Tips

The catering has said goodbye to the traditional presentation of dishes on plates , with the emergence of new gastronomic trends that target relaxation and creativity in the presentation of dishes. The classic presentation, with round plates and cutlery on the side, is changing. It is no longer a question of placing food on dishes, but of using other tools to offer more complete culinary experiences .

Today we are describing 3 gastronomic trends that are easy to implement and which have a potential of seduction powerful enough to make your customers smile, while making their mouth water. So, if you want to bring a modern touch to your restaurant , put away your old dishes and give free rein to your imagination:

Verrines and small glasses

Are you going to dare to replace a plate with a verrine or a small glass to present a shrimp salad? This is an idea to consider, because this approach goes well beyond a simple change in terms of form. On the one hand, serving in verrines or glasses makes it possible to taste the food in a way that is both more practical and easier, because all the ingredients are concentrated in a vertical and smaller space. In addition, this condensation improves the quality of the dining experience , by combining different layers of flavors, colors and textures .

On the other hand, the presentation in verrines or glasses is versatile, because it is suitable for both savory and sweet recipes, cold dishes as well as hot dishes, appetizers as well as main dishes or desserts. You can serve anything there! It is very common to use them to present desserts composed of several layers of chocolate, for example creams or mousses, as well as seafood cocktails and sauces. The most common format is that of liqueur glasses or verrines with lids, used for commercial jams. It is a solution that is both relaxed and refined, ideal for reinventing the presentation of your dishes.

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Tin cans

How could we imagine that cans, used as subsistence foods, would become stars of international culinary creativity? However, this is the case and everything suggests that they are destined to become a lasting trend in the presentation of dishes. The idea is to make recipes based on canned foods, such as anchovies, sardines, clams, green vegetables, etc., and above all to reuse cans as plates. There are even companies that market empty tin cans that can be used as tableware in restaurants.

The fashion for tin cans offered as gourmet dishes is having more impact in countries like France and Spain, where it was born, due to their long-standing tradition in this industrial sector, but it is still growing. rapidly expanding to other countries. It is an interesting trend, which sees the cans of food passing from the status of second category product to that of darling of the great chefs who use them to imagine innovative presentations of their creations. There are even restaurants specializing in this gastronomic trend, where everything revolves around canned food. So, a full meal served in cans? It’s a sure-fire magnet to pique the curiosity of customers!

Finger food

The finger food , to give a quick definition, refers to the foods you can eat with your fingers. This gastronomic trend consists of presenting dishes in small portions , in diverse and original shapes, in order to offer greater variety to customers. The idea is to synthesize the flavors of a large dish in a small bite, served in the form of a skewer, a lollipop, a cone, a mini wrap, in saucers, in small spoons, etc.

Finger food has its origins in two trends. The first is do it yourself , which interests customers tired of consumption chains and standardization, in search of different, creative and artisanal products. In the same vein, it also echoes the trend of  communal living , which attracts consumers, especially those of  Generation Y , seduced by experiences focused on living together. The fusion of these two concepts, namely original products conducive to sharing , gives birth to finger food, an extraordinary strategy to attract customers to your restaurant.

You can use it to serve snacks during your special brunch and afterwork events , to present creative recipes in your tasting menus, or to add a touch that will differentiate your desserts or classic dishes from your menu. You can be sure that your customers will appreciate it.

Serving food in verrines or small glasses, in cans or in the form of small bites like finger food has several advantages:

• The 3 food trends act as differentiators in restaurant marketing and help attract customers, who are sure to want to share photos of their meals on social media.
• In all 3 cases, the food is served in smaller quantities than the usual dishes, which makes it possible to better control costs and to save on raw materials.
• These trends are also means of increasing the quality of the gastronomic offer and, hence, of improving the reputation of the establishment.

Are you ready to embrace these food trends? We hope so with all our hearts!

An interesting trend is to use the rotation of kitchen chefs to attract customers. This is a strategy designed to arouse customers’ curiosity and enhance the establishment’s gastronomic offer.

Of course, every restaurant has its own formula for success and its own style, but there is no denying that customer needs are changing. If it wants to sell out, a restaurant must therefore take these trends into account .

Regardless of the type of your establishment, it can be a great idea to try out chef rotation, advertise to them, and see if it helps you attract customers.

What objective?

The objective is a mutually beneficial and continuous collaboration between the restaurant and the chefs. It is a win-win solution that finds a very positive echo with customers.

Where did the idea come from?

It was born with the bistronomic trend , which appeared in France at the end of the 1990s, after an economic crisis which had hit the great cuisine. It is defined as the democratization of haute cuisine, because it has led talented chefs to come and work in more modest, bistro-style establishments at a lower price.

With this trend, the chef is no longer attached to a single establishment, as tradition dictated, but instead comes to spread and share his passion in different places. The restaurants, for their part, noting the growing enthusiasm of customers for novelty, freshness and difference, have opened their kitchens to different chefs in order to offer as wide a culinary offer as possible.

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Which strategy to choose?

Here are 3 possible strategies:

1 – The temporary leader

The restaurant has a fixed kitchen team, but constantly changes its chef, whom he hires on a temporary basis, to renew its offer, offer variety and attract new customers. As for the chef, this experience allows him to progress professionally.

Here is an establishment that has chosen this formula:

Agora Cafe

The coworking space The Agora Collective in Berlin has a cafeteria whose stoves are handed over to a new cook every three months. The result: a menu that changes regularly, and a solution very popular with professionals attending the establishment, which is always full .

The rotation has allowed the arrival of new projects in this space, as the chefs offer workshops on healthy cooking , food recycling and sustainable cultivation for the community. More than a restaurant, the place has become a laboratory where cooks experiment freely, with a gradual increase in turnover as a result.

2 – The guest chefs

The restaurant has its fixed kitchen team and regularly invites nomadic chefs to give a different touch to the menu and attract more customers.

A small example?

Ikarius

Ikarius is a restaurant located in Salzburg Airport in Austria. Each month, the menu is designed by a different internationally renowned chef . Whatever their country of origin and their culinary style, it is possible to taste in this restaurant the specialties of chefs as prestigious as the Belgian Kobe Desramaults , the British Ben Greeno or the Norwegian Esben Holmboe Bang .

It is a challenge for the restaurant which must adapt each month to a new chef, a new menu and a new working method, but the effort is worth it given the success it has met since 2003. , when very few would have bet on his project.

3 – the pop-up kitchen

The restaurant completely changes its kitchen team at regular intervals. It is content to be a place of welcome allowing novice chefs to launch their careers and dedicated chefs to offer their dishes to different clienteles .

Here is an example of application of this formula:

The Table by

From October 2014 to June 2016, the restaurant at Urso Hotel & Spa in Madrid, Spain, became The Table by, a project that consisted of displaying 6 different culinary proposals , concocted by 6 talented chefs.

During this period, the restaurant changed its menu, its team and its decoration to transform itself and attract customers. This professional concept has established its reputation and has had repercussions throughout the neighborhood.

Patricia Fernández, manager of Urso, explained to the New York Times  : “We didn’t want to offer a traditional hotel restaurant. We wanted it to be a place that locals want to come often, and we wanted to create a more lively and interesting atmosphere in our neighborhood. “

If you decide to attract clients with this marketing strategy , don’t forget to promote your seasonal chef in your TheFork profile , and thereby add value to the competition.

You can also publicize these events in your e-mail campaigns distributed with TheFork Manager .

The important thing is that your establishment can take advantage of these trends and continuously improve, in addition to always being full.

So, working with various heads you seem a good idea?

There are more and more restaurants looking to attract celiac customers . This is hardly surprising considering the following data from the AOECS (European Celiac Associations):

There are around 70 million celiacs in the world

It is also not surprising that more and more restaurants are offering gluten-free menus, when we know that there are more and more consumers who, although not celiac, also have adopted the gluten-free diet , which they consider good for health. In other words, nowadays, on a strategic level, restaurants have every interest in offering an attractive gastronomic offer, capable of meeting the requirements of these numerous customers.

This is a golden opportunity to increase the establishment’s revenues, by being in step with consumer trends . This strategy also implies assuming great responsibility , because a gastronomic offer adapted to celiacs implies having special tools, and a competent team knowing how to avoid cross-contamination and able to concoct 100% gluten-free recipes. 

If you have offered gluten-free menus, we encourage you to practice the following marketing ideas to attract and retain customers with celiac disease and anyone who has included gluten-free in their lifestyle.

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Make a prominent promotion of your gluten-free dishes in your establishment 

Going to a restaurant is always a risk for a celiac customer, because the slightest negligence in the preparation of the dishes can put their health at risk. It is therefore essential that these customers know very clearly from the start that your restaurant offers gluten-free dishes. Some ideas to signal your gluten-free offer:

• At the entrance to the restaurant . Display a sticker or sign with the “gluten-free” logo at the entrance.
• In your advertising media. Information support in the center of the table, information on napkin dispensers, etc.
• In the menu itself, which must absolutely specify what are the dishes for celiacs. A good idea is to group together all your gluten-free specialties and mark them with the gluten-free logo. In addition, if your offer for celiacs is large enough, it is more effective to create a menu reserved only for your gluten-free dishes.

Promote your offer for celiacs in local businesses

With the widespread trend towards a healthy lifestyle, it is very likely that there are stores and businesses in your neighborhood that sell gluten-free products, and they are often frequented by celiac customers. Do not forget to put in these shops advertising material (posters, flyers and cards) promoting your gluten-free offer. The ideal is to conclude strategic alliances with these businesses which will then be able to recommend you to their customers. Direct targeting of the objective audience always gives better results.

Publish your gluten-free menus on specialized portals

There are pages and applications in the various cities whose exclusive purpose is to help celiacs find and choose restaurants offering gluten free. Your name must absolutely appear there!

Another equally important point, other more generic search engines must highlight this characteristic of your establishment, in order to allow you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

TheFork notifies its users of the best restaurants for celiacs registered on its platform, by classifying them by city Therefore, do not forget to specify in your file that your restaurant offers gluten-free dishes in order to attract customers with celiac disease and to encourage them to book a table through TheFork. 

Attract customers with celiac disease through opinions

Celiac customers attach great importance to good references from restaurants advertised on the Internet as gluten-free. They therefore particularly appreciate the opinions left by other customers about their experience. In this regard, a great marketing action is to invite these late-night customers to leave their opinion on portals like TripAdvisor , as there’s a good chance they ‘ll want to help others choose . To do this, give them a card with your establishment’s contact details or send them an email as soon as they leave the restaurant, inviting them to rate you on TripAdvisor and TheFork.

Promote your gastronomic offer for celiacs on social networks

Post enticing photos 

It is of course essential to promote your gluten-free offer on your social networks and on your website. The secret is to post photos of mouth-watering dishes accompanied by eye-catching texts, which show that your gluten-free recipes don’t skimp on flavor , but on the contrary, are just as delicious as the rest of your offering. Another key ploy is advertising via Facebook Ads, relying on good segmentation of Internet users. The goal is for your ads to target gluten-free customers, including celiacs living near your establishment.

Prove in videos that you are 100% gluten-free

Just as filming your usual recipes and sharing them with your subscribers on social networks is a good strategy, it is particularly wise to film the preparation of your gluten-free dishes in your restaurant. This approach will be greatly appreciated by your celiac customers , inspiring them more confidence in your establishment and making them want to come back. Another marketing idea is to film your customers at the end of a meal, allowing them to share their experience and invite other celiac customers to come and test it. Give them for example a gift, for example a free dessert to encourage them to participate and to post these special videos on Instagram Stories or Facebook Life. There is no better advertising than word of mouth, preferably on video, because video has a more powerful impact on consumers, as well as being a more natural way to sell your gluten-free products.

Invite the media and influential people

Another good marketing strategy is to convince digital media, bloggers and influencers specializing in gluten-free and healthy living to come and test your celiac menu and then talk about it on their digital channels. It is a solution to promote your restaurant on pages and social networks directly targeting the customers you want to attract and retain. It is also an action that positively reinforces the image of your establishment perceived as a supporter of health and well-being.

Celebrate World Celiac Day

A key moment in retaining your gluten-free customers is World Celiac Day . Find out when this event will be held in your city and create a very special menu for that day. You can put yourself forward by offering several gluten-free desserts for the occasion, because this approach will always allow you to score points among these customers. It is also a perfect day to launch a promotion or a special discount on your social networks and thus attract customers and have a full house. And in line with the previous marketing idea, this is the perfect date to invite the media and influencers to come and sit at your restaurant. Set out to conquer them!

It was previously very rare to be able to find restaurants offering gluten-free dishes. Today, the exception may be more restaurants that neglect this food demand on the part of some customers. Although these consumers are not in the majority, they increasingly demand that they be listened to.

An interesting dimension is that a restaurant that manages to attract and retain a celiac customer will also attract family, friends, co-workers and members of the social circle of that customer, and will become their favorite restaurant where they can all. come together around the same table knowing that they will be able to eat there without having to worry about their nutritional health . We hope you will!

In restaurant management, the human team is the most important factor . An establishment can benefit from a large economic investment, but the fact remains that success is guaranteed if the right staff are in charge. This is what Martín Berasategui , the Basque chef at the head of Lasarte, the best restaurant in the world according to TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award, said:

“We get the eight stars because we believe in the success of teamwork. This is what has earned me my prestige ”.

Does your establishment have the same luck? How would you describe the staff who run your restaurant? Are you satisfied with your team of collaborators? If you have any doubts, we invite you to consult the qualities of the ideal profiles for successful restaurant management.

The perfect manager

• He is a leader who sets the example. He is the first to do what he demands of the rest of the employees. He is also humble enough to recognize his mistakes and learn from them.
• He has a very clear vision of each person’s missions and, for this reason, he knows very well how to select his staff. He knows how to distinguish the most efficient to preserve their motivations and also to separate in time from those who have no place in his restaurant.
• He knows the tastes of his customers perfectly and develops strategies that his team must apply during the service and that help to build customer loyalty .
• He manages the digital channels on a daily basis and actively listens to the opinions of customers. He thus knows how the gastronomic experience offered by his establishment is judged .
• He keeps abreast of marketing trends and tips , and observes his competition and industry in general. He also shares all this information with the rest of the team so that everyone can innovate and grow together.
• It facilitates production processes , and uses technology to improve conditions. For example, he may decide to provide the team with restaurant management software to optimize all aspects of operations, save time and increase sales.

Live Restaurant Marketing Videos

The ideal room team

• The room staff are gifted with an excellent gift of communication . They show sympathy and empathy towards customers. They know perfectly how to address guests according to their characteristics and needs, and adapt their speech by letting themselves be guided each time by their common sense.
• They are excellent sellers. They know the gastronomic offer inside out (the most profitable dishes, dishes to sell urgently, new recipes to share, new dishes to promote). They apply seductive and clever sales strategies to bring this offer to customers.
• They are observers . They constantly analyze the actions, gestures and attitudes of customers to be able to offer them as personalized attention as possible. They also permanently memorize the preferences and intolerances of each guest.
• They work very well in times of pressure, and maintain a positive behavior that does not reveal the stress always present during the service.

An irreproachable kitchen team in the management of a restaurant

• The kitchen team works like an orchestra in which every note is important, from the diver to the chef. All its members respect an order and a discipline which is repeated every day.
• They know they have the vital resources of the restaurant in their hands. For this reason, they pay attention to the smallest detail, so that each dish leaving the kitchen is as perfect as possible, in terms of presentation, quality and hygiene.
• They know the hygiene procedures and standards by heart, and are trained in the correct handling and storage of food. Cleanliness is omnipresent in all their tasks.
• The kitchen is an area of ​​the restaurant dominated by constant tension. The kitchen team generally has a good sense of solidarity and humor which allows for good relations and mutual respect.

To conclude, the ideal in restaurant management is to be able to rely on staff motivated by surpassing oneself. To achieve such a result, it is very important that employees enjoy their daily tasks and feel proud to unleash their talent in your establishment: this guarantees that they will give the best of themselves, with the key to everyone’s success. You must therefore do everything possible to meet these conditions!

Restaurant management brings into play many factors that influence the success of the establishment. Among these, 3 fundamental pillars must be the object of all the attentions to allow the restaurant to differentiate itself.

This is what chef René Redzepi confirms in an interview , where he describes the formula that helped him get out of a critical situation of declining attendance, 6 months after opening a restaurant that was to one day become the one of the best in the world:

“The secret was to create a link between the Noma restaurant , the way of presenting the dishes, the way of serving them and their composition. It was impossible to separate one element from the rest ”.

And indeed, the menu, the service and the atmosphere are the essential points that restaurant management must prioritize above all. We are therefore going to explain to you how to best manage the 3 fundamental pillars of your establishment and see it thus crowned with success. So take note!

The gastronomic offer

Serving a good meal is no longer enough to overcome the challenges of the restaurant industry, as customers become increasingly knowledgeable about gastronomy. They know the ingredients, recipes and food inside out. To succeed in your gastronomic offer, you must pay particular attention to the following aspects:

• The quality. It goes without saying that the main characteristic of your card should be quality. But it’s not just about using good products and cooking up tasty recipes. To offer your customers an extraordinary culinary experience, each dish that comes out of your kitchen must perfectly combine flavor, smell and presentation . Consistent adherence to this rule will make your customers want to try your dishes.
• The profitability. The culinary quality of your dishes should in no way be synonymous with low profitability, on the contrary. In restaurant management, if you apply the menu engineering technique for example, you will be able to determine which ingredients and products are the most consumed and the most profitable, carry out more productive stock management and thus have a menu. that will always generate profits.
• Innovation. Even if your restaurant has built its success by offering a typical regional dish, and even if your customers always come to taste the same product, it is important to vary your menu by regularly adding new dishes of an equivalent interest to that of your star dishes , so that the establishment can adapt to changes in the market and guarantee its long-term success. Don’t hesitate to take gastronomic trends into account when developing your new recipes.

The service

In the same vein, it is no longer enough to greet guests with kindness, to take their orders, to serve them and to thank them when they leave the restaurant. Nowadays, a restaurant that wants to stand out from the competition and be successful must strive to provide memorable service. How? ‘Or’ What ? Answer: paying particular attention to the following details:

• The motivation of the team. A dissatisfied waiter will never be able to take care of customers properly. One of the rules of good restaurant management is that your staff must feel that they are being listened to, so that they can then return the favor to your customers. To create the perfect team , you need to make each of their members feel valued and motivated , by offering them bonuses and organizing activities that inspire them to perform at their best in every department.
• A good knowledge of the products. A customer is more likely to choose a dish if your waiters can describe it in detail. The reason is simple: your venue team can’t sell something they don’t know or understand. Organize regular food tastings for your entire team so that they become familiar with your gastronomic offer and know the value of your menu.
• Personalized attention. “If I had a million customers, I would create a million Amazon” . That’s what Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, said. By that he meant that each client is different, that each has different needs. It is therefore essential to ‘ observe customers, analyze, listen to them, understand what they want and how they like to be served in order to be able to offer a personalized service. If you serve your restaurant customers with their preferences in mind, you’ll always have a full house.

Key Points To Guarantee Restaurant Recipes

The atmosphere

By ambiance, we do not only mean the decoration of the establishment, but also all the physical elements of the restaurant that serve as the setting for the gastronomic experience. In this sense, it is fundamental that all of these elements work like an orchestra and create a pleasant space where customers feel good. You can play on the following dimensions:

• Authenticity. Why will a customer prefer your restaurant to others? What makes your establishment unique? Thanks to its decoration and its atmosphere, your restaurant can acquire a style of its own that will make customers want to come back. Even in the case of a simple cafeteria, the fact of using, for example, original tableware is a differentiating factor. Details like this can have a big impact on sales .
• Comfort above all. There’s no point in creating an ultra-modern or eye-catching establishment if guests don’t feel right there. Never sacrifice the comfort of your guests for a sparkling decoration. The ideal is to create an atmosphere with a style that is both new and comfortable. The term “catering” means offering customers a space where they can “eat”, that is, experience a feeling of well-being . Be sure to follow this rule.
• Added values. If a restaurant offers a quality menu, memorable service and a harmonious atmosphere, the icing on the cake is to complete the customer experience with added values. Think about satisfying the 5 senses, for example by organizing live concerts  : you will offer pleasant music to customers and thus create an ideal atmosphere.

TheFork has developed tools that help you effectively manage these 3 pillars of restaurant management. Take advantage of all the advantages we offer you:

Successful restaurant management with TheFork

• To make yourself known and attract customers, you can publish your restaurant free of charge on TheFork’s reservations portal .
• To manage your reservations, organize your services more easily and seduce your customers with marketing actions, you have the restaurant software TheForkManager.
• To ensure that your customers always want to come back, you can sign up for our YUMS loyalty program and run special promotions.

Do you properly manage the 3 pillars of your restaurant, namely the menu, the service and the atmosphere? Do you have the necessary resources to carry out this task? We hope you answered yes to both of these questions. And if this is not the case, we invite you to get involved. The effort is worth it!