One Day, One Job » restaurants

Grubwithus

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:58 +0000

Sharing a meal is a great way to get to know people. Eating provides enough of a distraction to cover up awkward pauses that might come up in other settings without completely killing the ability to have a conversation. Yet very rarely do people use eating as a way to meet new people. You either eat alone or you eat with people you already know. Grubwithus is a company that throws a little uncertainty into your dining experiences by pairing you with strangers who have common interests for a tasting menu at a local restaurant. Grubwithus is based out of Venice, CA, and they’ve built a ton of buzz. I know a bunch of people who have already tried it and had good experiences, and I’d totally host a One Day One Job/Internship focused Grubwithus meal in Chicago if there was enough interest (e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com).

Jobwithus

The idea of meeting strangers for dinner can be a little intimidating, but stepping out of your comfort zone is kind of the point. To get a better sense of how Grubwithus works, you should probably read through their FAQ and etiquette guidelines , and then watch this video (you may need to click through to view):

It’s a pretty simple idea, but I think it has the potential to be pretty powerful. I especially think it’s a good idea for job seekers to give Grubwithus a try. While it may not lead to a job–just getting out and interacting with new people is great practice for interviewing and networking. And if you want a job with Grubwithus, you should definitely give one of their meals a shot first. Then you can apply for one of the positions that looks well suited for new grads. These include:

There appear to be some great opportunities for techies and non-techies alike, so take a look at the jobs and give Grubwithus a try.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you try Grubwithus?

Zingerman’s

Willy Franzen — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:20:00 +0000

I spent the weekend in Ann Arbor, MI visiting some friends, and today I’ll be doing office hours at The Career Center at University of Michigan from 3 – 5 PM (if you’re a UMich student, you should definitely stop by and say hi). I’ve already been to Zingerman’s twice, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my girlfriend forces me to go one more time (not that I’m complaining). In case you’ve never been, Zingerman’s is an Ann Arbor institution. Their flagship store is a deli, but they also have the following businesses: a bakery, a workforce training consulting firm, a caterer, a mail order company, a creamery, a sit-down restaurant, a coffee company, and a confectioner. The whole business generated nearly $40 million in revenue in 2009, and the deli alone generated more than $10 million in revenue. The really remarkable thing is that they’ve stayed local throughout. It’s not about taking the concept and growing it into a chain.

Zing!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered a sandwich (always modified to exclude the disgusting substance known as mayonnaise) and had no confidence that the person taking my order actually listened to what I said. At Zingerman’s that’s not an issue. Their staff is phenomenally well trained and extremely attentive. It’s not what I’ve come to expect when I deal with businesses in the service industry. It all has to do with Zingerman’s approach to people. They hire selectively, they train well, and they offer amazing benefits. Most of their jobs aren’t of the type that we’d typically cover, but “the Zingerman’s experience” changes everything. So take a look at Zingerman’s Jobs page, and see if any of the positions appeal to you. There’s a ton to be learned at Zingerman’s, and I’m sure that they do a lot of promoting from within.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a sandwich from Zingerman’s?

ZeroCater

Willy Franzen — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:27:19 +0000

Want to get ahead in your job search? Don’t just rely on the advice of your friends, family, and alumni. Step up your job search with personalized guidance from executives at Blue Chip Career. Get paired with an expert and receive the inside scoop on how to land the job.

I’m terrible about eating lunch during the work day. It’s a hassle and a distraction. I wish delicious, healthy food would just appear in front of me (preferably for free, but I’d be willing to pay a reasonable price). That’s exactly what ZeroCater does, except they typically do it for companies bigger than a single person. They’ve already made a name for themselves by helping companies that don’t have the resources for a Google-like cafeteria feed their employees. ZeroCater is based in San Francisco, CA, and they’ve already started expanding into New York, NY (companies like Square, WePay, Tagged, and Justin.tv are already using ZeroCater). As they keep growing, they’ll just bring more and more food from awesome restaurants into the workplace without all the hassle.

Cater to Your Career Needs

ZeroCater is different from other delivery services because they streamline the whole food ordering process. Here’s how it works:

Tell us how many people eat, what days, and any dietary needs.
ZeroCater orders meals for you from a rotation of dozens of great local restaurants.
Rate the meals that arrive so ZeroCater learns your tastes and adjusts.

ZeroCater offers a ton of flexibility, so even the pickiest eaters at a company will be happy (that’d probably be me). ZeroCater makes their money by charging a 7% fee on top of the cost of the meal. The average all-in cost for a company to use ZeroCater is typically about $12.50 per employee fed, but I imagine there are certain things that can sway it either way. Another hidden benefit is that ZeroCater is able to get restaurants that don’t normally deliver to do delivery because of the size and consistency of orders that they bring in. If you’re excited (and hungry) after hearing about what ZeroCater is doing, then check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for people in Customer Service (San Francisco, CA) and Restaurant Outreach (San Francisco, CA and New York, NY). These look like perfect jobs for new grads, so give them a shot.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you be more likely to work for an employer that uses ZeroCater?

Smashburger

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:03:10 +0000

I love hamburgers, but I wouldn’t eat a fast food burger even if it could make me fly. Luckily, better burger places are popping up all over the place. Some are local joints and some are chains, but they’re all working to remind us what a burger is supposed to be. Smashburger is taking a leading role in restoring dignity to hamburgers, although I can’t fully support a burger chain that won’t cook a burger medium-rare or even medium. They’re another Inc. 5000 company with 2,673% three-year growth from $1.4 million to $39.4 million in annual revenue. Smashburger is based out of Denver, CO and they have locations all across the country. They “start with 100% Angus Beef, smashed, seared and seasoned on the grill, placed on a butter-toasted artisan bun and topped with the highest-quality cheeses, freshest produce and condiments.”

Smashing Jobs

It used to be that chain restaurants were indelibly linked to low quality food, but that has definitely changed. Smashburger is a perfect example of how combining higher quality food with the fast food business model can lead to rapid success. In 2007 there was one Smashburger in the Denver area. Then they opened a few around town. Now there are dozens of Smashburgers all across the country. If you don’t have one in your neighborhood yet, it’s only a matter of time (they plan to grow from 70 restaurants to 500 restaurants over the next 4 years). With this rapid growth, Smashburger is hiring a ton of people. Most of them are obviously in the restaurants, but they’re also growing on the Corporate side. If you look at Smashburger’s Jobs page, you’ll see a few opportunities that are suitable for new or recent grads including Strategy Analyst, Real Estate Analyst, Data Analyst, FP&A Analyst, and Field Marketing Coordinator (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Smashburger?

HotSchedules

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:17:24 +0000

We’re hiring! Need I say more?

Yesterday I was flipping through tv channels (to avoid seeing commercials that tell me that I’m stupid), and I stopped because CNN was running a piece on millennial friendly employers. Now this may surprise you, but a little piece of me dies every time I hear the terms “millennial” and “Gen-Y.” I think that viewing your career in terms of your generation is counterproductive. Anyway, a big part of the CNN segment was about how cool it is to work at an Austin, TX based company called HotSchedules. Yes, they have policies like unlimited paid vacation, but I think what they do is way more interesting. HotSchedules provides “intuitive, web-based scheduling, labor management and forecasting solutions” for restaurants. In other words they take the headaches out of managing workforces that have a lot of shift variability.

Are You Hot or Not?

If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant or other similar service-based business, you know how much time can get wasted on scheduling. Even if you haven’t worked in one of these environments, you’ve probably heard employees talking (complaining) about their shifts. HotSchedules uses the power of the web to erase a lot of these problems. They claim that their software can cut labor costs by 1.5%, cut time spent creating schedules by 75%, and even make employees happier. Here’s a good video that will walk you through how the software works:

Wondering if HotSchedules can actually live up to their promises? Check out their customer list, which includes names like Applebee’s, Chili’s, IHOP, Jamba Juice, Outback Steakhouse, Red Robin, and lots more. I know these names aren’t necessarily associated with the heights of the culinary arts, but they sure do employ a lot of people. If you’re digging what HotSchedules does (and you also want to check out all of their cool perks) head over to their Jobs page. While they don’t have anything specific posted, they do say “If there are no openings listed here, don’t let that stop you from sending us your resume. We’re always interested in people who take the initiative and know what they want to do.” Get to it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you fell about terms like Gen-Y and Millennial?

Nathan’s Famous

Willy Franzen — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:34:01 +0000

Today is all about celebrating America! In past years we’ve looked at Phantom Fireworks, the National Safety Council, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Fireworks, fireworks safety, and the American Revolution are all great patriotic things, but nothing makes me love my country like watching grown human beings gorge themselves for the sake of gorging (I kind of feel awful for talking about this after featuring an anti-hunger non-profit yesterday). The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is especially patriotic this year, as it represents a huge step forward for women’s equality–yes, there was a women’s division of the contest this year. For a while the Japanese had more Fourth of July pride than we did, as Takeru Kobayashi won six consecutive contests from 2001 to 2006, but in 2007 an American named Joey Chestnut took the championship, and he’s held on to it ever since. He even holds the world record for eating 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. While the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is held on Coney Island, the Nathan’s Famous corporate office is actually located in Jericho, NY. According to Wikipedia, Nathan’s worldwide presence “consists of 24 company-owned units, 380 franchised or licensed units and more than 1,400 stores in 41 states, the District of Columbia and 17 foreign countries.”

Will You Be Famous

I don’t know how many of you have had a Nathan’s Hot Dog, but I think they’re pretty good. (My favorite hot dog comes from Rawley’s in Fairfield, CT.) If they weren’t, do you think Joey Chestnut would be able to eat 68 of them in 10 minutes? It’s hard to not think about the Hot Dog Eating Contest when you think about Nathan’s, but they’re a serious business. If you want all the details, check out their Investor Relations Page, which has a ton of info because Nathan’s Famous is a publicly traded company. If you like what you see and you love hot dogs, maybe you should check out the Nathan’s Famous Jobs page. They don’t list specific job opportunities, and not many of their employees are on LinkedIn, but you have to think that a company with 1,400+ stores has a decent-sized corporate office. And if this whole thing grosses you out, hopefully you can find another way to celebrate our freedom.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever had a Nathan’s hot dog?

Savored

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:11:51 +0000

It’s funny how you hear about something for the first time, and soon after it seems to keep coming up over and over again. That’s how I feel about Savored. They’re based in New York, NY, and they were formerly known as VillageVines. They’re yet another deals site, but they’re standing out from a lot of the other “me toos” because of their creative approach–it’s OpenTable meets Groupon. Here’s how it works: You pay $10 for a reservation at one of Savored’s partner restaurants at a time they’re offering, and you get 30% automatically taken off your bill. That’s it. The focus isn’t so much on getting new customers into restaurants as much as it is on getting people to go to restaurants at times when business is typically slow. You can cancel the reservation up until two hours before, and you get a refund if your total savings are less than the $10 you paid for the reservation.

Unforgettable Working

A lot of people are down on the whole deal site phenomenon, but I think it will continue to be a strong market. Coupons and promotions have been around forever, and this is just the next stage. Offering discounts instead of spending money on marketing and advertising makes sense, and there are plenty of businesses with high fixed costs and low marginal costs that can benefit from filling in slow periods with lower margin customers. This is what Savored is all about. They just relaunched with the new name this week while also expanding into some new markets, but it seems that they already have a pretty killer lineup of restaurants participating. The business is built entirely on the $10 reservation fee, which makes it really easy on the restaurants. They just give you the discount, charge you as they normally would, and that’s that. If you like what Savored is doing, head over to their Jobs page. Right now they are hiring Sales Managers and Operations Managers. Despite the Manager titles, they don’t mention any experience requirements, so it’s definitely worth applying.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried Savored?

Metromix

Willy Franzen — Fri, 13 May 2011 11:22:43 +0000

My two biggest problems in life are figuring out what to wear and where to go. Since we covered the former yesterday, today it’s time to cover the latter. Ok, those aren’t really my two biggest problems in life, but I sometimes get frustrated that I live in a city the size of Chicago and feel like I can’t come up with a good idea of what I should do on a given weekend. There are a million opportunities out there, but figuring out what’s worth your time is difficult. That’s why Metromix was started as a joint-venture between newspaper behemoths Tribune Co. and Gannett Co. Metromix covers 60 different geographic areas (each individually) and offers a “guide to local restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies.” While sites like Yelp have been built off the backs of their users, Metromix has an editorial staff generating content for each of their sites along with some user-generated content; however, smaller cities seem to get less original content. I must admit that Metromix isn’t my go to for what’s happening in Chicago, IL (which is where Metromix is located), but they seem to generate a ton of traffic and they have the resources of two major publishing/ad sales businesses behind them.

Get in the Mix

It’s kind of tough to get a full read on Metromix as a company. Once you’ve gone to one of their local sites, like the Austin, TX one you get redirected there whenever you try to go to Metromix.com. I guess this makes sense for a normal use case, but it means that you can’t really find any general information about Metromix beyond their Wikipedia page. The world of local publishing can often be a bit decentralized, and that certainly seems to be the case with Metromix. They don’t even make it easy to find where they’re headquartered (I had to check their LinkedIn company profile). If you start looking through their staff on LinkedIn, you see a lot of Chicago, but you also see a lot of other cities. My guess is that they hire a lot of freelancers to hone in on local markets. Metromix directs job seekers to their Careerbuilder page, which shows an even more decentralized approach to hiring. Most of the jobs that appear are posted from local tv stations or newspapers. I guess Metromix farms out some work like ad sales and marketing to other affiliated businesses. I don’t quite get it, but the opportunities are worth checking out, especially the Metromix Marketing & Promotion Coordinator position in Denver, CO and a couple of Account Management positions in Cincinnati, OH. If you’re looking for something else, you might find it difficult to track down the right person to contact, but it could be worth it.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Metromix?

SinglePlatform

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:21:43 +0000

This is a sponsored post for SinglePlatform.

There’s no doubt that the web has changed the way that people find and make reservations at restaurants, yet most restaurants seem stuck in 2002 when it comes to handling their own web presences. It doesn’t make any sense considering how competitive the food industry is. You’d think that restaurant owners would want to use every possible advantage to capture customers and encourage people to eat at their restaurants. The only answer is that managing a web presence is too complicated for the average restaurant owner. That’s why SinglePlatform was founded. They’re a New York, NY based company (with job offerings across the country) that “provides hotels, restaurants, bars and PR firms one stop to manage their digital presence and gain customers.”

One Platform, One Job

SinglePlatform may sound familiar. That’s because we already featured them last December. (You can read the original post here.) They loved the response, and now they’re sponsoring us so that they can reach more of our awesome readers. SinglePlatform has a ton of positions for new and recent grads, and they offer the opportunity to get in early at a startup that is growing rapidly. You can get all of the details on SinglePlatform’s Careers page, or you can take a look at their available positions below.

SinglePlatform is currently recruiting Inside Sales Consultants in:

New York, NY

SinglePlatform is currently recruiting Outside Sales Consultants in:

Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Houston, TX
Los Angels, CA
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Philadelphia, PA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC

If you’re interested in any of these positions at SinglePlatform, you can apply here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you find restaurant web presences frustrating too?

Fontainebleau

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:40:24 +0000

A few weeks ago I was able to escape Chicago just after the blizzard and spend a weekend in Miami Beach. My girlfriend’s company had a region-wide annual retreat, and significant others were invited–all expenses paid! I had a great time, mostly because I was with good friends and the weather was great. (I also got to go fishing. I caught a 70 lb tarpon and as I got it to the boat a 400+ lb shark came out from under the boat and ate it.) Another thing that made the trip great was the accommodations. We stayed at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, FL (no need to say it with a French accent, Fountain Blue is ok), and they took care of many of the weekend’s events. The resort was beautiful, the staff was great, and the location was quite an upgrade from Chicago in February. My only complaint was that Fontainebleau’s grounds are so expansive that you do a lot of walking, and sometimes you get lost. Still, it was an awesome trip at an awesome resort (I even got a massage).

Take Your Talents to Miami Beach

When I went to the Fontainebleau website to learn more, I realized that most hotels are more focused on providing information that customers want than providing information potential employees want. They don’t have an About page, and their History page won’t load for me, so I check out Fontainebleau’s Wikipedia entry, which calls the resort “one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels on Miami Beach.” It appears that Fontainebleau is an independent resort since they’re owned by Fontainebleau Resorts. Fontainebleau Miami Beach is the company’s only open property; however, they are working on opening another one in Las Vegas. If you’re interested in the hospitality industry, and you love the idea of being in Miami Beach all year round, then you should check out Fontainebleau’s Careers page. They have a lot of openings, and quite a few seem well suited to a new grads. I’m not going to list out all of the positions, but there are opportunities in Sales & Marketing, Concierge, Spa/Fitness/Salon, Food and Beverage, Culinary, and more. Promotion from within is big in the hospitality industry, so don’t overlook jobs just because you think that you’re overqualified for them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you stayed at Fontainebleau?

TastingTable

Willy Franzen — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:08:43 +0000

Since it’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, you may want to check out our post on The King Center from 2009. It also happens to be my anniversary with my girlfriend, which means that we’ll be going to a fancy dinner tonight. I try to stay up on the Chicago food scene as much as I can, and one way that I used to do that was by subscribing to TastingTable (though I must admit that I eventually unsubscribed even though the e-mails are really good). They send “a free daily email that delivers the best of food and drink culture to adventurous eaters everywhere.” The company is based in New York, NY, and beyond their national e-mail list, they also offer e-mail lists for New York City, New York Specials, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Chef’s Recipes with lists for Boston, Philadelphia, and Portland coming soon. In the national e-mail they send “one delicious idea about dining, wine, cocktails, cooking or restaurant personalities” every day, while in their local editions they’ll “alert you to a must-try dish at a forgotten restaurant, a hot new bar that deserves its buzz, under-appreciated cook shops and neighborhood food purveyors who may otherwise go unnoticed.”

A Tasteful Career Choice

I don’t know about the rest of you, but college was when I really started to appreciate decent food. After a couple of years of dining hall food (even at Cornell where it’s supposed to be good), pizza, wings, and other college staples, I started cooking on my own and trying some of the ethnic restaurants that I was previously too scared to try. I even found an online guide that gave me the inside scoop on Ithaca’s food scene. Since there has been a huge upswing in the amount of foodie-focused online media. TastingTable is a perfect example. They provide quality content for a very specific audience, and they’re able to monetize that content with ads targeted to a food-loving audience. (I know a lot about this business model.) You also have to like that Bob Pittman, “most successful investor in newsletter space,” is one of TastingTable’s backers (he also backed DailyCandy and Thrillist). If you like what you see at TastingTable, check out their Jobs page, which doesn’t seem to be linked from anywhere on their site. Right now they have a number of open positions that could be good fits for new grads including Editor, Food Editor, and Sales Account Manager. Don’t be scared off by the titles, the experience requirements are lower than you might expect. Right now all of the job seem to be based in NYC, but I imagine that they also sometimes have opportunities in their other cities.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you subscribe to TastingTable?

SinglePlatform

Willy Franzen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:00:17 +0000

Last night I went out to dinner with my girlfriend and her family. It was a restaurant that I’d never been to before, so I looked it up online to see what I should expect. The user experience on the restaurant’s website was pretty terrible. It was built in flash, and had a splash page that took forever to load. The menu was an image instead of HTML, and I never could load any pictures of the food. This doesn’t surprise me, because restaurants aren’t web businesses. They should excel at being a restaurant and leave the web stuff to someone else. That’s where SinglePlatform comes in. They’re a New York City based company that “provides restaurants one stop to manage their digital presence and gain customers.” SinglePlatform not only enables restaurants to publish all of the information that they want to share, but it also syndicates the restaurant’s content throughout a publisher network of “review sites, mobile applications, and related local guides.”

A SinglePlatform for Your Career

Now, it doesn’t appear that SinglePlatform replaces a restaurant’s website, but it does provide the opportunity to acquire lots of new customers. SinglePlatform has taken a page out of Yext’s playbook, and built their business on a pay-per-call model. That means that when the content they syndicate leads to a potential patron’s calling a restaurant, they get paid. This way restaurateurs can stick to running their restaurants while SinglePlatform takes over the online marketing. The brilliant thing is that the content that the restaurant is already creating anyway—new menus, specials, photos, etc—are all that SinglePlatform needs to help them find new customers. Instead of offering deals like most local marketing companies are these days, SinglePlatform is focused on showing diners what they’re missing out on. If you want a job in the restaurant industry without having to wait tables, check out SinglePlatform’s Careers page. Right now they’re looking for Internal Sales & Business Development Consultants in New York, NY and Sales & Business Development Consultants in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. These are Sales jobs, so you better be willing to work hard and have an outgoing personality.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen SinglePlatform in action across the web?

CoFed

Willy Franzen — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:00:47 +0000

While my dad was in college, he and a few of his friends started a café. More than 30 years later, that café is still thriving and was one of my favorite brunch spots when I was at Cornell. The restaurant industry usually chews people up and spits them out, so it’s pretty unusual to see any restaurants last that long, let alone one started by a bunch of amateurs. Hopefully we’ll be seeing more college town success stories like Café Dewitt come out of CoFed, which is a Berkeley, CA non-profit that is “empowering students to create ethically-sourced, community-run cafés on college campuses.” CoFed is all about the triple bottom line, as they not only want to start successful cafés that offer delicious food, but they want to do it in a humane and sustainable way.

Get CoFed

If your mouth is already watering, then keep reading. So far CoFed has raised about $10,000 and has teams at 6 campuses across the West coast: Cal Poly SLO, City College San Francisco, Humboldt State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and University of Washington. Each of the teams gets access to CoFed’s training programs and research, so that they can start with a good chance at success. I’ve seen plenty of campus-run dining establishments forced to close, so I know that starting an on-campus cooperative with a shoestring budget will not be easy. Still, I think CoFed is doing a neat thing in a unique way—and how can you not support an organization that improved the quality of food on campus? If reading about CoFed is making you hungry to learn more, then you should check out their Jobs and Internships page. Right now they’re a bit light on funding, so they don’t quite have the budget for full-time jobs. They’re essentially recruiting interns with the potential for full-time jobs as the interns help grow the organization. If you’re looking for an experience over security, then you should check out their opportunities in Development (this one is the most likely to turn into a job), Social Media, Admin, and Event Production. At the very least, you won’t go hungry.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you eat at a CoFed café?

Thomas Keller Restaurant Group

Willy Franzen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:42:23 +0000

You know what’s awesome? Having one of your restaurants on The S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restauarants list. You know what’s even more awesome? Having two of your restaurants on the list. That’s the case for Thomas Keller Restaurant Group and its eponymous chef Thomas Keller. Per Se in New York City came in at #10, while The French Laundry in Yountville, CA came in at #32. Additionally Thomas Keller Restaurant Group owns and operates Bouchon Bistro, Bouchon Bakery, and Ad Hoc Restaurant (which are all in Yountville as well). I had the pleasure of dining at the latter for Brunch a few weeks ago, and it was fantastic (especially because we got dessert after breakfast in the form of fancy, but simple ice cream sandwiches). Thomas Keller is probably the biggest name in American fine dining, and he deserves it—he lives up to all the hype, which is hard to do when you have that much hype. Although each of Keller’s restaurants has a unique feel and purpose, they all share “the common desire to provide memorable experiences for every guest that visits.”

50 Best or Bust

Maybe it’s an age thing, but it seems that more and more people I know are becoming “foodies.” I’m shocked at how many people I know who have stepped out of a more traditional career path to go to culinary school. Just because you majored in Accounting or Business or History or Basket Weaving doesn’t mean that you can’t follow your stomach to something else. You might even want to consider an opportunity with Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. Their Careers page shows a wide range of options that include positions in Kitchen, Dining Room, Administration, Management, Private Dinging, Bakery Retail, and Beverage. Some of the job titles—Food Runner or Busser for instance—may not be exactly what you were hoping to do with your degree, but you have to remember that these are some of the best restaurants in the world. You’ll have to work your way up, and you’ll be doing it in the absolutely best environment possible. There are some more glamorous positions available, but they’ll probably require some pretty strong prior experience. Browse through the jobs at all of Thomas Keller’s restaurants and see what suits you. You may also want to read some of the staff stories to get a feel for what it’s like to work for Thomas Keller.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever dined at one of Thomas Keller’s Restaurants?

Charlie Trotter’s

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:56:16 +0000

When I moved to Chicago last year, just days before my 24th birthday, my parents decided that they wanted to treat me to a truly amazing Chicago experience to start off my life in the city right. They took me and my girlfriend to a dinner at Charlie Trotter’s, one of the finest restaurants in Chicago and the world. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the name, Trotter’s is usually found somewhere on Restaurant Magazine’s list of the Top 50 Restaurants in the World (although they seem to have dropped off the list this year).

When I dined at Charlie Trotter’s I chose the Grand Menu, which is an 8-course tasting menu. Although the menu is constantly changing, I had the pleasure of enjoying: Prince Edward Island Oysters with Sea Water & Pickled Daikon; Chilled Snow Lake Trout with Roe, Watercress & California Crayfish; Four Story Hill Farm Quail with Spring Onions, Chanterelle Mushrooms & Chorizo; Grilled Nantucket Bay Scallop with Boudin, Pig’s Tail & Fennel; Forty Eight Hour Braised Short Rib with Lobster Mushrooms & Fermented Black Garlic; Concord Grape Sorbet with Grape Leaf & Parsnip; Honey Crisp Apples with Cider Granite & Ginger Jelly; and Black Mission Figs with Shaved Fruit Cake, Marcona Almonds & Pedro Ximenez. It was an amazing meal that took food to a level that I didn’t know it could reach.

Trot Out Your Best

Yes, Charlie Trotter’s is obscenely expensive if you look at it as just a dinner, but there’s so much more to the experience than just eating. What you have to understand about Charlie Trotter’s is that everything is perfect. Your food will never be cooked improperly. If you tell them that you don’t like cheese, they will prepare you something without cheese. Your water glass will never be empty. You are experiencing something at its highest level. It’s like Albert Pujols’ swing, Yo-Yo Ma’s music, or my fly fishing (just kidding)—Charlie Trotter is one of the best at what he does. And that’s why you should consider a job with him. If you are able to land a job at Charlie Trotter’s—and it won’t be easy—you will be a part of something that is pure excellence. Even if your future isn’t in hospitality, you will gain an appreciation for performing to the highest expectations. That will translate to any job, just like working at the best consulting firm, investment bank, or ad agency. And if you want to stay in the culinary field, then there’s obviously no better place to start than Charlie Trotter’s.

Just ask Grant Achatz, the chef at 10th ranked Alinea (also in Chicago). He got his butt kicked during his try-out at Charlie Trotter’s, but he’s clearly better for it. This isn’t some company that you can just send your résumé to and hope that they take you, but if you meet the below criteria, you should give it a shot:

No matter what level of education or job experience you may have, we are always seeking to meet individuals who have a great attitude, are willing to commit themselves to learning, are passionate about food and wine and have a great work ethic. All of these attributes are of equal importance to us during the application process at Charlie Trotter’s.

You can submit your résumé to Matt Merges at Matthias@charlietrotters.com for culinary positions and to Christian Giles at Christian@charlietrotters.com for service positions. Just make sure that you bring “your A game.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever dined at Charlie Trotter’s?

Levy Restaurants

Willy Franzen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:50:27 +0000

Yesterday I told you how my move to Chicago has extended my baseball watching season, but I’m not sure that I mentioned that I have tickets to today’s Cubs game! I’m pretty excited about it, although I’m not excited about the fact that it might get into the 40s tonight during the game. October baseball is not for fair weather fans – the types who might prefer a catered event at the stadium to a real baseball game. Whether you’re a fair weather fan, an insanely devoted fan who just wants to be as close to your team’s stadium as possible at all time, or even if you just enjoy fine dining, a job with Levy Restaurants might be something worth thinking about. They’re a company that is all about hospitality and dining experience, and they happen to do catering/events at some pretty amazing venues – Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Field included.

The Levy Difference

A caterer doesn’t get the right to cater at top flight sports venues with out offering a fantastic experience. Levy Restaurants attributes their success to what they call “The Levy Difference.” There happens to be a video on their website with the same name, so we’re going to recommend that you watch that before you dig deeper into internships with Levy Restaurants.

Now that you’ve watched the movie, let’s take a look at Levy Restaurants’ entry level job offerings. Their job descriptions don’t offer a lot of detail, but we’re pretty sure that a number of their jobs can be considered entry level. If you look at all of their current job openings, you’ll see quite a few Assistant Director of Operations positions (Conseco Field House – Indianapolis, IN; Live Nokia Theater – Los Angeles, CA; Qwest Field – Seattle, WA; Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO; and STAPLES Center – Los Angeles, CA). Any job title that includes “assistant” has a pretty good chance of being a well suited to new college grads. There are also an Accounting position at Lambeau Field (Green Bay, WI) and a Marketing Coordinator position at Chase Field (Phonenix, AZ) that may be worth looking at. Finally, there are a number of jobs as Sous Chef (many locations). These require significant culinary knowledge, but may be considered entry level for you if you just graduated from culinary school. Levy Restaurants is based out of Chicago, IL, but has locations all across the country, so be sure to check out their list of venues to see where they might be hiring in the future. They don’t provide an HR contact or an e-mail address, so the only way to find out more information about jobs with Levy Restaurants is to apply online directly from the job descriptions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever experienced the Levy Difference? What’s it like?

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:18:30 +0000

Waiting tables isn’t what most new college grads want to do with the degree they (or their parents) just spent 5 to 6 figures on. In most cases that makes sense, but with the Chicago based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises even jobs waiting tables can lead towards a career in restaurant management. LEYE is a restaurant empire – they have over 70 restaurants and somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 employees. Restaurant management is tough when you have one location to watch over, but somehow founder and CEO Richard Melman has been able to repeatedly launch and then manage successful restaurants.

I’m Uncoordinated and Would Drop the Food

It’s ok if waiting tables isn’t something that you can or want to do, Lettuce Entertain You has other job opportunities for new grads too. LEYE has jobs in Management, Corporate, and, of course, in their restaurants. Despite your lack of coordination, let’s look at the restaurant jobs first. LEYE’s restaurants include Antico Posto, Hub 51, Reel Club, Ben Pao, Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, R.J. Grunts, Big Bowl, L2O, Scoozi!, Brasserie Jo, L. Woods, Shaw’s Crab House, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Maggiano’s, stripburger at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Chi. Flat Sammies, The Magic Pan Crepe Stand, Tru, Di Pescara, Mity Nice Grill, Tucci Benucch, Don & Charlie’s, Mon Ami Gabi, Twin City Grill, Eiffel Tower, Nacional 27, Vong’s Thai Kitchen, Everest, Osteria Via Stato, Wildfire, foodlife, Petterino’s, Wow Bao, Frankie’s 5th Floor Pizzeria, and Pizzeria via Stato. They all offer hourly positions, which you can search by job title on their website. These jobs include just about anything that you could do in a restaurant.

LEYE also has a fantastic internship program. They hire a significant number of their new managers through this program, so it seems possible that a new college grad from a hospitality management program (and who interned at another restaurant) could also have a shot at being a manager in a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant. Finally, LEYE also has corporate positions. Right now they have jobs in HR and Graphic Design that require some experience, but nothing that goes beyond what you would expect for an entry-level hire. Usually companies with strong internship programs do significant entry-level hiring, so it should be possible for you to find a great first job with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you dined at an LEYE restaurant? What’d you think?

Mina Group

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:33:20 +0000

Most CEOs have resumes that include business school, many of years of experience, and boring lists of financial accomplishments. How would you like to work for a company where the CEO’s proudest accomplishments are his being named Bon Appetit Chef of the Year and International Food and Beverage Forum Restauranteur of the Year? Michael Mina of the Mina Group is just that CEO – Chef Executive Officer (sorry, that is a horrible pun). Making deals, like any CEO should, Mina formed a partnership with Andre Agassi, the tennis star, in 2002 that has resulted in the launch of a line of high end concept restaurants.

Say Goodbye to Ramen (at Least Cooking It)

The Mina Group manages restaurants in California, Nevada, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona. Here’s a full list of the restaurants with menus, photo galleries, chef profiles, and reservation information. We do know that they participate in on-campus recruiting at at least one school with a Hospitality Management program. Beyond that, their About page says that they are always looking to hire restaurant managers, chefs, line-cooks, sommeliers, servers, bartenders, hosts, and any other people who are seeking employment in a restaurant related position.

Individual positions are not listed on the Mina Group website, or anywhere else on the web (there’s one or two exceptions), so the best way to go about finding a job is to ask for one. Send an e-mail to hr@minagroup.net with a cover letter describing your qualifications and what type of position you’re looking for and a resume.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you know what positions are best for new college grads who want to work at the Mina Group? Leave a comment and let us know.

Nutricate

Willy Franzen — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:00:33 +0000

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been making it a little too easy for you to find great entry-level jobs. Linking directly to jobs takes all the fun out of your job search, and we wouldn’t want to deprive you (ok, we got a little sick wading through bad career sites). Today we’re featuring Nutricate, a company that doesn’t list any jobs on their careers page, but certainly is worth a look for any new grad who is interested in food merchandising or marketing. Go read our job search blog, and then use our tips to get yourself an interview with Nutricate.

If we’re going to write about a company that doesn’t list job openings on their site, they better have something extraordinary to offer. We don’t know much about what working at Nutricate is like, but we really love their business. What do they do? They put nutritional information on restaurant receipts. It’s one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-that business ideas. First and foremost, informational receipts make a great educational tool to help people lose weight. Second, it’s a good enough gimmick to get people in the door of the restaurant. Third, the receipt is something you’ll pull out of your pocket and look at again before throwing away (that’s really smart marketing). We could go on, but you are probably already thinking of your own reasons for why Nutricate is brilliant, or you’re thinking about how you actually thought of this idea when you were 15, but never did anything with it.

Why should you take the initiative to seek out an entry-level job at Nutricate? They’ve got an amazing product. The company is growing rapidly. And they’re located in Santa Barbara. So, get off your butt and do some research before you inquire about jobs for new college grads by e-mailing careers@nutricate.com.

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Nutricate.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

In case you haven’t already subscribed, do it! You’ll learn about great companies, find the best entry-level jobs, and learn how to be an all-around smart job searcher – and you won’t even have to type in our URL anymore.

OpenTable

Willy Franzen — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:00:18 +0000

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and you told your sweetheart that you’d make a reservation and take care of the dinner plans. You forgot/procrastinated. You’re one of those people who is petrified by phone interactions. For some reason the simple task of picking up a phone and dialing a restaurant to make a reservation intimidates you to no end. Shoot, you stared at the phone for 3 hours before you built up the courage to call your date to ask him or her out in the first place. Why can’t you just make a reservation online?

If you’re going to be an effective job searcher, you should probably try to get over this phobia before your first phone interview. Calling around for reservations might be good practice, but we understand that Valentine’s Day can be stressful enough. We’ll let you off the hook just this once. You can use OpenTable.com, a site that lets you make reservations at some of the best restaurants in the country with the click of the mouse. All you need to do is enter your location and the date and time you’d like to book, and they’ll show you what’s still available in your area. It might even save you from completely blowing Valentine’s Day.

OpenTable is a dot-com veteran that has survived conditions that put most Internet companies out of business. The New York Times describes OpenTable’s ups and downs quite well in an article from last Summer:

It took three years for OpenTable to seat its one-millionth diner. But now, the company seats two million diners every month. And Zagat, the restaurant rating service, has adopted OpenTable for reservations made through its site, zagat.com.

OpenTable survived because of a very smart business model. You may only recognize them as an online restaurant reservation service, but their real business driver is the software that they sell restaurants to manage reservations. This software interacts directly with OpenTable.com and provides a full reservation management solution, whether the reservations are made in person, over the phone, or online. In case you missed it, the key point is that OpenTable has built a brand with loyal consumers who now demand that restaurants offer OpenTable.com service. For a restaurant to provide this service, they have to buy in to OpenTable’s reservation management software. It’s brilliant – using customer brand recognition to drive the sale of B2B software.

OpenTable currently has only one position that requires minimal previous work experience. This job is as a Field Operations Specialist. The good news is that there are quite a few openings in a variety of locations: Frankfurt, Germany; Miami, FL; Madrid, Spain; Vancouver, British Columbia; Paris, France; San Diego, CA; Las Vegas, NV; St. Louis, MO; and Charlotte, NC. This job is heavy on travel and requires some technical know-how, as you’ll be troubleshooting OpenTable systems in restaurants. You’ll also need to be a customer service star, since you will be the face of the company at the customer sites. There are also some administrative and sales positions available at OpenTable, but they require more experience than the Field Operations Specialist Job. These jobs could be worth a look for a college grad with exceptional hospitality management or outside sales experience.

Now go save Valentine’s Day by making a reservation on OpenTable.com.

Note: On April 24th we revisited entry-level jobs at OpenTable.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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