Month: November 2024

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An Exploratory Look at Seattle’s Coffee Culture

In the past decade, Seattle and coffee have become synonymous in that Seattle sparked the growing coffee culture in the United States. Of course, we know that Seattle is the birthplace of many large retail coffee chains that now dominate the US and can be found on one or even two street corners within every city intersection.

Starbucks can be enjoyed in any city in the United States, but Seattle is the actual birthplace for this commercial coffee giant that has made its stamp on the worldwide coffee market. The coffee culture in Seattle started in a small coffee shop in 1971 in the Pike Place Market, and still today, many visitors travel all over the world to come to this origin of America’s coffee culture. However, Seattle still has a number of coffee chains that they have bragging rights to that have made their impact on the entire nation. Some examples are Tully’s and Seattle’s Best, as well as an astounding number of impressive local coffee shops throughout the city.

Any tourists or natives to the city can find fragrant aromas, unique coffee shop designs, and even a wide range of latte art within the coffee shop selections. Seattle also gives you the opportunity to explore the city with a harbor view, starting with the Pacific Place mall downtown for shopping selections. Tourists who are interested can also visit the Space Needle, which was constructed in 1962 for the World Fair. There is also the offering of the Pacific Science Center, which has a planetarium and an IMAX theater.

The point of the matter is that there is much to do and see in Seattle, on top of the diverse and impressive coffee culture already existing. There is no argument that coffee is a staple of the city of Seattle, including the fact that a recent study tested the sewer discharge water to find that it had elevated levels of caffeine. Visitors to Seattle can also expect a unique language when it comes to coffee, such as ordering a decaffeinated latte with skim milk in a cup with handles is called the Skinny Harmless on a Leash. If any of this lingo seems intimidating, be sure to ask your friendly barista for help in deciphering the coffee or espresso menu!

For any of those that visit Seattle in the recent future, you may be surprised to find that Starbucks is no longer the defining factor. There are a number of local and widely popular coffee shops in the Seattle area that have not yet spread to the rest of the United States. Starbucks is a nationwide and even worldwide phenomenon, but it is no longer representative of the coffee wares that Seattle has to offer. For any coffee fans interested in travel, Seattle is definitely the place to visit because you can experience firsthand sipping a delicious cup of Joe in a number of unique coffee establishments. This is your opportunity to delve right into an established coffee culture that celebrates one-of-a-kind Java!

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Easy Food For Camping – 7 Tips To Make This The Best Trip Yet!

Ahhh the great outdoors. You know, you’ve got to love it… crystal clear night sky, crisp fresh air, communing with nature. It doesn’t get much better than this does it?

Or does it?! If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to make your camping experience more enjoyable.

Well, how would you like some really handy tips on how to make your camping cuisine just plain easy?! (Well as close to easy as is humanly possible?)
You would, you say? Alright then, that’s what I’m going to do (and you’ll find more great tips and ideas when you mosey on over to here: Food For Camping. Just make sure you read these tips first!).

So here we go, Easy Food For Camping 101:

1) How many times have you cooked a burger, only to find that it hasn’t been done evenly? Well, no more! All you need to do is make a smallish hole in the center (like the size of your pinky) and when it cooks the hole will disappear (because eating a donut-shaped burger just isn’t right) and it’ll be cooked much more evenly!

2) You’ve heard about the Hobo Meal right? No?! Well you take your heavy-duty foil (an essential to any camping endeavor), your meat, peppers, potatoes, onions, corn etc. and pile it all into the center of the foil. Now, pull up the corners into a sack and twist that sucker closed. Throw it onto the coals and wait for some hobo-inspired tasty goodness!

3) So you’re into your tuna salad huh? Well here’s an idea: instead of mixing all the ingredients in a bowl, just throw them all into a sealable plastic bag, remove the air and just give it a shake to mix the ingredients. You can then just cut off a corner and squeeze out just the amount you need for your salads, sandwiches etc. But don’t stop there, think how many other foods you could use this idea for… the possibilities are endless!

4) Hey, did you know that the hidden power of ice-cubes can be used to clean your grill. That’s right, just after you’ve finished with the grill, put on the ice cubes and as they melt, the grease and dirt will fall right off. So take that evil grease-spawn! (If you really want to go to town, use our friend the handy half-an-onion to finish the job).

5) Washing up?! Yep, you know, I knew there had to be a down-side to all this tasty-food goodness. But there is a way to make it easier – if you rub some bar soot over pots and pans it helps prevent soot from building up (campfire cooking) thus making it a breeze to clean! Alright, alright, not exactly a breeze, but much, much easier!

6) Speaking of which, you know when the bar of soap gets too small to use by a normal human? Don’t throw it away – make sure you’ve got a nylon stocking which you can put it into. The nice thing about this is that nylon lathers up really well AND you’re able to tie it to a tree close to the washing up area, so you’ll always have soap at hand.

7) So it’s your last day, huh? But you’ve got all these leftovers! Don’t worry about a thing. On your last day you can take all your leftovers and whack them into one tasty omelet (or a few different kinds of omelette’s)! And hey, presto! No leftovers.

So there you have it, some really useful, easy food for camping tips. Hope you enjoyed them, and remember, that’s just the tip of the marshmallow… there’s a whole lot more, just waiting for you! So what are you waiting for!

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Pencil and Crayons – Back to the Future in the Food Service Industry

What happened to the fundamentals in food operations? I may be dating myself but when I was just counter high and working in my Grandfather’s deli, sprinkling sawdust on the floor, and straightened out cans on the shelves, I remember that the business never required a formal meeting, a computer, or for that matter a calculator. I remember my uncles behind the deli, my grandmother behind the register, and my grandfather making basket cheese and mozzarella in the back kitchen. Were those the days and there was no doubt that everyone worked hard, and by the end of the day, the staff was exhausted. The difference was the staff loved his or her jobs and had fun doing it.

Thinking back about the design of the store, which was relatively small but had any food item that you could possibly need within the stores simple design. When walking into the store, to your left and right were the canned goods and fresh pasta. The pasta was fresh and placed in bins and served by the pound. The right wall had all the refrigeration and freezers, the left side of the store has a long deli counter where customers could purchase hot or cold items, cakes, coffee. If a customer knew my grandfather, they were offered a little Sambvca in the coffee, at no charge.

These old times had many challenges with the recession and people making pennies a week but I need to ask these questions, what are the differences today?
The main difference is the love of job followed by the passion and camaraderie of the staff and the relationships with vendors and customers. The food business is about the people and the food and if anyone thinks differently, he or she does not understand the food business. There are certain basic expectations when a customer walks into a food establishment and that is, it needs to be clean, organized, have good displays, and friendly smiling faces, which is the most important ingredient of a successful operation.

Maintaining the excitement and passion in food service requires strategies on how to develop people and stressing the importance of hospitality, which is the most challenging because the industry has become overly complicated.

Take the meaning of fresh food as our first example. The meaning of fresh food to some establishments is finishing the item on premise, which is taking the food items out of a box and placing it in the oven. Some think fresh food must be organic whereas others have no clue about the difference between fresh or frozen.

At this time, let us think through the operational design process. We have our equipment companies, designer, architects, marketing people, menu design group, financial people, sometimes a third party who has a food idea, and so on. The concerns are, do the “professionals” understand the vision and expectations of the business.

What about food purchasing and the purchasing groups where the focus is on drop size, volume discounts, commodities, givebacks but none of these incentives address quality of food and building consistence in menu.

Thinking back to my grandfather’s deli, there was always a sense of pride with the quality of served food, and there was entrepreneurial spirit that lived in each person who worked in the deli. How I do miss those days.

Nevertheless, today generates new opportunities with new challengers. The missing link is the proverbial owner. People understand that “the owner” in many businesses do not reside at the business location but in some corporate office but is this an excuse to not deliver a clear message by the organization to his or her managers about caring about the customers and staff. Leadership’s role is to lead by example, by training and communicating the importance of the goals and expectations.

Pencil and crayons is a term that refers to, going back to basics, and simplicity, of design, menu, service, atmosphere, and a culture. Unfortunately, many of food service concepts are cookie cutter concepts. However, what drives success is leadership and leadership realizing a cookie cutter design may work, but there are, no cookie cutter approaches in dealing with people.

Whether one is introducing a room service of point of service programs, designing a cafeteria, upgrading or opening a retail food operation there needs to be a plan for the intangibles. A good design will lend itself to operational ease and a good marketing looking but in the business plan there needs to be reference to the “owner’s perspective” and ensuring this person has the skills to work with people and deliver success.

As with any business, the day-to-day operators are the most important individual in the operation and operators require the support, resources, and a clear vision allowing the operator to make good decisions. With today’s opportunity “sustainability may have been the buzzword of the decade, but it too reflects a back-to- basics mindset of careful resource usage and judicious budget spending” (Fassl, 1, 2010).

The food business although simplistic in theory is complicated and operators need to learn to “dance the dance” and be able to operator after all the support and the proverbial “expert matter” professions go home. Lessons learned is learning from my grandfather where each day the focus was on good food and friendly service within a winning design and not the other way around.