Change Your Restaurant With The Seasons

One of the reasons restaurants fail is that they cannot keep their customers interested and coming back. It’s vital to have reoccurring customers along with new clientele. A loss in customers can quickly lead to a restaurant’s failure, no incoming funds means no money to pay bills. One way to keep your customers interested is by offering menu and restaurant changes throughout the year. Changing decorations quarterly, with the seasons as well as foods with the seasons, will help your restaurant feel fresh and current.
Showcasing seasonal foods can revive a menu periodically. Seasonal foods offer the most flavor and nutritional value at an affordable cost. Ro Howe, chef and restaurateur, explains “Featuring seasonal ingredients assures your customers that you are conscious of what nature has to offer." Using products like San Jamar’s Full Fold Tabletop Napkin Dispenser, is a great way to display seasonal menu items. This napkin dispenser features an insert option for customized promotional advertising. You can easily change advertisements from one season to the next allowing you to promote your special seasonal items without redoing your entire paper menu every few months.
In the Spring highlight green, leafy vegetables. Spring onions and asparagus are delicious this time of year. Summer is a great time to introduce cool and light foods. People typically eat less when it’s warm outside. Strawberries, corn, and apples are all fantastic foods for the summer. As Fall approaches, switch to full and hearty ingredients. Fall is a great time to work sweet potatoes and ginger into your menu. These are warm, filling foods that will match your customers’ taste buds. Finally, in Winter, focus on meats and root vegetables. Beef, carrots and lamb are particularly delicious this time of year. Stews are a great way to incorporate these as most people find a hearty stew a comfort food in the cold Winter months. Your menu is a great way to target new customers and keep current clientele's attention.
Your restaurant’s decorations and color scheme is another way to stay fresh, current. Like your menu, follow a seasonal pattern. Look for tabletop accessories that are versatile, like Update International’s Round Cracker Basket. In the Spring bring fresh flowers and pastels into your restaurant in small ways. Customers will appreciate the lively transition into the summer months. Summer is a great time to incorporate brighter colors into your tablecloths, napkins or other small features. As the temperature drops, switch your attention to beautiful autumn. Autumn is filled with rich, stunning colors. Incorporate items that start to transition between Summer and Winter, warm flowers with deep reds or fill a glass vase with fallen leaves for an inexpensive, gorgeous decoration. In the bitter cold keep customers warm, use candles at night to make it feel warm or use pine cones and snowflakes as simple table decoration.
When it comes to revamping your restaurant’s menu and style remember simplicity is key. Small changes can make a huge difference, especially when paired with the changing seasons. We strongly encourage restaurants to stay current by making small changes quarterly. At Public Kitchen Supply we want to help restaurants succeed. Visit our website at publickitchensupply.com for additional restaurant advice and fantastic kitchen supplies.

The World's Healthiest Foods. George Mateljan Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

Choosing a Paper Towel Dispenser

There are many different options when it comes to paper towel dispensers. Choosing the right towel dispenser for your business is an important decision, it affects the cleanliness of your restaurant. Sanitation maintenance must be thought out and deliberate for a business to operate at its best. In today’s blog Public Kitchen Supply will explain the pros and cons of three different towel dispensers.
Centerpull paper towel dispensers are convenient because they use one big roll, making them low maintenance. Centerpull dispensers rarely need restocking. We suggest San Jamar’s Centerpull Paper Towel Dispenser. San Jamar’s Centerpull Dispenser is made to mount on the wall, saving counter space. It’s clear black pearl color allows staff to see if towels are running low. This dispenser uses single sheet perforated towels. A downfall of centerpull paper towel dispensers is that they tend to be vandalized. Users often take more paper towels than they need, resulting in added expenses. Centerpull paper towel dispensers work well in high traffic areas like stadiums or gas station bathrooms.
C-fold or multifold paper towel dispensers are great for small restrooms. They provide a clean, symmetrical design taking up very little space. The dispenser is helpful by distributing only individual sheets of paper towels but multiple can come out at a time. San Jamar makes a large variety of paper towel dispensers. Their Ultrafold Paper Towel Dispenser is a great example of a c-fold paper towel dispenser. It comes in a 6-piece assembly allowing for a quick, easy build. It is designed to eliminate over-stuffing along with the bunching and clumping of paper towels. Made out of high-impact plastic gives the Ultrafold Paper Towel Dispenser a long life.
Another common towel dispenser is hands-free, also known as automatic. Hands-free towel dispensers are incredibly healthy, as they are less likely to spread germs. Purchasing an automatic towel dispenser is a great idea for hospitals and doctors offices. San Jamar is once again our choice for a quality dispenser. Choose San Jamar’s Simplicity Hands Free Paper Towel Dispenser. It features automatic mechanic cutting for an easy tear. The hands-free paper towel dispenser is wall mounted, adding space to restrooms and work areas. The only downfall of touch less dispensers is that their infrared sensor can stop sensing. If this happens it is usually due to the dispenser circuit or its power supply.
Each towel dispenser comes with positives and negatives. The trick to choosing a good dispenser is understanding your business’s needs and picking a quality brand, like San Jamar. San Jamar towel dispensers are high quality and long lasting. Visit our website, PublicKitchenSupply.com, to view a fabulous selection of San Jamar towel dispensers.

Caring for a Cutting Board

Cutting boards are a daily tool in most residential and commercial kitchens, they keep our counter-tops clean and prevent the spread of disease. While the purpose of kitchen cutting boards may be the same, their maintenance varies entirely. In the kitchen, cutting boards are commonly made out of wood or plastic. Wood is long lasting and if properly taken care of, it will last for many years. On the other hand plastic cutting boards have a much shorter life. Plastic cutting boards are built to be disposable even with proper care. In today’s blog Public Kitchen Supply will provide some helpful hints on how to get the most out of your wood or plastic cutting board.
Wood cutting boards do well in home kitchens. Wood has natural anti-septic properties and are great at self-healing. If your knife leaves thin cuts in the wood they will likely close up on their own. Wood cutting boards are softer on knives and provide a classic, rustic look to your kitchen. We recommend Update International’s Wood Bread Board with Knife Slot. Wood Cutting boards should be washed in hot soapy water, wiped clean and dried upright. Never put wooden cutting boards in the dishwasher. When wood is exposed to too much water it will become soft, fragile and lose its shape. Coarse salt and lemon are simple ingredients that can dramatically extend the life of your cutting board. Every other week dust your cutting board with coarse salt, rub the salt with a sliced lemon and rinse in hot water. This method will close cracks in the woods surface.
Oiling wooden cutting boards is another fantastic technique to extend their life. You will need a clean soft cloth and mineral oil. Before oiling your board be sure it is clean and dry. Next, take your soft cloth and apply the mineral oil evenly over the board’s surface. Allow your cutting board to take in the oil overnight. In the morning, rub off any remaining oil with a dry cloth. This method protects the wood from becoming dry and cracked. If you follow these techniques your wooden cutting board will last for decades to come.
Plastic cutting boards are not nearly as high maintenance as wood cutting boards, but they do not have the same life expectancy. Plastic cutting boards are meant to be disposable, typically lasting only a handful of years. Most plastic cutting boards are made from copolymer. This material is designed not to dull knives but cuts and scratches do tend to quickly appear on the board’s surface. Scratches can easily turn to cracks, a strong indication that a board should be replaced.
The best way to extend the life of your plastic cutting board is through proper cleaning and sanitation. Plastic cutting boards are dishwasher safe but they can still warp in high temperatures. It is critical that you allow excess water to run off your cutting board by either hanging it or storing it upright. Look for cutting boards like San Jamar’s 18” x 24” Cut-N-Carry Cutting Board. This cutting board provides a safety hook for storing and drying upright like it's supposed to.
Wood and plastic cutting boards are very different in their construction. It is important to understand the maintenance of each board. Before purchasing a cutting board consider how long you want it last and how you want to take care of it. To find a cutting board that fits your needs, visit our website at PublicKitchenSupply.com

San Jamar® - Saf-T-Knife™ Station

Have You Tried the....

San Jamar - Saf-T-Knife Station?

The Saf-T-Knife™ Station is a high-quality plastic knife rack from San Jamar designed to hold eight knives and a knife steel / sharpener for easy and quick access in your restaurant kitchen. While there are eight slots for knives, it can fit a variety of knife blade lengths and widths. You'll be able to work with 1/10” blade thickness and 5” wide blades such as a cleaver. The construction is break-resistant plastic in the front and back. The closed container protects knives from contaminants and damage while keeping them sanitary between uses. Clear see-through door makes choosing a knife easy.

Use this closed knife rack verses a magnetic strip to keep your knives and staff safe in the kitchen. Entire station is made up of three pieces that are all easy to disassemble and reassemble to ensure the knives are kept in the cleanest environment as possible. If you have a Saf-T-Knife Station, you are able to purchase replacement parts such as the slotted top and clear view door if they become scratched.

Presenting another innovation from San Jamar

Knives may be the most important prep tool in the kitchen, but if they're not handled and stored properly, knives can pose serious safety and sanitation risks. Saf-T-knife Station from San Jamar, the leader in food safety solutions, provides safe, sanitary, and secure storage for knives.

Magnetic knife racks not only present a hazard to kitchen staff but also leave knives exposed to contamination and damage. Expensive stainless steel knife holders protect knife blades, but are hard to clean and make choosing the right knife a guessing game.

Saf-T-Knife Station offers a clear solution for safe, sanitary, and secure knife storage. Saf-T-Knife’s clear-view door makes it easy for staff to see and select appropriate knives, and confirm that knives are clean, sanitary and ready for use. Saf-T-Knife Station is easy to wall mount, giving staff convenient access to knives while freeing up valuable counter space. Constructed of break-resistant plastic, Saf-T-Knife station is durable, easy to clean, and NSF certified. Clean and sanitized while mounted in place or easily disassemble for dishwasher cleaning.

Saf-T-Knife Station: the clear and affordable solution for safe, sanitary and secure knife storage. 

Features

• Model: STK1008
• Color: Clear/Grey
• Material: Break-resistant plastic
• Dimensions: 15" x 15" x 4 1/4"