BERLIN — Reducing food waste, using simpler ingredients and employing technology to optimize kitchen operations are staples in hotel restaurants and are as important as food quality, presentation and guest experience.
At a food-and-beverage operations panel at the International Hospitality Investment Forum, Guy Heksch, a former chef and chief operating officer of Omnan Hospitality Group, said technology use is on the rise in hotel kitchens.
“We’re mostly fitting out conversions, which have smaller kitchens and more technology to enhance operations. Smaller appliances need less energy, and this evidently is a good symmetry between operating expenditure and environmental, social and governance targets,” he said.
Michael Ellis, Dubai-based co-founder and chief culinary officer at Fine Dine Club and former chief culinary officer at Jumeirah Group, said artificial intelligence will soon have an impact, too.
“We’re seeing machine-learning on waste, to indicate what ingredients are needed to be stocked,” he said.
Too often, chefs at luxury hotels fall into the trap of believing they must stock truffles and caviar, Ellis said.
“That is just too easy, and it is prohibitively expensive. Go back to cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus. It is the easy way out to use luxury ingredients in a luxury hotel,” he said.
“A three-star Michelin restaurant dish with cabbage or sardines. Yes, a dish must be of the highest quality, with the finest texture and taste, and this does take more skill. We are on the search for sous chefs who make the simple into the sublime,” he added.
Staffing is a challenge, perhaps more so in the hotel restaurant than in any other part of the business, panelists said.
Heksch said other operating ideas include reducing menu sizes, phasing out in-room dining and welcoming third-party meal deliveries to free up chefs and other staff for more guest interaction.
Torsten Richter, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin, said IT investment is helping. One mobile initiative at his hotel allows guests to order a sandwich to their rooms immediately after their event or convention has ended.
“This led to a 20% increase in [food-and-beverage] business, but with all things, what is important is the overall experience. Do not sacrifice this for a bump in revenue,” he said.
Ellis said the aim is to have guests wanting to return.
Guest-facing technology should also be easy for guests to use, which can improve revenue generation, Richter said.
“We have created easy-to-use reservations systems and pre-pay portals, which reduce no-shows, but in some markets this can be sensitive,” Richter said.
“Gen X and Gen Y want a seamless experience, via mobile and WhatsApp, and [food-and-beverage] on demand, so definitely AI is coming,” Heksch added.
Local, Yet More So
The trend toward local cuisine continues, panelists said.
Richter said climate concerns, the push for carbon-neutral operations and the guests’ desire for food-and-beverage knowledge also remain important.
“Guests still enjoy knowing the true sources of what they eat, but a 60-second introduction is good to satisfy this. We try not to speak for more,” he said.
One thing that is not disappearing, despite reports of its demise, is the hotel buffet.
“People want choice. The buffet is not going away, but you have to [offer this] more sensibly. Maybe reduce breakfast hours and par-bake so that less storage is needed on purpose,” Richter said.
Hotel kitchens also are getting smaller because investors are placing emphasis on there being more hotel rooms.
Ellis, who is based in Dubai, said his city is the poster child of the over-the-top buffet. He added Dubai might be one of the few markets where food and beverage is driving on all cylinders, generating high meal bills even without alcohol, turning tables fast and operating with large staffs.
However, Ellis warned there is a price ceiling.
“There is a risk of milking this too much, and if you do there will be a backlash,” he said.
The same is true of alcohol prices, Heksch said.
“Guests are drinking less alcohol. That is a big issue. The young prefer to smoke weed,” he said.
He added there now is excellent quality in tapped wine and batch-made cocktails.
“These are good ideas, rather than having guests watching someone spend 20 minutes making one. Mixologists are as hard to find as are chefs,” he said.
Ellis said at some point guests will push back against outrageous cocktail prices.
“It is all about value for money, lower prices, more sales, and I argue all the time with finance who only see the margin going down, not the revenue going up. At the end of the day, we pay staff with cash,” he said.
Richter said some hotels still see alcohol as a cash cow.
“I have never seen [the like before] — $25 to $30 on a single drink, $200 for a bottle of champagne. The young, brand-conscious guest is educated and spending more. There are young cigar smokers, too,” he said.
Seeking Staff
The elephant in the room is the continued, difficult search for talent to work in hotel food-and-beverage positions.
Ellis said hotel restaurants that do not foster a good work-life balance for staff will fail.
“This is something the industry will have to get used to, and those that do not will not survive,” he said.
Richter said his hotel has increased wages by approximately 25%, which has helped stabilize the team and resulted in more applications.
“But it took 18 months to staff all the hotel’s restaurants, and that was before COVID-19. We’ve also increased the budget for staff meals,” he said. “Staff reserve lunch in advance, and they can eat it at an hour that suits them.”
Heksch said chefs are opting to work for corporate companies just so that they know they can go home at 5 p.m.
Ellis wondered where the next talent will come from.
“When I started working in a kitchen, well, essentially, it was legal slavery, 9 a.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Sunday,” he added.