San Francisco Restaurant News

Upcoming Class: How to Hire and Train Great Employees

2008-03-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Small Business Development Center is hosting another Restaurant Series class presented by Louise Dawson from Five Star Restaurant Consultants and Julie Chendes from Next Level Strategies. How to Hire and Train Great Employees gives you strategies that recruiting companies use to attract that perfect employee for your restaurant or lounge. Topics include internet postings, reviewing resumes, interview questions and compliance. The instructor will use resume examples to explain specifics regarding what restaurateurs should be looking for in a segment called "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly."The second half of the class focuses on training hospitality employees. Now you have hired that perfect employee, how do you train him or her? Topics covered include core values, internal marketing, team building and server sequencing.

Guest speaker Tim Langfitt, owner and franchisee of Caffino, will talk about his customer service strategy. By focusing on customer service, he is able to successfully compete against larger corporations, in his case, Starbucks.

This low-cost resource class is being held at the SBA on March 12th from 1-4pm. 455 Market Street on the 6th floor. To register, go to www.acteva.com/go/sba

San Francisco Healthcare Security Ordinance

2008-02-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Healthcare Security Ordinance
John M. Ryan, Baybenefits, Inc

What is it, is my business affected and how do I comply?

What is it?

What is the San Francisco Healthcare Security Ordinance? (HSCO) – Here goes the short version….The ordinance is designed to assist uninsured S.F. employees with medical expenditures in the event of sickness, accident and enable preventative medical care. It was passed unanimously by the S.F. Board of Superiors and was sponsored by Tom Ammiano. The ordinance requires employers with 20+ employees to expend money for medical care. Your specific rate will be based on the # of people you employ and the # of hours worked. Businesses with 20-99 employees will be required to spend $1.17 per person per hour. If you have 100+ employees your rate will be $1.78 per hour. You are required all to cover all employees who work more than 10 hours a week and have been working for you more than 90 days. These expenditures must be made each quarter and reported to the city each year. The penalties for non-compliance are very steep and are outlined in the ordinance regulations.

If you have 20-99 employees this works out to $ 203 per month for FT employees.
If you have over 100 employees it works out to $304 for FT employees.

Important- you are required to make an expenditure for all employees who work on average 10+ hours a week.

Is my business affected?

If your company or restaurant has 20+ employees on your payroll full time or part time then YES you are required to make the expenditure beginning January 9, 2008. A careful analysis will need to be conducted to determine how you may be affected and how much your expenditure will be each month or quarter.

Info needed for the analysis:
Employee name, date of birth, date of hire, average # of hours worked each week, copies of any existing insurance medical/dental/vision insurance bills, payroll report showing employee deductions for existing insurance

Employees covered by Medicare or military/veterans insurance may be excluded. Employees covered by spouses or other medical coverage are not excluded. However it is possible but not probable that employees covered by spousal insurance may sign a waiver to relieve you of the expenditure.

What are my options to comply with the ordinance?

There is no cookie cutter solution for compliance with this ordinance. Most businesses will use a combination of several solutions. There will be administrative time and effort, coverage decisions/flexibility and cost considerations.

The fundamental questions to the business owner are

A) Do you want to provide healthcare security for your employees and in turn comply with the ordinance?
or

B) Do you just want to comply with the ordinance?

There are 4 main options:

1) Enroll eligible employees into your existing group medical/dental/vision plans. The health insurance with provide your employees with the greatest amount of financial protection and piece of mind. They will have a medical ID card and the clout that comes with it.

2) Set up a new group medical insurance program or limited benefits Mini-Med plan and enroll your uninsured full time and part time employees.

3) Set up and fund a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for eligible employees. These are new programs that do not have an insurance element and simply allow the employee access the money the city required you pay into the account. Your employees may use the money in these accounts to pay for doctor visits, hospital charges, lab fees, pharmacy charges, dental care, etc. If your employees do not use the money in the account, the money may be returned to the business owner. You will need to hire a third party admin company to approve and pay claims.

4) Pay the money to the city of San Francisco and the city will enroll your employees into Healthy San Francisco which allows your S.F. employees to visit city run health clinics or the city will set up medical reimbursement accounts for your employees who do not live in the city.

It is important to note that this is a new ordinance and the learning curve will be steep for everyone. Please refer to the ordinance and regulations for details.

John M. Ryan is President of Baybenefits, Inc. Baybenefits designs, implements and provides ongoing employee benefit solutions for corporate clients. John is the Program Manager for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Chamber Health Advantage Membership Program(CHAMP), a Board Member and Legislative Chair for the Golden Gate Assoc. of Health Underwriters and is recognized as an authority on solutions to San Francisco HCSO.

Restaurant Locations

2008-01-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

Starboard Realty is announcing some great restaurant listings.

The first is a financial district location that is a bar only (no food) that comes with a full liquor license. It has a 10 year lease, great rent and the asking price is 325K.

There is also an Upper Market location for a restaurant and bar concept. The build-out and location are great. This opportunity also includes an entertainment license. It has a 7 year lease, great rent and the asking price is 595K.

Finally, there is an Inner Richmond location, great for a cafe concept. This opportunity has a 10 year lease, great rent and the asking price is 250K.

For additional information on these and other opportunities, contact Starboard Realty.
Alex Popov: 415.269.1849
Colleen Meharry: 415.260.4288.

Emergency Stay has Been Granted to the City: Employer Mandated Health Care is Now in Effect

2008-01-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

January 9, 2008. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an emergency stay granting San Francisco the right to implement the employer mandate during the City's appeal. The City is appealing the District Court decision which concluded the employer mandate is illegal. The GGRA opposed the stay motion. The hearing was held on January 3 in Pasadena before Senior Circuit Judge Alfred Goodwin, and Circuit Judges Stephen Reinhardt and William Fletcher. The judges allowed the stay as they considered the "irreparable harm" to the City if the employer mandate was not allowed to be implemented during the appeals process. The GGRA will study the opinion and consider an appeal of the emergency stay order. The decision on the stay is independent from the rest of the appeals process.

Beginning on the date listed in the stay order, businesses with 50 to 99 employees will need to spend $1.17 per hour on healthcare for each employee working 10 or more hours per week. Businesses with 100 or more employees will need to spend $1.76 per hour for employees working 10 or more hours per week.

Beginning on April 1, unless altered in the order, businesses with 20 to 49 employees will need to spend $1.17 per hour on employees working 10 or more hours per week.

For more information, go to www.ggra.org

New Green Business and Sustainability Classes

2008-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Small Business Development Center is launching a new series of classes on sustainability. Find out how to become a certified green business, how to save money and the environment and how you can take advantage of rebates and financing to create a program that engages employees and promotes your brand.

Jan. 15 - 6-9 pm - Becoming a Certified Green Business in San Francisco
We'll cover the history and importance of sustainable business practices and the benefits to your business: saving money and more. You'll learn how to get certified and recognized as a Green Business in the City of San Francisco.
Co-sponsored by the San Francisco Department of the Environment

Feb. 12 - 6-9 pm - Running a Green Business
We'll show you how to rethink your business from product to service by adapting useful paradigms of sustainability. You'll become familiar with sustainable practices in Energy, Water, Waste and Procurement.

Mar. 11 - 6-9 pm - Making the Most of Green
We'll show you how to pay for it all using financing and rebates; how to build employee programs to energize your team. Learn to develop markting strategies around sustainability so you can receive your just rewards.

Register for classes at www.acteva.com/go/sba
Classes are held in the SBA Entrepreneur Center: 455 Market St. 6th Floor
For more info call: 415.841.4050.

San Francisco Employer Mandate for Healthcare

2007-12-21T04:34:00.000-08:00

The latest update from Kevin Westlye, Executive Director of the GGRA is that Federal Judge Jeffrey White has not yet rendered his verdict in the GGRA litigation challenging the San Francisco employer mandate for healthcare. The scheduled implementation date of the mandate is January 2, 2008 for businesses with 50 or more employees. The implementation date for businesses with 20 to 49 employees is April 1, 2007.

Although the GGRA remains optimistic that a verdict will be published shortly, the date is rapidly approaching. Although we are hoping for the best, I recommend that you begin to prepare for the worst.

If you have 50 or more employees, are you ready to begin offering healthcare to your employees on January 2nd, 2008?

For more information regarding the mandate, go to:
www.sfgov.org/ols/hcso

"The Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) requires covered employers to make health care expenditures for their covered employees and mandates the Department of Public Health (DPH) to create the Health Access Plan (HAP), now called Healthy San Francisco. Healthy San Francisco is only one option by which a covered employer can satisfy its obligation to make the required health care expenditure (HCE). Covered employers may also purchase health insurance coverage for their covered employees, make payments to the City for the benefit of their covered employees, or make the required HCE in a variety of other manners.
Note that in 2008, "covered employees" include any person who has been employed by his or her employer for at least 90 calendar days and performs at least 10 hours of work per week within the geographic boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco."

Important Information from Next Level News

2007-11-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

Next Level Strategies has just released their newsletter. There is some great human resources information to help you to plan and budget for the upcoming year. For a copy of the full newsletter or to be added to their mailing list, go to info@nextlevelstrategies.net.

HR Trends

The fourth quarter is the time many small companies begin the budgeting process for the upcoming year. You may be surprised by the latest study from Mercer HR Consulting, 2007/2008 U.S. Compensation Planning Survey. According to the survey, employers plan to award average pay increases of 3.8% in 2007. This is up slightly from 3.7% in 2006. Additionally, more and more companies are tying pay increases to employee’s performance. If you haven’t implemented an employee performance review process, this may be a great time to put one in place for 2008.

FICA Tip Credit

Attention all restaurant owners: the FICA Tip Credit is back!!!
Well...it never actually went away, but in the past it could not reduce the Alternative Minimum Tax, so many restaurant owners saw little or no tax savings from this credit in recent years, and stopped taking the credit altogether…but due to a recent change in the tax law, the FICA Tip Credit can now reduce the Alternative Minimum Tax, beginning in 2007 – so it is time for restaurant owners to start taking the FICA Tip Credit, and start paying less tax, once again!!!

Rich Gunn, CPA
Burr, Pilger, Mayer 415.288.6218

ALERT: New I-9 Form and Requirements - On 11/7/07, Form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification Form, was updated. This form requires all employers to verify a new employee's eligibility to work in the U.S. and fill the form out completely within three days of hire. The allowable documents used to verify eligibility have changed so please note the document list on the form. The effective date is 11/7/07 but there is a 30-day grace period so all employees hired on or after 12/7/07 must have their eligibility verified using the new form. You do not have to reverify existing employees. The form can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I9. There is a Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9 at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274.pdf or you can call us and we'll assist you with simple instructions to a complete I-9 compliance audit.

Minimum Wage Increase to $9.36 on January 1st

2007-11-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $9.36 per hour starting January 1st. Now is the time to start preparing for this increase with your bookkeeper and overall, with your budget. For restaurant owners, this may be a good time to review your menu prices and to make changes accordingly.

Small Business Development Center Success Story: Regalito Rosticeria

2007-11-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Regalito
Rosticeria
3481 18th Street
San Francisco

Thomas Pena had spent several years refining family recipes and, as he was preparing his restaurant project, he traveled for months in Mexico researching new menu items and cooking techniques. He also had studied baking and pastry at the California Culinary Academy.
In 2005, Thomas took every one of the San Francisco SBDC’s Restaurant Series classes. Whether it was “Checklist for Starting a Restaurant,” “Understanding Food Costs” or four other restaurant classes, Thomas was there. He also took Quickbooks and Strategic Marketing classes from the SBDC. That year he began to work with Colleen Meharry, the SBDC’s lead restaurant consultant. Meetings with Colleen and, later, Louise Dawson, our current lead consultant continued into 2006 as he prepared for his opening.

Colleen and Louise worked with Thomas on every part of his plan. When he found a location on 18th Street in the Mission area of San Francisco, they reviewed his build-out plans and helped him understand the demographics of that area and, as well, his citywide market.

In September and October of 2006, as he prepared for opening, Susie Biehler, the SBDC restaurant PR consultant helped him “create the buzz” for a strong opening.

Regalito Rosticeria launched in November, 2006 and the Grand Opening coincided with Mexican national holiday “Dia de los Muertos” or Day of the Dead. Thomas has historically hosted a very large celebration from his home to celebrate the holiday, including hiring staff from the Culinary Academy to help him prepare and serve some of his signature dishes including some of the best empanadas found in the city and his Mole which, even prior to opening his restaurant, has been a favorite dish within his foodie circle of friends.
According to Restaurant Consultant, Louise Dawson “Although I grew up in Mexico City and think of myself as somewhat of a Mole connoisseur, I don’t think I have ever tasted Mole quite like Thomas’. I have seen how he makes it and the whole process takes about three days.”

Thomas is now able to host his anticipated celebration from his beautifully designed restaurant ( MartinkovichMilford) This year, instead of his artist friends creating the altars, Regalito’s staff will be decorating the niches that were specially designed for that purpose. To add an even more exciting layer, Thomas is hosting the after party for the De Young Museum who is in turn working with Mia Gonzales, the curator from Encantado in producing an exhibition for Day of the Dead. Regalito will also be presenting some of the artists at the restaurant.

According to Thomas, “I would never have been as ready to open my restaurant if it were not for the SBDC Restaurant Series classes and the one-on-one consulting services. The caliber and experience of the restaurant team and the ability to learn from experienced professionals really set me up for success. Most start-ups, like myself, benefit from the free consulting and low cost classes that they otherwise would not have been able to afford. The success of that program can be measured through the success of its clients.”

Looking for a New Spot for Dinner? Check Out Sozai Japanese Tapas!

2007-11-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last month, Sozai Restaurant opened on 15th and Irving Street. This cozy, neighborhood restauraunt serves up some of the best Japanese small plates and has an impressive sake menu.

Japanese born Executive Chef and Owner, Mari Takahashi wanted to bring the concept of Izakaya to San Francisco. Izakaya is a meal of tasty Japanese small plates, followed by noodles or soup and washed down with plenty of sake. You can't get better than that!

Mari does not serve sushi at her restaurant but she does do plenty of catering, where sushi is a staple. She hosted an office event for me several weeks ago and it was mouth-watering!

If you want to check out the restaurant, go to http://www.sozaisf.com/. I recommend the ginger chocolate cake for dessert.

For catering, go to http://www.marisfood.com/.

How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow

2007-11-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

If you are in the hospitality industry, then you should check out Chip Conley's new book. Chip, who is the founder and CEO of Joie De Vivre Hospitality, talks about his company's survival after 9/11 and dot bomb. By following Maslow's hierarchy of needs and transferring them to the workplace, Chip's survival through this devastating time was due to focusing on building meaningful relationships with customers and staff to create peak experiences.
The book is a must-read and available at Amazon for about $15.00.

Smart Management Class: Employees, Liability and the Law

2007-11-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

This class is part of The Restaurant Series hosted by the San Francisco Small Business Development Center and co-hosted by Heffernan Insurance and Next Level Strategies.

The first part of the course educates the entrepreneur on how to reduce liability hiring employees, law compliance with protected classes, independent contractor versus employee, exempt versus non-exempt status and ongoing human resources issues such as meal and rest breaks, overtime and sick pay.

The second part of the course focuses on reducing employee accidents in the workplace, how to control worker's compensation cases and how to best protect yourself against third party claims.

If you are considering starting a restaurant or are already in business, then this class is a must!
The instructors help you to develop control strategies in uncontrollable situations.

This class is being held on November 14 from 1-4pm at the SBA Entrepreneur Center, 455 Market Street. The cost of the class is $25.00 per person.

Food Costing Class this Wednesday, October 17th from 6-8pm

2007-10-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

If you are considering opening a restaurant, or are already in the business and are looking to increase your profits, then this class is for you.
The Food and Menu Costing Class is one of a series of low cost classes that are hosted by the San Francisco Small Business Development Center. The classes are held at the SBA Entrepreneurial Center at 455 Market Street on the 6th floor. The classes are $25.00 per person.
This class emphasizes the importance of knowing what each menu item costs to produce and how to price it according to industry standards for profitability. Students take away hard copies of inventory systems, recipe cards, order sheets and costing booklet. Digital versions are available upon request. This class fills up fast so come early and bring your calculators!

Frisee opens October 16th!

2007-10-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Brothers Brett and Nathan Niebergall launch restaurant Frisee this week.

Pronounced "Fruzay," the word gets it's French origins from curly endive and sets the perfect backdrop for their salad-centric menu.

The Niebergall brothers have over 15 years in the restaurant industry and decided to bring their fast, fresh and gourmet concept to the Castro after moving into the area and finding a lack of fast and healthy options.

Located at 2367 Market Street, the brothers took over the Crave location and have been under construction for the past 6 months. Their space is clean and streamlined but cozy and comfortable.

I have had the opportunity to sample their pre-opening menu selection and I was thoroughly impressed and that doesn't happen very often. I will definately be a regular customer. The pistachio crusted salmon was prepared perfectly and I almost forgot it was a salad! The smoked trout was equally as divine and the noodle dishes are memorable. With each dish I kept saying "This one is my favorite!" Brother Brett is the Executive Chef and is very talented. I have a feeling we are witnessing the beginnings of what he is to become.

Brother Nathan is the GM and runs the FOH, including creating the wine list. He is very knowledgable and I don't want to give away the surprise but I can tell you, you will be impressed with his selection.

The industry dinner is set for tonight and the restaurant will open to the public on Tuesday. Stop by and check them out. They are the new darlings of San Francisco!