introduction to hospitality fifth edition john r. walker chapter 6: the restaurant business

introduction to hospitality

fifth editionjohn r. walker

Chapter 6: The Restaurant Business

Introduction to HospitalityFifth EditionJohn Walker

Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

All rights reserved.

Chapter 6 The Restaurant Business

• The Restaurant Business• Classical Cuisine• Food Trends and Practices• Developing a Restaurant• Menu Planning• Classifications• Trends




The Restaurant Business

• Vital part of everyday life

• As a society we spend about 50% of our food dollars away from home

• The word restaurant comes from the French word meaning restore

• Multi-billion dollar business employing 12.5 million people




Classical Cuisine• North America gained most of its culinary

legacy from France through 2 main events:– French Revolution in 1793—caused the best

French chefs of the day to lose their employment because their bosses lost their heads! Many chefs came to North America as a result.

– In 1784, Thomas Jefferson spent five years as envoy to France, and brought a French chef to the White House when he became president.

• Mari-Antoine Careme (1784–1833) is credited as the founder of classical cuisine

• August Escoffier (1846–1935) is also noted for his many contributions to cuisine




Classical Cuisine• There are five mother sauces:

Béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato, and hollandaise

• Nouvelle cuisine is a lighter cuisine and is based on simpler preparations—with the aid of processors, blenders, and juicers—using more natural flavors and ingredients




Food Trends and Practices

• Chefs will need:– A strong culinary foundation.– Multicultural cooking skills and

strong employability traits.– Additional management skills.




Developing a Restaurant• The restaurant:

– Operating philosophy represents the way the company does business.

– Market is composed of those guests who will patronize the restaurant.

– Concepts are created with guests in mind and should fit a definite market.

– Location should also appeal to the target market.

– Ambiance, or the atmosphere, that a restaurant creates has both immediate conscious and unconscious effects on guests.




Menu Planning• There are six main types of menus:

– A la carte menus—items are individually priced– Table d’hôte menus—a selection of one or

more items for each course at a fixed price– Du jour menus—lists the items “of the day”– Tourist menus—used to attract tourists’

attention– California menus—are so named because in

some California restaurants, guests may order any item on the menu at any time of the day

– Cyclical menus—repeat themselves




Menu Planning• The many considerations in menu planning include:

– Needs and desires of guests– Capabilities of cooks– Equipment capacity and layout– Consistency and availability of menu ingredients– Price and pricing strategy (cost and profitability)– Nutritional value– Accuracy in menu– Menu analysis (contribution margin)– Menu design– Menu engineering– Chain menus




Independent Restaurants

• Typically owned by 1 or more owners—usually involved in the day-to-day operation of the business

• Not affiliated with any national brand or name

• They offer the owner independence, creativity, and flexibility, but are accompanied by the risk of failing




Chain Restaurants

• A group of restaurants identical in market, concept, design, service, food, and name

• The same menu, food quality, level of service, and atmosphere can be found in any one of the restaurants—regardless of location




Fine Dining• May be formal or casual and may be

further categorized by price, decor/atmosphere, level of formality, and menu

• Many serve haute cuisine—a French term meaning “elegant dining,” or literally “high food”

• Most are independently owned and operated by an entrepreneur or a partnership

• The level of service is generally high




Theme Restaurants

• A combination of a sophisticated specialty and several other types of restaurants

• Generally serve a limited menu




Theme Restaurants • Of the many popular theme restaurants,

2 stand out: – First, the nostalgia of the 1950s—as done

in the T-Bird and Corvette diners

– Second, the dinner house category—among some of the better-known national and regional chains are TGI Friday’s, Houlihan’s, and Bennigan’s

• Casual, American bistro-type restaurants that combine a lively atmosphere created in part by assorted bric-a-brac to decorate the various ledges and walls




Celebrity Restaurants

• Growing in popularity

• Wolfgang Puck, Naomi Campbell, Michael Jordan, etc.

• Celebrity restaurants generally have an extra zing to them—a winning combination of design, atmosphere, food, and perhaps the thrill of an occasional visit by the owner(s)




Steak Houses

• Adding additional value-priced items like chicken and fish to their menus in order to attract more customers

• Upscale market leaders are Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s, and Flemings

• The mid-price market leader is Outback Steakhouse




Casual Dining• Relaxed—includes restaurants from

several classifications: – Mid-scale casual restaurants: Romano’s

Macaroni Grill, The Olive Garden

– Family restaurants: Cracker Barrel, Coco’s, Carrow’s

– Ethnic restaurants: Flavor Thai, Cantina Latina, Panda Express

• Over the past few years, the trend in dinner-house restaurants has been toward more casual dining




Family Restaurants

• Evolved from the coffee shop style of restaurant

• Most are individually or family operated

• Located in, or with easy access to, the suburbs

• Most offer an informal setting with a simple menu and service designed to please the whole family




Ethnic Restaurants

• Majority are independently owned and operated

• Mexican restaurants are the fastest growing segment

• Our major cities offer a great variety of ethnic restaurants, and their popularity is increasing




Quick-Service/Fast-Food Restaurants

• Included in this category: Hamburger, pizza, chicken, pancakes, sandwich shops, and delivery services

• Increasing in popularity because of their location strategies




Hamburger • McDonald’s• New menu items (salads, breakfast, etc.)• Expanding overseas• Co-developing sites with gasoline

companies• Each of the major hamburger restaurant

chains has a unique positioning strategy to attract their target markets – Burger King hamburgers are flame broiled– Wendy’s uses fresh patties




Pizza

• Continues to grow

• $21 billion market

• Some major chains:– Pizza Hut– Domino’s Pizza– Papa John’s– Little Caesars




Chicken

• Perceived as a healthier alternative to burgers

• KFC is market leader

• Other chains:– Church’s Chicken– Popeye’s




Sandwich • Recently, menu debuts in the sandwich

segment have outpaced all others• Classics, like melts and club sandwiches,

have returned—but now there are also wraps

• The leader in this segment is Subway—which operates more than 20,000 units in 75 countries




Bakery Café • Headed up by Panera Bread• Goal is to make specialty bread broadly

available to consumers across the United States

• Focuses on the art and craft of bread making with made-to-order sandwiches, tossed-to-order salads, and soup served in bread bowls




Trends

• Demographics• Branding• Alternative outlets• Globalization• Continued diversification• More twin and multiple locations• More points of service




The End

introduction to hospitality fifth edition john r. walker chapter 6: the restaurant business

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