Chef Ryan Farr and his wife, Cesalee, founded 4505 Meats in January of 2009. While working as a classically trained chef and heading a Michelin Star restaurant, Ryan developed his artisan butchery techniques and created unique ways of expressing his love for all things meaty. Ryan's experience and voracious appetite are an ideal complement to Cesalee's creativity, style, and overall vision for the company. The name 4505 is a tribute to a fellow chef and dear family friend, Davin Autrey, who influenced many people with his message to keep it real and always follow your stomach.
Steelite International is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of award-winning, inspirational tabletop ranges for the international hospitality industry. The company’s core chinaware products are manufactured at its factory in Stoke-on-Trent – one of the most modern and efficient tableware production units in the world.
According to the U.K.’s INSIDER News, Stoke-on-Trent-based ceramics company Steelite is planning to use its new factory to produce a new line of tableware goods, chief executive Kevin Oakes has told Insider. The site, adjacent to its existing Middleport factory, is set to create a further 239 jobs once it has been developed using the company's Regional Growth Fund (RGF) allocation. At its 2010 year-end, Steelite produced its best results to date, with pre-tax profit hitting £7.9. The company, which currently employs 650 people, recorded annual sales of £60.6m, up from £51.9m in 2009. To read the entire article, go here: http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/midlands/63718-new-ceramics-line-planned-steelite-expansion/ To see the entire range of Steelite products, go here: http://www.steelite.com/ 
According to KSLA-TV in Shreveport, union workers at the Libbey Glass plant in Shreveport met with company officials Thursday afternoon to re-negotiate after rejecting the company's new offer Wednesday. A United Steel Workers union representative said union members voted against the glass company's latest offer Wednesday evening after the company refused to increase company contributions to pension plans. Both parties have not agreed to a wage increase either. The company is reportedly offering a three-year contract that will give union members a $1000 bonus the first year, a two percent pay raise the second year and a two and half percent pay raise the third year. The current contract extension will end on January 4, 2012.  In 1946, Art Murray had a vision to improve the service in his own Murray’s restaurant of Minneapolis, and to share those ideas with fellow operators. His ideas, innovation and successes were the seeds of Service Ideas. We've talked about Service Ideas before and how we like so many of their branding concepts like deliverying great value in their products, honoring their strong heritage and being known throughout the industry as a friendly, easy-to-work with company. Service Ideas is one of those companies that certainly has been around long enough to be an "old school" thinking (and acting) company that is evolving to be what we think of as more of a "new generation" of foodservice tabletop companies. Too often, we see tabletop companies taking the same old approach to branding - and sales & marketing activities - and expecting different results. Service Ideas is a company that seems to understand and honor the past but is changing - evolving & adapting - and staying current to today's marketplace.  While mostly known for their Classic Server (left), Service Ideas has introduced a variety of new, design driven products such as their Lava Red (we love the color description) Kugel Ball server (right) to keep their product line current and relevent. Beyond traditional methods of "change" such as adding new products, new sales programs, etc., Service Ideas is utilizing social media through their blog - http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/. We love how Service Ideas uses their blog to introduce us to members of their staff and Michelle L. is the latest staff member at Service Ideas to be profiled:  Check out Service Ideas blog at: http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/ Meet… Michelle Name: Michelle L Title: Package Handler? But I do lots of other things. Years of Service: 5 in June What are some changes you’ve noticed in the warehouse since you first started? Lots of system upgrades to help better the flow of things. Also the new additions like the thousands of feet in warehouse that was added! Do you have a favorite product? If so, which one and why? I don’t have a favorite but I enjoy seeing the new products come in. How do you describe our company to people who are unfamiliar with our name and our brand? I start with the history of Murray’s restaurant and how we started from there and what the Murray family has made, done and where we are now and what we are doing. What’s one of your most memorable moments here at Service Ideas? When the openings came down between the new and old warehouse. If you could live somewhere else for a year, where would you go? I would love to live somewhere where I could ski and snowmobile most of the time. Want to learn more? Be sure to stop back to meet others in the team that are committed to “service ideas.” (check it out.....you will love the size of the fish that Julie has caught!) Many companies have Facebook pages, blogs....some even Tweet....but often they go stale with long lags between updates or they only post when they are doing a trade show or have a totally new product. These companies don't realize that customers aren't interested in simply a product. Yes, it's true that customers are buying products.....but cusotmers also want a relationship. And relationships are with people. Service Ideas gets that. Too often when We go to various company websites, you can't find an actual person's name to contact at that company. It simply says "to contact us, fill out this form" or the email address is sales@xyz.com or customerservice@xyz.com. If you check out the Service Ideas website, it's very personalized and their blog - http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/ - reinforces that persoanlized approach by profiling their employees, along with pictures. Having been around for over 60 years, Service Ideas qualifies for "old school" status and certainly selling thermal servers might not be considered sexy by some. But, don't tell Tina Brandt that. She and the team at Service Ideas are working hard at staying "new school" and one of the premier suppliers in the hospitality trade. Well done. Very well done. You can see the entire line of Service Idea products by going here: http://www.serviceideas.com/AboutUs.aspx Or, you can learn more about the team at Service Ideas by follwing their blog at: http://serviceideas.wordpress.com/    To learn more about REWORK or its authors....or the company they founded 37signals...go here: http://37signals.com/  Our CONNECTIONS page seems to have hit a good note as many of you are checking it out daily. If you haven't been yet, TabletopJournal tries to post job openings that it finds interesting and that would be of interest to our readers. We have no vested interest any of these jobs and receive no compensation for the listings we post. Nor are we interested in compensation for these postings. Our only goal is to help others who are equally passionate about hospitality tabletop and bring the tabletop community together. Job openings include chefs, food & beverage, operations and sales & marketing for tabletop suppliers, dealers, and more. To visit, simply go here: http://www.tabletopjournal.com/connections.html So, if you haven't checked out CONNECTIONS yet, take a look. If you see an opening that a friend might be a great candidate for, pass it along. TabletopJournal updates this page on a regular basis, so you may want to check back frequently.  Still think this Glencairn whisky glass from Stolzle is a great example of using tabletop items - whether its glass, porcelain, or metal - to "merchandise" food and beverage items while enhancing the guest experience. Giving the dining patron a deeper level dining experience almost always provides for higher profits and a more satisfied guest. You can view the Stolzle Glencairn glass and the entire Stolzle line by going here: http://www.stolzle-usa.com/  
Revol Porcelain's "Crumpled Tumbler" one of our favorites...Merry Christmas to all. To view the entire lineup of Revol Porcelain, go here: http://www.revol-porcelaine.fr/index.php?id=revolen (VERY cool stuff!) UPDATE: KSLA is reporting that after negotiations, hundreds of union workers at Libbey Glass in Shreveport agreed to a temporary extension of their existing contract with the company Friday. The extension will last into next year. Officials said the contract will give the glass-making company time to meet and decide whether they will vote in favor of a new, three-year offer. Union members said they want more money for worker retirement benefits, but the company is not budging. http://www.ksla.com/story/16387810/shreveport-libbey-glass-workers-agree-to-temporary-contract |  
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