Ron Paul Speaks

Ron Paul is coming to speak at Lindenwood University and I am half tempted to cut my vacation short to get the opportunity to hear him speak.  He will be in the Robert Hyland Performance arena on next Saturday at 3:00 PM.  Again, Lindenwood nails it in regard to taking it up a notch by bringing interesting figures like this to the campus.
 

While sitting in the Spellmann Dining Hall yesterday doing my weekly food tasting (and yes, it is indeed about the taste of the food), I was able to interact with a couple of faculty members whom I haven't seen in a while.  Academia is a place where you get a fairly interesting perspective on politics.  Faculty members are always good for some fodder if you bait them just right. Now, I choose not to pontificate about some things and politics are usually one of them.  However, the fact that Lindenwood is hosting a candidate like this is tremendous.  Just about as tremendous as hosting Rex Sinquefield a couple of weeks ago.
 

Paul has been described as conservative and libertarian and calls out the game players, the stakeholders in a system that is broken and undeserved to those who pay taxes.  I have written many a piece on the frustrating status quo of government and Paul pretty much makes a platform out of it.  Paul likes the Fed being out of State matters, and I applaud this.  "The government shouldn't be in the medical business." says Paul, referencing health care and other controversial issues related to regulatory health issues.  As for income taxes, it's the bureaucracies Paul would take out first, claiming never to have voted for a budget deficit approval in all of his years of public service.  He thinks the reduction of federal agencies can virtually wipe out the need for individual income taxes.  Do you think the agencies or the politicians will go down without a fight?
 

Pauls position might best be characterised in this statement:  “If the policies of the Republican Party are the same as the Democrat Party and they don't want to change anything on foreign policy, they don't want to cut anything, they don't want to audit the Fed and find out about monetary policy, they don't want to have actual change in government, that is a problem for me."  Actions tend to be the authority on whether or not this is true.  History shows that those that play the game want the rules to stay the same, and the income.

Here is a real life story to put in your pocket--

 I have found that by being in business you basically have a conduit to all sorts of agencies, this if you have employees, sales taxes to be paid and reported, other stuff needed to "be" in business--an ongoing communication with agencies ranging from employment security to the IRS to licensing for all sorts of stuff.  It is way too complicated for me to understand, and the need to engage and hire what I call "tick bird" special services, in the area of legal and accounting and consulting practices, is totally necessary to figure out how to report and stay within that of the feds expectations.  These are the agencies who are the business of  funneling more money to the government, the game, the game the game.
 

I was floored when I looked back at the last few years of accounting services totaling over $70,000.00.  This was for income tax preparation and consulting in order to make sure we have our act together so we don't get penalized for...whatever stuff they say we did.  Heck, I am focused on my business, shouldn't I be?  Or should we be focused on the thug at the end of the conduit, the Fed? I am not even touching legal services here.

We received a notice from an agency not long ago--I can't remember what it was but something didnt match up on one of our ongoing reports.  The fed had determined that we were in error and advised that we should go ahead and pay the penalties and adjustments somewhere in the neighborhood or $7000.00, regardless of our position and/or efforts to reconcile the matter.  These things do happen in business, but nobody asks for pay without justification.  This is what the fed has made a habit out of, because they are the fed. 

We found the problem quickly and (after hiring some special services to make sure it was not mis-interpreted) determined that there really wasn't an issue, simply a clarification needed to get back to the agency and rectify matters.  We promptly submitted. 

We were told that the agency was not able to provide "reconciliation services" at this time (they were too busy) and that we should send in our money and seek to become relieved of the penalties at a later time.  Not kidding.  This will sit unresolved until the Fed has the time to deal with it.  What would my clients say if this were how I treated them?  Meanwhile, it sits as a matter unclosed in our business, a tethered ball and chain; a reminder that the Fed has its fist waving at us at all times.

After doing my research on Ron Paul and my conversations with some faculty members...those who share the excitement to be part of such an incredible institution like Lindenwood, my hope is that we will have a better, more collective awareness of the broken game of special interest politics.   Perhaps our young folks will learn a thing or two by showing up and taking part.  Perhaps they won't just take my word for it. This is huge for Lindenwood and the students, and the entire community.  Applause, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.  

Campus Sustainability Minds Matter

From time to time I am asked by my clients to engage student groups about sustainability. Since Pfoodman is heavily involved in that which impacts our campus community sustainability programs, I put it out there that I have an ear to this stuff if anybody wants to talk about it. Though not perfect, I tend to be a little more sustainable than the average person, understanding of course that my opinion of the average person is that they have little regard for waste and the options available to keep things sustainable.

In my family, we recycle, and during the summer months I park my (SUV) car as much as possible and ride a scooter to my office. In my restaurant, we use only compostable materials made of sugar cane for all to-go containers. All of my food service operations in the city of St. Louis at Pfoodman have post-consumer waste programs that compost the food that comes back to the dish rooms, and there is plenty of post consumer waste. Not because our food isn't good, more likely because it looks good and students eat with their eyes. This is the paradox for us. Soon we will track the impact that this has on our community.

So when I do get the occasional student who is interested in talking about what a campus can do to change for the better, I listen and try to coach them through that which is at the center of change, education. There are many things that need to be considered and the more you know about institutional management, the better.

The Facility Minded Matter.

In higher education we have buildings that have been constructed through a development plan adapted from and out of necessity by the numbers of forecasted enrollment. Often buildings are remodeled and adapted in order to get the best bang for the buck on design and functionality. Capital costs for constructing buildings are significant and most buildings go through a value engineering process towards meeting the capital goals at one time or another. Capital costs are different than operational costs, and sustainable features can be more expensive to build and more expensive to manage if not done correctly. Sometimes a master plan takes in to account (that which might still be considered unconventional process) during the architectural stage, only to be built three years later. Sustainability planning is a very forward thinking process and requires commitment during the design phase. Often this is where the decision making for campus sustainability begins--along with the commitment for those costs and compliances necessary to make it happen. Often the design phase does not get the influence from student groups supporting sustainable planning.

The Operational Conscientious Matter.

Making the decision to equip a building, perhaps a new student center, with sustainable features requires vision and the functional giving and taking of conventional to unconventional. To force a program on to students who are not, at the very least, educated to the mission of the campus community, can be disastrous. Students won't embrace and can rebel by not doing their part in relationship to the functionality of the program leaving trash, littering and overall disinterest in sustainability.

Recycling requires its own bin process and vendor selection, appropriate sorting stations, designated dumpster area with access. If the institution decides to do composting, an area needs to be set aside for that. If the design in the dining services goes tray less, dish room accumulators and the design and function of table bussing changes. If you go with composting materials for to-go containers, expect higher costs in operations. And lets not forget the food service employees and their cost/output; having to adapt to the shift in process often increases in man hours for clean up.

Band Wagon Advocacy.

Getting students to get on board is one thing. Engaging the administration is another. Administrators often have the task of creating and maintaining budgets, controlling costs while maximizing value in multiple departments and multiple facilities, all needing an ongoing facilities and operations acknowledgment and strategy. Students wanting to change the world for the better by putting pressure on their educational institution should understand the "business" of the institution and seek to create the platform necessary to make change. Student governments are a good start, advocacy groups specific to eco focused endeavors are on every campus. Starting a club, getting chartered to be recognized on your campus for promoting sustainability is key, holding meetings advocating that which is at the center change; education. By educating the stakeholders you will get others on board.

In my experience, I have studied many sustainable programs and not all of them take hold. A "practice what you preach" approach is best. Authenticity towards the mission of sustainability is important to showing others that you mean business.

Creating the influence necessary for others to embrace the sustainable purpose, while challenging, can be a very rewarding experience. Go ahead and get inspired, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Top Ten Hidden Spiritual Messages

I met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. We went to high school together and, back in the day, we used to kick it up pretty good when getting together. I am glad those days are over but there are some pretty funny memories. I will save his name because of his outstanding family man status; a successful marriage and three really cool kids who might rather keep good ole dad as GOOD ole dad. It's the least I can do.


Back in the day, when the two of us would go out looking for amusement, I would spontaneously introduce him as someone he wasn't, just for kicks and grins. Kind of like Castanza in the clip wanting to be an architect. He wouldn’t know what was coming but he usually pulled it off. I would introduce him as a dentist, perhaps a painter or a sculptor, he would always go a long with it and it would usually play out during the night. Once we crashed a fraternity party at the University of Illinois in Champagne, claiming to be alumni while there on business. If we were artists this would have been our masterpiece; they wanted to put us up for the night and kept our drinks full for hours while we told stories of the old days, having never stepped foot on that campus. Priceless. Wrong, totally wrong, but priceless.

I suppose it pays off if you stay in character, and yes those days are far behind me. There are exceptions and you better be ready when life doles them out to you…

I was touring Chaminade College Prep Schools new Arts Center prior to doing an event there. There was entertainment; dancing, a pyrotechnics show and a cocktail party. There were probably 20 folks getting ready to go on a tour when I arrived, and I had just happened by to say hi to my manager there, John Buchanan. John offered up a quick tour of the site for my own personal benefit, because it had recently opened and I had not seen it yet. We ended up on this tour as part of an orientation for what was to take place the night of the event. Nothing that I would have a part of.

Eventually we ended up on the stage, a most amazing place looking out over the seats in the audience, we stood in a circle and were asked to introduce ourselves and tell everyone what we did. Very few of the group had ever been on the campus, it seemed everyone was a dancer or a musician or part of the event. Again, I didn't even belong there, piggybacking on the tour. So when it was my turn I said that my name was Ralph and I was the President, (of what I assumed they would take as the President of Pfoodman). John introduced himself first as the Manager of Pfoodman. I must have assumed that they would make the connection.

When the introductions got back around to the host everyone felt comfortable with one another and they were joking around about how the show would work out if there was a fire issue with the pyrotechnics. At that time the host of the group looked and pointed to me laughing saying that perhaps Father Ralph would say a prayer!

Huh?

Yes, I had on a white shirt and a black blazer with no tie, and well, I might have looked the part, and yes, I was raised in the Catholic Church. But realizing, while standing there in front of all those people that they thought, for that small moment in time, that I was the Reverend Ralph A. Siefert the President of Chaminade, my client, and someone whom I could only aspire to be as well thought of, well, it was just funny, and awkward, and funny!

And at that moment while standing there, opinioned through the eyes of the others; thought of as someone completely different with honors and achievements far outside of my ability to shoulder, the realization hit that I was indeed in a very interesting situation. I laughed and quietly stepped away as not to embarrass the host and grinned to John Buchannan, “did that really happen?”

Life has its “top tens”. This was one of them ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

History and Statistics

From today's St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Gerard Craft of the Niche family of restaurants, Kevin Willmann of Farmhaus, Josh Galliano of Monarch and Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe have been named semifinalists for Best Chef/Midwest in the 2012 James Beard Awards. Salt restaurant in the Central West End is a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category.

These guys are some major heavy hitters and their restaurants the best in the Lou. As St. Louis people, we should be proud to have these folks in our midst. And we should patronize them as much as possible. Heck, they are all independents aren’t they?—all the more reason. There are so many good restaurants in our town, so many people laying it all out there in the spirit of purveying culinary arts—many on the bubble. There is a behind the scenes a struggle that most of us never understand.

Things have changed since I was in that part of the business--so competitive and so filled with uncertainty. The restaurant business is tough and if you want to do it, I recommend that you spend 10 years apprenticing before going out on your own. Forget about dropping a bunch of money on culinary-art-for-profit schools unless you have the cash up front. If you must seek higher education as a launching point, go to St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. I went there and it was a great experience, cheap. That said, I hire a lot of people from several schools in the area, many I would first advise to do the above.

Anyway, hopefully after ten years, anyone seeking to embark on this journey will have seen the struggle of the independent restaurateur.  Hopefully they will keep their nest egg hidden from the desire to see their name in the newspaper like them fellers up there. Some of us make it, some of us don't. We are all awesome regardless, sure. We the artists of customer service, food preparation and hospitality, we the broken and weary all too often. We are champions and so necessary to our community and our culture. Our customers can be loyal and brutal in there ability to make or break us.

Here is a top 10 list of things needed to make it in the restaurant business.

1. Money.

2. Knees, a couple of pair.

3. A chef with diplomacy, old school butt kicking doesn’t work much anymore.

4. Forget about sleep.

5. White picket fence family lifestyle?--ain’t gonna happen, mark that one off too.

6. You might want to check your liver from time to time.

7. A stable of divorce lawyers.

8. A stable of vendors to check kite, (careful here).

9. Money when #8 cuts you off.

10. Money for payroll when #9 pops up (think about it).

Also in the Post Dispatch today:

The four area Casa Gallardo restaurants closed for good Thursday because of the "very soft economy,"

This is sad.  Who didn't go to a Casa Gallardo? Or better said who didn't work for Casa Gallardo? I could take it one step further and say: Who didn't work, play or know Pat Hanon and/or Ray Gallardo? I worked for both and it was a ton of fun. Ray was a hero to the industry in many ways. His ethnicity and rise from roots story. This guy was and still is a great businessman. Back in the day they formed Hanon Management and there were twenty or so of us who managed assorted restaurants within that empire—yup, a multi unit management company. Patrick's, a family owned restaurant (a great family at that) later turned in to Puljos 5, and was most recently named the St. Louis Hall of Fame Sports Bar and Grill. Ozzies, just up the mall, closed a couple of years ago and Rob Gallardo re-opened down on Washington Ave. Bevo Mill, well that place was just an ongoing crazy banquet space, not sure who has that now, but it was in the stable. There was Max's Bar and Grill in the Radisson in Clayton. There was Patrick's Cafe in Ellisville, Joe Hanon's in Maryland Heights. These restaurants were killing it back in the 90’s. Not nearly as fancy, but food has changed.

Then came the Jalapeño Restaurants that tipped the scales of Clayton pretty people watching phenom. Highlights of my experience were the ever so popular Party in the Park parties. Cardwells and Jalapeños were totally off the hook on these nights. The other highlight was my last day of work at the corner of Brentwood and Maryland, the day after being punched in the face by a muscle head trainer type working on his lady skills. I have been in contract management ever since.

Nothing is forever, and that is what makes the restaurant business such a challenge. I think the top priority on any restuarant opening should be to sell the restaurant in the first year. Once the brand has any hint of equity, sell it and get out. Sometimes it takes longer than a year to stabilize it. The longer it takes the more of the top 10 you will need, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Gas and Santorum

If I hear one more time: "some experts say it’s going to be $5.00 a gallon" I will do what I did last year and cut a day out of my car operations per week. This is what I did last time this happened. And I wasn’t as mad at the gas prices as I was the goofball media for broadcasting the message, day and night, the picture of gloom and doom, the crumbling of economy, the downfall of our civilization, the interviews of people in the streets next to their parked SUV's with their V8's-the sexy sound of the hum in the morning when remote starting my car from the kitchen window.

I do like my big gas guzzling car, but it does bother me that it costs a pretty penny to operate. For the sake of not losing any credibility in the sustainability culture, I will not divulge how many miles to the gallon I get. I will say that I have a very active lifestyle and that I am always hauling stuff from place to place. Not to mention, being in the event management business provides the need for a roomy vehicle.

My solution was to purchase a scooter a couple years ago and it gets a whopping 100 miles to the gallon. So back off! It will be cold this weekend, but I am riding it instead of driving my car this weekend.

 Now, driving to Florida in the next week or so? I might as well fly a family of 8, ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

I know, this post is boring.  How about this?  I officially think that Santorum is likely the best thing that could happen to the Dems.  I think this guy is paid to act like a narrow minded idiot in order to advance that which is at the heart of the left.  Enjoy tricky Ricky speaking to a group of young kids.

http://youtu.be/PzzDrOR30U8

Friendly Ralph provides historic perspective

My father made a family business out of the restaurant business. This after being in the finance industry under the (stage name) Friendly Ralph. I call it a stage name because, back in the late 60's, he would buy up blocks of TV time at KOMU TV in Columbia MO, and promote his product, Thrifty Finance. The commercials were campy and he often waved around fists full of 100 dollar bills around Christmas time while decending from a cardboard fireplace in a santa suit. If you went and saw Friendly Ralph, you would walk away with fast cash and have a merry Christmas.

It was a finance company, and they did collateral loans in 4-5 locations around Midwestern MO. This was before credit cards and pawn shops. This was the way you got your fast cash. Friendly Ralph had a plane that he flew around from town to town doing his loans.

The TV commercials ran throughout the late 60's and 70's and turned him into a fairly recognizable figure in the community. He later skirted the perimeter of politics here and there, never holding an office, but being fairly influential at times. He was a lobbyist, a statesman, he owned a place called Phil E. Busters later, in Jefferson City, MO, eventually selling out to Bone's, and it is still in operation. The bar business helped with his approach to meeting and influencing those in power, I suppose. The 70’s were an interesting time and Missouri politics had its own set of rules back in the day.

I was thinking about Friendly Ralph, the brand, and I find myself thinking a lot about his approach to doing things.

No bones about it, it was a personal brand. It was really quite genius, to say the least. Proving that the only thing one needs to pull something off like that is the shoulders to walk around in character--and the vehicle to get it out there. In this case, it was early TV. I found several articles in a trunk the other day, receipts and contracts with TV stations buying advertising time. It wasn't expensive back then. There were only two channels, KOMU and KCRG.  He stayed in character.

Being a pitch man has a different kind of existence. He was always Friendly Ralph in the community, and I was always the son of Friendly Ralph, my mom, the wife, my sister the daughter. It put a tremendous amount of pressure on us all.  Yes, we were proud of this because everyone knew him. I wouldn't understand, entirely, the importance of his style of promotion; his ability to broadcast a personal brand, until later in life. Some might say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. I wonder how one would explain social media to those flipping channels back in the day on a black and white TV.  In that perspective, one might wonder what is next for those looking for the cutting edge.  What hasn't changed is the need to have personality behind the pitch, authenticity, relevency.

I stopped in a restaurant in Columbia not long ago, Jack's Gourmet. Owner Ken Applegate purchased the restaurant from my father and his partner Bill Bratrud long ago. While there, Ken asked if I could offer up any memorabilia for their 40th anniversary. They had collected some things from back in the day and displayed them in the bar. Back in the day, before the fire, the bar evolved to a 70's art deco gallery of sorts, a "disco joint" with cheesy dancing from a DJ booth and 45 record spins. Jack's and my fathers other restaurant, 2100 West, were the first Disco's in the area and it was Superfly, Love American Style, leisure suit and Playboy wannabee's just about every Friday and Saturday night. I am not sure anyone would really want to have their images out there.

So it was after Thrifty Finance that Friendly Ralph jumped in to the restaurant business and opened 4-5 quick serve restaurants called Ku Ku Burger. Ku Ku Burger had the first outdoor playground built to attract kids, featuring the "Tornado slide". I boast Friendly Ralph's early innovations as being the first to provide a playground at the front of the burger joint, yes, before McDonalds, which was in its infancy. Friendly Ralph later sold the restaurants to Sandy's which later became Hardees’s restaurants. He got in to the full service restaurant mode and rode out his career doing things in contract food service and later retired at the Lake of the Ozarks.

So enjoy a couple images from Jack's. When I get time I will take them down to Ken Applegate, he will surely be retired soon. Hopefully this will help keep the memories intact. Friendly Ralph, well, his legacy is alive and well, re-incarnated as would be expected ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

  *The two art deco paintings are my favorites.  The one of the woman, is actually a man in drag, note the large hand the the artists use of contrast, dark glasses.  The black and white painting was in our family room and has been in my family since 1970.

 

*The photo of Ku Ku is one of the last remaining Ku Ku restuarants.  When my father franchised his restuarants, shortly after he opened them the corporate office went belly up, leaving the franchisees to do what they pleased.  I am so happy one still remains in existence in Oklahoma.