Matcha Sesame Cheesecake

In my quest to find some delicious matcha recipes, I discovered that it’s not really a popular baking ingredient in the United States. Most of the (delicious looking!) baked goodies I can across were all in the metric system, and I just don’t have the time to convert all those recipes! I did, however, stumble [...]

Health Benefits of Tea

February 23, 2012|By Elaine Pelc, Special to The Baltimore Sun Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun’s health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth), which is reprinted here. This week, Elaine Pelc weighs in on teas. There are many health claims surrounding tea. Some [...]

Chai-fecta: A Tea Story

We were lucky enough to have Fadra from All.Things.Fadra review our Precious Divinity Chai and Azteca D’Oro Mexican Spiced Ground Chocolate lines.  Check out her blog at http://allthingsfadra.com for other great reviews and posts. Here is her review: Our morning beverage station. He likes the coffee. I like the tea. I am a tea lover. And as [...]

Thai Iced Coffee

Now I know, you’re thinking, iced coffee? In November? But here me out. Years ago my mom, sister and I visited my aunt near San Francisco. She took us to a tiny Thai restaurant where I experienced Thai iced tea for the first time. It was, in one word: delicious. Sweet and smooth and so, [...]

A Holiday Warning

Can you believe it’s November? I feel like I blinked and summer was over. The leaves have changed, we’ve handed out the Halloween candy, and now the countdown is on to the best holiday of the year — Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving. There’s no agenda, no gifts to buy. Just friends and family around a [...]

Baby’s First Brew

My husband and I are in the final stages of both selling and buying a home at the same time. If you value your sanity, I don’t recommend this. If you’re a parent to a toddler, I really don’t recommend this, as any sense of order and sanity you were able to maintain post-childbirth will [...]

Starting a New Cafe or Restaurant? Things You Should Consider..

Bluntly, there are many folks who get into the cafe and restaurant business that are in over their heads. Today, when I receive an inquiry about consulting a startup, one of the first things I do is hand over and share a fairly comprehensive list of tasks that will need to be done. There’s around 300 items that a new startup or location needs to consider before opening the doors.

Calculating Labor Cost in Cafes – Weekly Forecasting

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe In my prior career as a executive chef, I wrote hundreds of work schedules. Let’s look at some factors operators have to take into account in managing efficient production labor cost: Staff training and abilities Anticipated business volume Local event calendars Potential constraints (risks to the schedule) The question today is, [...]

From Scratch versus Ready To Go Coffeeshop Solutions

Operator Solutions Using Mocafe One of the challenges facing foodservice operators dwells on the question of preparing items from scratch or purchasing products that require minimal labor. This question permeates the foodservice industry at all levels, from quick serve (QSR) to ultra-hyper-local-fine-dining. Attend any foodservice or beverage tradeshow and you’ll see numerous exhibitors offering solutions [...]