American palates growing more adventurous

Nine in 10 restaurant operators say their guests are more knowledgeable about food than they used to be and pay more attention to food quality than just two years ago, according to the National Restaurant Association's (NRA) 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast.

"As dining out has grown into an everyday activity over the last few decades, we essentially have become a generation of 'foodies' with a much wider base of experience and trial of new cuisines and flavors than previous generations," said Annika Stensson, director of research communications for the NRA. "Growth of international travel and increased diversity of cuisines offered here at home have driven today's diners to be more adventurous and generally more willing to try new things when dining out."

NRA research shows that 64 percent of consumers consider themselves more adventurous in their food choices when dining out now than just two years ago. This sentiment is even stronger among millennials, where 77 percent consider themselves more food adventurous. 

Seventy-two percent of consumers also say that restaurant food provides tastes and flavors they can't duplicate at home, which especially true for global cuisines. Roughly seven out of 10 consumers say they are more likely to try ethnic cuisines in a restaurant than they are trying to cook such dishes at home.

The rise of ethnic cuisines has been evolving for decades, resulting in ethnic cuisines and flavors increasingly making their way onto mainstream menus. Currently, more than a third of restaurant operators say they offer ethnic cuisine items outside of their main menu theme, with the highest number reported among fine-dining restaurants (51 percent) and casual-dining restaurants (48 percent). In addition, a majority of operators believe this will become even more common in the future. 

Why not make the LRA your provider for food safety and sanitation, alcohol server training

The Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) is the largest provider of food safety and sanitation and alcohol server training in the state. Members of the LRA receive significant discounts on these state-mandated training courses. Are you taking advantage of the convenience and savings?

ServSafe Manager, the eight-hour course is offered to members at just $109, compared to the non-member price of $160. Classes are offered at numerous locations across the state and year around. The cost includes study material, the in-person course and testing materials in a proctored setting. To date, the LRA has trained over 30,000 foodservice professionals in ServSafe Manager and the course is regarded as the gold standard for the industry.

ServSafe Alcohol training is available online, 24-7; anywhere the individual has access to a PC and an internet connection. The LRA was the first to offer the state-mandated, two hour course online.  Members receive special pricing of just $24 with the a special discount code (call the LRA for the code), while non-members pay $30. The LRA’s Louisiana’s BEST (Beverage Education Server Training) private classes are still available upon request. Call the LRA for details or to schedule your in house alcohol server course at (504) 454-2277.

Voluntary courses are also offered online for ServSafe Allergens and ServSafe Food Handler. More than 15 million Americans have food allergies and the trend is growing each year. Allergens training can help you serve those guests with food allergies safely and gain their repeat business. Food Handler is a two-hour course covering the basics of food safety and sanitation for your front of the house and back of the house staff.

ServSafe Allergens is just $22 and ServSafe Food Handler is just $15. 

For more information, please call the LRA at (504) 454-2277 or visit www.lra.org. 

LRAEF Louisiana Seafood ProStart Student Invitational winners announced

The Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation (LRAEF) hosted the 14^th Annual Louisiana Seafood ProStart^® Student Invitational, March 3-4, 2015 at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. The Invitational showcased the culinary and academic talents of students from 20 high schools across Louisiana, and featured two primary components: the Culinary Competition and the Management Competition.

This was the third of a multi-year relationship with the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, the competition’s title sponsor, and was represented by its Executive Director Karen Profita, who addressed the students, teachers and parents during the awards ceremony.

Lakeshore High School wins the 2015 LRAEF
Louisiana Seafood ProStart Culinary Competition

During the Culinary Competition, teams demonstrated their knife skills, poultry fabrication and creative abilities through the preparation of a three-course, gourmet meal in 60 minutes. All teams’ menus had to feature at least one type of the six Louisiana seafood species.

The winner of the Culinary Competition, for the second consecutive year, was Lakeshore High School in Mandeville, led by instructor Judy Achary and students Irelan Crosby, Autumn Hamm, Hunter Trahan and Gianna Nastas. The second place team was West Feliciana High School in St. Francisville, led by instructor Amy Dreher and students Kevonte Davis, Jonathan Tate, Sarah Alford, Jonah Fowler and Jordan Bringedahl. The third place team was Dutchtown High School in Geismar, led by instructor Traci Martin and students ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Haley Stone, Cameron Gautreau, Mitchell Bailey, Joube Ryan and Monique Theriot.

Lakeshore’s winning menu was: appetizer-Louisiana Shrimp Étouffée Cavitelli: ricotta cavitelli pasta, shrimp étouffée; entrée-Rabbit and Lobster Rissole: Rabbit and lobster roll, fried kale, turnip root purée, rabbit reduction; and dessert-Marscapone Lemon Curd Bombe: Marscapone and lemon curd bombe, raspberry macerate and crunchy twill.

Teams participating in the Management Competition demonstrated their knowledge of the restaurant and foodservice industry by developing a restaurant concept, including the menu, design, budget and marketing strategies, which they presented to a panel of judges as an entrepreneur would pitch to a group of investors.

The winner of the Management Competition was West Feliciana High School in St. Francisville, led by instructor Amy Dreher and students ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Lexi Auxt, Jacob Manieri, Dalton Clevenger and Brandon Oliveaux. The second place team was Lakeshore High School in Mandeville, led by instructor Judy Achary and students Alex Gautreaux, Jacob Heffner, Gianna Nastas, Tracie Romano and Cole Krieger. The third place team was Hammond High Magnet School, led by instructor Angie Drago and students Todreion Amos, Savannah Hall and Terenisha Porter.

West Feliciana wins the 2015 LRAEF
Louisiana Seafood Management Competition.

West Feliciana’s winning restaurant concept was “Dalton’s Diner,” a restaurant serving Cajun and Creole classics in a 1950’s style diner, adjacent to a college campus.

Lakeshore High School and West Feliciana High School will represent Louisiana in the National ProStart Invitational in Anaheim, California, April 18-20, 2015.

Schools were also recognized for their individual achievements in various categories within the two competitions.

Culinary:

• Knife Skills Award: Dutchtown High School
• Safety & Sanitation Award: Grace King High School
• Judges’ Pick- Appetizer: West Feliciana High School- pan seared sea scallop, oyster and crimini mushroom ravioli, with tarragon cream sauce and micro greens
• Judges’ Pick- Entrée: St. James Parish Career & Technology Center- crab meat stuffed Louisiana jumbo shrimp with Mardi Gras potatoes and sautéed asparagus with hollandaise
• Judges’ Pick- Dessert: Lakeshore High School- Marscapone and lemon curd bombe, raspberry macerate and crunchy twill

The courses chosen by the judges will be interpreted and served to the guests at the LRAEF’s annual Five Star Futures Gala Saturday, August 8, 2015 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.

Management:

• Judges’ Award- Restaurant Concept: West Feliciana High School
• Judges’ Award- Critical Thinking: West Feliciana High School
• Judges’ Award- Visual Display: Hammond High Magnet School
• Judges’ Award- Verbal Presentation: North Vermilion High School

The 2015 LRAEF Louisiana Seafood ProStart Student Invitational Sponsors include: Louisiana Seafood, Acme Oyster House, Auto-Chlor Services, Louisiana Hospitality Foundation, Louisiana Restaurant Association, National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, Performance Foodservice Caro, Atmos Energy, Louisiana Culinary Institute, Camellia Brand, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, Louisiana Gas Association, Whole Foods, Alack Culinary Equipment & Supplies Superstore, Centerplate, Coca-Cola, Community Coffee, Custom Apparel, Ecolab, Freeman Decorating, Generations Hall and the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.

ProStart is a nationwide career technical education program where high-school students learn from an industry-derived, competency-based curriculum that teaches culinary techniques and restaurant management skills, coupled with real-life restaurant sector experiences. In addition to industry-specific skills, a majority of ProStart students report learning critical employability skills, including workplace and professional behavior, communications skills and teamwork.

The LRAEF pairs ProStart students and LRA members together in a mutually-beneficial relationship. Students are required to complete a 400-hour work internship, thus providing hands-on training. Many of LRA members serve as mentors to ProStart students. 

40 hours is full-time

The Affordable Care Act needs a check-up, the National Restaurant Association and American Hotel & Lodging Association said in a joint op-ed today.

One top concern: The health care law defines full-time as 30 hours a week.

"The ACA changed the definition of a full-time employee from someone who works the traditional 40-hour workweek to anyone who works 30 hours a week," NRA President & CEO Dawn Sweeney and AH&LA President & CEO Katherine Lugar write in The Hill. "Instead of benefiting workers, this provision is actually harming them ... Businesses of all sizes are having to reduce the hours of workers who had been working 40 hours a week."

The ACA's full-time definition affects which businesses are considered large employers, and which employees must be offered health coverage. The law exposes large employers to possible fines if they don't offer health plans to full-time employees and their dependents.

The ACA's so-called "employer mandate" covers businesses with the equivalent of 100 full-time employees this year, and employers with 50 to 99 full-time-equivalent employees starting in 2016.

The NRA supports bringing the ACA's definition of full-time employment more in line with traditional workplace standards. The House passed a bill in January to make the change, and more than 30 senators are now sponsoring the bipartisan "Forty Hours is Full Time Act" in the Senate. The NRA is a lead member of the "More Time for Full Time" initiative.

Read more about the impact of the ACA's 30-hour definition on restaurant and hotel employers.

Patent trolls are still coming after restaurants, and yours could be next

If your restaurant hasn’t been on the receiving end of a legal shakedown from a patent troll, your time may be running out.

Over the past few years, patent trolls—companies that purchase vague patents and threaten to sue restaurants and other businesses that don’t pay licensing fees for their use of common technologies—have cost the economy more than $20 billion a year. The number of lawsuits is on the rise. Patent Freedom, which collects data on patent troll activity, reports that 3,716 companies faced lawsuits from patent trolls in 2013, up from 3,352 the year before. 

And patent trolls aren’t just going after big companies. A 2012 study by Boston University researchers found that most defendants in suits brought by patent trolls were small or medium-sized companies—those that can least afford the often seven-figure costs of defending against patent infringement lawsuits.

Patent trolls have come after restaurants for common service-enhancing features like online ordering, in-store WiFi, and digital menu boards.

Seeking relief for restaurants

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) recently joined United for Patent Reform, a coalition of businesses and trade groups representing technology, retail, communications, construction and other sectors, to ask Congress to make changes to help end frivolous patent-infringement lawsuits.

Among other reforms, the coalition is seeking an end to vague demand letters designed to extract early settlements; clear, specific explanations from patent trolls regarding their interest in the patent; protections for the end users of products and technology; and requirements for patent trolls to pay plaintiffs’ legal costs when their infringement lawsuits are unsuccessful.

Help could be on the way in the form of the Innovation Act, recently introduced in the House by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). The bill aims to curb frivolous infringement lawsuits by requiring plaintiffs to disclose the owner of the patent and why they’re suing the defendant, as well as allow some of the costs of defense to be shifted to the plaintiff if the lawsuit is unsuccessful. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support in 2013 before stalling in the Senate.

Tell Congress to support legislation to stop patent trolls.

Is E-Verify expansion on the horizon?

The House Judiciary Committee has passed the Legal Workforce Act, a bill to require businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to determine whether an employee is eligible to work in the United States.

The committee’s sign-off is the first step in a long process that would be required before the measure could become law.

E-Verify use is currently voluntary. About 500,000 employers use it, and 23 states have laws requiring some or all employers to use the system. The National Restaurant Association supports a federal law requiring businesses to use the system, to free them from the challenge of complying with different state and local laws requiring E-Verify.

“Uniformity and consistency are the keys to helping grow our workforce,” said Angelo Amador, the NRA’s senior vice president of labor and workforce policy and regulatory counsel. “Actions by 50 different states and numerous local governments in passing employment verification laws create an untenable system for employers and their prospective employees. A standardized E-Verify system would strike the right balance with the employer community and provide clarity and certainty in their hiring decisions.”

The NRA believes a national verification system is a key part of immigration reform but only if the system protects employers’ flexibility and limits liability. The Legal Workforce Act addresses some of those elements, including:

No cost to employers: E-Verify would continue to be available for employers at no charge under the Legal Workforce Act.

A reasonable time frame: The Legal Workforce Act would phase in a federal mandate according to a business’s size. Businesses with more than 10,000 employees would have six months to implement E-Verify after a law is enacted. Businesses with 500 to 9,999 employees would have a year to begin using E-Verify. Businesses with 20 to 499 employees would have 18 months, and all other businesses would have two years.

Legal protection for employers: Businesses that used E-Verify in good faith wouldn’t be prosecuted for errors in the system that happened through no fault of their own.

State law preemption: The Legal Workforce Act would prevent states from enacting their own laws requiring E-Verify.

It’s not clear when the Legal Workforce Act will go before the full House of Representatives for a vote, and the legislation would still require the approval of the Senate and President Obama to become law.

Older workers on tap as teen labor dips

The restaurant industry is the country’s largest employer of teenagers, but that labor pool is shrinking so operators are looking at alternative age groups to fill the gap, National Restaurant Association (NRA) research has found.

According to the 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast, restaurants currently provide jobs for 1.5 million people between the ages of 16 and 19. That means one-third of working teenagers in America today work at restaurants. Still, the number of teens in the overall workforce plunged from 41.3 percent in 2007 to 34.5 percent in 2013, a decline of 1.2 million individuals.

“The U.S. workforce continues to change, and the pool of restaurant job candidates with it,” said Hudson Riehle, the NRA’s senior vice president of research. “While the industry will remain an important training ground for young people getting their first job experience, it also provides opportunity for more seasoned workers looking for rewarding employment with flexible schedules.

In the wake of the decline in teen labor, more restaurant jobs have gone to older employees. In fact, the number of adults 55 or older working in the restaurant industry rose 32 percent during the same period, an increase of 180,000 individuals.

“Youth workforce participation has been declining for years, and teenagers have traditionally been a significant part of the industry’s workforce, often filling part-time and seasonal positions,” Riehle said. “However, aging baby boomers are staying in the workforce longer and filling some of those positions. And though older adults are a relatively small proportion of the industry’s workforce now, that number will only expand in future.”