russ blakeborough

Creating a Flavor Symphony

Whether eating, cooking, or creating a cocktail, the art of learning how to methodically taste all the elements of a dish can be something that lasts a lifetime and can be used daily.  Try following this outline taught to me by a renowned Hungarian Chef.

Let me explain.  First, you must learn how to interpret what you are tasting and then you can enhance and perfect the taste.  This same procedure can be used when creating a dish or a cocktail to make sure that it is well-balanced, full-bodied, and has flair.


Think about it as an artist would create a painting: The background of the picture is the depth or the base of dish, the middle ground is the storyline, or flavor accents, and around the edge (and sprinkled throughout) are the highlights.  The highlights give style and personality to the dish while dancing around and giving sizzle to the finished piece.  Then lastly, think about tying this all together as an exciting work of art.

The Art of Tasting
russ blakeborough

Concept creation is such a very important process. One in which you should spend a great deal of time and effort - much more than people generally do. After all, it will be the personality of your restaurant, your labor of love, for years to come. The decisions that you make during this process should not be taken lightly. In this day and age, where there are so many great restaurants, guests will only return to and tell others about, the ones that are truly memorable and that they can connect with on a deeper level.

 

As your concept creation consultant, I would begin by asking you a series of questions. Basically, interview you and find out all your deepest thoughts about what you want to the restaurant to be: what is your focus, your dream, and vision for your restaurant? Once I get a clear understanding of what’s in your head, I will research - starting with the area restaurants to evaluate what the competition is doing. For instance, what are the top 10 comp-set restaurants doing?  Then, I would evaluate all equivalent style concepts in the area to see if there are any missing concepts, which may fit the bill, or help us find any other needs that can be filled. It does not have to be necessarily a specific type of cuisine; it certainly can be, but you do need to have a distinct theme and personality. This persona will set the tone for how the restaurant is run, how it is marketed, and how it is viewed in the public eye. The goal is to create something that is memorable, inspiring, exciting, and unique. A concept that will show creativity, sensuality, style and personality.

The next step will be the Concept Creation. Based on research and your vision, I will draw up three concept boards that depict three separate ideas/possibilities for you. The concept board will show visually, the name and theme outline, all in a quick view format and design look. This helps us narrow down the direction to one concept. From there, I will create the final presentation concept.
 

The final deliverable will contain a name, style, design elements, décor, music, lighting, menu outline, beverage highlights, events that speak to the concept, the look, and style of the server, as well as, approach and wardrobe.

Creating a new Concept

farm-to-table

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Why Boutique Hotels should have a Great restaurant

Your hotel can be super cool, well-decorated, in a great location, and have lots of interesting amenities, but it will always come down to the personality and charm of your food and beverage operations that will develop loyal and passionate followers.

 

Let’s look at what a boutique hotel is, who stays there, and why?  A boutique hotel is typically smaller--under 200 rooms.  It is often in an urban environment, although not always [there are many wonderful boutique resorts], with each hotel having individual personality, including chic, eclectic, and interesting décor and features that make the experience different.  The service tends to be individualized and more connected, where small differentiators and points of service make it stand out.

 

 

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What to demand from a property audit

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What to demand from a property audit

Three results you should demand

 

Some hotels and restaurants spend thousands of dollars every year on property evaluations. Some are required by the brand, the ownership, or other third party. Some are better than others, and many bring little to no value to the property. You are paying a lot for these visits - you should expect more from them.

 

What are you getting for you money?  Passing you audit is often the only real goal.  What should you really expect from a good property audit? A lot of money is invested in you and your establishment, and a lot is expected. What would be the outcome if you could increase revenues by 3%? If you can save 5% on the bottom line? If you can increase the level of satisfaction, you can double those numbers. How would that effect your life, your ownership, your staff, and most importantly, guests?

 

 

You should expect to find out answers to these 3 questions:

 

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What happened to Sunday Brunch?

Why has Sunday brunch disappeared in many of our great hotels and resorts?

The answer must be the profitability. Too often we are focused on trying to make sure that each event that we do contributes and is a profit center for the hotel while we should be looking at the big picture of what the food and beverage venues bring to the hotel.

F&B should be the face (the personality) of the hotel: one that makes each visit a memorable one, not a dull and uninspired meal where the guests eat out of necessity!  Dining out in your restaurant should be an experience, not a necessity. If we have pride and excitement about what we do, this will reflect on their experience and will result in having busy, lively, and memorable places for our guests to eat, drink, and be merry!

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It's all about the Sizzle!

Why do patrons go back to restaurants? Why do they recommend to their friends and post on social media? What does it really take to make a restaurant great? Sometimes it can be the food, often the service, and usually the atmosphere. More often than not, it is a combination of all of the above, sprinkled with a little extra SIZZLE!

Sizzle is what helps a restaurant stand apart from others and be successful! Let’s try to define Sizzle. If you review the trendy and popular restaurants, you will find that they all have something in common - that little special something, magic, or Sizzle, that makes all the difference.

Take the art world, for example. You can look at a painting, one that has lots of good qualities, is accurately painted, has a great background, has good color, depth, and even nice highlights, but it can be missing that magic that makes it pop! It can even be missing some of those qualities. But, if it has the Sizzle, it can make up for some shortcomings because it has something that sets it apart from the crowd.

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Who would you like to fire today?

Would do you like to fire someone today?

 

“It’s not the person you fail to hire that destroys your restaurant; it’s the person you fail to fire”. I read this last week and thought that it was all too true in many cases! We knew better but failed to act! The renowned Osmond’s song above implies one bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch, but we know from experience, it’s quite the contrary.

 

In this world where we endeavor to be supportive and understanding, living in an environment where we never want to upset anyone, we sometimes miss the boat on what our staff really needs from us as leaders, and that is making those tough decisions. Believe me, the rest of the team usually knows what needs to be done and wonder why you are not addressing it.

 

 

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So, what’s the deal with all the talk about local food? 

What does it mean to eat locally, and why is it a thing? Opinions of what is “local food” differ, but here are some essentials:

Terroir            

Terroir comes from the Latin root meaning “earth” and refers to the earth where wine, or food, is grown. Literally, the “taste of the earth”. Terroir is a term generally used for wine, and although not traditionally thought of in regards to food, it actually plays a large part when talking about the locally grown and its amped-up taste. This pure taste is very evident and strongly influenced by effects that varying climates, microclimates, soil types, temperature, the sun, water quality, nutrients, and populations have on the state of the food. These differences are subtle, but in real food, are boldly evident.

 

 

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Just give a little love!  | A Message to Hotel GM’s

Just give a little love!  | A Message to Hotel GM’s

 

How to get the most out of your food and beverage team.

As a consultant, I work with many hotels, different brands, different management companies, franchised and managed properties. Generally speaking, all of the property teams do a great job and have a great staff who care, want to be successful, and do the best they can for the hotel and for the guest. One simple thing that can be done in many hotels is to increase the level of support, encouragement, and attention given to the F&B team. Just a little love can go a long way!

 

 

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The Bottom Line

We all work hard to earn a dime these days. In the restaurant business, it can be very hard earned, and you want to keep all those dollars and put them in the bank. Here are the top five areas to be on the look-out for:

 

1.     Purchasing - look at your purchasing practices.  Contracts and procedures are key. Do you have a purchasing agreement? Do you get weekly price quotes? Who is ordering and who is receiving? How does the process work? Are we buying the best quality and getting the best yield? I continue to see issues in this area. It is the biggest issue that I see and should be a priority.

 

2.     Labor - normally the number one expense that you will have.  Don’t take it for granted. Who is scheduling your team, and based on what? Do you compare income to labor hours? Without cutting the quality of service and preparation, there are many ways to be more efficient.  Is everybody arriving at the same time and going home at the same time? Staying busy in slow times? Are people taking lunch breaks? Do the staff leave or hang around on the clock? Look at it from all angles. I can almost guarantee your savings in this area.

 

3.     Theft - I have always trusted my team, and trust is an important factor in creating a strong team. However, don’t let that be your reason not to protect your investments. Unfortunately, you can’t always trust everyone. Have systems in place to rule out opportunity.  If you leave the bank door open, you would be surprised who will take a tour!  Close the opportunities so that people are not tempted. Look at all departments and positions.

 

4.     Portion control – over-prepping and over-pouring. Know what your meal and drink sizes are and stick to them. Value for the money is important. Give what you think is the right size for what you are charging; just have systems in place to make sure that you do so.

If you need guidance in this review process, contact me