My experience with Patrice & Associates was phenomenal…my experience right from the get go with my recruiter Jeff Firestone was very personable and he was spot on in finding me a company that fit my professional and personal life perfectly. Jeff made the transition to my the next step in my career easy and coached me through every step of the way….. I recommend any one looking to move further in there career to talk to Jeff because even if he doesn’t have a position out there that will help you advance your career (most likely he will) he will true heartedly give you the best advice as what and how you should do to truly make the best decision for your life and the career path you should take. Personally any time I hear someone I care about is looking to progress there career Jeff’s number will be in there hand in seconds….. I thank all of you from Patrice & Associates for helping I couldn’t ask for a better experience.

 Jason Brown

 Ocoee, FL

Hilton Worldwide announced last week that it plans to open 500 new restaurants worldwide in the next three years, with a specific emphasis on quick serves. Up to a quarter of these restaurants will be within the company’s U.S. hotels.

QSR spoke to Beth Scott, vice president of food and beverage concepts, about plans for the new stateside restaurants.

Why is now the time to be opening new restaurants? For a long time it was “don’t spend,” and now everybody is catching up. Plus we are building new hotels, and third-party restaurant groups are now more interested in hotels as a way of growing their companies. Restaurant companies that wouldn’t look at nontraditional locations in the past are looking at them now—at hotels, airports, and schools.

How will you select which hotels they go into? Anything new gets them, as well as hotels we’re converting to the Hilton brand.

Will these restaurants be partnerships with existing concepts or unique to Hilton properties? For our luxury brands, like the Conrad hotels and Waldorf-Astoria, there’s a desire to partner with celebrity chefs or higher-end concepts. But overall, some of the quick-service concepts are appealing because of the way people want to eat now.

The rise of grab-and-go market concepts is huge—everyone’s got one now. Even the celebrity chefs are opening them, including Mario Batali and Cat Cora. People are on the move these days and don’t have time to sit down and have a meal. They want higher-end grab-and-go.

Do you expect to have some hotels with only quick-serve concepts? A quick serve probably wouldn’t replace a sit-down restaurant but it could, especially in a city where there’s a plethora of restaurants nearby.

Which brands are already signed up to work with Hilton? We’ve got the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf signed up. They are expanding rapidly throughout the country. We’ve got Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, the Il Mulino group, and Michael Jordan’s restaurant group. We have about 20 concepts listed already.

These are groups that know how to operate in a hotel environment, which is great, as sometimes they are the only restaurant in a hotel. Breakfast and room service are a key part, so if they don’t understand the operating environment, it becomes impossible to manage.

How do you learn what works in each market? We spend a lot of time doing market studies, not just on hotels but also looking at what the local diners are looking for. We have a captive audience, but we strive to build hotels that can stand on their own. So it’s a combination of what’s right for a hotel and the market that it’s going into.

Success takes time–sometimes longer than you’d like. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to become discouraged, and that makes it harder to achieve the success you deserve.

Here’s a simple, seven-step plan to get your mojo back:

1. Define your purpose. Why are you working? Why are you doing this work? Only you can answer these questions. Some individuals are drawn to certain kinds of work, while others are individuals are simply looking for a payday or to feed their families. No purpose is inherently “better” than any other–but you need to know your purpose, so that the prospect of fulfilling of that purpose keeps you motivated.

2. Tie your purpose to your company’s goals. Now that you’ve identified why you’re working, deliberately envision your company’s offering (what it makes, provides or sells) as the vehicle through which you can fulfill your purpose. The more closely you associate, in your mind, your purpose with your company’s product, the easier you’ll be able to motivate yourself to do what’s necessary to get your job done.

3. Tie your purpose to your team’s success. If you’re working with other people, they’re depending upon you to get your job done. Fulfilling your purpose thus helps them become successful too–which means that you’re having a positive impact on other people’s lives.

4. Create ambitious goals for yourself. Now that you’ve got everything aligned, it’s time to set ambitious goals that, if achieved, will create success for yourself, your products, and your company. Pick exciting goals that will will inspire you to achieve them.

5. Create a workable but flexible plan. Now that you’ve got goals, create a step-by-step plan that constantly brings you closer to your goals. That will help you build additional confidence, commitment and the feeling that you’re in control of your destiny. Hint: If you aren’t sure how to build a plan that will work, get the help of somebody who’s already achieved what you want to achieve.

6. Take massive action … starting now. Success is now just a matter of executing that plan, adjusting as necessary to achieve your goals. To start on the right foot, as soon as your write your plan, immediately take some action to achieve that plan. Motivation feeds on action. You want to build momentum that will continue to carry you toward your goal.

The main point here is to do all of this consciously, to make certain that everything in your work life is aligned.

Away-from-home soup and salad purchases are on the rise, as consumers seek light, healthy and affordable fare. A variety of portion sizes featuring soup/salad options on different areas of the menu allows consumers to tailor their meal specifically to their needs. Whether it’s a cup or bowl, side or entree, 61 percent of consumers now order soup at least occasionally during restaurant visits, up from 52 percent just two years ago. Salads have grown even more, nearly half of consumers now order salad all or most of the time compared to 34 percent.

“Healthy options and portion variety are driving factors in today’s soup and salad menu positioning,” says Technomic Director of Consumer Research Sara Monnette. “Operators are revamping their menus in response to consumer demand for soup and salad as a standalone entree, side substitution, an appetizer, or a component of a combo meal. There are many menu variations in which soups/salads are now offered.”

Interesting findings include:

• Soup and salad are the two most common appetizers at both limited-service restaurants (LSRs) and full-service restaurants (FSRs). Appetizer salads remained fairly steady in both sectors since 2009, while soup grew 22 percent to surpass salad as the leading appetizer at LSRs.
• Salads are the fourth most frequently menued entree among all entrees at LSRs and rank second at FSRs. Chicken-topped salads are by far the leading entree variety offered at both LSRs and FSRs, followed by Caesar.
• Based on information from over 500 leading and emerging chains, chili has surpassed soup-of-the-day offerings to become the leading soup variety at LSRs, and ranked second at FSRs.
• Interest in healthier, lighter fare is driving increases for both soup and salad. 76 percent of consumers who are purchasing salads more often say they’re seeking a healthier option and 49 percent want something lighter.
• A strong majority (64 percent) of consumers believe that dressings are a key component, if not the key component of a tasty salad. The overall variety of options and flavors offered trumps healthfulness and brand names as purchase drivers.