Congratulations to all named one of Indy's 25 Best Restaurants by Indianapolis Monthly. C&T Design is proud to be able to say that several of those bestowed with this honor in 2013 are clients we call our very own.
I, for one, know where I will be eating dinner over the next month.. If I can get a table at these amazing places! All of the restaurants named truly are gems for their own reasons.
Chef Charles Carroll, the Executive Chef at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas, is the Founder and Coordinator of Operation: HOT (Honoring Our Troops). Operation: HOT’s goal of bringing a “little taste of home” and entertainment to the fine troops stationed in Southern Afghanistan is just one way of showing their sincere gratitude for all of the sacrifices they make for each one of
us. Operation: HOT will take place in June of this
year. This is the second time Chef Carroll will be
entertaining our troops. The first Operation: HOT
took place in June of 2011.
Chef Carroll will be taking an amazing team of people to Afghanistan to entertain our troops in Afghanistan. The day will start with a Cajun Creole home cooked meal by Chef John Folse and Company. Then more than 2 tons of gifts will be given away to our troops, from NFL gear to Visine to baby wipes. After the wonderful meal and gifts, Coach Lou Holtz, legendary Notre Dame coach turned ESPN analyst, will open the show with an inspirational speech. ABC’s Secret Millionaire Steve Kaplan will continue to inspire with the secrets to success. Internationally acclaimed hypnotist Boris Cherniak will follow with a humorous and strong performance of mind control. Carmen Barton, said to be one of the hottest new female comedians, will take the stage next. Chef Robert Irvine will then put on a phenomenal live cooking show. Finally, L.A.vation, a U2 tribute band, will finish out the evening by putting on a rocking show.
C&T Design coordinated the donation of four CookTek induction cookers for the cooking portion of the event.
Thank you to CookTek and CookTek President Warren Graber for donating the induction cookers.
Thank you to Chef Carroll and the entire team going to Afghanistan to entertain our amazing troops.
For more information on this amazing event, please visit Chef Carroll’s website here: http://www.chefcharlescarroll.com/index.php/operationhot.
Gracing the cover of this month's Foodservice Equipment & Supplies Magazine is a C&T Design's! Tom Cook, the manager of the C&T Design branch in Houston, Texas, provided design services for the kitchen on this project and did a fantastic job. Read the full story here (beginning on page 41).
Congratulations to Johnny and the Carrabba's team on yet another beautiful restaurant!
Congratulations, Tom, on this well-deserved not. What an honor.
It’s not uncommon for trends within the foodservice industry to start at the figurative “top” and work their way “down”.
Such is the case for sous vide cooking, which had its ground-breaking moments in fine dining establishments, and is now taking off in fast casual operations.
Sous Vide is French for “under vacuum” and it is the process by which some combination of protein, fruits, vegetables and spices is vacuum-packed in food-grade plastic. The packet is then submerged in a warm water bath for an extended period of time until its contents are cooked to the desired internal temperature.
This method of cooking fits perfectly in fast casual operations primarily because of its reliability. The sous vide method makes it easy to cook a high-quality dish repeatedly. This characteristic is especially important in operations that may experience high turnover, have a majority of part-time staff and/or minimal training resources.
For operations that have locations nationwide, sous vide is a great method because it provides a way for the operation to ensure the quality of its food across the board. One example of this comes from Chipotle, which sous vide cooks all of the meat for its barbacoa and carnitas in one central location and then ships the meat to its stores to be finished on the flattop grill before service. This process allows Chipotle to ensure that its meat is cooked to the proper internal temperature, without compromising a precise, pure and consistent flavor. Because the product is vacuum-packed before it’s cooked, it is also easy to ship.
In a market segment where signature flavor is also a huge point of differentiation, sous vide becomes a great tool. The reason is that the process eliminates several variables that can alter flavor. Once the food is vacuum-packed the only things that can influence the flavor are the ingredients in the packet. This measure of control practically guarantees that the flavor will be consistently pure, making it great for a company like Panera to use on its new menu items including steak, turkey and salmon for sandwiches.
Recognizing that a key component to a successful sous vide process is using the proper equipment, manufacturers like Vollrath and Randell have introduced products specifically designed for sous vide cooking.
Sous vide cooking is a burgeoning trend in fast casual dining. It’s a reliable, easy-to-teach cooking method that produces consistently high-quality product. Now that sounds like a recipe for success in any operation.
Aristocrat Pub & Restaurant is a local mainstay near the South Broad Ripple (SoBro) and Meridian-Kessler neighborhoods of Indianapolis. In August of 2011, an electrical fire started in the early hours of the morning in the restaurant. Aside from several pieces of stained glass, the resulting smoke damage deemed the entire front and back of the house a complete loss. The owner, Rick Rising-Moore, turned this devastating event into an opportunty to rethink the design and layout of the kitchen to accomodate the expansion of the surrounding neighborhoods. The restaurant was rebuilt and reopened in October of 2012.
Several businesses were damaged last May when White River flooded parts of Broad Ripple. Petite Chou, located on the canal, was forced to close due to the damage it sustained. After six months of hard work, Petite Chou is getting ready to reopen in a few short weeks.
Congratulations!
The following is an excerpt from an article written by Georgie Shockey, Principal of Ruck-Shockey Associates, Inc. Her firm specializes in operational consulting for non-commercial foodservice markets.
The food service industry contributes significantly to our nation's economy and way of life. In the last ten years, this industrial sector has experienced continued real sales growth outpacing that of our nation's own economy. In 2011, the total food sales were over $1.7 trillion. Due to the vast number of food service operations (the NRA estimates over 970,000 restaurants along with nontraditional and other food locations there are about 1.2 million locations) and the nature of preparing and serving food, this industry uses tremendous volumes of natural resources and produces significant quantities of waste which together can result in major environmental impacts. The reasons for change within this industry for change within this industry in order to minimize waste are simple: food service managers can save money with decreased disposal fees, reduce energy consumption, gain efficiencies and stay competitive within their industry.
Changing or improving operations can have lasting effects on those food service establishments that are proactive in reducing waste and increasing efficiency. To remain competitive, businesses should consider going beyond traditional means of management and explore the opportunities to save money and help the environment with waste prevention. Many of the opportunities detailed may already be in place; however, every operation still has room for improvement.
Foodservice equipment can be expensive, and, with the constant rise in the cost of gas and electricity, so can the energy bills to run your business.
What if we told you we can save you money on both the front and back end of the purchase of new equipment? Well, we can! Rebates are available today on dozens of Energy Star rated products ranging from refrigerators and freezers to ice machines and dishwashers. You will see the savings down the road in the form of lower energy costs for running your operation.
Give us a call today and ask to speak to a foodservice consultant to find out more information about what kinds of equipment qualify.
OpenTable, Inc., a leading site for online restaurant reservations, recently announced the Diners' Choice Awards for the top 100 restaurants in America specializing in American food. More than 10 million reviews were submitted between November 2010 and October 2011 that were used to determine the winners. Out of the 12,000 restaurants across the country up for the awards, Indiana's own Eddie Merlot's in Fort Wayne and Kelties Restaurant and Catering in Westfield made the list.
Congratulations to Eddie Merlot's and Kelties, whose amazing food and superior service helped them earn this title! We are so proud to have partnered with you both!
To read the entire article on Inside INdiana Business, click here.
Congratulations to C&T customer Martha Hoover! President of Patachou, Inc., Martha was named one of the Indianapolis Business Journal's 2011 Woman of Influence.
Click here to read the IBJ article about the amazing business she has built with a lot of hard work and determination over the years. What started as one restaurant has blossomed into a booming group of restaurants that includes the concepts Café Patachou, Petite Chou and Napolese. A fourth concept is currently in the works, Public Greens.
Congratulations, Martha!
We at C&T Design feel honored to be working with you.
Congratulations to Celeste Dooms! She is the winner of the $50 gas card C&T Design raffled off after the ISNA Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Celeste is the Food Service Director at John Glenn School Corporation in Walkerton, Indiana.
Congratulations, Celeste!
Thank you to all that stopped by our booth and entered the contest.
The 2011 Indiana School Nutrition Association's Annual Conference kicks off today in Fort Wayne!
The Exhibit Hall is open tomorrow, Friday, October 28th, from 2:30 to 7:00 pm.
Come see C&T Design at Booth #101 for a chance to win a $50 gas card! We will be a hop, skip and a jump to the right of the main entrance.
We look forward to seeing you there!
While perusing some months-old issues of Foodservice Equipment Reports magazine, I noticed a small article that I wanted to bring to your attention immediately! If you are looking to buy foodservice equipment in the near future, you might want to look into purchasing sooner rather than later. The article below outlines an amazing opportunity that allows foodservice operations to write off equipment costs immediately, instead of spreading it out over several years, you must purchase before the end of the year to receive the maximum benefits this bill allows! I included a copy of the article found in the magazine's online archives followed by a link to the particulars of the Act on http://www.irs.gov below:
Tax Incentive Makes Sense For Equipment Buyers
April may be tax month, but there are still eight months left this year to secure some important tax perks for purchasing or selling equipment. The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010, signed by President Obama last September, provides tax relief for foodservice operations and small businesses and assistance in gaining access to capital.
The legislation allows foodservice operations to write off up to $500,000 of equipment costs immediately, rather than recovering the entire cost over a multi-year depreciation schedule. The purchase must be completed during the ’11 tax year.
The bill also extends expensing limits to restaurant structural improvements, new construction and leasehold and retail improvements. As part of the proposed $500,000 limit, operators can expense $250,000 of those costs the year they incur them, through ’11. Previously, operators could recover these costs only through a 39½-year depreciation schedule.
The legislation also includes incentives that make it easier to obtain Small Business Administration-backed loans.
This article can be found at: http://www.fermag.com/about-us/current-issue/single-issue-article/tax-incentive-makes-sense-for-equipment-buyers/461c372276.html
For more detailed information on this tax incentive, please refer to the Internal Revenue Service's website: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=230307,00.html#2022.
For help in navigating this in-depth process, call C&T Design today!
Is your refrigerator or freezer not holding proper temperature?
Before making a service call that could turn out to be unnecessary and expensive, please be sure the following guidelines have been met:
1. Make sure the condenser is clean and not blocked by dust or dirt which WILL prevent a freezer or refrigerator from holding proper temperature. For example: If a refrigerator's holding temperature is a few degrees or more higher than a manufacturer's spec, there is a good chance that the condenser needs to be cleaned. Dirty condensers block the outside air needed to remove heat from the cabinet. Dirty condensers can also cause component failures. Be sure to clean every 4 to 6 weeks with a brush or vacuum!
2. Make sure the interior temperature control is NOT set to high which could cause the evaporator to freeze thus preventing the cabinet from pulling down to proper temperature. If the evaporator is frozen, unplug the unit overnight to thaw. Plug back in the unit in the morning.
3. Make sure the cabinet is level. Unleveled cabinets caused by uneven floors can prevent the doors from leveling and sealing properly thus allowing outside warm air inside the cabinet. Please call C&T if castor shims are necessary to level the cabinet.
4. Make sure product temperature is being checked which is normally 33° to 38°F inside a refrigerator, 41°F at the top of a prep table and minus 0° to -10°F in a freezer depending on the product load.
If these suggestions do not correct your temp issues, please call your nearest C&T Design location today.
These suggestions are courtesy of True Refrigeration.
Congratulations to Brad Haber, Buffalo Wild Wings®, Inc.'s franchisee from Dayton, OH, for receiving the 2010 Franchise Founder's Award. Brad's franchise groups, Carolina Witt, Inc. and ThreeWitt Enterprises, Inc., are responsible for running 12 restaurants in Ohio, South Carolina and Indiana. C&T is currently working with the group on their next store in Florence, SC.
Congratulations, Brad!
C&T Design - Cincinnati ~ 4025 Port Union Road ~ Fairfield, OH 45014 ~ 888-282-8282
We are so proud to announce that C&T Design's very own Brian Van Skyock was recently named Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine's DSR (Dealer Sales Representative) of the month! This is a huge honor! I personally get to see Brian day in and day out work extremely hard for every single one of his customers. It is so nice to see him recognized for all of his efforts and hardwork.
Congratulations, Brian!
Click here to read the full article on Foodservice Equipment & Supplies website.
C&T Design and Equipment is proud to announce the launch of its new website today. The new site, designed and developed by Indianapolis based Marketpath, Inc., will provide C&T's customers and partners with enhanced industry knowledge, detailed product information, and expertise into commercial kitchen and food service solutions. The 2011 NAFEM Show is all set to start tomorrow morning in Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center. Attending NAFEM allows our team to have early access to key foodservice manufacturers' exhibitions of what's new and exciting happening in the foodservice industry. We look forward to applying this knowledge to your projects and bringing the benefits home. The show spans for three days and all C&T offices are attending and are excited to see the latest trends and innovations the industry has to offer. Is there anything in particular you are curious about? Let us know!!
Visit C&T Design and Equipment's new Green Kitchen Design area on the C&T's new website for "Green design" ideas, "Green products", and information on how to save both money and the environment. With C&T Design, our Green Strategy isn't just about being socially responsible - that is only part of it. Our strategy is also geared towards saving money with energy efficient and eco-friendly products and design principals.
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