Restaurant Association of Maryland Blog

BB&T Bank - New Gold Sponsor of the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational!

This past week the Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation announced that BB&T Bank in Maplelawn, MD has come on board in support of the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational. BB&T has joined the large group of MPSI contributors as a Gold Sponsor of both the event and awards dinner. The MPSI culinary competition provides the opportunity for students wishing to pursue culinary arts and hospitality management to take another step towards successful and rewarding careers in the restaurant industry. Thank you BB&T Bank for helping make that possible! For more information about becoming a supporter of the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational please visit www.ramef.org or contact the Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation at 800.874.1313. 

Photo: Paul Hartgen, President & CEO-Restaurant Association of Maryland, Jeff Stauffer, BB&T Bank - Maplelawn, MD, Marshall Weston, Vice President-Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation

Fox News: Calories, Fat, Sodium Info Could Come to Montgomery County, Maryland Menus

Calories, Fat, Sodium Info Could Come to Montgomery County, Maryland Menus.

Montgomery County, Maryland may soon be joining New York City and King County, Washington-- home of Seattle-- in requiring chain restaurants to post calories for each item on their menu boards. Even menu boards for drive-thru windows would be required to list calories, fat, and sodium data for every food or drink item for sale.

2009 Maryland ProStart Student Invitational Video Recap

Check out all the action from the 2009 Maryland ProStart Student Invitational in this video recap.  Over $750,000 was in the scholarship pool that was awarded to the top teams in this culinary arts and hospitality management competition for high school students.  The first place teams in each event traveled to San Diego, California to compete in the National ProStart Invitational against other state champions.  The team from the Carver Center for the Arts & Technology in Baltimore County placed 4th in the country in the management competition and set the stage for high expectations in 2010. 

Save the Date for the 2010 Maryland ProStart Student Invitational - February 27, 2010 at Martin's Caterers in Greenbelt, MD.

Click here to see the video

Dine with Friends... Win a Benz!

The RAMEF car raffle is back!  This year there are THREE big prizes!

1st Prize - 2010 Mercedes Benz C300W or $25,000
2nd Prize - $10,000 Cash
3rd Prize - $5,000 Cash

PLUS for each ticket purchased you will receive twelve (12) $25 gift certificates to popular Maryland restaurants, one for every restaurant listed below.  A $300 value and immediate return on your car raffle purchase.  Keep the certificates for yourself or give them as gifts.  Either way, you could Dine with Friends, Win a Benz!

Restaurants:
Sotto Sopra (Baltimore City)
The Friendly Inn (Ellicott City)
Victoria Gastro Pub (Columbia)
Quarry Bagels & Cafe (Pikesville)
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (all Baltimore locations)
DaMimmo Finest Italian Cuisine (Baltimore City)
Phillips Seafood Restaurants (all Baltimore locations)
Clyde's Restaurant Group (all locations)
The Chophouse/Real Seafood (Annapolis)
The Vineyard Wine Bar (Havre de Grace)
Friendly Farm Restaurant (Northern Baltimore County)
Blue Hill Tavern (Baltimore City)
Bonus - $25 Golden Ticket Gift Card:  $5 each to Tahina's, Vaccaro's, Boardwalk Burgers & Fries, Michael's Deli and Lil' Tony's

Only 325 tickets will be sold.  Proceeds benefit ProStart, Maryland's hospitality School-to-Career initiative. Drawing will be held on January 12, 2010.  Need not be present to win.  See full rules for more information.

Click here to purchase a ticket and for more information or contact Mary at (410) 290-6800 ext. 1017.

Maryland Hospitality Winter Issue Released this Week to Members!

 
The latest issue of Maryland Hospitality will be sent to members' mailboxes this week! The winter issue covers a number of topics including restaurants and community service, gluten free menus, economical changes within the industry, hot trends, industry happenings and more. To see an online version of the issue click here.

If you are a Restaurant Association of Maryland member interested in advertising in our quarterly publication in 2010 please click here to email Marcus Weston with Naylor Publications.

Webinar Next Week! Culinary Survival Strategies in Tough Times

Learn how to provide more dining excitement with fewer resources in a new National Restaurant Association webinar. This National Restaurant Association members-only event guarantees tactics to help you achieve a competitive advantage and weather tough times. Discover hands-on culinary survival strategies to help you deliver the value your customers demand. Nancy Kruse, menu trends expert and president, The Kruse Company, will share four Ps that provide menu value: protein, portion, premium and push-back strategies.

Culinary Survival Strategies in Tough Times
October 21, 2009
4 p.m. ET

Register now!

Did you know...?

Energy Use in Restaurants
Restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings and five times more energy in the kitchen than in the rest of the building.

Energy Costs as a Share of Budget
Energy costs represent 30 percent of a typical building's annual budget.

Energy Cost Increases
Energy costs have been increasing at a rate of 6 percent to 8 percent per year.

ENERGY STAR Buildings
Buildings carrying the ENERGY STAR label consume about 40 percent less energy than typical buildings.

Energy Tax Deductions
A federal tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot is available to owners or designers of new or existing commercial buildings that save at least 50 percent of the heating and cooling energy of a building that meets ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. Partial federal tax deductions of up to $.60 per square foot are available for "green" measures affecting any one of three building systems: the building envelope, lighting or heating and cooling systems.

Water Supply
If all the earth's water fit into a gallon bottle, the fresh water available for human use would equal just over one tablespoon.

Running Faucets
Running a water faucet for five minutes uses nearly as much energy as running a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours.

Low-Flush Toilets
A standard toilet uses as much as 4.5 gallons per flush. Low-flush toilets use around 1.6 gallons per flush.

Leaky Faucets
A leaky faucet dripping one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year. A leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water a day.

Restaurateurs & Water Conservation
Nearly three in 10 quickservice-restaurant operators and about four in 10 fullservice-restaurant operators installed water-saving ware-washers and toilet fixtures in the last two years.

More facts & statistics can be found at www.conserve.restaurant.org.

Follow-up: Challenging Times Create Innovative New Strategies

For the 100 plus that attended the keynote titled "Mid-Atlantic Region: Challenging Times Create Innovative New Strategies" this past Wednesday at the Baltimore Convention Center we wanted to provide you with the PowerPoint that was used in the presentation.

The Presentation: Download MarylandRestaurantAssnMidAtlanticFoodBevLodgEXPO100209A

As part of the engaging discussion, the National Restaurant Association’s Senior Vice President of Research and Knowledge Group, B. Hudson Riehle opened with an insightful overview of the region’s economy as well as upcoming trends and expectations for the local food service industry in the coming months and years.  This was followed by three industry leaders and what they are doing in their own businesses.

Thank you to:

B. Hudson Riehle, National Restaurant Association

Michael Sternberg, Enovo Restaurant Ventures, LLC;

Bob Barry, The Greene Sports Bar & Grille;

Jim Wordsworth, J.R.’s Stockyards Inn

A special thanks to our sponsor AdvantEdge Services

Education Foundation Nominated for Maryland Tourism Award

The Restaurant Association of Maryland Educational Foundation (RAMEF) has been nominated by Howard County Tourism for their work in training the future of the Maryland Restaurant Industry.

In four years the RAMEF has been able to grow their ProStart program to 103 Maryland High Schools.  As of September 2009 there are over 3,500 juniors and seniors enrolled. Currently in 14 counties, the foundation looks to be in the remaining 10 in the next 5 years.  ProStart is the career-building program for high school students who are interested in culinary arts and food service management.

"We continue to address the needs Maryland's workforce," said Marshall Weston, Executive Vice President for RAMEF, "we understand that the industry will grow 12.5% over the next 10 years and we are addressing this issue today."

Over two challenging and rewarding years, ProStart students experience classroom study, mentored work experiences, and local and national competitions. ProStart works for students, parents, teachers and the restaurant and food service industry.

"Restaurants are a big part of tourism and the product we call Maryland," said Paul Hartgen, president, of the Restaurant Association of Maryland.  " We look to continue to improve on the culinary experience in this state and what an honor to be nominated for an award while also fulfilling our mission."

The winner of this award will be announced at the Annual Tourism & Travel Summit in Ocean City, Maryland November 4th - 6th, 2009.  This award illustrates industry’s commitment to education by recognizing an individual, business,organization or group who has significantly contributed to the education of current and future tourism professionals and who has fostered the recognition of education as vital to the tourism industry. Nominee may be an individual or organization involved in creating educational opportunities for tourism professionals through personal experience or program development.

This event is produced by the The Maryland Tourism Council (MTC).  The MTC is the statewide membership organization representing all private-sector segments of the hospitality and tourism industry emphasizing government affairs, business growth, professional development, and alliances with other tourism organizations, the business community, and state and local governments.

Restaurant Sales Drop Slightly for January - August 2009

The sales tax figures were released early this week from the Comptroller of Maryland and it looks like sales for Maryland restaurants for the most part are down -$7,158,755 or - .12%.  This was a $14,000,0000 swing from the prior ytd report.  The sales numbers compare sales in restaurants from January 2009 - August 2009 versus the same period last year.  The county with the greatest increase in percentage over prior year is Charles County where sales are up $14,518,783 or 10.23%.  The biggest decline in percentage is in again Garrett County where sales are down $3,430,050 or -12.91%. The county with the biggest increase in sales is Prince George's with a $27,411,450 improvement over PY same time period or a percentage increase of 4.15%.  The county with the largest decline in sales is Baltimore City with a drop of $23,413,150 or -3.49%

Here is the rest of the story:  Download YTD January - August 2009 verus PY

Notes:  The state includes DC in their figures.  These are companies in DC that do business in Maryland. Misc would be all the other states that do business in Maryland.

The sales tax figures were released early this week from the Comptroller of Maryland and it looks like sales for Maryland restaurants for the most part are down -$7,158,755 or - .12%.  This was a $14,000,0000 swing from the prior ytd report.  The sales numbers compare sales in restaurants from January 2009 - August 2009 versus the same period last year.  The county with the greatest increase in percentage over prior year is Charles County where sales are up $14,518,783 or 10.23%.  The biggest decline in percentage is in again Garrett County where sales are down $3,430,050 or -12.91%. The county with the biggest increase in sales is Prince George's with a $27,411,450 improvement over PY same time period or a percentage increase of 4.15%.  The county with the largest decline in sales is Baltimore City with a drop of $23,413,150 or -3.49%

Here is the rest of the story:  Download YTD January - August 2009 verus PY

Notes:  The state includes DC in their figures.  These are companies in DC that do business in Maryland. Misc would be all the other states that do business in Maryland.

The sales tax figures were released early this week from the Comptroller of Maryland and it looks like sales for Maryland restaurants for the most part are down -$7,158,755 or - .12%.  This was a $14,000,0000 swing from the prior ytd report.  The sales numbers compare sales in restaurants from January 2009 - August 2009 versus the same period last year.  The county with the greatest increase in percentage over prior year is Charles County where sales are up $14,518,783 or 10.23%.  The biggest decline in percentage is in again Garrett County where sales are down $3,430,050 or -12.91%. The county with the biggest increase in sales is Prince George's with a $27,411,450 improvement over PY same time period or a percentage increase of 4.15%.  The county with the largest decline in sales is Baltimore City with a drop of $23,413,150 or -3.49%

Here is the rest of the story:  Download YTD January - August 2009 verus PY

Notes:  The state includes DC in their figures.  These are companies in DC that do business in Maryland. Misc would be all the other states that do business in Maryland.