Ken Burgin

Restaurant Productivity

Digital Trends

Restaurant FAQ

How to Write a FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions page for a Restaurant or Cafe

The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list on a restaurant or cafe website helps the business and the customers. It adds interest to your website content, provides useful information and strengthens your marketing. It also improves the customer experience, with clear, concise answers to customers’ most common questions – it saves time and phone calls. The FAQ page establishes your authority, builds trust, and also guides staff on venue policies. You can subtly promote special services

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ChatGPT and Menus

Using ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter to Improve Restaurant Menu Profits

ChatGPT recently released a new feature called Code Interpreter, that allows you to upload a spreadsheet of data and ask for an analysis. So I asked it to ‘Give me 10 ways ChatGPT’s new Code Interpreter could analyse and improve menu profitability for a restaurant or cafe? Give answers that appeal to a restaurateur or accountant with fairly sophisticated financial understanding and good analytical skills.’ Here’s what came back: ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter can add significant

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ChatGPT and Recipes

How to Use ChatGPT for Recipe Management in a Restaurant Kitchen

Are you keen to make more use of technology in your culinary and business operations? ChatGPT, can revolutionise the way you manage your kitchen, from organising your recipes, scaling dishes and optimising food costs, to suggesting ingredient substitutions, planning menus, and enhancing staff productivity. Also, check How to Use ChatGPT to Create Training Material for Restaurant & Cafe Employees. I asked ChatGPT how artificial intelligence, while maintaining a personal touch and creativity in your kitchen,

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Employment Page

How to Create a Powerful Employment Page on your Restaurant or Café Website

With ever-increasing staff shortages, it’s time to use your own website as part of the recruitment drive. A good employment page will attract quality applicants and ‘sell’ them on the benefits you offer. Even a small business can make a big impact, especially as many of the large operators are doing very little in this area. On the internet, every website starts as equal! The employment page should talk about what you offer and why

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restaurant photography

Photo Shot List for a Restaurant or Cafe

The bar is set high for hospitality images of food, venues, atmosphere and happy customers – phones can take excellent photos. And sometimes you need a professional photographer – their eye for light, composition and subject matter can create pictures that make a much stronger impression. Like all professionals, photographers work best with a clear and detailed brief – the Shot List. If you have it properly worked out and all the food, beverages and

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Restaurant Systems

Hospo Reset’s Product of the Week

Every week in the Hospo Reset Newsletter, we share a product or service that’s caught our eye – for kitchen & beverage management, staffing, facilities management, marketing and overall productivity. This is not an endorsement, please do your own assessment of suitability for your business. Here’s the list so far, and it’s updated every month. Food, Menus and Kitchen Management Restoke manages back of house functions like recipes, menus, ordering, work lists, staff training, plus

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Restaurant Payments

10 Ways to Make it Easier for Customers to Spend Money – Remove the Friction in your Cafe or Restaurant

Nothing should interrupt a customer who’s keen to give you money! The sales term is ‘grease the slide’ – removing any friction that stops a customer completing a sale. Check for any bumps or roadblocks you may have created – here are some solutions: Take more Credit Cards: Do you accept the whole range? Amex fees are a bit higher, but ‘no Amex’ rules get people offside, especially if they want the points. Are you

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How Restaurant & Cafe Owners Can Learn from Sport Teams and Violin Players

What can sporting clubs and a classical violinist teach us about staying in touch with our customers? And not just ‘don’t forget me’ messages, but spending this time of enforced separation to build their love, enthusiasm and loyalty? Two widely contrasting social media posts landed in my feed recently – one from ‘sports fan engagement specialist’ Blair Hughes, and the other from young violinist rock star Ray Chen. Blair is a lifelong sports nut, and

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My interview on hospitality and the Coronavirus crisis – Sky News Australia, March 21, 2020

I had a short interview on Sky News today about the state of the hospitality industry. I was given four questions to consider, and prepared some bullet point reminders. In the event, only the first three were asked… and I was relaxed! 1. You’ve been in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years. What we’re seeing right now is unprecedented – what should restaurant & cafes owners be doing? Communicate like never before with

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How Hospitality & Restaurant Trainers can Work Remotely: a Survival Guide…

Hospitality training has usually been done in person – we hospo people like to ‘stand up and do it’. With the restrictions and closing of many restaurants and cafes, there’s an urgent need to present training in new ways. We need very different tools and completely new methods – traditional workbooks with pen & paper don’t translate very well. Here’s a bunch of tools, resources and ideas to use and experiment with… Understand the world

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