Restaurant Association of Maryland Blog

Tips for Decorating your Business for the Holidays!

• Consider hiring a contractor for unusually dangerous installations such as locations which require work over large atriums, roof tops and leading edges subject to falls greater than 6 feet from the walking surface. Be sure to obtain certificates of insurance, including a hold-harmless agreement, from a sub-contractor to verify insurance coverage for workers compensation and general liability.
• Refrain from using inappropriate substitutes for ladders, such as an unstable chair or box to reach overhead areas.  
• Electrical fixtures must be UL listed, be in good condition and not subject to damage and or overheating.
• Use caution when selecting the area to display decorative lights. Consider displaying decorations in low traffic areas and avoid creating a trip/fall hazard with light strings and/or extension cords.  
• Be sure to consult with local authorities regarding laws which prohibit the use of live trees in-doors within public places of assembly. In some jurisdictions the use of live trees for display or electrical lights is not permitted.

Questions? Contact the Maryland Restaurant & Hospitality Self-Insurance Fund @ 410-584-8412.

Restaurant Association of Maryland Members Participate in Dining Out for Life

Today only, Baltimore area restaurants are participating in Moveable Feast's Dining Out for Life event!

Moveable Feast raises money to help feed hundreds of men, women, and children right here in our community living with HIV/AIDS, and other life-challenging conditions such as breast cancer. By simply eating out for lunch or dinner today at any of the participating restaurants, at least 20% of proceeds from lunch or dinner (or both) will go towards Moveable Feast. View the complete list of participating Baltimore restaurants for full information.

Thank you to our members who have opted to participate in this event! Find the complete list of the Association's participating members below.

Breakfast:

• Bonjour French Bakery Cafe
• Marie Louise Bistro
• Miss Shirley's Cafe - Inner Harbor
• Miss Shirley's Cafe- Roland Park

Lunch:

• Bonjour French Bakery Cafe
• Clementine
• Joe Squared
• Marie Louise Bistro
• Minato Sushi Bar
• Miss Shirley's Cafe - Inner Harbor
• Miss Shirley's Cafe- Roland Park
• Mount Vernon Stable & Saloon
• The Rumor Mill Fusion Bar & Restaurant

Dinner:

• Alonso's
• The Brewer's Art
• Blue Agave
• Clementine
• Gertrude's Restaurant at the BMA
• Loco Hombre
• Cafe Gia
• Chameleon Cafe
• Giovanni's
• Joe Squared
• La Palapa Grill & Cantina
• Linwoods
• Marie Louise Bistro
• Meet 27
• Mia Carolina
• Minato Sushi Bar
• Mount Vernon Stable & Saloon
• The Rumor Mill Fusion Bar & Restaurant
• Saute Restaurant & Bar
• Sotto Sopra
• Todd Conner's

 

National Restaurant Association Now Accepting 2011 Restaurant Neighbor Award Applications

The National Restaurant Association is now accepting applications for the 2011 Restaurant Neighbor Award, which recognizes outstanding community-service programs among our nation's restaurants. Each year, four national winners are chosen: one small business, one mid-size business, one large business, and one Cornerstone Humanitarian.

Each winner receives $5,000 to support their community project or favorite charity, in addition to an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to be honored at a gala awards dinner in Spring 2011.

Last year's Maryland winners include: BGR The Burger Joint in Bethesda; Glory Days Grill in Gaithersburg; and Big Bad Wolf Barbeque in Baltimore.

Who will be this year's winners from Maryland? The deadline to apply is January 11, 2011. You can apply online or contact the Restaurant Association of Maryland with any questions at jsilver@marylandrestaurants.com.

Restaurant Association of Maryland Members Participate in Dining Out for Life

Today only, Baltimore area restaurants are participating in Moveable Feast's Dining Out for Life event!

Moveable Feast raises money to help feed hundreds of men, women, and children right here in our community living with HIV/AIDS, and other life-challenging conditions such as breast cancer. By simply eating out for lunch or dinner today at any of the participating restaurants, at least 20% of proceeds from lunch or dinner (or both) will go towards Moveable Feast. View the complete list of participating Baltimore restaurants for full information.

Thank you to our members who have opted to participate in this event! Find the complete list of the Association's participating members below.

50 % donors:

• The Brewer's Art
• Gertrude's at the BMA
  

25 % donors:

• B & O American Brasserie
• Pazza Luna

20 % donors:

• Sascha's 527 Cafe
• A Bolton Hill Bistro - 'b'
• Alexander's Tavern
• Alonso's/Loco Hombre
• Blue Agave
• Cafe Hon
• Chameleon Cafe
• City Cafe
• The Greene Turtle (Fells Point)
• Indigma
• Joe Squared
• Laurrapin Grille
• Linwoods
• Marie Louise Bistro
• Mia Carolina
• Minato Sushi Bar
• Mt. Vernon Stable & Saloon
• Petit Louis
• The Rumor Mill Fusion Bar and Restaurant
• Sotto Sopra
• Teavolve Cafe and Lounge
• Todd Conner's

Ecolab installs sustainable warewashing equipment in RAM test kitchen

  

Brian Kight of Ecolab (back left) demonstrates how to use the new equipment to LaDeana Litchfield (left), Paul Hartgen (middle) and Marshall Weston (right)

This week, Brian Kight and Bill Shirey of Ecolab came to the Restaurant Association of Maryland headquarters to install sustainable warewashing equipment in the test kitchen.  The cleaning products are 99.7 percent phosphate and phosphorous free.  This equipment cleans safely, saves energy, conserves water and reduces waste.

Up to 18 percent of energy costs and 33 percent of water costs go into washing and sanitizing ware.  For more information, click here.

J.J. McDonnell & Co. "Seafood from the Bay" Seminar

This morning, Restaurant Association of Maryland staff attended an extremely interesting seminar about seafood in the Chesapeake Bay, held by J.J. McDonnell & Co., Inc.  in Columbia, Md.  Guest speakers included: George McManus of J.J. McDonnell & Co., Marty Gary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources,  Jason Ruth of Harris Seafood Company , Stephan Abel of  Oyster Recovery Partnership and Michael Hutt of the Virginia Marine Products Board.

Some interesting facts learned:

•  Striped bass, also known as rockfish, are now at sustainable population levels in the Bay thanks to strict, science-based controls since the '90s
• Soft shell clams are an up-and-coming delicacy in the region
• Chesapeake Ray, a red meat fish, preys on the Bay's oyster, clam, and bay scallop population. Sharks, a ray predator, once kept the ray population in check, but no longer do because of a lower shark population.  In order to keep the ray population in check, fishermen are harvesting rays to sell to restaurants.  The fish has a tender meat with beefy flavor, rather than a fishy taste and can be served in a variety of ways.
• The Oyster Recovery Partnership is helping to restore the Bay's oyster population.  It is currently collecting oyster shell from numerous Maryland restaurants as part of its Shell Recycling Alliance.  The shell is aged and placed back into the Bay with small oysters ("spat") in an effort to increase the oyster population.  The organization is looking for more restaurant participants. 

There will be another seafood seminar in a few months!

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.