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Editorial Director Leslie Wu ext. 227 lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Contributing Editor Colleen Isherwood ext. 231 cisherwood@canadianrestaurantnews.com Assistant Editor Elaine Anselmi ext. 226 eanselmi@canadianrestaurantnews.com Assistant Editor, Digital Content Kristen Smith ext. 238 ksmith@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Account Manager Debbie McGilvray ext. 233 dmcgilvray@canadianrestaurantnews.com Account Manager Kim Kerr ext. 229 kkerr@canadianrestaurantnews.com Production Stephanie Giammarco ext. 0 sgiammarco@canadianrestaurantnews.com Circulation Manager Don Trimm ext. 228 dtrimm@canadianrestaurantnews.com Controller Tammy Turgeon ext. 237 tammy@canadianrestaurantnews.com How to reach us: Tel (905) 206-0150
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he old adage says that happy customers will tell one person about their meal in your restaurant, but the unhappy diner will tell 10. What, then, should operators make of a new program proposed by London researchers that trawls Twitter for unhappy comments and then declares your establishment unsafe? Students at the University of Rochester developed the system, ominously named nEmesis, to track the spread and scope of digestive complaints. By taking a wide sample of social media results for key terms around food poisoning or sickness, the program projects a rating as to which restaurants are most likely to make diners ill, comparing the results against those of local health departments. Sounds like a potential public relations nightmare, doesn’t it? Using this program, prospective customers could be warned from
Mickey Cherevaty Consultant, Moyer Diebel Limited Marvin Greenberg Consultant Jack Battersby President, Summit Food Service Distributors Inc. Barney Strassburger Jr. President, TwinCorp Paul LeClerc Partner, Serve-Canada Food Equipment Ltd. Michael Stephens Director of Retail, Inventory and Wholesale, LCBO Ralph Claussen Director Food and Beverage Operations Woodbine Entertainment Group Adam Colquhoun President, Oyster Boy John Crawford Director of Sales-Canada, Lamb Weston Tina Chiu Chief Operating Officer, Mandarin Restaurant Franchise Corporation Matt Johnston Vice-president, Marketing, Moosehead Breweries Martin Kouprie Chef/Owner, Pangaea Restaurant Joel Sisson Founder and president of Crush Strategy Inc. Leslie Wilson Vice-president of Business Excellence Compass Group Canada Chris Jeens Partner W. D. Colledge Co. Ltd. Volume 28 No. 8 Ontario Restaurant News is published 12 times per year by Ishcom Publications Ltd., which also publishes: Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News, Atlantic Restaurant News, Canadian Lodging News, Ontario Chains and the ORN Buyers’ Directory. 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201 Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Tel: (905) 206-0150 Fax: (905) 206-9972 In Canada 1 800 201-8596 Subscriptions: Canada: $52.33/year or $78.57/2 years, $102.67/ 3 years; U.S.A.: $58.85/year or $84.85/2 years, $108.70/ 3 years. Single copy: $5.95 (Plus taxes where applicable) Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation department, 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Publication Mail Agreement No. 40010152 ISSN 0834-0404 GST number R102533890
your dining room by a late night tweet from someone who could have eaten (or drunk) anything throughout the day before arriving anywhere near your establishment. Lest this scenario sound farfetched, consider how the news of the infamous cronut burger broke this summer at the Canadian National Exhibition. Less than 24 hours after the first reported illness, well before any results or confirmation came back from the Toronto Board of Health, tweets from people claiming illness were reported internationally. By the next morning, more than 100 people had called in complaints. And yet, maybe crowdsourcing food safety is a benefit, not a curse, of technology. After all, the now tainted reputation of the cronut burger brought attention to the real culprit... the bacon jam adorning the concoction that allegedly affected hundreds of people.
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Publisher Steven Isherwood ext. 236 sisherwood@canadianrestaurantnews.com
Editorial advisory CounCil
O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S
Heinz cuts 600 jobs in North America post-acquisition PITTSBURGH—Three months after Heinz announced its acquisition by an investment consortium, the company is laying off 600 office workers in Canada and the United States. Spokesman Michael Mullen told the CBC in August that the company will retain 800 people in Pittsburgh and 6,000 across North America after the layoffs are complete. The $28-billion acquisition deal made news in February when a consortium made up of 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway, helmed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, took over Heinz. At the time, there were 1,200 employees at the Pittsburgh location, said 3G Capital managing partner Alex Behring. Bernardo Hees took over the CEO position at H.J. Heinz when the deal was finalized in June. Hees was previously CEO of Burger King Worldwide, also owned by 3G, and succeeded former Heinz chairman, president and CEO William R. Johnson. When asked about 3G’s previous record of aggressive cost cutting during a press conference in February, Behring said “we’ve been involved in a variety of fields in the past, and some had a lot of cost optimization and efficiencies.” For previous coverage of the Heinz acquisition, check out canadianrestaurantnews.com or the March issue of ORN.
Mississauga gets Afghan FSR MISSISSAUGA—The Chopan Grill opened in July at 2155 Leanne Blvd. in Mississauga. Co-owner Najib Rahimi, a native of Afghanistan, opened the upscale, full-service restaurant after successfully operating the concept in Long Island, NY. Rahimi, who is also the chef, operates the Mississauga location with a Canadian partner, according to the Mississauga News. The Chopan Grill offers 10 kebab dishes,
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including a house special of marinated lamb chops, and traditional Afghani fare such as aushak, boiled dumplings stuffed with seasoned chicken or beef topped with garlic yogurt and lentils, and quabili palau, tender meat (often lamb) under rice mixed with lentils, raisins and julienned carrots.
Facebook adds OpenTable to its mobile pages MENLO PARK, CA—Social networking giant Facebook announced a partnership with online reservation website OpenTable in August. An update will allow users to book tables through mobile Facebook pages at the more than 20,000 North American restaurants registered with OpenTable. “There is no need to visit a separate site or open a separate app,” according to the statement on Facebook’s webpage. Reports indicate the update is rolling out automatically. In July, OpenTable announced it was taking over the reservation system of IAC’s Urbanspoon, a restaurant information and recommendation service and OpenTable competitor.
Valhalla Inn renovates its two foodservice options THUNDER BAY, ON—After a fire damaged Valhalla Inn’s Timbers restaurant in early January, forcing the casual concept to share space with the Thunder Bay property’s upscale Runway 25 Steaklounge, both restaurants are getting a fresh new look. Renovations are set for completion in October, Mary McLellan, Valhalla Inn general manager told ORN, and are a part of a major investment in upgrades to the hotel over the next year. “This is a major renovation project for the Valhalla Inn,” McLellan said in a release. “Timbers restaurant has been a cornerstone for both our hotel and for the community of Thunder Bay since 1990.” The renovation will relocate Timbers,
The easy reporting of illness on social media can be seen as a way to promote awareness, rather than the means of spreading malicious rumour, fear or, even worse, providing potential sources of litigation. In today’s world of recalls and heightened consumer awareness about food, a restaurateur has to be aware of potential problems before an unhappy customer broadcasts rumours to the general public through social media. Unfortunately, the sad math is that the people an unhappy diner can tell about a meal are now more likely to be counted in the thousands rather than a mere 10 – and that is a number that many operators would find it hard to swallow.
Leslie Wu, Editorial director
Bi t e s solely, to the existing Runway 25 space, allowing for 125 seats. Runway 25 will move over to the rebuilt Timbers space, with 104 seats and an all-new aviation-themed décor made up of wood and metal components. The Valhalla Inn has been in operation since 1981 and hotel renovations will see all guest rooms updated with new carpeting, bedding and furniture over the next year – the majority have been completed already – as well as upgrades to the ballroom and event space.
Maple Leaf selling Rothsay TORONTO—Maple Leaf Foods announced on Aug. 23 that it is entering into a definitive agreement to sell Rothsay, its rendering and biodiesel business, to U.S. food waste recycling company Darling International Inc. The sale of Rothsay, which operates six rendering plants across Canada and a biodiesel facility in Quebec, supports Maple Leaf ’s “strategy to focus on effective capital deployment and profitable growth on the consumer packaged foods market,” president and CEO Michael McCain said in a release. The transaction, a sale of about $645 million, is expected to close by the end of the year and, according the release, will be used initially to pay down debt. Upon completion of Maple Leaf ’s prepared meats strategy, management will consider appropriate deployment of surplus capital.
Corrections: *A story in the July issue of ORN listed Manchu Wok under MTY’s portfolio. Manchu Wok is owned by Hong Kong-based Café de Coral Holdings Ltd. and does not have any connection to MTY. We regret the error. *The “Buying in to green” feature in the August issue of ORN listed the LEED-certified Tim Hortons’ address incorrectly, as 969 Upper Water St., Hamilton. The address is 969 Upper Ottawa St., Hamilton.