Frank Talk

The new digital A La Cart is here!

It looks great and is easy to use. It’s inventive, inviting, innovative and interactive. A La Cart remains the newsletter it’s always been plus much more. I encourage you to dive in and start clicking away. For those of you who prefer a more measured approach, let me take you on a thumbnail “guided tour” of the website.

With just a little exploring—and a little clicking—you’ll discover all kinds of ways to connect with us.

At a glance, the newsletter’s design will be familiar to everyone who knows our printed version. Yet there are quite a few exciting differences. Some additions are sure to catch your eye, like the cartoon illustrations that now appear throughout. We found most of them on Lawry’s The Prime Rib menus from the 1950s and we created a few more in the same style. My new Frank Talk “portrait” was inspired by these vintage sketches and the Disney studio’s caricature of me and my dad that’s been in the Tam O’Shanter for many years.

Many of the illustrations in the new digital A La Cart came from vintage Lawry’s The Prime Rib menus.

Drawn by a Disney animator, Richard R. and Richard N. Frank’s caricature still hangs at the Tam

Scrolling down you’ll see Feature Stories. In this inaugural digital issue, we interview my sister Susie who’s played an important role in our company for many years. You’ll enjoy her unique perspective on our family business. Her article is a great example of how, freed from the limits paper imposes, we can go into more depth and include color images. The same holds true for other columns like Looking at Lawry’s, Table Talk and our VIP Insider.

Most significantly, the new A La Cart is a truly interactive newsletter. One interactive element many of you will appreciate is the Print This Issue button directly under the newsletter’s seasonal title. After scanning the article summaries, select and print the ones you’re interested in. But don’t stop there. With just a little exploring—and a little clicking—you’ll discover all kinds of ways to connect with us.

you can enjoy the newsletter anytime, anyplace.

One of my favorite new features is From the Archives. There, you’ll find printable and shareable articles from past issues including many Frank Talks written by my father.

Conveniently, A La Cart can approximate your location to show you special events at our restaurants near you and enable you to make reservations for them. We’ll continuously update these event announcements as well as VIP Insider tips and news items. You can check back in between issues to learn what’s going on before the next edition. See the videos and slide shows we can now publish and find the latest photos from our restaurants’ Instagram feeds even if you don’t have a social media account. And, you can enjoy the newsletter anytime, anyplace. A La Cart looks just as great on your smart phone and tablet as it does on your computer.

It’s trite but true: times have changed. My grandfather, Lawrence, came to California to seek his fortune in 1915, the same year the first transcontinental telephone line began operating. For him, when broadcast radio started five years later, it rivaled the impact the Internet has had on us today. Just imagine what he would make of our newsletter. By comparison, I was also raised pre-Internet when choosing from three TV channels represented the height of modern mass communications.

Dad started our newsletter with the hope that it would let people feel like part of the Lawry’s family. Over the years, you’ve told us he succeeded. I believe our new 21^st century A La Cart will continue to fulfill his vision.

From the desk of Richard R. Frank