Library
50 years of experience and knowledge at your fingertips. Free business coaching resources and hospitality related articles.
Tony Eldred — the principal of Eldred Hospitality — is arguably Australia’s most experienced hospitality management consultant. During a 50 year career in the industry, he has drawn on his experience as a consultant, key staff trainer and restaurateur to write down the things he has learned over the years, this library contains numerous essays totalling over 300,000 words of wisdom on almost every aspect of hospitality management.
Previously published in Inside Dining, FoodService News, What’s Cooking? Divine Magazine, The Simplot Newsletter, Restaurant Report Newsletter, F&B News, PC Update, The Age Epicure and many other publications between 1987 and today, they are all available here in easily digestible, cross referenced, searchable form.
Please feel free to take what you want and reprint it or use it, but read this first…
Select a category below to begin,
- Are you aware of the cost/benefit of some ingredients?
- Do you know the different kinds of chefs?
- How to reduce your kitchen wage costs
- How to train a chef
- The artist and the manager have different priorities
- Things to be aware of when employing a Chef
- Things to be careful of when a chef leaves you…
- What should we buy-in vs making on site?
- Are you thinking of doing paddock to plate?
- Do I need a ‘name’ chef?
- How do I train future head Chefs?
- A bit of perspective on restaurant training
- Allocating your training and development budget
- Are you reluctant to train your staff?
- Definitions
- It’s all your accountant’s fault . . .
- Orderly progression
- Planning for training & development
- Some warnings about training
- Something about decomposing fish . . .
- Teaching people to solve problems
- The different kinds of training applicable to a hospitality environment
- Thinking of starting a training department?
- Training is not a universal panacea
- Want to make your training work more effectively?
- Welcome to the company
- Where have all the managers gone?
- Who should be responsible for training & development?
- Time to revisit waiter training?
- Attracting good people requires different thinking
- Notes on the progression from waiter to manager
- Swimming with the sharks.
- Why is the job market so difficult?
- Aptitude testing
- For your own reference
- Gut busters
- Is there a chef in the house?
- It’s all about people
- Lifestyles of the rich and famous
- Notes on recruiting floor staff
- Poached or fried?
- The skills of recruiting casuals — part 1
- The skills of recruiting casuals — part 2
- What is a restaurant manager?
- A fish goes rotten . . .
- Border wars
- Change does not come easy for some
- Changing the way you manage, so you can grow
- Good managers plan well ahead
- Moving from No 2 to No 1 is a giant step
- Do unto others . . .
- From waiter to supervisor; be careful!
- Guidelines for communication
- Mind your language
- On the subject of staff turnover
- Opening up the ears
- Spelling out what you want
- Staff, leadership and motivation
- Staying at the top
- Supervisors are the core of your business
- The confusion of job titles
- The nature of a good leader
- The quest for productivity
- Who’s got time for time management?
- Accounting for the future
- Bigger does not necessarily mean better
- Hoping for a pot of gold?
- How big should I make my business?
- How can I make more money from my hospitality business?
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 1
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 2
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 3
- How do I fix a dysfunctional business?
- How do I have a balanced lifestyle and run a hospitality business?
- How do I put my business under management?
- How do I run a hospitality business and have a life?
- How do I stay ahead of the market?
- How do I systemise and revitalise my business?
- How do you grow your hospitality business?
- How should I structure my team?
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- Pulling out and handing over?
- Rent and financial viability
- There’s safety in numbers
- Things to do in a difficult economy
- Thinking of joining the 20th century?
- Waiter to manager — a troubled career path
- What do I do now?
- What happens when a key staff member leaves?
- When is a cost an investment?
- Who’s going to do the work?
- Who’s on next?
- Who’s working for their landlord?
- A tale of burgers and chicken . . .
- Are you a mover or a museum?
- Are you managing your customers perceptions?
- Are you thinking of expanding into multiple locations?
- Fix it but don’t change anything . . .
- Go with the flow, or fall behind
- All in the family
- All in the family (No 2)
- Anyone for country cooking?
- Before you jump into that new project . . .
- Beware the sound of your own name . . .
- Following the lemmings
- For better or for worse
- How do we deter the lemmings?
- It’s only a matter of bigger saucepans
- Location, location, location
- My friend the chef
- Of fools and more lemmings . . .
- Paying too much in rent?
- Small and manageable or a prison with no escape?
- Social trends and successful business
- Taking the big plunge
- The ways of the future . . .
- Watch out for the Government
- What are you getting yourself into?
- Conditions for a successful hospitality business
- Do we really need more new hospitality businesses?
- Don’t jump in if you don’t know what you are doing
- Thinking of entering the industry?
- 10 things to consider in a difficult economy
- A true picture, or a bizarre distortion?
- Can’t put your prices up, but your costs are rising?
- Cost control in a nutshell
- Does your chef know how to control food costs? Many do not . . .
- Hang the cost, throw the cat another canary
- It’s the way of the future
- Kitchen costs are food for thought
- On the subject of cancellation fees in restaurants
- On the subject of kitchen maintenance
- Profits come in several guises
- Put that red pencil away
- Radical is not a dirty word
- The food production factory
- The price is right?
- Where has all the money gone?
- Who’s battling with food and beverage costs?
- Dealing with staff turnover
- Facing the reality of a difficult economy
- Keeping wage costs under control requires flexible thinking
- The finer points of food cost control . . .
- What influence does front-of-house have on food costs?
- A bad review is not the end of the world
- Another look at advertising
- Building trade in your quiet times is an art that may require lateral thinking
- More on restaurant marketing
- On forming relations with the press . . .
- Still doing manual bookings? The future is online
- A theory is only an opinion
- Advertising revisited
- Advertising, or throwing money away?
- An overview of restaurant marketing
- Fine dining, anyone?
- Hard times bring opportunity
- Hello hotel and tourism operators . . .
- In search of the Holy Grail
- In search of top dollar
- Incentives to perform
- Let’s make it hard for people to buy stuff
- Marketing small hospitality businesses
- Measure — don’t assume
- My eyes are dim, I cannot see . . .
- Perception is all there is
- Perception revisited
- Success and failure
- The more the merrier
- The pitfalls of verbal selling in restaurants
- The way out of wage cost problems
- Think strawberries
- Value for money and customer perception
- What will selling skills do for you?
- Who’s holding the baby?
- Writing for the media
- Yield management may be the way to go
- Many people have a distorted view of our industry
- The journey from whence we came . . .
- What is your business worth?
- When journalists ask difficult questions
- Where is the economic journey leading us?
- A little bit of teamwork, please
- Fine dining and value for money
- From fast food to five star
- I paid for Bill Gates’ holiday
- I survived an attempt on my life
- It’s all happening too quickly
- My annual whinge
- Networking for disaster
- On stress and the hospitality industry . . .
- The different worlds of hospitality
- The games people play
- The old man and the sea
- The rapid erosion of flexibility
- Things that make me bitter and twisted . . .
- Thinking of bailing out?
- To refurbish or not to refurbish . . .
- Will barristers inherit the earth?
- Are you aware of the cost/benefit of some ingredients?
- Do you know the different kinds of chefs?
- How to reduce your kitchen wage costs
- How to train a chef
- The artist and the manager have different priorities
- Things to be aware of when employing a Chef
- Things to be careful of when a chef leaves you…
- What should we buy-in vs making on site?
- Are you thinking of doing paddock to plate?
- Do I need a ‘name’ chef?
- How do I train future head Chefs?
- A bit of perspective on restaurant training
- Allocating your training and development budget
- Are you reluctant to train your staff?
- Definitions
- It’s all your accountant’s fault . . .
- Orderly progression
- Planning for training & development
- Some warnings about training
- Something about decomposing fish . . .
- Teaching people to solve problems
- The different kinds of training applicable to a hospitality environment
- Thinking of starting a training department?
- Training is not a universal panacea
- Want to make your training work more effectively?
- Welcome to the company
- Where have all the managers gone?
- Who should be responsible for training & development?
- Time to revisit waiter training?
- Attracting good people requires different thinking
- Notes on the progression from waiter to manager
- Swimming with the sharks.
- Why is the job market so difficult?
- Aptitude testing
- For your own reference
- Gut busters
- Is there a chef in the house?
- It’s all about people
- Lifestyles of the rich and famous
- Notes on recruiting floor staff
- Poached or fried?
- The skills of recruiting casuals — part 1
- The skills of recruiting casuals — part 2
- What is a restaurant manager?
- A fish goes rotten . . .
- Border wars
- Change does not come easy for some
- Changing the way you manage, so you can grow
- Good managers plan well ahead
- Moving from No 2 to No 1 is a giant step
- Do unto others . . .
- From waiter to supervisor; be careful!
- Guidelines for communication
- Mind your language
- On the subject of staff turnover
- Opening up the ears
- Spelling out what you want
- Staff, leadership and motivation
- Staying at the top
- Supervisors are the core of your business
- The confusion of job titles
- The nature of a good leader
- The quest for productivity
- Who’s got time for time management?
- Accounting for the future
- Bigger does not necessarily mean better
- Hoping for a pot of gold?
- How big should I make my business?
- How can I make more money from my hospitality business?
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 1
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 2
- How do I establish a hospitality business? — Part 3
- How do I fix a dysfunctional business?
- How do I have a balanced lifestyle and run a hospitality business?
- How do I put my business under management?
- How do I run a hospitality business and have a life?
- How do I stay ahead of the market?
- How do I systemise and revitalise my business?
- How do you grow your hospitality business?
- How should I structure my team?
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- Pulling out and handing over?
- Rent and financial viability
- There’s safety in numbers
- Things to do in a difficult economy
- Thinking of joining the 20th century?
- Waiter to manager — a troubled career path
- What do I do now?
- What happens when a key staff member leaves?
- When is a cost an investment?
- Who’s going to do the work?
- Who’s on next?
- Who’s working for their landlord?
- A tale of burgers and chicken . . .
- Are you a mover or a museum?
- Are you managing your customers perceptions?
- Are you thinking of expanding into multiple locations?
- Fix it but don’t change anything . . .
- Go with the flow, or fall behind
- All in the family
- All in the family (No 2)
- Anyone for country cooking?
- Before you jump into that new project . . .
- Beware the sound of your own name . . .
- Following the lemmings
- For better or for worse
- How do we deter the lemmings?
- It’s only a matter of bigger saucepans
- Location, location, location
- My friend the chef
- Of fools and more lemmings . . .
- Paying too much in rent?
- Small and manageable or a prison with no escape?
- Social trends and successful business
- Taking the big plunge
- The ways of the future . . .
- Watch out for the Government
- What are you getting yourself into?
- Conditions for a successful hospitality business
- Do we really need more new hospitality businesses?
- Don’t jump in if you don’t know what you are doing
- Thinking of entering the industry?
- 10 things to consider in a difficult economy
- A true picture, or a bizarre distortion?
- Can’t put your prices up, but your costs are rising?
- Cost control in a nutshell
- Does your chef know how to control food costs? Many do not . . .
- Hang the cost, throw the cat another canary
- It’s the way of the future
- Kitchen costs are food for thought
- On the subject of cancellation fees in restaurants
- On the subject of kitchen maintenance
- Profits come in several guises
- Put that red pencil away
- Radical is not a dirty word
- The food production factory
- The price is right?
- Where has all the money gone?
- Who’s battling with food and beverage costs?
- Dealing with staff turnover
- Facing the reality of a difficult economy
- Keeping wage costs under control requires flexible thinking
- The finer points of food cost control . . .
- What influence does front-of-house have on food costs?
- A bad review is not the end of the world
- Another look at advertising
- Building trade in your quiet times is an art that may require lateral thinking
- More on restaurant marketing
- On forming relations with the press . . .
- Still doing manual bookings? The future is online
- A theory is only an opinion
- Advertising revisited
- Advertising, or throwing money away?
- An overview of restaurant marketing
- Fine dining, anyone?
- Hard times bring opportunity
- Hello hotel and tourism operators . . .
- In search of the Holy Grail
- In search of top dollar
- Incentives to perform
- Let’s make it hard for people to buy stuff
- Marketing small hospitality businesses
- Measure — don’t assume
- My eyes are dim, I cannot see . . .
- Perception is all there is
- Perception revisited
- Success and failure
- The more the merrier
- The pitfalls of verbal selling in restaurants
- The way out of wage cost problems
- Think strawberries
- Value for money and customer perception
- What will selling skills do for you?
- Who’s holding the baby?
- Writing for the media
- Yield management may be the way to go
- Many people have a distorted view of our industry
- The journey from whence we came . . .
- What is your business worth?
- When journalists ask difficult questions
- Where is the economic journey leading us?
- A little bit of teamwork, please
- Fine dining and value for money
- From fast food to five star
- I paid for Bill Gates’ holiday
- I survived an attempt on my life
- It’s all happening too quickly
- My annual whinge
- Networking for disaster
- On stress and the hospitality industry . . .
- The different worlds of hospitality
- The games people play
- The old man and the sea
- The rapid erosion of flexibility
- Things that make me bitter and twisted . . .
- Thinking of bailing out?
- To refurbish or not to refurbish . . .
- Will barristers inherit the earth?
How to copy this material
Students Only:
Feel free to copy and reproduce any of this material, but we do ask that you credit its source as listed below.
Hospitality business operators, students, teachers, etc.
Please place the following text at the end of any articles you reproduce:
- — by Tony Eldred. Eldred Hospitality Pty Ltd. https://www.eldtrain.com.au
Commercial Publications and Web Sites:
We welcome publication of these essays, but they are copyright. Please contact us prior to publication.
Journalists, writers, trade or other media.
For quotes and excerpts:
- Please credit the source as follows:
‘Hospitality Management Specialist, Tony Eldred . . .’, or similar words. - For whole essays contact us