The Buzz About Bok Choy

Bok Choy
"The White Cabbage"

Bok Choy’s scientific name is brassica chinensis. It is classified as a cabbage but its white stalks resemble celery and the dark green leaves are similar to romaine lettuce. The Chinese generally refer to Bok Choy as Pak Choi or "white cabbage”. As a member of the cabbage family, you can cook it as you would a cabbage. When cooked, it has a sweet flavor and its stalks are firm. Both stalks and leaves are edible. Bok Choy is becoming very popular because of its nutritional value. It doesn’t contain fat or cholesterol plus it is a good source of calcium. Bok Choy is also easy to prepare, just wash and then chop it! Steam or microwave for a healthy side dish or even a main meal. This vegetable is popular in kitchens everywhere because it is not only a delicious substitute to cabbage but it is also healthy and packed with nutrition.

You might even find Baby Bok Choy available. Cuteness quotient aside, baby bok choy are more tender and incomparably milder than big bok choy. They've also got it all over their adult counterparts when it comes to relative ease of cooking. Whereas the adult counterpart demands a sort of tag-team approach -- the crunchy stems must be separated from the leafy greens and cooked far longer -- the diminutive bunches can be braised whole.

Nutritional Information
Serving Size: one cup shredded bok choy, or 70 grams.

Macronutrients:
Calories: 9
Protein: 1.05 g
Carbohydrates: 1.53 g
Fiber: 0.7 g
Sugars: 0.83 g
Total Fat: 0.14 g
Saturated Fat: 0.018 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 0.011 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.067 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg

Micronutrients:
Calcium: 74 mg
Iron: 0.56 mg
Magnesium: 13 mg
Phosphorus: 26 mg
Potassium: 176 mg
Sodium: 46 mg
Zinc: 0.13 mg
Vitamin C: 31.5 mg

Bok Choy Tips
Use both the stalks and leaves for stir fry. Add the stalk slices first. Add the leaves just before serving as you would bean sprouts.
Avoid bok choy with deformed stalks and brown spots which indicate poor growing conditions. Yellow leaves and very small stalks or bunches mean old product.

Try great Bok Choy recipes like:

CHICKEN BOK CHOY - www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1718,135187-254195,00.html
BOK CHOY SALAD www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1918,150166-225199,00.html
SWEET & SOUR BOK CHOY www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1950,149174-248198,00.html

Tasty Humor
A Bok Choy joke is not easy to come up with… how about a limerick?

Asparagus, Bok Choy or Chard
Being vegan is really not hard

Live life cruelty free

Scream “It’s tofu for me!”

While feeling quite the avant-garde


Submitted by
Charlotte Barnes
GVSU Intern


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Café Magnolia, Mechaniscburg, PA

The Best of....Café Magnolia, Mechaniscburg, PA

Kudos to Melissa Lynch from SYSCO CentralPA and the folks at Café Magnolia for creating this poster promoting something many restaurants forget to promote....Take-Out! Besides that, they are now offering the popular Online Ordering option used by the competition.

The pictures from this poster looked so good, I looked up the website to see what Café Magnolia has to offer. Man, if I lived in PA I would have been eating one of Tim's South Style Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch...and I would have ordered it conveniently online!

What a great way to boost sales in another direction! Great job guys!

Posted by Lab Tech, Heidi R.
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The Best of......Bingo!

Jimbo & Sons, Middletown, Ohio

Knowing that one way to beat the economic doldrums is to sell more to the guests you get - Barney (one of the "& Sons") put together this Perfect Check Bingo Card. He prints out cards for each night and hands them out to the servers at the pre-dinner staff meeting. Servers can get a "Build-a-Check Bingo" each time they complete a line of five bingo spaces - vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The value of the prize increases for each bingo on the servers' card, and - if they work hard, each server can score up to 12 BINGO's, earning them a little extra pocket money!
Currently, each bingo nets the server an additional $5... get five perfect checks (BINGOs) and Barney doubles the prize to $10 each... get ten... $15 each... Complete the entire card in one shift & the prize is $240!
Now, who wouldn't try to sell a little smarter for that!
So - Barney's trying to be smart about this, too. Since the Bingo card is a free download on MyMenuLab (see Profit Builders tab), he can check inventory, the market or the reservation book - and customize the items on the card to meet his needs. So far, the staff at Jimbo's seems to be embracing the challenge and is suggesting items they'd like to see on future cards...

Everybody's taking ownership & helping Barney meet his goals. Don't be surprised if you hear shouts of BINGO! coming from the kitchen!



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January... & the Luck of the Irish

So... Happy New Year, Happy Valentines Day... Fast forward to March - You've got marketing to do! January is a great time to regroup. Plan for Spring & lots of growth opportunity! Remember, a little planning can reap big benefits.Erin Go Bragh!
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Where'd December Go?

Good thing we're always planning 2 months ahead, huh?  Look for January's (or should I say March's) calendar next week!   Happy Holidays - which ever month you're in...
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Notes from Table 12......

Question for the Day.... How do you let people know about your specialty items?

Single diners can be an asset, not just a smaller check and tip. I eat by myself several times a week. Sunday I was traveling and stopped at Bailey’s, about 50 miles from home. The regulars in town each have their favorite meal and I am no exception. I had driven several miles out of my way to have their perch dinner. The restaurant was packed, but had room
for 1 at the bar.
It turned out to be a great place to play my game for single diners.
The bartender was friendly—very helpful when a person dines alone—in fact we had mutual friends in the town where I live. My order came quickly, 8 perfectly sautéed perch fillets, baked potato and coleslaw on the side with a slice of piping hot Texas toast covered with a special cheesy garlic sauce. It was just the way I remembered from the last time. My neighbor at the bar asked, “What did you order?” I answered, “My favorite perch dinner. It’s great!!” “It does look good. How about it honey? Shall we get perch instead of a hamburger?” he said to his wife on the other side.” He turned back to me and said, “We’re from out of town. We thought we would come in for a quick sandwich.” “Bailey’s is known for it’s perch dinners. They sell literally tons of perch during the summer. If you’re from out of town, you’ve got to experience it.”
Score two dinners instead of hamburgers. As I finished my dinner the customer on the other side of me said, “I heard you say that what you are having is Bailey’s specialty. What was it? We’re from out of town too. I was going to have a hamburger but that really looks good.” I told him about the perch that can’t be beat. When they were called to their seat they said,, “I understand that your perch dinners are really good…..”
Score two more dinners instead of hamburgers. I checked the menu before I left and found that the perch dinners these people ordered had brought in an extra $20 over the cost of hamburgers for the restaurant. They should have been paying me for eating there. I should tell Bailey’s I would be glad to pose for a “My Favorite” slugger or poster advertising that great perch so people will know about it when I can’t be there…

From the Diner’s Barstool at Bailey’s

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Notes from Table 12......

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Questions for the day…
What changes are you making as a player on the customer-restaurant team to provide a reasonable, quality dining experience so everyone wins?

How can your in-house advertising provide your customers opportunities to dine economically at your restaurant without going broke?

If your customers happened to watch the Today Show on NBC this past November, they may be taking a closer look at your menu.
Menu engineering and saving money when you go out to eat were topics on the show’s agenda. The basic message was that restaurants use menu engineering to try to coerce you into buying what they want to sell through use of menu engineering techniques, implying that the restaurant was not doing this for the benefit of their customers, but only to benefit themselves.
The second topic, saving money when you go out to eat, suggested a few ways for diners to lessen their bill, such as, order appetizers rather than a whole meal or order a doggie-bag at the beginning or the meal and save half for later.

These topics inspired a disturbing thought….is it Restaurant vs. Customer, or Customer vs. Restaurant?

In today’s scary, New Age Economy, it seems to me the best plan is for Restaurants and Customers to work together for two reasons:
1. Customers do not want their favorite restaurant to go broke. They want to be able keep coming back.
2. Restaurants want their customers to be able to afford to keep coming back so they don’t go broke. Customers and restaurants should have the same goal—don’t let the great dining experience go away without trying a team approach.

Customers and Restaurants need to be on the same team.
A perfect example of the non-team approach happened at a well-known chain the other morning. They had 4 breakfast specials at $6.99 each listed on a sheet stapled over the top over their usual, inexpensive offerings. I finally looked behind this “big breakfast” menu and found my usual $2.99 simple breakfast with three major changes: The price was $3.79, the coffee was not included and the biscuits were smaller.

On the other had, I have recently seen several examples of the new team approach, restaurants helping customers eat more economically without losing the dining experience. Here they are:
1. One of the chains recently changed their menu dramatically. They have a smaller menu that continues to advertise their features with pictures and descriptions but provides more economical options: Fewer selections on the menu help restaurants be cost-effective to keep their prices down.
2. In addition, the same restaurant offers ½ servings for the diner with the smaller appetite and pocketbook. Doggie bags are still available but they realize the customer is not in their restaurant to shop deli-style for later. They are here for the ambience, friendliness and an economical, fun experience.
3. Another restaurant in town offers smaller-portion desserts at a reasonable price to enhance their customer’s experience in an economical way.
4. I recently had breakfast at a restaurant that included coffee with their breakfast entrée specials for the day. Their customers will not be surprised when they get their bill. One price includes all.
5. Drink specials at another restaurant welcomed their customers, a free drink with an entrée order on Tuesdays.
6. A local restaurant recently asked customers to participate in helping to develop their new menu by voting on their 3 favorite entrees that they usually order. The results were collated and included in the planning when fewer items were picked for the menu.

“Bring a friend” day on Tuesdays and or Thursday could be a popular way for customers to be on the team. The customer brings in new business and the restaurant provides a free drink for both. Word-of mouth is the best advertising, and with a free sample provided by the restaurant, is the ultimate example of an unbeatable team working together.
Overall, the psychology of eating out is more about how valuable your customers feel at the end of the experience, providing them with a great incentive to return for another meal.

Submitted from the Diner's Seat at Table 12

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Notes from Table 12......

Question for the day…
Does your restaurant have a plan for enticing people to leave their warm house during the winter months? The temperature is down to zero. The wind is howling outside and snow is sweeping across the lawn. Today Table 12 is our kitchen counter with a cup of coffee. We usually eat out at least once every day, either lunch or dinner. But really….is there anything that would entice us to go out to eat in this weather?
We were at our kitchen counter having our morning coffee and discussing our plans for the day. The day before we were at one of our favorite restaurants where we were presented a menu with an insert. I think they called it a slugger. The owner told us he is using the insert in his menu to let people know about his specials every week. Wish I could remember what the special was for today. The selection of canned soup wasn’t great at home, but going out in this weather calls for something more than just memories.
As we had coffee, I checked my computer for e-mails. I couldn’t believe it. I had an e-mail from 3 different restaurants in town where we often go to for lunch. Each restaurant had a coupon attached for printing out. I showed them to my husband. We made our lunch plans for the next 3 days.
Day 3 was a trip to Goog’s, the best hamburger place in town. The coupon said, one “hamburger of the day” at regular price, a second hamburger, ½ off.
Day 2 we picked OBI, just down the road. They sent an e-mail copy of their winter lunch menu advertising “old fashioned lunch prices” for everything on the lunch menu. Hope the weather is better tomorrow but they have great food and friendly service.
Today, however, we couldn’t resist the one from one of our favorite restaurants downtown. The picture at the top of the e-mail was of the restaurant on the outside with blowing snow just like outside our window. The attraction was the heated street and sidewalk (no snow or ice). A second picture showed the inside as it was decorated for the holidays, cozy and warm. But the coupon was what really got us out of the house for lunch on such a miserable day: a free, refillable cup of coffee or hot cider with cinnamon if you came to lunch at 11 am. We could even do a couple of Christmas shopping errands on those clean sidewalks.
What attracted us to the three restaurants? Memories of good food, good service, and friendly staff who called us by name. The real payoff to these three restaurants was when they touched us at home especially when the weather was bad.

From the Diner's Seat at Table 12

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Notes from Table 12......

Hog Wild is the place to go for the best barbeque in town. Not only is the food consistently good with both pork and chicken barbeque on their menu, but the service is fast for the lunch and dinner crowd. The servers are always smiling and helpful. It has casual sit-down facilities but take-out or catering are two of their other specialties. One might ask, “How do you know so much about their take-out and catering services?” The answer is, they have started to use ultimate, in-house advertising.
The first thing you see before you walk in the door are posters advertising specials for eating in, taking out and catering. Their menu is on a chalkboard but as you stand at the counter, small take-out menus are available. They leave nothing to chance.
As I had a delicious pork sandwich with sweet sauce, I began to wonder if there was any other marketing tools they could use to boost business….What if they had fold-up business cards with easy-to-read phone numbers and contact information with a mini-menu inside that are put on your tray as you pass through the line?....Just right for the purse or shirt pocket.
My mind continued the “what if” game. What if they put a postcard-size ‘calendar for the month’ on the table to remind everyone of coming holidays for that month? It could include a place to jot down birthdays and anniversaries, just so you won’t forget Valentines Day in February or your wife’s birthday. They would want you to take it with you so you can remember the monthly important events. What if they had you turn the card back in on the last week of the month, with your name and e-mail information on the back, to get a special coupon sent to you when you come in the following month?
Oh-oh, it’s time to get back to work. I can’t wait to come back to Hog Wild, especially for the food…Another idea before I leave—What if there was a place on the back of the monthly calendar for customers to make a comment or suggestion when they turn it in or what if they…..I’m going to need a new job if I don’t get back to work.

From the Diner's Seat at Table 12

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Ode to the Artichoke – Oda a la Alcachofa

In 1947 a young Marilyn Monroe (then Norma Jean) was crowned Artichoke Queen of Castroville, Ca.
Also, it has been said that artichokes are aphrodisiacs. Coincidence? I wonder...
Artichokes are a significant source of vitamin C, folic acid and magnesium. Nearly fat-free, the artichoke is about 25 calories (per medium artichoke) and is low in sodium. Artichoke stems, which are often thrown away, are perfectly edible. Peel them and cook along with the artichokes, slice into salads or pasta dishes.

Artichokes had long been restricted to fine dining or ethnic menus. Joe 6-pack's love affair with the 'choke began when somebody whipped together the first Spinach Artichoke Dip - and added it to their Appetizer section. Since then (maybe the mid 80's?), the artichokes’ appeal has spread to all menu categories.

Try these fun artichoke dishes:

Artichoke Lasagna
http://italianfood.about.com/od/bakedpasta/r/blr1603.htm

Chili Artichoke Dip
http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/chili-artichoke-dip-recipe/article33386.html

Creamy Artichoke Chicken Soup
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1157822


Here's an Arti-JOKE!

Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Artichokes!
Artichokes who?
Artie chokes when he talks with his mouth full...


Submitted by Charlotte Barnes, GVSU Intern

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The specials you serve are a huge opportunity. This was from an article in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine....

More than two thirds of consumers order from specials menus at full-service restaurants, primarily because they perceive these specials offer a better price/value. Customers also look to specials for new and unique menu items.

With so many customers ordering specials, you'd be wise to look at this part of your menu as a chance to boost check averages while creating a point of differentiation between you and your competitors.

On the other hand, if you've been offering a specials menu that is not so special because your offerings change too infrequently, you may not be profiting from this part of the menu as you should.

So, how do you put this information to work? Hmmmm... Isn't this convenient, the solution is right here - at your fingertips!
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If I Had A Million Dollars...

So, are you all familiar with that Bare Naked Ladies’ song, “If I had a Million Dollars"? Well, It’s great, and somehow everyone always knows the lyrics to it. Isn't there a line about Lobster Dinner? If not, there should be...

In this case, using a higher priced feature of the Live Lobster Dinner, it makes the other entrees seem like a huge value. . This technique can also be used in menus….you don’t plan on selling a ton of the higher priced entrées, but it fixes the mind at a higher price point, therefore making the others seem to be a better value.

What could you get with a million dollars?! This day and age….unfortunately, saving it would be the best idea…
.

Submitted by Tressa Mills
Wannabe Rock Star
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