Today’s Vancouver Sun featured a piece on how Jeff Fuller is building the leadership team at JOEY Restaurant Group.

Joey Restaurant CEO building the management ranks.

By Denise Deveau

Jeff Fuller has been grooming top management talent since he founded Joey Restaurant Group in 1992. With 25 restaurants in his portfolio and counting, he is a firm believer that a deep management team is essential to growth.

When he started, he spent a lot of time living out of a suitcase and travelling between locations, he says. As the business grew, he soon realized the importance of being “well stocked” with management talent.

“When you have big growth, it’s hard to catch your breath,” he says. “But if you don’t get caught up, that’s a kiss of death. I believe in the old cliche, don’t outgrow your people. I knew we had to get focused on producing a management team ahead of opening new restaurants.”

The management recruitment continues.

“It’s an enabler for everything else,” he says. “I’m really big on meritocracy and creating an infrastructure that isolates top management potential as employees progress through the system.”

Fuller’s approach has won accolades from a number of quarters. The company’s entire management team is hired almost exclusively from within its ranks. In fact, every restaurant manager began as a chef or server.

“As they progress they get more responsibility and challenges. And as they get deeper into the process, some move faster than others,” he explains. Managers that reach a certain level can also take part in the company’s share purchase plan.

Fuller’s hiring philosophy might be unusual but it works, he says. “I tell managers to hire someone who can eventually replace you. That will put pressure on you to move up because they’re that good.”

While Fuller plans to stick around for awhile, he’s also proud to say: “I can think of three or four executives that are already capable of filling my shoes.”

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

With summer finally on its way, JOEY Restaurants’ Executive Chef Chris Mills visited Urban Rush to share some patio treats with Mike and Fiona.

A developing trend in drinks this year is spritzers (yes they’re back, but better than ever). JOEY has just added two to their drinks menu and they are fabulous! The St Germain Spritz is made with prosecco, blueberries, and St Germain – an elderflower blossom liqueur which is new to B.C.

Also new to the menu are sushi cones, but with a twist. Instead of using a traditional seaweed nori, these are made with a soybean wrapper which keeps them light and allows the flavours to really come through.

Watch the clip to see Mike and Fiona learn how to roll the cones…

JOEY Restaurants’ Executive Chef Chris Mills was on BT Vancouver this morning to give hockey fans some ideas of ‘lucky food’ they can eat today. Hint: go for fish, pork, pomegranate, and citrus. Avoid chicken and lobster. And remember, lucky things come in threes!

I had a great time meeting Lisa Kadane, the Calgary Herald’s Drinks Columnist, at the sneak peek party for JOEY EAU CLAIRE. Judging from her article this weekend, it sounds as though she loved the space (as well as a couple of new JOEY drinks). Read on here.

And if you are looking for a great summer drink, here are recipes for Lisa’s picks:

Aperol Spritz
1½ oz Aperol (Italian orange aperitif)
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 oz Prosecco
1-2 oz soda
Fill a large wine glass full with ice. Add the Aperol, orange juice and Prosecco, then top with 1-2 oz of soda.
Garnish with orange wheel. Stir before drinking.

Blueberry Mojito
1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
6 mint leaves
1 tbsp(15 mL) fresh blueberries
2 oz Smirnoff blueberry vodka
soda
In a mixer cup, muddle the lime juice, simple syrup, mint leaves and blueberries. Add vodka, fill the mixer with ice and shake vigorously.
Pour contents into a large collins glass. Top with fresh ice, then top with soda.
Garnish with a mint leaf.

— Recipes courtesy Geoff Boyd, Joey Restaurant Group

In Malwina Gudowska’s first assignment as the new SweetLife Calgary Editor she blogged about the new JOEY EAU CLAIRE, a “restaurant that means so much to [her] as a Calgarian.” Read her article here.

While we were in Calgary last week for the re-opening of JOEY EAU CLAIRE (after their fabulous renovation) Executive Chef Chris Mills went on BT Calgary to make sushi cones with host Jill Belland.

Here is the recipe for the cones. Note: the soy wrapper is what makes these cones extra special. And the tempura prawns. And the daikon sprout. And the roe. And the Sriracha mayo. OK the whole thing is fab!

Most of the ingredients can be bought in Chinatown or at an Asian grocery store such as T&T. The soy wrappers can be bought online, but you can also use Nori, the dried seaweed sheets, which are more widely available.

Ingredients:
Cooked Sushi Rice (cook according to package instructions)
½ cup Rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Sugar
3 tsp salt
Store-bought Tempura batter
½ cup Flour
Prawns*
Oil for frying
Toasted sesame seeds
Fish roe (if desired)
Daikon radish sprout or julienne daikon radish
Cucumber, cut into 2-3 inch strips, leaving skin on, no seeds
Soy wrappers (available online) or Nori
Tube of wasabi
Store-bought Sriracha Vietnamese Mayonnaise

* To vary the cones, instead of using tempura prawns you can also use seared salmon, poached prawns, or raw tuna.

Directions:
While you are cooking your sushi rice according to the package instructions, begin making a brine. Combine sugar, salt, and rice vinegar. When rice has cooked and is cooling, season rice at a ratio of about ¼ cup of brine per cup of rice, or to taste.

Chill your store-bought tempura batter so that it is ice cold. Pour batter and flour into two separate bowls. Dredge each prawn first through the flour and then through the batter. Deep fry in a shallow fryer (frying pan or wok) for 60-90 seconds until golden brown. Set aside.

On one half of a 3”x 6” sheet of soy or Nori layout the ingredients. Start with some rice, followed by sesame seeds, cucumber, daikon, mayonnaise, one prawn, a dab of wasabi and a piece of pickled ginger.

The folding is a bit tricky to explain, but it is much easier than it sounds. We suggest that you watch the video for Chris’ tips!

Take the bottom left corner and fold it up until it is touching the middle of the top of the sheet. Holding the bottom centre, roll it around the remainder of the sheet to form a cone. Crush a kernel of cooked rice with your fingers and use it as ‘glue’ to hold the cone together.

Serve with soy sauce