I recently spoke with my culinary team about always being on stage. No big deal; it’s not really a new concept. Who hasn’t preached this for the last 50 years? Unfortunately I was not referring to the pre-planned, rehearsed productions we usually think of.

It is the hidden camera, breaking news type scenarios that I am concerned with. Its mind boggling to think that most people can record and broadcast to the entire world from their personnel electronic devices. The ramifications of a poorly trained associate making an isolated mistake, or a fluke situation on the part of a staff member or guest, can become the next YouTube sensation. The potential for negative publicity resulting in embarrassment, loss of prestige, and business is very real and does happen. Read more of this >>

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

I remember a time when I would have said, “If I could just shut my door and not deal with all these associate issues, I could get so much done.” Between budgeting, forecasting, corporate reports, schedule reviews, brand updates, audits, the daily deluge of e-mails, and the 20-30 other things that come across my desk on a daily basis, it would make sense to let everyone else run the show. Then I could focus myself on what I am responsible for.

In this lies the conundrum: As leaders in the world of F&B, our very core knows we could never allow ourselves to be taken out of the action. Removing ourselves from the nitty-gritty controlled chaos would be like trying to remove one of our organs. It becomes a part of us, a part that we thrive on. Read more of this >>

I recently had an occasion to visit the Broadmoor Resort, the Colorado Grand Dame. If you are from out West, or are a golfer, you’ve likely heard of her. I am soul-linked to the place by family memories and the sheer beauty of the setting.

My grandfather would refer the all-pro staff and their sparkling results as a “house-proud” group. I would probably use verbiage more common in today’s parlance: the Broadmoor is a venerable cougar, and when she struts her stuff, she can still turn heads.

On the property there is a fine restaurant called fittingly, the Summit. At my best, I’m an interesting dinner companion, but my wife will tell you that I get the junkie-shakes entering any hospitality establishment. Like many of you, I’m quick to notice a burned out light bulb, napkin on the floor, or improper ambiance settings.

I’m not a world class foodie, wine connoisseur, or super-chef groupie, but I am a plate-spinning aficionado. For those of you who did not grow up watching the Ed Sullivan Show, that’s an old school term for what it is like/what it takes to manage a hospitality operation. So many parts moving at such a fast pace, it is truly a marvel when things run smoothly. If an operation shows strong evidence of polish and pride, of training and development, of superior guest focus or majesty in execution, they have me entranced. I know the hours of effort that go into bringing forth a “you can count on us” hospitality experience. Sadly, there is an ever-shrinking world when it comes to these matters.

Equally important and rarer still is the fine art of hospitality rebound. Yes, despite our best efforts, the plates do slip off the sticks when one is driving forward one shift after another, and there is an ever-dwindling breed who have mastered the proper alchemy to transform a negative misstep into a positive experience. The following is an example of proper “script-flipping” …

My party was seated in the Summit dining room around 7pm and by 7:27 I was looking for a manager.

• Note to servers: Reading your guests demeanors is as important to staying on the right service track as reading road signs is to your driving. My group had 3 young kids. If parents arrived parched for spirited beverages (read as stressed), it goes without saying that the goodwill you establish by providing the self-medication they seek will incalculably add to your tip percentage. (FYI – Parental Behavior Judges – PBJ’s – we walked to ‘n fro) Additionally, if the bar is backed-up, then “it’s on you” to step up and bring out some veggies and dip or bread to assist with the engagement of the children. You do not have to go all Chuckles & Cheez with balloons and clown faces, simple recognition and kind acts will suffice.

• Note to guests: Do not go “all-postal” from the jump. There is a right way to deliver information to managers (who are in the middle of rush) about your distress, and it goes something like this –
“Excuse me; are you by chance a manager?” Establish that you are speaking to the right person with a “wee tip o’ the hat” to how important they are to keeping the plates-spinning and to resolving your issue. “We arrived at a smidge past 7 and the “greet and seat” was great.” Start off with something positive so that they don’t think you are another one of “those” thereby giving them an excuse to clinch-up and wash you off. “But now we are at 7:27 and we are dragging our bar order and I noticed that other tables have a bread basket which would sure help with our kids. If there is anything you could do to turn this around, my wife and I would sure appreciate it.” Request personal assistance and be willing to show appreciation for their help. Give them a chance to right the ship; don’t expect “freebies” out of the gate.

• Note to managers: I’m sure you have had some exposure/instruction to the multitude of methods available to properly handle guest complaints, i.e., calmness, rationality, mirroring, acknowledgement, empathy, apologizing, and so forth. Let me just say that it is really very easy; just decide where you want to end-up with this party and backtrack from there. Whether they leave as life-long fanatics, fairly satisfied, or never coming back, it is all in the palm of your hands. It needn’t be a struggle, conflict or fight, to determine your desired outcome and then marshal resources to that end. I have seen many small complaints devolve into blood feuds because the person in charge showed-up with no idea where they wanted to end-up. (“I might be give’n you some ice-tea on accounta’ we screwed up, but I ain’t gonna be give’n you no pie!”)

Your guest complaints are simply an emphatic disclosure of what they care about. As a manager your arc of progression is toward altering their current beliefs, which may include feelings such as, they don’t matter to you, you don’t care about them, and that you aren’t good at what you do. It is your ability to “think on your feet” or have the right “presence of mind” that will dictate the outcome 99% of the time.

All of which brings us back to the manager/wine director/Captain of the Starship Summit, whom I had flagged down. He listened, he agreed, offering no excuses, he did offer a sincere apology and confidently stated that he would make things right. (You know, “Make it so…”)

Nothing was left in doubt after the first instant of his involvement. He insured that they not only caught up to our expectations, but surpassed them. We saw staff members that we had not previously seen, refills were automatic, and pre-bussing was timed to perfection. All the delicious hot food was hot, and the cold food was bone-chillin’ cold. My wife received preparation details of a fantastic spinach side dish. We tasted a couple of unsolicited samples of menu items he thought we might enjoy, and the kids shared their first world class dessert pastry. Our meal/relationship (key word) had started off on the wrong foot and this gentleman fixed it, without copping an attitude or comping a meal. Some of you may get enthralled when you witness a walk off dinger, a buzzer-beating tre’, or a hat-trick. Me? I like this.

Don’t save your savoring for cheese, wines, cigars or salumi. Sometimes, there is a mastercraftperson operating right before your eyes. If you get the chance, stop by the Broadmoor, and eat at the Summit. There is some pretty fine plate-spinning going on and it seems that they recover/rebound/rectify with the best of them.

Dynamic, stimulating, vivid colors—a palette to please the eye. This could very well be a critic’s choice words for a well-known and highly acclaimed hotel restaurant:  Picasso at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I recently had the pleasure of experiencing this unique and aesthetically divine establishment on a secondary reconnaissance trip on behalf of a client who has great aspirations to incorporate a similar venue within his new boutique hotel. Since we are still within our development stage plans and waiting for approval on a zoning variance (related to the restaurant facility), I felt it would be prudent to personally revisit Picasso and see how it has fared since its opening in 1998 when I first visited the establishment.

Before my second visit, I went on my usual Internet search for reviews and comments (from the Bellagio’s own press releases and sites such as TripAdvisor, Frommers, and Gayot) to read up on current commentary.

Throughout my evaluation process, I worked with various criteria that we needed to implement in our own hotel-restaurant project and found ample opportunities existed for our version of a Picasso-styled eatery à la façon du Bellagio. We found there were consistent choices we could implement in the front of the house as well as the kitchen, and it merely required a stage manager. Fortunately, I have a theatrical background and sought to encourage an expedient program to design and integrate various techniques to create a provocative style, theme, and the type of culinary performers who would be equally enthusiastic about our own production.

Our business plan and budget have been modified to assume seasonal décor and significant menu changes to create a “traveling exhibit” format (similar to museum runs). We feel this will create sufficient hype and interest for the dining and art patrons who reside in our area. Our proposed location is in a warm resort region in Florida and in close proximity to a world-renowned museum. Of particular interest to our plans is also the accessibility of an influential school of art and design and for which we will establish a student scholarship program with the proviso that they produce certain works of art specifically for our restaurant and the hotel common areas. This will benefit us as much as the students who will be able to identify their works in their professional portfolios. We will also establish a special student dining rate (with certain restrictions on days and times for use). We recognize the area is home to a local state-run university as well as several colleges, and we feel this particular demographic will bring us a respectable source of revenue.

The Demographics and Location

We benefit from our placement within a resort town and enjoy a mix of international dining patrons (tourists, seasonal visitors, full-time residents) as well as an increase in young business professionals who, by preference, appreciate the selectivity of multiple dining choices providing mix-and-match meal assemblages, and who (most importantly) contribute to a hefty liquor tab. It’s a good mix for us and, yes, it’s VERY expensive to operate a trendy business oriented to the masses. This is the price you pay for location, location, location. As a realtor, I am fully aware of what’s going on in town, so we benefit from my research and negotiating skills.

The Competition and Cost

Although there are a few relatively new entrants in this region (two major hotels having recently completed renovations and additions to their own on-site restaurants), we welcome the opportunity to introduce our own signature restaurant as part of our boutique hotel complex. Aside from the portion-control menu presentation at Picasso’s, we will attempt to re-create a similar menu plan with our proposed restaurant. It is truly a cavalier tasting extravaganza and one that we have tested on a recent focus group, where we found an eager audience asking for more.

Read more of this >>

About this time each year, experts scramble to beat each other to the punch and be the first to make predictions for the coming year. Some predictions deserve to be considered, while others are just plain common knowledge and are really not newsworthy. I have always believed that doing what you do best, while offering what your market demands, is a great start. Cutting-edge, hip and trendy restaurants will always have a place in the market. They are exciting, fun, and necessary. But remember that the majority of these restaurants created their own success by doing what they knew best, not by following trends. Following trends is a tricky game; if you’re reading about it, it’s probably too late to get on board. That being said, serious cooks and chefs should always be expanding their culinary horizons and repertoires. It is necessary to continually develop if you are to reach your potential. So here are my predictions for 2010. Take them for what they’re worth and add a few of your own. That’s what this whole blogging thing is about.

Menus Shall Be Streamlined
Eliminating costly slow-sellers, high-cost, and labor-intensive items may be necessary to survive. A smaller, more manageable lineup of killer items, rather than dozens of so-so dishes, will assist in controlling costs. Use daily specials to market higher cost items, limiting the amount of inventory on hand while satisfying that creative star demand.

Menus Shall Include More Customer-Driven Options
People love to customize their menu options without feeling as if it’s a burden on the staff. You don’t want to lose business because of inflexibility in preparation. Multiple portion size options on appetizers, entrees, and desserts will encourage guests to try additional items and, as a result, help to raise check averages.

Menus Shall Be Priced Fairly and Competitively
Minimize luxury ingredients to keep costs down without altering the essence of a dish. Experiment with lower cost center-of-the-plate options, try roasts and underutilized cuts of beef, pork, and lamb. Value drives loyalty. Charge what you have to, but be fair.

Business Will Never Be Turned Away
Restaurants that once shied away from kids’ birthday parties, civic events, and SMERF (social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal) business are now thinking twice. Regardless of the price point, find a way; offer alternatives to keep menu costs down. You never know who’s in the group or what future business will book as a result of it.  Savvy operators know that a dollar profit is a dollar profit! Forget the percent game for now. You can’t pay a bill with a percent or put a percent in the bank.

Higher Quality Provisions Shall Be Used
The world is so food savvy, expectations are high, and people know quality. Questionable fish, select meats, aging produce, and cheap groceries are a fast ticket to any empty dining room. It all starts with purchasing fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Job Descriptions and Station Boundaries within the Kitchen Shall Be Eliminated
Teamwork will rule the day. Associates hesitant to cross station borders and think globally may find them out of favor and possibly out of work. Just remember that this concept will apply to all levels within the organization, even yours. Walk the talk!

Chefs Shall Rethink Menu Balance
Foods such as updated retro style cold appetizers will increase in popularity among chefs as a strategy to balance work loads and productivity in the kitchen. Creative salads, cured and smoked meats and poultry, cheese flights, raw, marinated, and smoked seafood, upscale contemporary charcuterie, and Americanized sashimi-style and cooked sushi will be offered. Chilled items allow for greater menu and labor distribution, while introducing unlimited cutting-edge and pro-health related menu possibilities.

Chefs Shall and Will Execute at the Highest Level
Flawless execution is required at any price point. You can’t fool yourself or your customers. Your restaurant is not a test kitchen. Cook what you know and are good at. No one wants to eat an experiment.

Happy Holidays!

As the recession drags on, restaurants in particular and the hospitality industry in general continue to come up with creative ways to fill tables and rooms. Whether it’s half-price wine nights, reduced-price tasting menus, or free birthday dinners, restaurant chefs and managers are wracking their brains in order to keep cover counts up. To my mind, discounting has a downside though. Discounts are so widespread that it begs the question of whether or not customers will ever be willing to pay full price again. As a consumer, I’m often suspicious of steep discounts, afraid of the catch hidden in the small print.  I never purchase, or offer in my restaurant, discount lobster, shellfish, or sushi. The diner’s perception is that I need to unload some old fish that might just be hazardous to their health. The other problem with discounting is that it gives the impression that the product is not worth full price. I’ve never seen a discount on a Rolls-Royce. If you want to lower the price, just lower it, don’t call it a discount.

Customer loyalty is a valuable commodity in this economy. With other resorts and restaurants bombarding the customer with offers for free nights and meals, the customer that keeps coming back should be rewarded. In that same vein, the loyalty of the front- and back-of-the-house staff should be rewarded as well. Restaurant workers are generally a mercenary bunch. If they think the grass is greener elsewhere, they’ll take flight. Eventually, we’ll come out of this recession and quality restaurant staff will once again be hard to find. I plan on keeping mine until that happens. In order to do that, I’ve become flexible about their scheduling. If a staff member wants to go home early to check on his sick spouse, I’ll work his station, or we’ll double up. I’ve recently organized some classes and field trips for my staff to keep them motivated and engaged. Since business has slowed enough to take a breath, we might as well learn something! I’m taking a group to visit an up-and-coming local winery tomorrow.  One well-known area restaurant has been offering special, low-priced tasting menus for service industry employees. Several of my staff have taken advantage of that opportunity to dine in a restaurant that they ordinarily could not afford.

How to best reward customer loyalty is something that my front-of-the-house manager and I have been discussing quite a lot recently.  We operate in a casino, where many of the guests are comped.  A free dessert doesn’t mean much if the casino is picking up the check.  Many of our regulars have cut back on the number of visits per month or the amount spent per visit, except when it’s a birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion. We thought that would be a nice opportunity to reward those regulars for their loyalty and for having chosen our restaurant to celebrate their special day. To that end, we are in the process of putting together gift boxes containing some locally made specialty chocolates, a specialty baked item such as a Madeleine or an especially decadent brownie, along with a recipe card from me. We are also working on a plan to use our multi-million dollar demonstration kitchen to host cooking classes and VIP dinners. Making our regular guests feel that they are part of an exclusive club is exciting to them, and having them in a small group where we can exceed even our own stellar service standards is a rare treat is today’s service industry, where the service is often forgotten. 

The most difficult part of the loyalty issue that we are dealing with is the question of how to reward our regulars’ loyalty while at the same time offering an incentive for them to bring some friends on their next visit. One of the challenges that we have at our property is that we are located in eastern San Diego County, which is removed from the tourist areas of San Diego and is accessible only by a twisting mountain road. The food has to be good in order to make the trip worthwhile, but I have heard some variation on the following from many of our regulars: “We love coming here and we tell all our friends about it, but they don’t want to make the drive.”

I have been thinking about a discount coupon for our regulars providing that they bring two guests with them. Maybe a discount for both the regular and their friends. Perhaps I can get promotions to offer some free slot play for both the regulars and their guests. I’m just thinking aloud here. I’d also like our regulars to share their love of our restaurant with their online “friends” through Facebook or Yelp.  Can I ethically offer them some incentive to do so? If you have tried a loyalty program that has worked well for you in the past or is working well for you now, please share it here. Then come to my place for dinner. I’ll take care of you.

Another one bites the dust.

World famous La Jolla restaurant Jacks closed its doors for good last week. After four years of wowing locals and out-of-towners alike, it became just too difficult to keep the doors of this huge three-restaurant venue open. Of course there is always more to any story, and I’m sure we will hear more about this unfortunate news in the weeks to come. Anyone want to buy an amazing building in downtown La Jolla? Now is the time if you have the cash!

But the story about Jacks paints a broader picture of what is happening in communities all over the U.S. Restaurants that were always considered local mainstays are closing their doors. You may see many of these places deceptively busy, but when you look closer, the traffic only hits on weekend nights—or maybe the people you see crowding the restaurant are just hanging at the bar enjoying a three-dollar happy hour beer.

Some of the more affluent communities like La Jolla do have some success stories. Tried and true places are hanging in there if not flourishing. Many local residents need to eat after all—and where do you go when your private chef has the night off? But these places seem to have figured out the loyalty formula years ago—the newer places (and by this I mean less than 5 years old) are the ones re-analyzing their portion sizes and labor hours just to pay the rent.

Loyalty, pricing, and creativity are essential right now. But weren’t they always?

The Rancho Bernardo Inn just launched a great PR campaign. You can rent a room—sans bed, heat, a/c, power, minibar, towels, etc—for $19.00. Yeah, $19.00 for a $300.00 room. You get a key and a tent that has been set up in the stripped down room. Will anyone buy this? I’m not sure, but it got a lot of press! Creativity—way to go John Gates!

How are hotel restaurants doing? I know for a fact that many in our industry are taking a hard look at their three-meal restaurant. Reference my old post about this type of restaurant. Some are taking my advice, many are not. I spoke to a young GM of a decent hotel restaurant who was bragging about the five grand in custom steak knives he just bought for his new Kobe promotion. I asked him how many covers he did last Saturday (while ComicCon was in town by the way—125,000 people within 1 block of his restaurant). The answer was 25. Twenty-five covers on what should have been the busiest night this year. The mid-priced steakhouse around the corner did 350 covers. But those steak knives!

We all need to get real about who we are, what we are, who our customers are (not who we WANT them to be—but really who they ARE). We need to check out egos and make it happen for our owners and investors and GUESTS.

We have recently completed our vast expansion at Potawatomi Bingo Casino that started almost a year ago. You can read more about it in my earlier post, Opening Soon. Without a doubt, it has been very challenging and tiring at times. Busy periods have been followed by some slow times, but it all has been exciting and rewarding.

In March, we invited the public to our open house introducing them to Woodland Dreams, one of three new banquet spaces we have added. The theme of the event was “Treasures or the Caribbean” and had more than 500 guests in attendance, including potential future clients such as corporate meeting planners, Visit Milwaukee representatives, vendors, media partners, business owners, and others qualified by the catering sales team.

This expansion includes RuYi, the Asian concept opened on Memorial Day weekend, together with our focal point on the new casino floor, Bar 360. RuYi offers a Pan-Asian menu, with everything from Hmong to Vietnamese, from Japanese to Chinese, and even an item or two from Singapore as well as the Philippines.

RuYi is conveniently located in the heart of the casino complex. The dining space, while casual, is richly detailed. Curved walls and tables surfaced in gold and red-orange hues add to the experience. Of the two counters, both of which are topped with stone, one has kitchen views where the busy chefs can be glimpsed at work.

By June, we were busy putting final touches on our 7000-square foot production Kitchen. This new space includes a butcher shop, garde manger, hot kitchen, and a cook-chill operation with two 100-gallon kettles and a turbojet cook-chill tank, as well as a fully equipped pastry department to support our ten foodservice venues catering to the six million visitors we expect this year.

Our new buffet followed. Located adjacent to the production kitchen, we feature eight food stations offering salads, seafood, Latin, Mediterranean, Asian, American cuisine, and, of course, pastries and baked goods. These stations are more mini kitchens where our talented and friendly culinarians cook many dishes in front of the guest, where service is provided with a sassy but classy attitude.

June 11th kicked off the opening festivities with more than 3,000 visitors showing up for the open house. The F&B department was geared up to provide great foodservice. Grand Opening Day, June 19th, was the official opening of the new casino areas, now featuring over 750,000 square feet of gaming, entertainment, and F&B facilities. Close to 30,000 visitors showed and the casino gave away $1 million dollars in prizes that day.
Read more of this >>