The banner of all banners

Remember how I wrote about Capriotti’s and its plans to take over DFW one sandwich at a time?  Then, recall how they sent 100 sandwiches to D headquarters for my co-workers to try, and most of them were pretty happy with their free sandwiches (minus the mayo).

I thought that would be my last interaction with Capriotti’s, but then a SideDisher posted a photo of this enormous banner on Nancy’s Facebook yesterday. Capriotti’s Plano location is sporting a hot new look along with a copy of my article posted in the window (minus the comments, of course).

In my imagination, I wonder if Capriotti’s trip to Kinko’s looked something like this:

Capriotti’s people: I want a banner with the whole headline included.

Kinko’s people: Er, how big do you want it?

Capriotti’s people: Biiiiig. So big that you can spot it from a satellite circling around the globe. So big that – should we enter another Ice Age, like, today – we could use it to build a big tent for a small population of loyal Capriotti’s customers.

Anyways, you should enjoy the sign while it lasts, Capriotti’s. I think our lawyers will be contacting you guys soon since ya’ll are breaking a couple of copyright laws and all. But before you throw that banner away, I have this one request: Send me your sign. I’d really like to hang it outside my house. That way, should I ever get lost in space, I’ll know how to return home.

(No, really, I do want the sign.)

Anybody have some suggestions for the former employees when it comes tax time? We never received check stubs or info on the taxes taken out of them, that is when we did get them and they didn’t bounce.

I contacted Gregory P. Williams, a CPA with Restaurant CFO Partners in Plano. He has a lot of answers. They are below. I’ve also included his contact information if you have more questions.

Here’s Greg:

Good question!  Below are the official IRS procedures to follow in this situation.  Even in bankruptcy, employers generally send out W-2’s.  If this is not the case in this situation, then I anticipate that the employee will have to follow procedures 2 & 3 and estimate their earnings.

If you haven’t received your W-2, follow these four steps:

1. Contact your employer -If you have not received your W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or to issue the W-2.

2. Contact the IRS –  If you do not receive your W-2 by February 14th, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When you call, you must provide your name, address, city and state, including zip code, Social Security number, phone number and have the following information:

• Employer’s name, address, city and state, including zip code and phone number

• Dates of employment

• An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and when you worked for that employer during 2010. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.

3. File your return – You still must file your tax return or request an extension to file April 16, 2012, even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you have not received your Form W-2 by the due date, and have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Attach Form 4852 to the return, estimating income and withholding taxes as accurately as possible.  There may be a delay in any refund due while the information is verified.

4. File a Form 1040X – On occasion, you may receive your missing W-2 after you filed your return using Form 4852, and the information may be different from what you reported on your return. If this happens, you must amend your return by filing a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

Gregory P. Williams

Restaurant CFO Partners

701 E. 15th Street

Suite 201

Plano, TX 75074

Tel: 972-633-8999

Part of the Total Catch.(photo by Jon Alexis.)

Jon Alexis, know on every blog in the United States of America as jonfromtjs, handles the marketing for TJ’s Seafood Market, the successful fish market in Preston Forest. He is a conscientious student of seafood. Recently he learned about Total Catch Market, a project (and blog) run by PJ Stoops and Billy Tellez of Louisiana Foods. Their niche is selling by-catch fish, the innocent fishes caught by fishermen actually fishing for a higher profile fish. JonfromTJs was so moved when he heard about these guys, he jumped in his car and drove to Houston.  He sends a brief story about his experience along with cell phone pictures. I am going to run it below. Grammar police be warned: the copy is unedited only because I am low on time at the moment. Take it away jonfromtjs:

Fact – Global demand for seafood is increasing exponentially.

Fact – To meet this demand, we are overfishing our oceans.

Fact – When targeting a species, fishermen throw back any other species they weren’t intending to catch.

Fact – The majority of these fish die when thrown back into the water.

Conclusion – why are we not better utilizing Gulf BY-CATCH?

PJ Stoops and Billy Tellez came to this conclusion a while ago. Now every weekend in Houston, they set up a pop-up market to sell absurdly-fresh Gulf by catch. By catch is any fish caught by the fisherman besides what species they are intending to catch.

Most of these fish are delicious – some are even considered delicacies in other waters.

I traveled to Houston last weekend to learn more about Gulf by catch and some unique species of fish.

After spending some time with Billy Friday afternoon (PJ has gotten tons of media recognition lately for his seemingly infinite seafood knowledge, but Billy deserves a lot of credit as well), I had dinner at Reef restaurant.  Chef Bryan Caswell is another proponent of using everything the Gulf has to offer. Kinilaw Ceviche with Blue Crab, Orange, Coco-Lime Broth was light and fresh.   Roasted Grouper with Corn Pudding, Salsa Cruda, Grilled Peach had a Southern warmth…Houston meets Charleston.

My favorite dish was Grilled Cobia, Broccolini, Orange Mustard, Jalapeno Relish. Cobia is a farm-raised fish that we don’t see too often in Dallas.  Buttery flavor of Mahi Mahi with the firm texture of Swordfish – you can cube it like you can beef.  If you like Ivory Salmon, you’ll love Cobia.

Saturday morning at 8:30am, I arrived at the Total Catch market and in-the-know Houstonians were already lined up for the 9am start time.

The selection is different every week depending on what the fishermen caught. The catch is posted the Friday prior on their blog. Last week’s catch included mangrove snapper, barrelfish, beardfish, triggerfish, blackfin tuna, rock hind, almaco jack, longtail bass, scorpionfish, and more.

So what does this fish taste like?

Barrelfish is very similar to Grouper and a great fish for any recipe requiring a mild-medium flavored flaky white fish.

Beardfish is extremely rare – PJ and Billy had only seen it a handful of times in their years working the Gulf. Beardfish is a sweet whitefish with a very small flake – it almost tastes like crabmeat as it breaks apart in your mouth.

Triggerfish is sweet and firm. Similar to Pompano. My favorite fish of the catch.

Utilizing these fish is not just a marketing gimmick or a “green” ploy.  Sustainability aside- these are delicious, healthy fish we are throwing back most likely to die!

Houston and Austin are already seeing these fish and others available in their cities. TJ’s will be carrying a selection of Gulf By Catch on the weekends and chefs and restaurateurs around the city have already expressed interest.

Grass does not grow beneath Teresa Gubbins' shoes.

Leave it to Teresa “Gumshoe” Gubbins to find a snitch in Trader Joe’s camp. Since the grocery chain announced they were planning locations in Dallas last May, they have been quite secretive about their locations. According to TG, you can rule out the former location on Greenville Ave. Her Deep Throat coughs up three possible locations: Walnut Hill and Central, Knox Ave., and Fort Worth. All of the details are here.

There was a time when Trader Joe’s was cool and funky and carried stuff you couldn’t find elsewhere, but I think the company is now running on a tired image. In the 70s,  Two Buck Chuck played a significant role in nursing wine drinkers off the Spanada bottle but the last TBC I sampled burned the enamel off my teeth. So, Trader Joe’s? Yes or no? Why?

Execs ink the deal surrounded by their winning assets. (Photo courtesy of Twin Peaks)

Intern Harrison Smith attended a press conference this morning during which it was announced that a thundering herd of Hooters execs will be leaving Boob City (Hooters) for the rapidly expanding Breastville (Twin Peaks). Read on for his straight-from-the-press-conference-floor business tidbit:

An investment group led by Coby Brooks, who served as president and CEO at Hooters of America LLC from 2003 until last month, has signed a series of development agreements to open 35 new Twin Peaks restaurants over the next 10 years. Twin Peaks, an Addison-based restaurant franchise operating under Front Burner LLC, currently has 15 locations in five states. Six more are slated to open this year.

Four other former Hooters executives will join him in his La Cina Restaurants franchise group: Joe Hummel, former executive vice president of operations and purchasing; Roger Gondek, former vice president of company store operations; Clay Mingus, former vice president and general counsel; and Jim Tessmer, former vice president and controller. All four resigned from Hooters of America last month due to a frustration with the way things were handled at the company, Brooks says.

jump for more…

Patti Frederick, who served as business administrator for former Hooters of America owner Bob Brooks, also joins the team. The group plans to open restaurants in six states over the next ten years, at a pace of one every six months. “The hardest part,” said Brooks, “is learning their system. Every restaurant’s got a different way of doing things.” Brooks stressed that there’s a difference between Hooters and Twin Peaks, with Twin Peaks stressing fresh food much more than Hooters.

The development agreement reunites the previous two Hooters of America CEOs, Coby Brooks and Rick Akam, under the Twin Peaks brand. (Akam was named Twin Peaks’ COO in May after serving as CEO of Hooters from 1995 to 2003.)

“His decision to join the Twin Peaks management team made my decision to pursue this opportunity that much easier,” said Brooks in a statement.

Luther Lowe, Manager of Local Business Outreach for Yelp, chimes in on the great Yelp debate. (Image courtesy of TheFoodNetwork.com)

In an article on TheFoodChannel.com, Kay Logsdon updated us on the Yelp vs. the restaurateur debate—specifically whether online reviews via Yelp (and, eh-hem, other sources) are a good or a bad thing? The following is the opening excerpt from her article:

It was the food fight of the year. The tall, wavy-haired young marketing genius vs. the wiry, shaved-headed young chef. Both technically-savvy. Both heavily invested in the food business. Both opinionated.

In this corner, Luther Lowe, Manager of Local Business Outreach for the popular ratings powerhouse, Yelp.

And, in that corner, Stefan Richter (photo, right), the Finnish chef who was a runner-up on the fifth season of Top Chef, and owner of Stefan’s European Catering, Stefan’s at L.A. Farm, and Stefan’s Steakhouse (in Finland).

In the audience? Restaurant owners and operators who have a definite stake in the game. These are the people whose very livelihood can be impacted by a negative or positive review of their restaurant, and those online ratings can be important to attracting new customers. How popular is Yelp? The site this week passed a significant milestone: its 20 millionth review was posted.

The drama was all part of the great debate showcased at the National Restaurant Association’s session: Are Online Reviews a Good or Bad Thing?…

Click here to read the whole article. Then come back so that we can discuss…

Statement from Kathy Jack, Owner of Jack’s Backyard

With four days’ notice from the property owner, Jack’s Backyard closed for business on Sunday, June 26. I want to tell my friends, family, Jack’s customers and investors that I am truly sorry that this has happened. My partner, Susie Buck, and I worked along with our staff to make this business work.

There is so much misinformation and so many rumors. Jack’s opened on Oct. 31, 2008.  I never paid myself a salary during the two and a half year run. We simply cut back and lived on what my partner earned at her other job.  Jack’s was a BIG place and we opened in a tough economy. Jack’s Backyard earned only enough money to keep the doors open.  All along there was a 10-year plan to repay the Jack’s investors and I truly believed that was possible.

We reorganized in December 2010 with the help of a creditors’ committee. We implemented new daily operating office procedures, a new accounting system, a new daily transaction system, developed a new filing system and cut expenses.  At the time of closure we were current on all employee, liquor, and sales taxes.  In addition, we were current on all bills, including rent post-reorganization.

I developed a plan with the head of the creditors’ committee to repay our back debts and start repaying investors but ultimately, we were not given that opportunity.

I have spent 34 years in the service industry and I have been raised in this community. It means a lot to me that people believe in and trust me. I am adamant about making things right. Jack’s was built to be a backyard big enough to hang out with all of your friends. That mission continues.

Thank you for your love and support.

Kathy Jack and Susie Buck

When a worker carrying what appeared to be his chef knives tried to enter the building, Costa had a conversation with him and the worker got back in his car and took off.

They may be open, but The Office Grill (Lucky 7 Private Club) has been on the TABC delinquent payments lists published on May 3, May 18, June 3, and June 18. Carolyn Beck, of the TABC in Austin, confirmed that Lucky 7 is on the list because they owe Goody Goody Liquors $7,700 and have since March. If you are on the list, you are not allowed to buy liquor from wholesalers. She also said that the TABC has not suspended Lucky 7’s permit.

Being on this list does not always indicate the restaurant has hit hard times. Sometimes many restaurants make an accounting oversight or the payment gets delayed in the mail. Either way, if you miss the strict deadline you go on the list. Four straight? That’s a problem.

Many consumers don’t realize that the FDA does not require genetically modified food to be labeled. That’s because the FDA has decided that you don’t care if the tomato you are eating has been cross bred with frog genes to render the tomato more resistant to cold weather. Some consumers may not be concerned with eating “Franken Food”, but for those who are, here is how to determine if the fruits and vegetables you’re buying are (GM) genetically modified.

For conventionally grown fruit (grown with chemicals inputs), the PLU code on the sticker consists of four numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 9. Genetically engineered (GM) fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 8. Example: A conventionally grown banana would be 4011. An organically grown banana would be 94011. A genetically engineered banana would be 84011.

Dr. Dirt has more guidelines for steering clear of GM foods in your diet. Click here. If you have questions on this newsletter or any other topic, check his radio show schedule. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

UPDATE: Down, Dishers. Stop the nasty emails and go about your lives. I stand by the post above. Our country is celebrating the death of person who murdered innocent people in our country. Poor taste to post what restaurants are reporting to me? I don’t think so.

UPPITY DATE: Here.

“On a recent trip to a local Whole Foods, their USDA Organic wine display featured wine almost exclusively from some of the world’s largest wineries. Those are the producers with the resources to navigate the time-consuming and convoluted NOP process.” Read the rest of Duman’s article here, but promise to come right back.