ICE’s Culinary Management Instructors are seasoned industry professionals who are still active in the industry and working on their own projects while teaching classes at ICE. Julia Heyer and Vin McCann recently looked at social media’s effect on the restaurant and food world, and today they continue to dive into the complex world of online networks and social media. When we last left off, Vin questioned the long-term effect and at what point the messages turned from fascination to “self-promoting chatter.”

Julia Heyer
People are fascinated with our industry. While they couldn’t care less about what happens in the toothpaste factory at Proctor & Gamble, they are interested in restaurant kitchens. There is a sexiness factor.

For now, that results in a different reach for our biz. The new media allow restaurant businesses to connect with guests, both existing and potential, who want to hear from them.  Instead of using the old adage of “let’s throw a whole bunch of ads out there at that wall and see what sticks,” it allows targeted reach to and identification of your guests. Will it change? As we say in German, Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat Zwei — everything has an end, just the sausage has two. More…

Three years ago, I crammed for the New York Food Handler’s Certificate. The potential illnesses in particular left a lasting impression on me — how was I ever going to eat again? For months, I only ate home-cooked meals — overcooked, dry chicken, salads so over-washed that they were broken and wilted and many, many bowls of cereal.

It took a long time to start eating out again. Even 3 years later, I stare down the cashier to see if he handles my food with the same dirty hands he uses to take my cash, I go through a box of disposable gloves over two days and tie my hair in a bun so tight that I have a headache when I let it loose. I try not to think about all of the diseases I can get from my food. Yes, I will always send back a pink chicken, but I still love my eggs sunny side up. If I think about it too much, I can’t finish my meals.

For the past few weeks, I have been reintroduced to the world of unsanitary conditions and foodborne illnesses via preparing for the ServSafe exam. Yesterday, my alarm went off in the middle of a nightmare. I had been dreaming about catching mice when I heard something tapping. When I looked over, I saw a pink lobster jumping across the floor. Then my alarm went off and I was scared awake. It was only an hour later, when we started covering rodent infestation in class, that I realized I had a dream about a mice infestation and an unsafe runaway lobster. Although we’ve finished reviewing all of the chapters and ServSafe videos, I expect that for the next few weeks I will continue to have dreams about jumping pink lobsters. More…