I’ve suffered through many meals where I’ve convinced myself that I could run the restaurant better than the current management–even if I was blindfolded and had my arms tied behind my back. There are probably a few cases where that’s true, but for the most part regular people with no industry experience have no business running restaurants (just watch Kitchen Nightmares if you’re not convinced). The truth is that running a profitable restaurant is a huge accomplishment. The Culinary Edge is a San Francisco, CA based consulting firm that specializes in helping restaurants and other food-related businesses strengthen their brands, extend their reach, and increase their profitability. While it would be nice if they did work for small mom and pop type restaurants, the reality is that this kind of consulting is geared towards much bigger clients.

What’s Your Edge?

When I say big, I mean big. We’re talking Starbucks, Applebee’s, P.F. Chang’s, and Jamba Juice–you can see The Culinary Edge’s full client list here. Beyond restaurants they also work with food producers, food service companies, and grocery chains. To get an idea of how The Culinary Edge works with clients, I recommend that you look over their process, and then check out their case studies. While they don’t go into a ton of detail, there are well over a dozen of them–so you should be able to get a really good feel for the kinds of challenges that The Culinary Edge helps clients with. If it looks like the kind of work that you’d like to go into, visit The Culinary Edge’s Jobs page. Unfortunately they don’t have any full-time, permanent entry level positions posted, but they are looking for a Culinary Intern, an Operations Intern, a Project Coordinator Intern, and a Marketing & Consumer Research Intern. All of these positions are for six months and come with a monthly stipend. While that’s not ideal, it’s a good midway point between most internships and entry level jobs. It would be hard to find a better way to get a start in the food/restaurant industry.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• TheCulinaryEdge.com
• Jobs at The Culinary Edge
• About The Culinary Edge
• The Culinary Edge’s Team
• The Culinary Edge’s Clients
• The Culinary Edge’s Case Studies
• The Culinary Edge News

What have you heard about The Culinary Edge?

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