1. Add authentic ethnic flair
When renovating the cafe at Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, Ark., hospital CEO Bruce Murphy sent Food and Nutrition Director Coby Smith to Tokyo, where he was able to sample ramen and learn how to prepare it for the cafe’s new ramen bar. Smith prepares all of his stocks fresh, allowing him to control how much fat and sodium are in the final product. The ramen, offered three days a week, has become so popular that Smith regularly serves it to nonhospital patrons. “We have people come in off the street to just eat the ramen,” says Smith. “I have people come from downtown Little Rock to eat it.”