Restaurants That Work: Case Studies of the Best in the Industry

Customer Reviews:

Really Good Book...But Dated........2007-03-09

This book has a lot of great information in it. Alot of the information is timeless. However, this book is from 1992 and all the restaurant case studies are from then as well. As I read the book and they discuss restaurants like Mesa Grill and they speak of it as being new, when I know it has been around for 15 or so years, it just seems off. Also the stats such as average checks and other sales data is kind of dated. You could definitley learn from the case studies but it would be nice if they would update the book.

pretty good- but dated.......2005-07-22

Need a book like this but more up to date. Very informative though.

Excellent resource for anyone in or interested in "the biz".......2004-06-30

I own a pretty sucessful bar in Santa Barbara California and decided (about a year ago) to try my hand in the Restaurant Business.

Before I could turn back, the lease was signed, money was coming in...there was no escape. I was pretty terrified.

I decided to learn everything I could about design, management, success' and failures. The principal way I did this was to order an armada of books about the business. In all I think I bought roughly 20 books. Most of them were somewhat helpful, but none of them approached the value of this fine book.

Chronicling almost 3 dozen successful cases from such diverse business' as China Grill and Farallon, every aspect of the business is covered - design, capitalization, management organization, revenue and profit - FANTASTIC.

I can't recommend this book any higher. It was an enormous help to me in putting my new restaurant together.

Christian Hunter
Owner - Sevilla Restaurant, Santa Barbara

Excellent and Insightful.......2002-02-06

If you are seeking concrete information into the whys and wherefores of creating and building upon a solid restaurant concept, this is the book for you. It is overflowing with detailed descriptions, practical advice, layouts, menus, square footage, operation costs... much more than I anticipated. Although at first glance it seems to be another glossy "picture" book with a high design value (which is greatly appreciated), it is in fact a true workbook and manual. The numbers are all here, allowing the reader to compare and contrast. If you are working on a business plan, this is ideal, because it is a great aid for making realistic projections. Restaurants That Work is extremely thorough and well worth the price. I am very pleased and my only gripe is that I didn't purchase this sooner!

The Best.......2001-08-14

This is without a doubt the best book I have found on restaurant design. From concept to completion and everything in between, this a truly indsepensible book for reference. Every prospective restauranteuer and restaurant designer/architect should have a copy and USE it. Martin E. Dorf asks all the right questions and explains possible solutions to prevent common restaurant design mistakes.

Book Description

Reyner Banham (1922-88) was one of the most influential writers on architecture, design, and popular culture from the mid-1950s to the late 1980s. Trained in mechanical engineering and art history, he was convinced that technology was making society not only more exciting but more democratic. His combination of academic rigor and pop culture sensibility put him in opposition to both traditionalists and orthodox Modernists, but placed him in a unique position to understand the cultural, social, and political implications of the visual arts in the postwar period. His first book, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (still in print with The MIT Press after forty years), was central to the overhaul of Modernism, and it gave Futurism and Expressionism credibility amid the dynamism and change of the 1960s.

This intellectual biography is the first comprehensive critical examination of Banham’s theories and ideas, not only on architecture but also on the wide variety of subjects that interested him. It covers the full range of his oeuvre and discusses the values, enthusiasms, and influences that formed his thinking.

Reyner Banham Historian of the Immediate Future

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Reyner Banham Historian of the Immediate Future
Whiteley Nigel
Manufacturer: Mit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIH3HU

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Reyner Banham: Historian of the Immediate Future
Nigel Whiteley
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR1XRI

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Great art...totally worthless text

Good concept, too many words

Zen and the art of the Street

Homage to HCB

The best published collection of HCB's pictures?

Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Artless Art
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Cartier-Bresson, Henri | Photographers, A-Z | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0821222856

Customer Reviews:

Great art...totally worthless text.......2006-08-19

HCB was a master of the type of photography he practiced. The photographs speak for themselves. They are beautiful, they are classic and they will always transcend any words people speak about them. So, what's the point in weighing down the impact of these photographs with a text that is so pretentious and unreadable it turns off everyone but the pretentious reader?

Buy this book. It is one of my favorites on Cartier-Bresson. Look at the photographs first and you will gain respect and appreciation for the photographer. But only skim the text.

Good concept, too many words.......2002-03-08

To put it short: half of the book is text. Out of 290 bw pictures 41 are drawings of H.C-B., some are photographs of other authors, some more are portraits relevant to people mentioned in text. I agree with other reviewers - choice is very good. The concept of the book and the important points are well chosen, too, but it' s filled with too many words.

When you accept this book as large treatise on H.C.-B., photography and art itself - that means dominantly text, illustrated specifically with his photographs - you can learn a lot of interesting things (if you're patient enough to read it all through). But after a while you can find yourselves (like me) somehow distracted from the photographs. Though an expert in H.C.- B. life and work, J.P.Montier seems to me as he doesn't possess one crucial ability of his subject - the gift to pick up instant out of plenty. So I think, I would like more to let speak pictures for themselves with some relevant facts and quotations, revealing background. After all, Henri Cartier-Bresson is a photographer, isn't he? My personal wish is to see contact copies of film rolls, at least parts from which were the famous pictures chosen - it could tell us more about the field work of this Master of the Right Moment.

Zen and the art of the Street.......2002-02-28

Really an amazing book. I have come across many great "picture books" showing off fabulous reproductions of his work but if you want to read about what really drove the man to take some of the most amazing shots of the 20th century, pick up this book. It has "typically (outstanding) and (brilliant) academic French art crticism[sic] (and is) translated in(to) the English edition in a way that still manages to read like (outstanding) and (brilliant) academic French".

If you want to get behind the lens with this great master (the interviews and quotes are very stimulating and the choice of images were chosen by the author with HCB himself), buy this book. And if you are also a "street" photographer, this book will teach you more about this type of photography than any class at "Kunsthochschule für Medien" or book on "technique" could ever hope to.

A masterpiece.

Homage to HCB.......2001-08-29

First, the image selection (and according to the book it's HCB himself who did it) and presentation is probably the best for any collection of HCB photographs. Our perception is affected qualitatively by the size, and many of the same images printed full page simply lose in comparison even without considering the discussion and examples of visual reading the author of the thesis/book provides. Secondly, the text, while academic, is truly useful because it introduces a lot of background and thinking around photography as artistic phenomenon - therefore, if not read passively, and then likely to cause the kind of irritation a previous German reviewer displayed, but as a means to start your own thinking processes, it succeeds excellently. (Or, as someone noting the length of the my previous sentence could decide, likes attract ..;o)).. ) Possibly one of the best books around if you are an active photographer intrested in the aesthetics of the "seen" kind of photography - i.e. photography that aims to hunt out instances of artistic order chaotic Life creates from time to time - as contrasted to the "created" or conceptual approach, or if you are interested in the history of the art/medium and want to make sense of its roots and of its arguably the most brilliant practitioner in the XX century. Warning for USA readers: European thought. Antithesis of the "Dummies" books. Thinking required.

The best published collection of HCB's pictures?.......2001-06-17

The best published collection I've seen of Henri Cartier-Bresson's pictures, from some of the famous shots of the 30s and 40s (God how I hate that smirking brat with the wine bottles. Put me off appreciating HC-B for a long time) to some of the wonderfully impressionistic later landscapes.

The text ... well, buy the book for the pictures and look at them. Typically pretentious and impenetrable academic French art crticism, translated in the English edition in a way that still manages to read like pretentious and impenetrable academic French.

Customer Reviews:

great.......1999-05-26

i had the opportunity of looking at this in the comic store i few weeks ago. while ive not yet bought the book (depending of cource, on when you read this) i saw the whole thing and i have to say, primo stuff. i own most of hogarths drawing books (all im missing is hands and wrinkles) and this is a fine addition to the collection

Customer Reviews:

A book that young goalies and hockey fans will enjoy........2001-02-20

"Hockey's Hottest Goalies" by James Duplacey is a wonderful book for novice/intermediate readers. This book gives detailed information about each goalie plus career highlights for each goalie. Vivid pictures with fascinating adjectives and descriptions make this one a book any hockey fan, especially the younger ones, will love.

Book Description

This first-aid handbook is the first thing you should reach for when your child has an emergency -- when every second counts. Here's why:

It is designed to help people with limited training in emergency medical procedures -- parents, babysitters, grandparents, and child-care providers -- deal quickly and easily with 34 of the most common childhood emergencies.
The quick-reference index is highlighted on both covers so you can find the information you need in seconds.
The large pages feature numbered step-by-step instructions with large, easy-to-read type.
The illustrations are big, clear, and make the instructions immediately understandable.
The up-to-date medical information tells you what you need to know about each emergency, what to check, when to get professional help, and what not to do.

Baby & Child Emergency First Aid Handbook: Simple Step-By-Step Instructions for the Most Common Childhood Emergencies

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Baby & Child Emergency First Aid Handbook: Simple Step-By-Step Instructions for the Most Common Childhood Emergencies

Manufacturer: Meadowbrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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Safety & First Aid | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0881661953

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Great historical study

"I thought they wuz Yankees."

Excellent, enlightening

Incredible!

A excellent book on a very obscure topic

Nazi Prisoners of War in America
Arnold Krammer
Manufacturer: Scarborough House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Military Science | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0812885619

Book Description

The only book available that tells the full story of how the U.S. government detained nearly half a million Nazi prisoners of war in 511 camps across the country.

Customer Reviews:

Great historical study.......2006-11-20

I'm a historian who has done some research on the subject and I can say with confidence that this book is an excellent resource for scholars and for anyone else with an interest in history. For one thing, it is the definitive study on the experience of German POWs in America. Krammer is thorough, describing virtually every aspect of the issue and from multiple perspectives. For the layman, it is also very readable and enjoyable. It is filled with important details and fascinating anecdotes. As a former student of Prof. Krammer, I can honestly say without any exaggeration that he is a gentleman and a scholar. He knows how to write a book and this is a great example.

"I thought they wuz Yankees.".......2005-01-06

At age 55, I've finally learned something about an American experience that ended two years before I was born. About time, don't you think?

NAZI PRISONERS OF WAR IN AMERICA is a concise and (apparently) comprehensive overview, which describes the incarceration of the roughly 375,000 captured members of the German military in 500+ camps and branch camps thoughout the United States from May 1942 to July 1946. The book's eight chapters summarize the process from initial capture and dispatch westward across the Atlantic through repatriation and return to Europe. In between, author Arnold Krammer depicts the general layout of the camps, the life behind barbed wire, the work and re-education programs, the escapes, and the ideological tensions between the ardently Nazi minority and non-Nazi majority that generally resulted in internal control of a camp's inmate population by the former prisoner group. Each chapter has a 4 to 8 page photo section relevant to its topic. The 44 pages of notes, based on a 15-page bibliography, indicate a commendable and thorough level of research.

As an informative exercise about an interesting topic, I can't find fault with NAZI PRISONERS OF WAR IN AMERICA. As a work of popular history for one casually interested in the subject, it's completely satisfying in all respects.

At times, there's even humor of a sort. In the chapter "Escapes", the author relates the incident wherein three U-boat submariners fled into the hills of Tennessee, where one was subsequently shot dead by an old granny defending her water pump. When told by the local deputy sheriff whom she'd killed, she broke down saying she'd never have fired if she'd known the men were Germans. Asked who she thought the intruders were, she replied:

"I thought they wuz Yankees." Bobbie Lee would have been proud.

Excellent, enlightening.......2003-12-04

I found Nazi Prisoners of War to be a fascinating look into the little known (and explored) history of American POW camps. This book really put a human face on the soldiers of Germany who weren't always Nazi sympathizers. I felt the author presented quite a balanced view of both the anti-Nazi prisoners and the pro-Nazi officers and enlisted men.

Of particular interest was the discussion of how the camps were run, the photographs of the prisoners and the stories of their escapes. Also, some stories were quite humorous: the story where the Americans tell the Germans to clean their barracks/common rooms and the German POWS refuse. The Americans perform a trick by telling them a high-ranking German officer would be imprisoned there to get them to comply without the use of force. This was quite clever.On the flip-side I found it disturbing that the American army officials preferred to supervise hard-core nazis in prisons because they were easier to manage, rather than anti-nazis. At times these officials encouraged nazism!

I recommend this book for a different and balanced look into the past.

Incredible!.......2000-07-19

I was lucky enough to be a student of Dr. Krammer's when I attended Texas A&M Univ. His grasp of the subject matter and readable style makes this book a must have for every history lover!

A excellent book on a very obscure topic.......1999-07-10

To say how interesting this book is at first I have to note how unknown this topic is. When I first began looking for the book, a person working at a book store asked me if it was fiction! Gimme a break! For instance, Santa Anita Racetrack in California was a huge POW camp during WWII. Who knew that? Anyone into American history should know about this, and if not, READ THIS BOOK. It is very easy to assume that there is no other book in existance that covers this topic any better.

How our POW's made "little Americas" behind Nazi barb wire: The story of the Yankee driegies, by Colonel C. Ross Greening and Sergeant Angelo m. Spinelli, in collaboration with John R. Burkhart

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How our POW's made "little Americas" behind Nazi barb wire: The story of the Yankee driegies, by Colonel C. Ross Greening and Sergeant Angelo m. Spinelli, in collaboration with John R. Burkhart
C. Ross Greening
Manufacturer: National council of Young men's Christian associations
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Customer Reviews:

JQA Diaries.......2000-07-03

John Quincy Adams gave us a gift- the diary he left us. Beginning as a teenager and lasting until his death, what we see here is the spirit of this man who opposed slavery, advocated equal rights in the face of fierce opposition and argued the first civil rights case before the Supreme Court. Here are the words of the man who did so much for us. Read them.

A very touching story.......1999-01-04

The story of John Quincy Adams is hard-to-believe. Congress truly ridiculed this man. I won't tell anymore you have to read it to believe it.

Average customer rating:

Not for philosophers but everyone else

Good light read

Good, but flawed

Everyone should read this book to develop their thought process.

Author just uses a book to take shots at Christianity

The Philosophy Gym: 25 Short Adventures in Thinking
Stephen Law
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0312314523

Book Description

From Descartes to designer babies, The Philosophy Gym poses questions about some of history's most important philosophical issues, ranging in difficulty from pretty easy to very challenging. He brings new perspectives to age-old conundrums while also tackling modern-day dilemmas -- some for the first time. Begin your warm up by contemplating whether a pickled sheep can truly be considered art, or dive right in and tackle the existence of God. In this radically new way of looking at philosophy, Stephen Law illustrates the problem with a story, then lets the argument battle it out in clear, easily digestible and intelligent prose. This perfect little mental health club is sure to give each reader's mind a great workout.

Customer Reviews:

Not for philosophers but everyone else.......2007-07-13

Which is a huge set of people. I recommend this book first to people curious about why or what I am reading. Unfortunately for Law this isn't very many people. I believe this book is in the format that the majority of people will be able to work with if lightly motivated. The other thing I like is that Law is a vicious atheist and while I think arguing about God is a waste of time I'm glad that he introduces these arguments in the book, over and over again. Someone has to beat the bushes with a stick and this book while seemingly basic in parts, I don't believe it's basic, has some very controversial and irreverent threads.

Good light read.......2007-05-08

This is a good book to read before sleeping. If you are like me (a person who thinks about the day and the events in it right before I doze off) then this kind of book will be a great addition to your collection.

This book talks about everything that is important to human beings from a philosophical point of view. I dont think at any time during the book does the author try to impose his thoughts on you ... he is always comparing arguments for and against and that leads to some intelligent writing.

Should be read !

Good, but flawed.......2006-01-22

This book has very strong merits, but other reviewers have mentioned them so I'm going to concentrate on flaws the flaws (as I see them).

One problem is the occasional factual errors. This makes many sections harder to read because you are constantly having to ignore the author's errors. I'll just give one example: "As I do know that Pluto is a giant gas ball, I know your first hypothesis must be false." (p. 30) This is just sad, where was the editor/fact-checker? I knocked off one star for this.

The other is that some of the arguments have a bit of a straw man feel for the side that the author doesn't favor. I realize this is terribly hard to avoid (and perhaps my perception in this matter is more than a bit subjective), but it left me feeling that the book is not as good as it first appeared (when I bought it on a whim). For this, I knocked off another star.

Again, a book that has many good sections. It just needed a bit more polishing to be a classic.

Everyone should read this book to develop their thought process........2005-10-18

A book like this one isn't about the conclusions that are reached in its discussions. It is about the thought process used to guide those discussions. We all can use help sharpening our thinking and nothing but good can come of it.

Stephen Law presents 25 interesting and accessible philosophy questions and tackles them primarily in the form of dialogs between two people on opposite sides of the issue. Typically one uses a rational, reasoned approach while the other takes an approach based on a softer footing and is inevitably trumped. Often, Law's conclusions are obvious from the outset, but a few times I found my own beliefs challenged and really had to take a step back and reconsider my own position.

If you are interested in honing your own thinking and like open discussions of topics, you will truly enjoy this book and be a better thinker when you finish it.

Author just uses a book to take shots at Christianity.......2005-07-21

Horribly disappointing.

These manufactured dialogues are evidently Stephen Law's way of dealing with his personal problems with religion.

For example, in one chapter Law manipulates his "teaching" by having God contradict the Bible (the assumption being God's the author) in a dialogue with a conservative religious person. Law even sarcastically concludes the chapter by saying this dialogue is only a dream, the real God would probably respond differently.

Good idea for a book, ruined by the authors distorted logic. There are numerous ad hominen and circular reasoning errors.

The title and premise fooled me into reading it.

Mr. Law, how will you pay back the readers for wasting the time they invested in your philosphical rant against religion?

The Philosophy Gym : 25 Short Adventures in Thinking

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The Philosophy Gym : 25 Short Adventures in Thinking
Stephen Law
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTNVYE

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