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Entertaining and home cooking form some of Rino’s earliest memories. He would often come home from school with homemade sauces simmering on the stove and a plate of fresh pasta ready to be enjoyed. Rino’s grandparents settled in Fremantle when they immigrated from Bugnara in the Province of L’Aquila in Abruzzo. His grandparents created a home that was filled with family, love and food. Rino and his extended family still have a close bond and a huge part of any family gathering is the sharing of home cooked food.

Rino’s parents have spent most of their life in food service, running an Chicken Treat and Hungry Jacks franchise stores. His Mum’s parents owned a fish and chip shop and a deli so moving in to this business was a natural progression for them.

With this kind of pedigree, Rino was destined to follow his family in to the family business. Rino brings his

passion for food to what is anything expect an ordinary fish and chip shop.

The immaculate interior hints at someone who takes immense pride in every aspect of their business. The cabinet at the front is filled with homemade desserts, salads and sauces. The extensive menu offers all of the traditional fare you would expect from a fish and chip shop with the Italian flavour mixed in. Traditional handmade potato cakes, fresh pasta and a huge range of salads all offer variety and quality that you don’t expect to find at your local fish and chip shop.

 

Omega-3 is one of the essential fatty acids, so termed as they are considered critical to the body. Our body is not able to produce these in sufficient quantities, so we must get them from our diet.

The health benefits of omega-3 include:

• Improved brain function
• Reduction of inflammation
• Cholesterol support
• Overall organ health
• Bone health
• Management of blood pressure
• Skin maintenance.

There is a considerable amount of evidence that suggests it is vital to include foods high in omega-3 rather than relying on taking a supplement. There are some huge claims made about omega-3 and their impact on things such as behaviour and learning in children but the research is still inconclusive on this. I think that there is more than enough evidence to conclude that we should include seafood in our diet due to the significant health benefits of omega-3. In time, research will more than likely find other benefits of this essential fatty acid.

A balanced diet is considered essential for good health and means that we need to consume a variety of different foods to obtain the vitamins and minerals needed for optimum health. Here are some of the key health benefits of including seafood in your diet:

• Seafood is an excellent source of protein. The function of protein in your body is akin to a building block. It helps your body undertake a wide variety of activities from growth, maintenance and repair.
• Seafood is rich in essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fatty acids are critical to good health as they assist with important functions such as assisting your organs function properly and aiding red blood cells.
• Seafood is the best food source of iodine with salt water seafood containing twice the iodine found in fresh water varieties. In the modern diet, many people are lacking iodine. This nutrient assists in the normal function and regulation of hormones and your metabolism.

So including seafood in your diet can have some really significant impacts on your overall health. In our next article we are going to be looking in more depth at what Omega-3 is and why it is important.

The honour of the first drive-thru restaurant goes to ‘Red’s Giant Hamburger’ in Springfield, Missouri, right on legendary Route 66. It was opened in 1947 by Sheldon ’Red’ Chaney, who served his clients burgers until the outlet closed in 1984.

There have been numerous claims of being the first drive-thru, dating as far back as 1931 by the tastefully named, ‘Texas Pig Stand’ chain but the author of Route 66, Michael Wallis, bestowed the honour on Red’s hamburger joint, anointing it as the ‘Home of the World’s first drive-thru window’.

Today, you can pick up just about anything from a drive-thru including pharmacy prescriptions and cash with some weird and wonderful options like a drive-thru wedding chapel, where else but in Vegas, and the ultimate, a drive-thru funeral parlour where you can view the remains of your dearly departed from the air-conditioned comfort of your car!

In 1996, Maccas even opened a ‘ski-thru’, they called ‘McSki’, of course, in the Swedish ski resort of Lindvalle. The most popular order no doubt being for snow cones!

Ever wondered why pedestrians and cyclists are refused service at drive-thrus in fast food outlets like Maccas and Hungry Jacks? It is to do with safety, insurance and liability issues. Same applies for people on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages – a site you would rarely see in modern-day Perth but apparently one that caused a storm and generated a fine for a Maccas customer in Greater Manchester in the U.K in 2013.

Refused service at the drive-thru, the customer rode the horse she was on into the restaurant where it promptly defecated on the floor. The woman was fined. Do you want horse-dung dip with your fries?

What does the future hold for fast food and drive-thru ordering?

Cruising up to a drive-thru in a Subway in suburban Colorado, a customer orders a meal in about 5 seconds at a touch-screen kiosk. The system identifies his previous orders and accepts payment via a scan on his smartphone. The whole process takes less than a couple of minutes. So goes the scenario in an online article for ‘Restaurant Business’.

But the drive-thru of the future is likely to become just a pick-up window for customers ordering and paying for food in a variety of ways, including sending a driverless vehicle or delivery service to pick the order up, according to Rob Grimes, CEO of the International Food and Beverage Technology Association in Washington, DC.

Touchscreens, online ordering, mobile apps, interactive menu boards, high-tech ovens and two-way video screens are some of the improvements operators are embracing all over the world to make drive-thru as convenient and as uncomplicated as possible for consumers.

But the one thing that will never change with Cap’n Snappy’s drive-thru at his All Aboard Seafoods outlet on Great Eastern Highway in Midland is that you can order your fish ‘n chip faves or any of the other popular fast food options on the comprehensive menu from our friendly, helpful staff with a minimum of fuss and a guarantee that your order will be filled quickly and will taste great every time.

Our drive-thru is open weekdays from 4pm to 9pm and on weekends from 11am to 9.30pm.

Today, the gleaming restaurant on Perth’s Eastern Highway is a local favourite. With menu options that vary from the traditional fish and chip offering to burgers, salads, roasts, and even delicious curries, All Aboard Seafoods has managed to ride the wave of our nation’s quickly transforming fast food movement. However, it didn’t happen overnight.

“The franchise we were with was at rock bottom,” remembers Rino. “So it was a necessary move. But we were finally able to do the things we wanted to. We were performing better than they ever had. It took us about six months to get on our feet, but then it really turned around and we were on double digit growth for five or six years after.”

For self-taught businessman Rino, many of his choices came down to intuition and time spent browsing industry blogs online. One of the key changes he had noticed was the diverse demographic their store was attracting, and the rising demand for healthier options.

“We had everyone from individuals, to families, to group of friends – and I felt that the day and age of being a single-offering venue was over. We needed to start catering to more than just fish and chips.”

Before long, Rino had introduced not only healthier menu options, but event catering and even take-home meal options. There were finger food platters, roast buffets for weddings, salad rolls, curries, and even a winter lamb shank every now and then.

With a commercial kitchen, sizeable staff, and a public position on the highway that was an advertiser’s dream, Rino knew he would be crazy not to diversify the traditional fish and chip offering.

“We had great food traffic, a huge kitchen, and all our overheads like rent and staffing were already covered. So why wouldn’t we try something new?”

By ‘adding a few bits of equipment here and there’, Rino updated the All Aboards kitchen to be able to handle everything from large quantity catering orders for 400-plus people, to slow cooked, gourmet dishes that they would pre-package for take home meal options.

It was an impressive strategy, made even more impressive by the fact that the extent of Rino’s hospitality training had come from his parents, both of whom had worked in hospitality. Whilst their business acumen was timeless, Rino was still aware that he was growing in a busy, rapidly changing industry environment.

“When I was looking at how I wanted our business to be run, I didn’t look at other fish and chip shops,” says Rino, “I looked to the bigger companies, like Hungry Jacks or KFC.”

He could see that they were departing from their tried and true favourites, updating their menus with more modern options that catered for vegetarian customers, or those looking for healthier options.

“As far as the look of what I wanted to create, no expense was spared to make sure we didn’t look like just another family fish and chip shop,” says Rino. “Everything is upmarket. We paid for the flashy signs, the digital menus, and the bright lights.”

In addition to the aesthetics, Rino knew he wanted nothing but the best when it came to his cleaning program and staff performance, too. For him, it was about having the same high standards as the international fast-food franchises, but with the product and offering of a family-run, local business.

But not everything could be learnt from intuition and his parent’s experience alone. Through his exploring online, Rino stumbled across Profitable Hospitality around five years ago.

“I follow the (PH) website and emails quite closely,” says Rino. “It’s a great resource, especially for things like the templates. They give you a good base to work from and you can always customise from there to suit your specific venue if you need.”

For Rino, his ‘wing it’ mentality served him well in the early days, but he soon needed more formal education around running the business. He finds the weekly Profitable Hospitality emails provides a refresher on topics that, as the sole business owner, he often doesn’t have time to consider.

“I’m a one man band,” says Rino. “Whilst I do have a bookkeeper, the admin side of things can often be pushed out of the way for more pressing jobs. Profitable Hospitality has taught me efficient ways to manage the marketing, the staffing, the ordering, and more.”

“It just gives you ideas…it makes you stop and think.”

Looking ahead, Rino is quietly confident in the future of his business. Whilst he has embraced technology in the All Aboard Seafoods restaurant, he is wary of industry trends such as ordering apps, which he is certain doesn’t suit their offering.

“We have amazing foot traffic in our store,” says Rino, “which we would sacrifice if we started delivering. Also, given our product and location, fish and chips aren’t going to taste great after travelling on a bike for half an hour.”

With loyalty programs and an ever-changing menu, Rino knows that his formula is working. Whilst it’s certainly a brave move to steer away from the hugely popular ordering apps, Rino knows when to trust his gut instinct. It has, after all, served him well until now.

The success of some of Australia’s best performing hospitality businesses often comes down to simplicity: finding what works for you, and resisting popular trends. All Aboard Seafoods knows its strength as a local eatery, with great service, and even better food – and with Rino looking to stick to his formula, we’re certain it will remain a favourite for years to come.

Written & published on Profitable Hospitality 2017.

Like most of us who have led a sheltered life, when I was asked if I knew what a ‘frog in a pond’ was, my vacant look said it all. But it seems when it comes to catering ideas for kid’s birthday parties these days, I’ve been hiding under a lily pond leaf.

A ‘frog in a pond’ is a crazy dessert idea where you fill a plastic cup with red and green jelly plop a chocolate Freddo in it with just the eyes sticking out, stick it the fridge to let it set and voila, you have your ‘frog in a pond’.

All of a sudden, my own creative juices started flowing and I suggested hesitantly that you could vary the recipe by sticking a green or red jelly frog in the cup instead of a chocolate Freddo. My brilliant idea fell on deaf ears with the kid’s party pros. “Stick to the tried and true recipe.” I was told in no uncertain terms.

Undaunted I started trawling the net for other ‘out there’ catering ideas for kids’ parties and I was flooded with a wave of curious concoctions, as parents try to go one better than little Betty’s birthday fairy bread that Lucy had been served at last weekend’s party. How 90s is that? It’s a bit like being invited to a dinner party and finding a fondue in the middle of the dining room table with a game of Twister laid out on the floor beside it!

Unless a kid’s birthday is ‘themed’ these days, you’re likely to end up with a whole lot of no shows when ‘party-time’ rolls around. Even my own daughter is on the act, creating ‘Thomas The Tank Engines’ and cabooses out of cardboard for my grandson’s birthday and serving cupcakes in the shape of coal wagons!

Here’s a couple of quirky catering ideas that caught my eye. Every little girl would love a mermaid-themed birthday party complete with croissant crabs with a pair of eyes popping out of the croissant on toothpicks and turtle cupcakes made from green and red jelly jube turtles with mint leave flippers. Where do Mums get the time to think up great ideas like this?

And what little boy wouldn’t kill for a superhero-themed party? What kid could resist a Thor Hammer complete with a cheddar cheese square hammer head and a pretzel stick shaft. Then there’s the Captain America shield cookie. Get a wagon wheel or similar round biscuit, cover it with red, white and blue icing circles and place a jelly start in the middle.

I even found an idea for a Captain America ham and cheese roll. Take a hamburger bun fill it with ham and cheese and then get a cookie cutter (in the shape of a star) and press out a star shape on the top of the bun. Instant superhero food that at least has some nutritional value.

My mind boggled at the other ideas I discovered online. What about a grape caterpillar? Green grapes skewered on a kebab stick with a pair of eyes on the ‘head grape’! Then there were strawberry mushrooms. An inverted strawberry sprinkled with icing sugar and small chunks of white chocolate on a skewer with a white marshmallow underneath the strawberry for a stalk.

But the best was a new version on an oldie that Mum used to make for us using half a poached pear and a licorice stick. A half a strawberry, with slivered almonds for ears, a chocolate button for a nose and pieces of stick licorice for the tail and whiskers. Put half a dozen on a plate with a couple of slices of Swiss cheese with holes in it and you have a tray of strawberry mice!

Sunflower cupcakes, Baby Bel cheese ladybugs … I was swamped with ideas. Which got us thinking at All Aboard Seafoods. We cater for parties and get-togethers for kids and adult birthday parties, anniversaries, engagements, weddings and yes, even funerals.

Talk to us about catering for your next kid’s birthday parties and ask us about our mini hot dogs (a cocktail frankfurt in a small dinner role) our Baby burgers (a mini-beef patty on a specially sourced glazed bun) and yes, our frogs on a pond plus a million other ‘out-there’ ideas that are sure to make you the envy of every other Mum looking to go one better than Betty’s fairy bread.

Contact Rino on (phone) or email him at rino@allaboardseafoods.com.au  or visit our website www.allaboardseafoods.com.au. We are on Facebook too.

For now check out some examples I found on Google:

•Potatoes are a great source of fibre and French fries are made from potatoes. Fibre helps pass waste through your system and lower cholesterol.

• When you eat French fries, you also get a healthy dose of potassium, a nutrient present in potatoes. Potassium delivers much of the energy you require to get through the day.

• Your body needs vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, this too can be found in French Fries. Women may benefit more as B6 helps prevent bloating, menopause and hormonal swings during the monthly cycle

• According to the Agricultural Research Service in Navarre, potato skins are packed with over 60 phyto-chemicals, many of these are flavonoids which help lower bad cholesterol and keep arteries clear

• Potatoes are rich in kukoamines, the molecule that lowers blood pressure. Your blood pressure could therefore be lowered eating French Fries

Hungry for more? Drop in and try our fabulous fries with a serve of fresh fish or seafood!