually, big names like California Pizza Kitchen, In N Out, Pizza Hut and Too Hot Tamales already have their own food trucks! It will be very interesting to see who else will soon create a mobile presence of their own.

The term “street food” may once have conjured up images of vendors selling hot dogs from a cart, or even hawkers from a foreign city pushing out the favorite local snack. But these days, street food means food trucks!

Food trucks have come a long way from your basic truck selling sandwiches and sodas. The mobile food scene has gained immense popularity as entreprenuers started to think outside the box, serving up gourmet offerings from every type of cuisine you can imagine – there are food trucks serving Latin, Asian, American, Mediterranean, European, and even fusion flavors. Ever heard of Kogi? The forefather of the modern-day food truk, Kogi dishes out fusion Korean BBQ tacos. Typically headed by experienced chefs, mobile food trucks offer gourmet dishes that quick to order and affordable.

>From the August 2010 American Express MarketBriefing report, they found an increasing number of consumers ditching the traditional restaurant and flocking to food trucks. Here are the stats:

• In 2009, one out of eight consumers (13%) reported going to a mobile food truck in the preceding six months.
• In 2010, more than one in four consumers (26%) reported visiting a food truck in the last six months.
• Mobile food trucks owned by restaurants are a worthwhile complement and business builder to the brick and mortar location.

A few months ago I wrote a blog entry stating that I believe that pizza will be the next big thing. About a week after posting the article I was inundated with phone calls from perspective clients all over the world who now want to open a chain of pizza restaurants.

My new clients are from Italy and while they are very knowledgeable about the different styles of pizza including Roma, Napoli and Sicilian they had a very different concept in mind that required us to expose them to a whole new level of thinking and visiting restaurants that very few people knew about.

Our team and clients started eating pizza at 11:00 AM up in LA with the first stop being PitFire Pizza whose motto is, “the Crust You Can Trust” and then on to Vito’s and then Mozza (which happens to be my favorite). After we left LA we headed to La Dolce, Upper Crust Pizza, Pizza Bakery and Urban Coal Fired in San Diego and called it a day around 11:00 PM.

The next day we headed to San Francisco where we had an appointment with Tony Gemignani who is a 9 Time World Pizza Champion and president of the World Pizza Champions Inc., the most winning pizza team in the world. Tony is the first competitor in pizza history to win both acrobatic and baking titles in Italy’s Championships. Tony was the Neapolitan Champion at the 2007 World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy for the Best STG Neapolitan Pizza Margherita. Tony is also the only Two Time Food Network Gold Medalist and is a certified master from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli. He is the author of the cookbook PIZZA and is inducted into the Guinness Book of World records. Tony has won more World tiles and international awards than any competitor in history. If we were ever going to learn anything new about pizza Tony G was our man.

Being from New York and having traveled all over Italy I thought I knew a few things about pizza but after our 3 hour lunch with Tony it made me keenly aware that there was a lot more to know about pizza than buying 000 flour, fermentation and using a wood oven for baking. Tony serves five different types of pizza using five different style doughs and cooks the pizza in different ovens ranging from gas, electric, coal and wood fired and even a retroflex depending upon the style of pizza he is coking. We ordered ten or more different pies with toppings to really understand the nuances of the art of pizza making. We could hardly move after eating so much pizza but we somehow mustered up the energy to finish our pizza eating journey.

From Tony’s we moved on to A16, then to Delphina and 00 which is a new restaurant. Delphina and 00 were great experiences and served delicious pizza but nothing will ever equal 3 hours of nonstop pizza eating with Tony Gemigani who takes pizza to a whole new level. Pizza and flatbreads are both popular and very profitable. If you want to explore ways of incorporating pizza or flat breads on to your menu give us a call.

Everyday throngs of families flock to Disney World, the “Happiest Place on Earth,” to experience the magical shows and attractions. Aside from this, however, fine dining at the Epcot center is gaining the attention of many.

Nestled in the Italy Pavillion at Epcot, Via Napoli is the park’s newest food attraction. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill pizza joint. Via Napoli is a 300-seat restaurant serving up gourmet pizza pies from oak wood-burning ovens each one named after the three volcanoes in Italy, Etna, Vesuvius and Stromboli (check out the photos below to see the clever artistic design of each oven). These ovens burn at a lava-like heat of 700 degrees!

Famed restaurant, Nick Valenti, spent time in Naples studying the art of creating authentic Nepolitan pizzas to ensure that Via Napoli would bring back those flavors for its guests. This included examining all the details of the dough, sauce, crust and oven temperatures used in creating the perfect pie. The innovation in new pizza concepts continue to grow as more restaurants such as Via Napoli, Mozza Pizza and PitFire pizza dig back to the culinary roots of the beloved dish in efforts to create a truly authentic pie that breaks away from the conventional models of the big chains.

Despite the media barrage to believe that young adults almost live at fast food places, the research reality is quite the opposite. Traditionally the restaurant industry’s heaviest users, young adults are cutting back significantly on dining out, especially amid high unemployment, according to new research from The NPD Group.

Here are the numbers: research over a period between May 2008 and May 2010, annual per-capita meal and snack occasions dropped from 242 to 216 for those ages 18 to 24. Those between the ages of 25 to 34 decreased their dining out occasions from 257 to 238 during the same period, according to NPD’s CREST research.

Suffering with an unemployment rate of 19.5 percent for adults under 30 in the second quarter, compared with 9.5 percent for the total workforce, the Gen Y folks are more highly impacted.

Besides watching their budget, young adults are also looking for healthier and lighter menu items, convenient locations, and good customer service.

Moving out of the restaurant scene, Gen Y consumers, also known as Millennials, are increasingly seeking convenient, low-cost dining options, such as portable food and frozen entrées.

Restaurants, including California Pizza Kitchen and P.F. Chang’s, may be taking that to heart as they reach out to consumers more in grocery stores with branded frozen meals. Even Subway and Sizzler have taken to opening mobile truck kitchens to compete for the receding business still available.