Guy Rigby has been a regular blog contributor to HOTELSMag.com since Feb 2013.
When HOTELS invited me to come up with a subject for a regular blog I immediately knew I wanted to share some of the amazing experiences I have around food and beverage as I travel around the world. Whether the experience is good or bad, I always see it as a lesson learned.
It’s a very sad fact that the coronavirus has devastated our industry and so many talented people have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
I spent a large part of last year assisting a client with the search for a new executive chef. In addition to my own personal contacts, I was also in touch with as many as eight different executive search firms. Common sense would dictate that a chef candidate puts his or her best foot forward and that the head hunter do their home work and be 100% transparent about their candidate. Sadly this was not always the case.
I encountered chefs whose resumes contained different information from their LinkedIn site. Unprofessional polaroid shots of dishes they’d created were used to illustrate their style of cuisine. Unexplained gaps of up to a year on a resume were found, and when questioned the head hunter replied, ‘Oh, let me check.’
A chef candidate wanted to bring a mysterious ‘friend’ (not his girlfriend) to the hotel when invited to prepare a tasting. Chefs, when interviewed, would either blabber on incessantly for 90 minutes to tell me what a normal person could have told me in 30 minutes, or they’d have as much enthusiasm about the opportunity as my 16 year old daughter has for getting up in the morning.
And the usual litany of embellished references often omitted such important details as ‘ineligible for rehire.’
So I offer the following humble advise to chefs and headhunters.
Chefs:
We want to see your creativity and we want to know what you’re passionate about. Invest in a website that tells your story and includes some fantastic hi-def images of your food.
If there are gaps in your resume, be honest. Don’t make stuff up. The truth will eventually emerge.
If you haven’t interviewed for a while, practice. The old saying ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ was never more true.
Headhunters:
Coach your chef candidates on how best to present themselves, not only visually (for example, how they present images of their food) but how they sound on a phone call or video call.
I shouldn’t have to say this but be 100% honest. Obviously, you want to show your candidate in the best light, but withholding or skewing information about a termination will impact your credibility.
Follow up with your client and with your chef candidate. I regularly had headhunters calling me to ask how their candidate felt about an interview or a tasting.
In a sea of stars, be the one that shines the brightest.
2/10/2021
I recently spent some time in India, where I had the opportunity to stay in four Oberoi Hotels and Resorts. To say they get service right is akin to saying Ferrari makes fast cars. Not only are all of their staff technically perfect, but they manifest sincere hospitality with the utmost grace and charm.
And one of the reasons for this is because they have their own hotel school.
The Oberoi Center of Learning & Development was started in 1966 by Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi (the founder of Oberoi Hotels). There are management training programs offered in guest services, kitchen, sales and housekeeping.
Attendance at this exclusive school is free of charge for all students who are fortunate enough to be selected. Out of over 7,000 applications each year, only about 25 are selected for guest services, 18 for the kitchen program, and approximately 15 each for sales and housekeeping. Each course lasts for two years.
Guaranteed placements are offered to all associates who successfully pass the management programs, and as a result, most of the division heads and general managers in all the Oberoi hotels are graduates of the school.
I was honored to meet Oberoi’s indefatigable 90-year-old executive chairman, Mr. Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, who explained to me that his father created the school because back in the ’60s, most of their senior managers came from overseas and his desire was that Indian nationals be given the same opportunities.
Outstanding initiative. Outstanding service culture. Outstanding hotel company.
11/25/2019
We all recognize the horrific damage the Covid 19 pandemic is wreaking on the hospitality business and one segment of our business which is being hit harder than most is group business. Groups typically select buffets as the preferred way to take most meals. It enables the group to have a variety of choices which can be served quickly. But the fear of picking up the Covid virus by utilizing communal serving utensils, or picking up a plate from a stack that others have touched has all but rendered the traditional buffet obsolete.
So it’s time to rethink the buffet.
1. My Lunch My Way
At a conference I attended a few years at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta the super creative Events team led by Catering Director Claudia Aguas, organized a lunch called My Lunch My Way. Prior to the AM coffee break each attendee was given a simple menu/order form which we filled out and handed in. Two hours later our customized order was waiting at a table in the lunch room. Today, the sandwich could be wrapped and the salad served in a small ’to go’ container ensuring a contamination free experience.
2. Food Truck
Food Trucks have become universally popular as they give us a choice of creative, flavourful ’street’ food individually served and packaged ’to go’. So why not buy a Food Truck for your hotel. By customizing the truck with your own brand you can vary the menu offerings depending on the group. And if you don’t have access to an outdoor area, have a carpenter and an artist create an imitation of the side of a food truck (or multiple trucks) to set up in your event space and serve the food from a make-shift window. You can easily create a coffee truck for breakfast service as well.
3. Think retail Grab & Go
Consider buying some mobile, glass fronted, refrigerated units and creating a temporary Grab & Go store within your event space. You could offer a variety of different soups / salads / sandwiches & entrees served in ‘to go’ packaging. An additional ’store’ could be set up for beverages offering a full range of sodas, tea and coffee drinks. In most hotels multiple meeting rooms share the same circulating space. If done well this Grab & Go store could service multiple groups assuming the timing was well coordinated between the various groups.
Meetings and conferences will continue to happen. It’s our job to offer creative solutions to how we feed these groups so that attendees feel safe and secure. Now is the time to get ahead of this problem!
Any preparation you undertake to reopen your restaurants and bars should include steps to protect your F&B profit. With fewer guests permitted in your outlets, your revenues will be negatively affected and your costs will likely increase, due to the added labor required to clean and sanitize all areas on a regular basis.
This is the final of three blog posts on this topic (ready my earlier blogs on preparing and training your employees and preparing your physical spaces to keep guests and employees safe and healthy).
Revenue generation
Have you researched every additional opportunity to generate revenue? This may include the following:
Creating a menu of take-out items available for hotel guests and for locals
Creating additional seating areas around your hotel or resort for guests to eat that take-out food
For locals, consider family portions that can be put together easily at home (such as assorted pastas with sauces sold separately by the pint, large-format salads with dressings sold separately, proteins with vegetables easily reheated in a microwave, etc.)
Offering alcoholic beverages “to go.” You’d be surprised how many people will purchase cocktails.
Offering special pricing on all your wines. This is a great way to reduce your wine inventory and generate cash.
Purchasing
Suppliers: Contact all F&B suppliers in advance to ensure they are ready to accept orders as normal. Do they anticipate any problems with delivery of any items? Work with them. In many cases there is a surplus of supply, in which case you can negotiate discounts.
Receiving area: Re-organize your receiving area to ensure you eliminate any risk of contamination. Also:
Clearly post your policies and procedures for all delivery personnel to read
Be vigilant with the wearing of PPE for everyone
Ensure delivery carts are wiped down after each delivery
Profit
Re-do all schedules to determine profits assuming different percentages of usual business, i.e., 50% or 75% of business.
Ensure you budget for additional cleaning personnel and supplies.
Create a smaller “re-opening menu” to limit the number of cooks in the kitchen and the amount of food wasted.
Study your recent sales analysis. Focus on your best-sellers and eliminate slow-moving dishes.
Double-check all ingredient costs. If they have gone up, either adjust your pricing or remove the item from the menu.
Use this opportunity to study your operating expenses. Costs to print paper menus and to purchase disposable napkins, etc., will increase. Are there savings you can make elsewhere without affecting the quality of your product?
Renegotiate all contracts. We’re all in this together.
Ensure you re-forecast your F&B P&L to know where you stand.
6/1/2020
The next topic in my short series of blogs about how to prepare for the reopening of your F&B operation concerns the specific steps you should be taking to enable your guests to feel comfortable using your outlets without the fear of contracting the invisible coronavirus. (Read the first in the series, which addresses employee training, among other things.)
Restaurant and bar layout
Re-draw the floor plan of each restaurant bar so that there is a minimum of 6 feet between tables
Do the same for your bar chairs, marking their positions on the floor
Draw lines on the floor outside the restaurant 6 feet apart to indicate where guests should stand while waiting for a table
Limit parties to no more than six people per table
No salad bars or buffets!
If your casual restaurant has booths, consider installing plexiglass between each booth
Reservations
I strongly recommend that only guests with reservations be allowed inside, given that you must manage how many guests can be in the space at any one time.
Offer a ‘pre-order to go’ service to allow your guests to dine in their rooms or in a more remote area of the hotel.
Restaurant and bar service
Do you have patios or alternate areas where you can set up tables to serve food?
Create a policy for thoroughly sanitizing tables and any other commonly used items after each use
Provide hand sanitizer for staff and guests
Require that all guests use hand sanitize prior to entering the restaurant
Have some face masks available for guests if they wish to wear one
Increase the frequency of cleaning in public restrooms
Do not pre-set tables
Cutlery: In more casual restaurants, offer disposable utensils; otherwise, use rolled silverware packets
Single-use napkins, placemats and drink mats
Single-use menus
Single-use check presenters; offer contactless pay and no cash
Condiments should be single service, including salt and pepper (and I suggest making this on request only)
All straws should be wrapped
Discontinue any complimentary self-serve coffee, tea or refreshments
Eliminate self-service drinks, utensils and condiment stations
Ensure you re-train ALL employees on your new standards
Communication
Clearly communicate your new standards on your website. Guests will feel reassured to know what you are doing.
Email your new standards to all guests reserving tables
Post a clear notice at the entrance of each restaurant explaining your new policies, procedures and standards
5/25/2020
