Independent Restaurants
of America
The Independent Restaurants of
America is a non-profit organization with a clear and simple mission:
to uphold and support the Independent Restaurants of America.
This is a LOT easier said than done.
What is "the Battle"? Well, it is unfortunate that it
has come to this, but the situation is, indeed, a battle. The
Independent Restaurants of America are in dire straits. Every
year the chains grow stronger in their buying power, driving prices
up for the independents and down for themselves. This economic
inequity, when combined with the deeper national pockets of the
chains, snowballs into scheduling consistency and other issues
that are very hard to overcome. The central problem is that the
average American diner cannot tell the difference between the
food of a great chef in their own restaurant and the mass production
lower quality of a chain. It is a sad situation, because the money
given to the Independent stays in the community but the Chain's
headquarters is far away.
The differences between a Chain and an Independent are VAST. Most
importantly, the Chef. The Chef's life is dedicated to the cuisine
and to making customers happy and giving them safe and delicious
creative food. The Chain has only one goal: profit, and no chef
(except perhaps in the central office), using instead Kitchen
Managers to insure consistency. Consistency at the expense of
creativity. Herein lies the problem. Chains propigate mediocrity
while independents fight for creativity and new ideas. There would
be no chains without the creative work of chefs....yet they threaten
to destroy them.
Even some Chefs do not understand this battle. I hesitate to use
the word "traitor", but someone like Tyler Florence,
who gives his name as a chef to Applebees is unknowingly providing
them with support through a chef's credibility. The average member
of society cannot tell the difference and thinks that their neighborhood
Applebees has a Chef in the kitchen. The problem worsens.
All around us hundreds of chains are opening while great independents
close. The Culinary World itself is threatened. Someone has to
do something. That is why we started this organization.
We must unite. If there are a hundred independent restaurants
all working alone and struggling...what if they were to combine
their strengths? What if they supported each other? Then we could
truly educate the public and try to improvdred independent restaurants
all working alone and struggling...what if they were to combine
their strengths? What if they supported each other? Then we could
truly educate the public and try to improve our situation.
The Battle is for the survival of true Culinary Arts. The Battlefield
is America's Medium-Sized Cities. We need not worry about tiny
towns or huge cities, it is in that medium city where we really
see the trends and it is here that we must focus.
Who can Join the "Independent Restaurants of America"?
Anyone who owns, manages, or is employed by an Independent Restaurant;
any Purveyor who works primarily with Independent Restaurants.
It is FREE for now...after we build a base we will need to do
fundraising to help in the educational process.
So, simply click on the link below to add your name and restaurant
to our roster and join the battle.
