Dear Editor:If you own or manage a restaurant that is not doing well, consider using the power of smell to attract more customers. I've eaten at many of Downey's restaurants and have concluded that the ones that are not doing well are those that don't take advantage of the power of smell. Why doesn't your restaurant smell delicious when you open each day? It's probably because you haven't thought about it or you just don't care to figure out how to make it happen. New customers don't know what to expect in a restaurant they've never been to so it must be something else, a delicious smell for instance, that motivates them to spend more of their money on food they've never tasted. I've been to a few restaurants where I've drooled on myself while waiting to be served because of the delicious smell in the air. Whether the air was filled with mouth-watering aromas incidentally or on purpose, these few restaurants are on to something very basic yet special. A restaurant that smells like nothing is entirely unacceptable. If this were my country, you wouldn't get a license to sell food unless your restaurant smelled appetizing all the time. I'd go as far as to subsidize your payroll or give you a tax break if your restaurant managed to make the outdoors smell as good as some bacon-wrapped hot dog street vendors do. You can't afford to ignore the power of smell any longer. If the air doesn't smell good, you are losing business. Dan Chantre Downey

********** Published: Dec. 12, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 35