Paytime For Restaurants

Restaurant trends for 2012 from Boston Chefs

paytime1 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:34:14 +0000

1. COLLABORATION BETWEEN KITCHEN AND BAR:

In the future, there will be no separation of kitchen and bar. Each will inspire the other. Chefs are seeing bars utilizing more techniques and principles found in kitchens. Chefs are using real culinary techniques to real effect on drinks. A centrifuge spinning out lemon and lime juice makes drinks brighter. It’s a very different mouth feel. Chefs can take sediment from citrus and make citrus paint, to dress glasses the same way the kitchen dresses plates.

2. FARM TO GLASS’ MOVEMENT:

The term “farm to table’’ has been used before. Now it’s time for “farm to glass”. More cocktails and house-made sodas will showcase seasonal ingredients from fields, gardens, and farmers’ markets. Simply cooked proteins with add-on sides will be “a really big thing,’’ appealing to both health-conscious and particular diners. Market, for instance, steams or grills fish, chicken, or filet mignon, then lets customers pair them with roasted Brussels sprouts, sautéed broccoli rabe, cheese fritters, fries, and more.

3.COMFORT FOOD:

If more bartenders are embracing molecular gastronomy, chefs are beginning to step away from it. “I really think you’re going to see a pullback of molecular gastronomy and see things go back to a very natural state in restaurants,’’ Chef Tim Maslow says. “An inspired version of a comfort dish really gets people excited.’’ That’s why Strip-T’s serves so much of its fried chicken (right) – high-quality birds brined for three days, fried in a shallow bath of chicken fat, and served with a la minute waffles or Anson Mills coarse-ground grits. “The molecular thing has been fun the last four or five years. Everyone likes to find something new they’re excited about,’’ he says. “Now everybody is craving more homey items.’’

Food Truck Operators Seek Refuge at Brick’n'Mortar During Cold Months

paytime1 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:41:41 +0000

While tension grows between food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants, some food trucks are using their success by opening brick-and-mortar locations.

An actual restaurant – or even a cafe – is a way to keep finances in order and ensure long-term profitability. Its difficult to solely survive on the truck, especially now with the weather turning to the colder months. A Brick-and-mortar is more dependable.

The expanded room allowes food truck owners to expand the menu including a children’s section, and perhaps offer beer and wine in the future. The restaurant can also be used as a training ground for new employees, rather than throwing them into the chaotic and constant long lines of the food truck world..

Mobile food regulations require certified commercial kitchens be used in conjunction with all food trucks. These shared kitchens can often be expensive, out-of-the-way or crowded with fellow operators.

With some commercial kitchen rental rates hovering around $25 an hour, spending three to four hours a day in a shared space can add up. And elbowing others for ovens? That can wear on people.But the beauty of the food truck is the scheduling flexibility.That’s hard to do with a brick-and-mortar space, where customers expect consistent hours of operation.

Even Chris Hodgson, owner of Cleveland food trucks “Dim and Den Sum” and 2nd runner up “Hodge Podge” in the “Amazing Food Truck Race”, recently has announced his aquisition of space to open his first brick and mortar restaurant.

In the end, food truck operators seem to agree that the transition to a brick-and-mortar support system has been an important step in building their business.

Can Your Menu do THIS?

paytime1 — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:24:55 +0000

Stacked is one of many eateries now using iPads to serve customers. Steakhouses in San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago use tablets to let customers make wine and steak selections. At 12 locations in Boston, Au Bon Pain lets customers choose ingredients for their sandwiches using an iPad.Restaurant users say that it doesn’t make the ordering process more accurate, but it does make ordering more fun.

Umami Burger, a Los Angeles-based chain, uses a Presto tablet leased from E La Carte, which supplies the devices to restaurants. “You can look and see everything you want, instead of written descriptions,” Umami customer Terri Covert said at lunch hour recently. “I like the visuals. You know what you’re going to get.”

E La Carte has 100 restaurants signed up for Presto, and another 150 on a waiting list. Presto is powered by an 18-hour battery and, because the tablet is proprietary, it won’t get stolen.Restaurants say that theft has not been an issue.

The software system lets customers order from their table, send the meal ticket directly to the kitchen — and even pay via the iPad. Servers bring the food and beverages.

One advantage to the guest is the speed of service. The communication between the guest and kitchen is immediate, which is something that’s lacking in the restaurant business.

Restaurants are using tablets in different ways. At Bones in Atlanta, it’s to show off its wines. At the Lark Creek Steak restaurant in San Francisco, it’s all about showing off its steaks.

Another advantage is that restaurants can include a lot more information on an iPad or tablet. Instead of just saying ’14-ounce steak,restaurants can now show pictures of it and say where the beef comes from. One of the common challenges in a steakhouse is that medium rares can differ amongst steak houses. But if you are able to see a picture, then you know what you’re getting.

Some restaurants are searching for apps that would suggest a wine to go with the taste of a certain steak or poultry. It seems that you’ll have all the information you need to have your perfect dining experience!

E-Verify in the News

paytime1 — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:43:26 +0000

A new debate has surfaced as a result of recent complications for small business owners with E-Verify. E-Verify is a federal program that ties data on new hires, such as Social Security numbers, with government records. However, E-Verify can be used only to check immigration status after a worker is hired, not to screen job candidates or check on existing employees. A report in Business Week noted a business owner names Lemkes, who says; “he has had to fire more than 60 recent hires.” Although E-Verify’s proponents claim the unemployed will supplant the undocumented, Lemkes says that hasn’t transpired. “Without comprehensive immigration reform, [verification requirements are] going to kill agriculture,” he says.

At their launches in 1997, E-Verify was voluntary, and today about 300,000 employers—less than 5 percent of U.S. businesses—use it. As states toughen sanctions against illegal immigrants, 18 have approved laws making the program required for certain employers. Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee are required to use it or will be by 2013. On Sept. 21 a congressional committee approved a measure that would require use of E-Verify by all U.S. businesses.

Small companies will be chiefly affected by E-Verify because they lack dedicated human resources staff to manage the system, says Rebecca Smith, an attorney at the National Employment Law Project. While companies with fewer than 500 workers employ about half the U.S. labor force, if the program were required those companies would endure 99 percent of the $2.7 billion in costs for E-Verify (mostly paying their own staffers or consultants to do the searches), Bloomberg Government estimates. “The more E-Verify laws we have in this country, the more payroll taxes we’re going to lose.” A 2008 Congressional Budget Office report estimates that requiring E-Verify nationally would cut federal tax revenue by more than $17 billion.

Company unveils a new system that uses liquid crystals to help quickly detect potentially deadly food-borne Pathogens

paytime1 — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:13:50 +0000

Crystal Diagnostics is raising the bar of the nation’s food safety with newly developed technology.

The company uncovered a new system that uses liquid crystals to quickly identify potentially toxic food-borne pathogens in meats, produce, etc. Researchers at Kent State University and the Northeast Ohio Medical University (Neomed) designed the biosensor technology used in the testing system, known as the Crystal Diagnostics MultiPath System.

Unlike other rapid tests on the market, the MultiPath System can be used to identify multiple pathogens at the same time, said Paul Repetto, chief executive of Crystal Diagnostics.Results are available within 30 minutes, in comparison to 24 to 48 hours for traditional testing methods.

The aim is to have the food-safety system on the market next year after a round of beta-testing with national food producers and processors is conducted.Fatal occurrences of food-borne illness threaten customers’ well being, as well as the financial impact of food the food web.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food-borne pathogens cause about 48 million illnesses, 128,00 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths nationwide each year.Most recently, a multistate occurrence this fall from infected cantaloupe from Colorado sickened 133 people and killed 28, according to the CDC.

The Crystal Diagnostics Multi-Path System works by using a five-cell, disposable test cassette that contains liquid crystals inside a laminate casing. Before testing, a food is made into thick slurry, said Dan Minardi, Crystal Diagnostics’ president and chief technology officer. Antibodies for the bacteria being tested, such as E. coli or listeria, are added before the liquefied mixture is placed in three of the test cells. The test cassette then is placed in a reader, which can display results on an iPad, computer screen or smart phone.

If the bacterium is existent, the antibodies will clump and distort the liquid crystal matrix, explained Gary D. Niehaus, Crystal Diagnostics’ chief scientist and a professor of physiology at Neomed. As an effect, the reader will detect light passing through and give a positive result.

To begin with, the Crystal Diagnostics MultiPath System is being advertised to food producers and processors, Niehaus said. However, the equipment could have uses for everything from water safety testing to rapid-result testing in physicians’ and veterinarians’ offices.

Employee Rights Notice Posting (from www.nlrb.gov)

paytime1 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:22:17 +0000

As of November 14, 2011, most private sector employers are required to post a notice advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The 11-by-17-inch notice should be posted in a conspicuous place, where other notifications of workplace rights and employer rules and policies are posted.

The posters are available below for download and printing. Copies also are available from any of the agency’s regional offices. In addition, employers should publish the notice on an internal or external website if other personnel policies or workplace notices are posted there.

For further information about the posting, including a detailed discussion of which employers are covered by the NLRA, and what to do if a substantial share of the workplace speaks a language other than English.

PLEASE NOTE: The poster is required to be 11 x 17 inches, in color or in black-and-white. When printing to full size, be sure to set your printer output to 11 x 17. Or you may print the two 8.5 x 11 pages and tape them together.

(11x 17)https://www.nlrb.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1562/employee_rights_nlra.pdf

2(8.5x 11)https://www.nlrb.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1562/employee_rights_nlra_8_5x11.pdf

5 Tips for Getting Started with QR Codes

paytime1 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:19:33 +0000

This week, Nation’s Restaurant News shared 5 tips with their readers for getting started with QR Codes.

Consume before you produce. “To anyone doing QR codes, I would say, No. 1, be a user,” Emerson said. “Get a QR code reader and just start scanning some codes so you can see how it works.”

Dozens of code readers are available for free at the iTunes and Android app stores for downloading onto smart phones, and several QR code generators can be found online for free. For restaurateurs looking for QR codes to scan, a recent report by researcher comScore found that most codes are scanned at home in magazines and brochures, so go check the mailbox.

• Invest in mobile-friendly sites. Emerson suggested that any websites linked to a QR code be mobile-friendly and not run on Flash. A standard website not optimized for mobile will still work, he said, but the one-touch navigation of a mobile-friendly site is likely to keep users engaged longer. Also, since Apple iPhones are the most popular smart phone — and don’t support Flash — it makes sense not to use that platform.

• Give them somewhere to land. Sorge points to a recent QR code he scanned at an outdoor festival in Milwaukee as a sign of how far merchants have to go in understanding the new tactic. He picked up a brochure from a booth, scanned its QR code, and was taken to a mobile Web page that was identical to the brochure in his hand.

“They didn’t understand the idea of providing unique, different content that must be tailored for mobile,” he said.

It’s important not only to send users to an interesting landing page with a QR code, but also to call those users to some kind of action. That most definitely is the case when trying to leverage a restaurant brand’s Facebook or Twitter profiles with QR codes.

“Do you want people to like your [Facebook] fan page [when they scan your code]?” Sorge said. “Think about which page you want them to land on: your pictures or your wall.”

• Use short and trackable URLs. The fewer characters it takes to make up a website’s URL, the less data there is cluttering the actual QR code that gets generated, so using a short address like a bit.ly link is best, Sorge said.

“I’d go to a URL shortener that can track the analytics,” Emerson said. “I can tell what types of information users are looking for, and then I can get more granular and produce more QR codes around that type of information.”

• Create added value for scanning. Sorge said he built a following at his flagship concept, AJ Bombers, by promoting the restaurant on Twitter and Foursquare and rewarding people who tweeted and checked in the most. QR codes have the same potential, he said.

“Any technology becomes more prevalent the more it’s used, and you have control over that as the restaurant or bar,” he said. “The more you reward people for using QR codes, the more eager they are to use them.”

At AJ Bombers in Milwaukee, Sorge routed users to his photo blog The Burger Whisperer when they scanned QR codes placed in the restaurant. Once on the photo blog, they could see pictures of secret menu items, which they could order by showing their server.

At the newly opened AJ Bombers location in Madison, Wis., Sorge is offering people access to a superfast 4-G data network available from the restaurant’s router when they scan QR codes in the building. The landing page is the user’s Twitter profile with a preloaded tweet reading, “I just got upgraded to 4G @AJBombers,” which extends the restaurant’s brand to the user’s network.

AMERICAN PAYROLL ASSOCIATION- Compliance Update

paytime1 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:04:00 +0000

AMERICAN PAYROLL ASSOCIATION
Compliance Update

American Jobs Act Would Cut Social Security Tax Further;
IRS Issues Cell Phone Guidance: It’s Good News for Payroll

On September 8, President Barack Obama announced his administration’s latest attempt to help the struggling economy move forward and avoid a “double-dip” recession – the American Jobs Act of 2011. And it’s no surprise that payroll is at the center of his proposals. As anticipated, the bill would extend and expand the temporary reduction in the employee share of social security tax, while also reducing the employer share of social security tax on some wages and eliminating it altogether on others. The proposed legislation also includes tax credits for hiring veterans and the long-term unemployed, as well as other payroll-related provisions. Here is what the bill, if passed as is, would mean to payroll:
	• Social security tax rate reduction - For both employees and employers, the social security tax rate would be reduced to 3.1% for calendar year 2012, a reduction from the 2011 rate of 4.2% for employees and 6.2% for employers. The employer reduction would apply to the first $5 million of an employer’s wages paid by all employers other than federal, state, and local government employers (except for public colleges and universities) and employers of household workers. The rate reduction would also apply to employers and employees under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act and to self-employed individuals.
	• Tax credit for increased payroll – For the last quarter of 2011 and all of calendar year 2012, employers would get a “payroll increase credit” for the employer share of social security tax paid on increases in wages paid from the same period of the prior year. The credit would be available on up to $12.5 million of an employer’s increased wages paid in the fourth quarter of 2011 and up to $50 million of an employer’s increased wages paid in calendar year 2012, and would be available to the same group of employers that are eligible for the social security tax rate reduction. The employer would receive a credit of only 3.1% on the difference between wages paid in 2012 versus 2011 up to the $5 million limit to which the social security tax rate reduction applies, to prevent an employer from getting both the social security rate reduction and payroll increase credit on the same wages.
	• Withholding on payments to government contractors delayed again – The effective date of the requirement that governmental entities withhold 3% from payments to contractors providing property or services would be further delayed to payments made after December 2013.
	• Tax credits for hiring veterans – The current tax credit for hiring veterans who have been unemployed for at least 6 months and have a service-connected disability would increase from $4,800 to $9,600. There would also be two new tax credits: $2,400 for hiring veterans who have been unemployed for at least 4 weeks and $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been unemployed for at least 6 months. The Treasury Secretary would provide methods for certifying a veteran’s unemployed status.
	• Tax credit for hiring the long-term unemployed – Employers would get a tax credit of $4,000 for hiring individuals who have been unemployed at least 6 months. The Treasury Secretary would provide methods for certifying an individual’s unemployed status.
	• No discrimination against the unemployed – It would be unlawful for employers to refuse to hire an individual because the individual is currently unemployed or to include a provision in any job advertisements stating that unemployed individuals will not be considered for a job.
Employee use of business cell phones is not taxable In Notice 2011-72, released on September 14, the IRS announced that, when an employer provides an employee with a cell phone primarily for “noncompensatory business reasons,” the IRS will treat the employee’s use of the cell phone for business as a nontaxable working condition fringe benefit without any further substantiation. The IRS will also treat the value of any personal use of such a cell phone as a nontaxable de minimis fringe benefit. This new guidance applies to the use of any employer-provided cell phone occurring after December 31, 2009, and includes many of the elements suggested by the APA in comments submitted to the IRS on proposed cell phone guidance issued in 2009. In a memo to its field examiners, the IRS explained the new guidance and stated that, where employers require employees to maintain and use their personal cell phones for business purposes and reimburse them for the business use of their phones, examiners should use the same approach as that found in Notice 2011-72. The memo cites an example where an employer requires an employee to use his own cell phone to contact clients outside normal office hours, the employee uses the phone for both business and personal calls, and the employee’s coverage plan charges a flat rate per month for a certain number of minutes for domestic calls. In this situation, if the employer reimburses the employee for the basic plan expense, there would be no additional income to the employee. Look for more details on the American Jobs Act and the new cell phone guidance in the next issue of PAYROLL CURRENTLY, and get a full explanation of these and other recent legislative and regulatory changes affecting payroll by attending APA’s Preparing for Year-End and 2012 one-day class live in one of 58 locations across the U.S., the live webinar series, or the on demand webinar series.

Restaurant Week to Debut this September in Downtown Akron

paytime1 — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:19:54 +0000

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 17, 2011 Contact: Kimberly Beckett

Director of Business Relations

kbeckett@downtownakron.com or (330)374-7676

Restaurant Week to Debut This

September in Downtown Akron

Downtown Restaurants to Offer Prix Fixe Dinner

Menus to Diners September 12-15, 2011

AKRON (OHIO) – September will bring the first ever Downtown Akron Restaurant Week. From Monday, September 12-Thursday, September 15, participating Downtown restaurants will offer specialty prix fixe dinner menus, which will be posted at www.downtownakron.com/restaurantweek at least two weeks prior to the event. Downtown Akron Restaurant Week will also feature an integration of cultural events and specials at participating Downtown bars and coffee houses.

Participating restaurants (as of 8/17/11):

3 Point
Barley House
Bricco
Brubaker’s Pub
Cilantro
Crave
Diamond Deli
The Lockview
Paolo’s
Spaghetti Warehouse
Stew Pot Kitchen
Uncorked Wine Bar
Wing Warehouse

Downtown Akron Restaurant Week has been developed by the Downtown Akron Partnership Junior Board to encourage residents of the Akron area to explore the burgeoning dining scene in Downtown Akron. This four-day event provides reasonably priced prix fixe dinner menus at a variety of restaurants, making it easy and enjoyable to try something new! Restaurants have also been given the choice to offer prix fixe lunch menus throughout the week. Reservations are encouraged.

Visit www.downtownakron.com/restaurantweek for a complete list of participating restaurants and menus, as well as a link to all of Downtown’s unique restaurants. Downtown Akron is the gathering place for the Greater Akron area; a place in which the diversity of the community is celebrated. Locally owned Downtown restaurants are important members of this diverse community and essential to the local economy.

The Downtown Akron Partnership Junior Board was founded in 2010 under the direction of the Downtown Akron Partnership Executive Board. The Board was formed to assist in the efforts of the Downtown Akron Partnership in retaining area young professionals as well as organizing and implementing marketing efforts to raise the visibility of Downtown Akron.

The Junior Board includes members 30 years of age and younger, and is comprised of representatives from a variety of businesses and organizations. The Junior Board aims to increase the number of people who spend time and money in Downtown within this demographic, making Downtown a more appealing place to live, work and play all year round. For more information visit www.downtownakron.com.

About Downtown Akron Partnership

The mission of Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) is to promote and build a vibrant and valuable Downtown. DAP is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing people, activity, business and a thriving civic life to the heart of Akron. Through strategic marketing, clean and safe programs and management of Downtown’s resources, DAP works to promote Downtown as a gathering place in the center of our community.

DAP’s members include property owners, business leaders and government officials who want to improve the image of Downtown as a safe, convenient location for businesses, working professionals and families. DAP is governed by a Board of Trustees as diverse as the interests of our city.

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Photo credits: Photos by Downtown Akron Partnership Intern Joe Ryan

Pay Cards

paytime1 — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:10:33 +0000

What Are The Benefits of Paperless Pay?

1.Payroll cards reduce payroll processing costs by eliminating check printing and processing.

2.Employees don’t need a bank account to have a pay card, and it spares them check-cashing and money order fees.

3.Employees can use their card everywhere debit cards are accepted or to get cash from ATMs worldwide.

4.Supports your company’s green initiative.

Pay cards can benefit your business by:

•Reducing or eliminating bank service fees and account reconciliation costs.

•Reducting or eliminating stop payment fees for lost or stolen pay checks.

•For employees without bank accounts, pay cards provide an easy way of getting your money and making purchases without the expense of having to cash a check.

There are 22 states that allow employers to mandate electronic deposit. Under this scenario, employees must choose to be paid by direct deposit to a bank account or a payroll card as check payments are not offered by the employer.