Concept Guru Bob Puccini Talks About Outsourcing

By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 11/1/2005

So what does it take to produce a great destination restaurant in a hotel? Well-known restaurant consultant Bob Puccini has spent much of his career working with everyone from the big hotel chains to the small independents. From design to menu creation to training, management and analysis, his Puccini Restaurant Group takes a “one-stop shop” approach to restaurant operations. With more than 30 years of know-how, Puccini recently spoke with HOTELS about what it takes to create successful concepts today and how outside expertise can help.

HOTELS: How does outsourcing benefit hotel managers?

Puccini: With most operators, their business is hotel rooms, and they just don’t focus the same way on the F&B side. For a lot of

hoteliers the restaurant is an undervalued asset. But it completes the whole package and takes the entire hotel experience to a higher level, including a higher room rate.

So we [as outsourced solutions] look at ourselves as a resource for hoteliers—to supplement their skill set with ours. Franchisees and hotel companies generally have small F&B departments, so we step in and supplement them with concept development, market research, cost/benefit analysis and then ongoing consultation.

HOTELS: What are some of

the pros and cons of leasing out space to an independent operator?

Puccini: On the positive side, the day-to-day

worrying at some level goes away. And if it is a good location, leasing out a restaurant is relatively easy. On the negative side, however, is that the operator needs to be successful. If it is not, then repair, maintenance and quality of staff diminish because the operator cannot afford to keep it up, and it will reflect badly on the hotel. And what about the other F&B services that need to be provided to guests? Hotels still have to take care of that, and many times when the space is leased out restaurateurs aren’t good at roomservice and catering.

HOTELS: What about management contracts?

Puccini: Management contracts are less difficult because there is more operating cooperation between the management company and the hotel. But there are only a few companies today that do this. It is a hybrid that I think will grow. I can easily see companies that will emerge to be strong foodservice management companies handling all aspects of F&B within hotels. We’re not quite there yet, but it is developing.

I think it works best in more middle

market hotels because at the high-end there is such an expectation of service and style. The mid-market [operators] are just happy to have someone working with them. They can control it, but have someone to execute. And it defers the cost of developing an F&B department in their own company.

HOTELS: What does it take today to create a successful destination restaurant?

Puccini: There are a lot of people who create good-looking restaurants, but what has become more and more important is value—going beyond taking an order and delivering food. There needs to be something more compelling than that. I believe restaurants are about how you feel. You need to figure out how to have broadest brush to entice people into your restaurant and get them to come back. Examine psychographics. You need to capture emotions so people want to come back.