'Beyond the news.'

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan, 1994 by Milford Prewitt

In the October issue of Restaurants USA, not one word drew attention to the fact that the "monthly magazine for the National Restaurant Association" had turned 12 years old that month.

The first few paragraphs of NRA president Stephen E. Elmont's President's Column alerted readers that the October issue was different from the others because it was the first of a new redesign. Then he moved on to other topics.

There was the perennial Washington Report briefs; a Q-and-A about the new FICA Tip-Tax Credit; a cover article on the uses of marketing technology in foodservice; and offbeat but seasonally appropriate piece about haunted restaurants around the country; personality profiles; a calendar of events; rich color photographs; and current NRA statistical data presented in a variety of pie charts, bar graphs and tables.

With that kind of content, calling attention to its 12th year in business probably didn't even come up when the staff met to discuss stories for the October edition two months earlier.

"Our mission is clear-cut," said Paul Moomaw, editor for the past two years and a staffer since 1987. "We are here to help the members of the National Restaurant Association run their businesses better. So our articles have to cut across a broad spectrum of the industry, and it's our intention that fast-food operators, contract feeders, tableservice operators all find something that helps them."

30,000 subscribers

Each month the glossy magazine reaches 30,000 subscribers, most of whom receive Restaurants USA free with their memberships dues in the NRA. A smaller percentage pays $125 a year.

The magazine is distinguished by tightly focused how-to-articles, previews and post-mortems on legislative battles, useful statistical reports from the NRA's research wing and timely consumer and food trends.

With the October issue Restaurants USA has changed its graphic appearance to be more "reader friendly." More white space on each page, more use of color photographs and more fun-oriented articles, like the haunted restaurants story.

The cover photography, sometimes controversial but always dramatic, is one of the magazine's signature distinctions.

"I think over the years we've become famous for our covers," said Jeffrey R. Prince, executive editor, a former literature professor and co-founder of the magazine. "We want to make the covers stand out. But more importantly, we want the magazine cover to be something the members can be proud of, that they can say we are members of an association that produces a magazine that looks this good.

"The cover has to strike a chord and draw them in. I think the one that did it best was the cover about dietary schizophrenia, where we put a head of lettuce on an ice-cream cone."

Conceived as a publication that would merge three separate NRA publications under one title, Restaurants USA has a staff of 17 and a support group that includes a research department, an art unit, a government relations division and an educational foundation.

The industry had an even earlier publication, National Restaurant News, launched in 1917, by some of the same restaurant operators who would go on to found the NRA two years later.

Beyond the evolution in the sophistication of graphics, four-color photography and type face, the most striking difference between the National Restaurant News and Restaurants USA is that the latter -- just like the association -- has grown to be more preoccupied with matters in Washington.

Determining the editoirial content, like the cover art, is often a blending of staff decision making and events occuring in the market.

Like editors and reporters anywhere else, the "newsroom" crew wants to

believe they have a handle on the issues of the day and are not taken by surprise.

But more likely than not, what appears in the magazine is often the result of identifying new trends and business developments.

"In many ways we try to go beyond the news," Moomaw said. "Some articles in the magazine are like chapters in a book on running a restaurant. Our biggest mission may be covering Washington since that is what so many of our readers are looking for.

"Mostly, we write about the basics: how to hire, how to motivate, how to arrange a menu. And so we are writing about the basics all the time."

A lot of the editorial direction is also established by the readers themselves, Prince said. But they may not know they are helping to decide content.

"Every so often, we might get calls from members who are having a problem and are looking for a solution," he said. "Well, one of the advantages with the NRA is that when people call here with a problem, we often get a very quick indication if there's a trend out there and if we should have some research done on it. Our connection with the research department is one of the our great advantages."

Solving those problems tends to create a dialogue among the membership, giving operators who may never meet in person a chance to talk to one another, Moomaw explained.

"We know that we have to produce a produce that gets our members the information they need, with examples," Moomaw said. "As a result, Restaurants USA often turns into a conversation between restaurant operators. It's like they are giving each other advice even though they may never meet."