From the Editors
Posted by estiator at 6 September, at 07 : 39 AM Print
Timing
Αs the Old Testament says, for everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.
“A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to harvest; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up; a time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to grieve and a time to dance…”
Timing, as it is often said, is everything. Sometimes it works against you, and sometimes it works for you.
In this issue’s cover story, “Opening Acts”, Estiator looks at businesses that have opened in the midst of the pandemic. From upstart small shops like Niko’s Souvlaki in Astoria to expanding concepts like The Simple Greek, contributor Michael Kaminer looks at how their timing has impacted their expectations and outlook.
In our feature “Canned Craft Cocktails Coming Your Way,” Executive Editor Constantine Kolitsas visits with The Cocktail Chemist, Dimitris Zahariadis, whose timing couldn’t be better for getting his ready-to-drink cocktail business off the ground. The pandemic has accelerated what was already one of the hottest trends in the beverage industry, and Zahariadis (who has been conceptualizing this effort for the past five years) is ramping up production to meet the demand. Estiator readers know Zahariadis for the cocktail recipes he shares in our Shift Drink column. Kolitsas looks at what went into starting up this exciting business and then goes one step further, looking at The Cocktail Chemist’s offerings from a restaurant operator’s vantage point.
In the meantime, in this month’s entry for Service 101 (“Great Service in Real Time”), we look at how timing at various points of service impact the guest’s impression of the restaurant (and likelihood to come back).
And in Managing for Success, Constantine Kolitsas puts on his consulting cap to argue the point that restaurants are as much in the marketing and branding business as they are in the food business (“You’re Not in the Restaurant Business”). Great food is important, but if your business isn’t branded, you’re fighting an uphill battle.
As the author of Ecclesiastes says, there’s “a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to turn away; a time to search and a time to quit searching; a time to keep and a time to throw away.”
Here at Estiator we say, it’s about time.
The Editorial & Publishing Staff
