With the growing success of fast-casual restaurant concepts in the United States such as Panera Bread and Noodles & Company, it should come as no surprise that Hilton Worldwide, McLean, Virginia, is about to launch similar concepts for its Embassy Suites, DoubleTree and core Hilton Hotels brands.
During the Lodging Conference in Phoenix last week, Hilton’s Vice President of Restaurant Concepts for Full-Service and Luxury Brands Beth Scott explained to HOTELS about the thinking behind DoubleTree’s Made Market, Embassy Suite’s Brickstones Grill and Hilton’s Herb n’ Kitchen. The concepts will begin to debut in 2013 and continue to roll out through 2014.
All three concepts are optional to owners and among more than 30 additional concepts featured on HiltonRestaurantConcepts.com, a website that pairs hotels and owners with preferred food and beverage concepts to meet a variety of property’s needs. Hilton Worldwide has plans to open 800 restaurants in the next three years.
Brickstones Grill transitions cooked-to-order breakfast to a-la-carte for lunch or dinner. The menu will feature American dishes, served in single or family portions, created within a brick pizza oven, open pit grill or rotisserie. Average check is expected to be about US$19. The open display kitchen is the staple in a dining room that includes comfortable booths and organic surfaces with quarried stone and reclaimed wood.
Scott said the Brickstones Grill prototype shrinks the F&B footprint down to 7,000 sq ft (650 sq m) from what used to be about a 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) to 12,000 sq ft (1,115 sq m) commitment. Because it is hard to retrofit the Brickstones concept into legacy Embassy Suite atrium F&B spaces, Scott said Hilton is working on another option.
Debuting at the Hilton New York next March, Herb n’ Kitchen is a self-service model with entrees delivered to guest tables. The retail-like experience gives guests a transparent view of the kitchen. The model allows operators to shift from lunch to dinner and, depending on the location, may include a variety of options – from a live-action station to made-to-order or pre-made salads and sandwiches to a bar and barista zone. “This is more of a gourmet, retail approach similar to Dean & DeLuca,” Scott added.
Made Market is an all-day eatery that combines grab and go market options with a brick oven gastro pub concept. The first Made Market is slated to debut in January 2013 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tulsa in Oklahoma. This concept has a more organic feel, according to Scott, who added that development costs for this concept and Brickstones is about US$350 per square foot.
With capital-challenged owners needing proof before making an investment, Scott said she expects to show solid ROI with the initial rollouts, which she believes will lead to a more pronounced construction pace for the three restaurant concepts in the years ahead.