One man's

01 January 2000
One man's

As head chef of David Woolley's restaurant at Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire, I wanted to know what the catering professional could gain from the Internet. I quickly realised that there was a lot of useful information available but it was often very hard to find, and either US- or London-based. So I decided, despite having no previous knowledge, to build a professional catering Web site run by a catering professional for catering professionals.

I hoped I could build a site that focused on areas away from London, and today the site reflects this.

It is called the Culinary Resource Centre UK and it has been visited by between 2,000 and 5,000 people in its six months of existence.

Since I began to use the Internet on a regular basis, I have been gathering culinary information for the restaurant from other sites and from fellow professionals. We have introduced exciting dishes to our menus - for example, roasted guinea fowl and Japanese rice cake over yellow pepper and ginger emulsion, and smoke-roasted squab with mushroom corn risotto and tarragon reduction - and could add many others if required. The restaurant has also benefited from about 20 on-line bookings.

Building the site on the Internet was surprisingly easy and inexpensive. I paid £99 for the Web site editing software I used, and everything else was free. Creating a site to display your particular business can actually be achieved for no money at all, regardless of what professional Web site designers will tell you, as long as you have a fairly standard PC running Windows 95. All the necessary Web procedures can be achieved satisfactorily without the expense of buying a high-powered PC.

What you need most of is time and patience, as you have to learn how to use the software packages. Getting started is straightforward. Assuming you already have an Internet connection, you will need a Web editor with which to design your page (for example, Softquad's Hot Metal 4 Pro, £99, or Lite, which I got free from a computer magazine cover disk), a file transfer package to upload your site on to the Internet (for example, WS-FTP is available free to download from the Net), and a space on the World Wide Web (WWW), which is often available free from your Internet service provider (ISP) if used for non-commercial purposes.

All the help you need for learning how to use these is usually included with the software packages. It is a good idea to print out the instructions you need instead of reading them from the computer screen - it really makes a difference in getting to grips with the software.

For information about the Internet and the WWW, your ISP can also be very helpful. I used Prestel On-Line and found their personal help was superb.

Page design

Designing the page can be done relatively simply with the right software and, with a little practice, composing a pageto display your establishment can be achieved quite quickly.

File transfer

Once you have your page finished, you then have to upload it on to the Internet. You will need to transfer your files to your ISP's server by a process called File Transfer Protocol (FTP). This, again, is a simple software operation.

When you have your page up, all you really need to do is to make sure that it is always up-to-date and interesting.

You can alter your page at any time, but you will need to redesign it with the Web editor software on your own PC and then reload it through FTP.

Promoting your site

The most time-consuming, and probably most important, thing to do with your site is to promote its existence. This can be done by submitting your site's address to the "search engines" or Web directories which the majority of people use to find their way around the Internet. In addition to doing this, I have contacted other catering sites and asked them to display a link in return for a link to their sites. This is working well and attracts people constantly.

The Culinary Resource Centre has now been on-line for six months and contains a wealth of catering information, including chefs' and buyers' guides, menus, recipes, equipment displays, daily catering news, recruitment, live on-line chat, a restaurant guide with on-line booking facility, and a suppliers guide, with new features being added all the time.

The site is aimed specifically at professional caterers in the UK. It acts as a gateway to the rest of the Internet's catering information through links to other sites. The site can also offer training and answers to technology-related enquiries, such as building and supplying computer systems which are set up for caterers, Internet demonstrations, software advice and much more.

I am now looking at putting the site on a commercial footing early this year, which will allow businesses to advertise and sell their products and services directly through the site.

The cost of a business site will vary depending on the space you require. A completely new site will cost about £500 for Web space and name registration; I expect to have to pay more than £1,000.

Getting started

Those wishing to build their own site or have one built for them are welcome to contact me for guidance. Here are my tips for getting started:

1. Look at what other sites have to offer.

2. Plan carefully what you would like to do.

3. Never copy what others have done - use them as a yardstick against which to measure your own ideas.

4. Contact other site designers - people will offer advice. And do listen to them - it will make things easier.

5. Look at some of the computing and Internet magazines available in newsagents. These often include detailed information about building Web sites and may come with cover disks that supply you the software you need at no extra cost.

6. Don't spend a fortune on an expensive personal computer - it is not necessary.

Our industry has spent many years with its head in the sand when it comes to technology, as we are slow to accept change. But you can gain a great deal by getting to grips with this new technology, especially from those Web sites created by catering professionals that target your needs.

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