Mezcal is the new tequila!

Well, maybe not because I'm still a huge fan of tequila, but you cannot ignore the meteoric rise of Mezcal. And, it's something all bars should be paying attention to. I've said this before but people love unique experiences when it comes to food and beverage.

While dining at ACRE restaurant in San Jose del Cabo recently, I met Dani Tartarin who is operations manager for the restaurant. She is super passionate about mezcal and she presented three very unique examples for us to compare. As per tradition, the tequilas were served with orange slices sprinkled with three different house made salts, gusano (the worm that burrows in the agave plant), chapulines (grasshopper toasted on a comal with lime and garlic) and jamaica (hibiscus).

Dani's knowledge of each mezcal was impressive. She has traveled extensively around Mexico selecting unique and rare mezcal for the restaurant. What sets the restaurant apart is how she uses her knowledge to create an experience that distinguishes ACRE from its competition.

So, to repeat a message I’ve given before: Don’t just follow current trends, create a unique experience around them that defines your brand.

No, you may NOT play music from your iPhone!

I recently had a great dinner at Central Kitchen in San Francisco. Yes, the food was amazing. Yes, the service was friendly and attentive. But, the music was outstanding! On the podium at the door you can pick up the attached card which details that evening's playlist.

Investing in great music pays off. You cannot allow your restaurant manager to to play his or her "mix" from their iPhone. They may love it but most of your customers won't.

At dBar in the Four Season Toronto, F&B Director Marc Dorfman introduced Bellosound to revolutionize the music in the bar. They boldly invested CAD$150,000 to get the speakers right and they spend CAD$200,000 year on their music and DJ program. But, it's paid off. F&B revenues between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. have soared 160% since the program began. Great music talks!

I don't eat on planes. I like to arrive hungry.

 

The quote in the above title is from Anthony Bourdain in an interview with Bon Appetit this past May. But, are any of us any different? Why has it become so fashionable to knock airline food? According to the Department of Transportation, U.S. airlines raked in a profit of US$25.6 billion in 2015, a 241% increase from 2014. No surprise that in Travel & Leisure’s 2015 Guide to the World’s Top 10 Airlines, not one U.S. carrier made the list.

But wait…maybe things will change. In July, United Airlines announced a partnership with Illy to serve their coffee on all of their flights and in all of their lounges worldwide. Wow! This is the kind of decision that would make me select one airline over another. And, I suspect I am not the only one.

From the sublime to the sublime.

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I recently experienced breakfast in two different countries. In France, as the guest of Frederic Rouzaud, CEO of Louis Roederer Champagne, I entered the kitchen to find an exquisite table set with a variety of yoghurt, some fresh kiwi, extraordinarily good croissants and French pastries, smoked ham, homemade jams, crusty baguette with two hard cheeses and a selection of hand pressed juices. I wouldn't have expected anything less from the French.

Two days later in a pub in the Lake District, I ate a traditional English breakfast of bacon, egg, pork sausage, black pudding, hash brown fritter, mushroom, tomato and, of course, baked beans. It was delicious.

About 21 miles separates these two countries, but their cuisines could not be further apart.

It doesn't take much...

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The cost of the amenity program in most luxury hotels is enormous, and so it's important to make sure the investment is worthwhile. With a little thought and creativity you can not only win over your guests for life but you can create amazing social media opportunities when they either "tweet" images or post photos of such cool amenities on their Instagram feed.

When staying at Four Seasons Hotel Seattle recently the GM and Director of F&B heard that my dog, a golden retriever called Archie, had been bitten by another dog in the park. So they sent me an amenity which was so simple, yet so impactful! Cookies for Archie and a card signed by the F&B team! Can you imagine how many people I've shown this picture to?

The importance of a signature dish.

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I am sure this has been written about before, but I can't stress enough the importance of a great signature dish on your menu. It could be a "must-have" appetizer or an entree that helps you drive your average check.

Over the weekend I had dinner at Santina in New York City, a coastal Italian restaurant created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick. At the top of the menu is an item called Cecina which is offered with a variety of accompaniments, Calabrian tuna, funghi, lamb tartare, gamberetti and avocado trapanese. The Cecina, our server explained, was a specialty of the restaurant and originated from Tuscany. It is a very simple chick pea pancake that is brought to the table on a flat cast iron pan and served on an attractive china stand. You could see one on just about every table.

The photo says a lot about the dish as my family devoured it before I had time to take the picture. The filling we chose was the gamberetti (shrimp, leek, garlic, broccoli, ginger, chili) and with it came a bottle of spicy avocado sauce and tomato sofrito (tomato, red wine, vinegar, Tabasco & chili).

The entire combination was so delicious and at US$15, the easiest up-sell I've ever said yes to.