May 9, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I travel a lot and I love it. Airplanes give me loads of time to read, and so, every once in while I want to introduce you to something I have read.  The book is Oren Harari’s Break from the Pack. I thought this was so good that I bought it for my entire management team to read and discuss.  I frequently buy my team books, but this is the first one that they really wanted to sit down and talk about, for 4 full hours.

To summarize the book would do it an injustice, so I am going to cover a couple of points that stood out to me.

Break from the pack by:

* Creating something that can not be easily duplicated

* Defining and leading the agenda for your business

* Not just responding to your customers but leading them

I think these points are so important in restaurants and hotels. Sometimes it seems like it is impossible t...Read More

Industries: Food & Beverage

April 29, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

At this point, you might have noticed that I travel a lot.  It has been an exciting couple of weeks. I was in Dubai this week for a World Travel and Tourism Council summit. While visiting that part of the world, I treated myself to a couple of days in Egypt to revisit the astounding architecture of the highly skilled ancient Egyptian people.  Their innovation and precision set an unprecedented standard that amazes me every time I see it.
 
In Cairo, I was awestruck by how advanced the Egyptians were to have gathered the conceptual knowledge to accurately build these massive tombs and temples. The outcome, shown through the gorgeous columns and carvings, look simple in retrospect, but all building takes planning.  Someone had to calculate quantities, transportation time (without trucks!), as well as training each craftsman to accomplish all of thi...Read More

Industries: Food & Beverage

April 16, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

My flight to Frankfurt last week was cancelled at the very last minute. I noticed how the staff handled it, coolly and efficiently. I was impressed with their level of sensitivity to the inconvenienced travelers. I was stressed as I had an onward connecting flight I was going to miss, more hassles with new flights and, not the least, what would happen to checked baggage. In Frankfurt the Lufthansa agent managed my new flight arrangements, checked on my checked bag with a smile and directed me to the lounge. My travel agent contacted me first by email, then a call when I arrived in Frankfurt to let me know he had alerted my hotel in Cairo to my late arrival and someone would be at the airport to pick me up at 2:40 a.m. when I finally arrived.  Wow, how great it is when the system works?

In the world we live in today, I think the most important task is caring en...Read More

Industries: Food & Beverage

March 31, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

When I was a child the only time we ever went to a restaurant was for a special occasion, mostly birthdays, because really special occasions like holidays were family gatherings where aunts and grandmothers brought part of the meal for 15 to 20 people.  Meals in those days, the '50s and '60s,  were family occasions where men generally did not cook, and where mothers usually had a hot meal on the table for dinner every evening.

Our lives have changed considerably since then: family size is shrinking; mothers are now working too; everyone is working later; and food often goes to waste in refrigerators since the cost of dining out versus eating in is comparable.  During my childhood, there were three network TV stations; now there are countless stations, and many of them about food and style.

Restaurants have changed too: they were once primarily...Read More
Industries: Food & Beverage

March 19, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Welcome to Something to Chew On, where each week I will provide insights into what makes successful restaurants and food and beverage spaces within hotels.

With the ever-rising costs associated with each hotel room unit, hoteliers are looking outside the room to not only raise revenues to offset the rising room costs, but also to increase their perceived brand value in the marketplace. Enter Restaurants.

In this blog, I will address strategic and global ideas and trends that can make or break the food and beverage portion of your hotel. There are several overarching themes that I will focus on:.

 1.) Key considerations for understanding your market and creating restaurant concepts with profit power.

In order to have a successful restaurant that serves as a profit center for a hotel, it is important to understand how to c...Read More
Industries: Food & Beverage