Restaurant & Catering Magazine is the official journal of the Restaurant & Catering Association of Australia. Published by Engage Custom Media the magazine is a business magazine for the hospitality industry.
Restaurant Catering DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011 $6.95 GST incl. Chris Lucas, owner of the Pearl Restaurant Group, on how to re-engage with the market Official Journal of Restaurant & Catering æHow to value your restaurant, page 16 æThe best way to tell your customers of your green credentials æWhat Andy Georges of Il Centro has learnt æScoring Scores on Doors æThe benefits of bottle-aged wine, page 32 æWhat’s on over Xmas, page 11 PRINT POST APPROVED PP: 255003/07314 ISSN 1442-9942
Transcript
RestaurantCatering
DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011 $6.95 GST incl.
Chris Lucas, owner of the Pearl Restaurant Group, on how to re-engage with the market
Official Journal of
Restaurant & Catering
æHow to value your restaurant, page 16 æThe best way to tell your customers of your green credentials æWhat Andy Georges of Il Centro has learnt æScoring Scores on Doors æThe benefits of bottle-aged wine, page 32 æWhat’s on over Xmas, page 11
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Pearls of wisdomChris Lucas dramatically
turned around the fortunes of Melbourne’s Pearl restaurant in
just one year. But he now has bigger sites in mind
COVER STORY
CONTENTS
In this issue ... COVER PHOTOGRAPHY
RESTAURANT & CATERING 3
Upfront4 From the Association:
The year that was and the year that’s coming: all you need to know about what your Association’s doing
6 News and events: Scores on Doors gets evaluated; ARIA starts a catering arm; more...
Wisdom16 Value adding
We’re being told to wake up and smell the post-GFC property prices, but what if that property is a restaurant?
20 What I’ve learntThe Lifetime Achiever and owner of Brisbane’s Il Centro on the importance of staff and knowing your market
23 The upside of outsideOffering the option of dining alfresco isn’t as simple as throwing some chairs and tables outside
Stuff27 New products
The latest and greatest stuff
28 Packaged goodsCustomers are going to judge how green you are based on the packaging of your takeaways
32 Better with ageOffering cellared, or bottle-aged, wines can broaden your wine list and impress your customers. Yet creating and maintaining a cellar can be a challenge
34 DetailsDesigned by Miriam Fanning, Nu Nu restaurant in Far North Queensland injects a sultry ambience through the combination of natural materials, contemporary furnishings and idyllic views
DECEMBER 2010 – JANUARY 2011 $6.95 GST incl.
EAMON GALLAGHER
4 RESTAURANT & CATERING
FROM THE ASSOCIATION
Restaurant & Catering Restaurant & Catering’s mission: To lead and represent the Australian restaurant and catering industry.
President: Brien Trippas (NSW)Senior Vice President: Kevin Gulliver (QLD)Junior Vice President: Terry Soukoulis (SA)Treasurer: Richard Harper (VIC)Chief Executive Officer: John HartR&C is a federation of the following associations, working together on national issues on behalf of their members.
Restaurant & Catering NSWPh: (02) 9211 3500. Fax: (02) 9211 3800Email: [email protected]: Ian Martin
Restaurant & Catering magazine is published under licence on behalf of Restaurant & Catering by Engage Custom Media, Suite 4.08, The Cooperage, 56 Bowman Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009 www.engagemedia.com.au
Editorial Director: Rob Johnson Creative Director: Tim Donnellan Sub-editor: Lucy Robertson
Contributors: Sharon Aris, Nicole Azzopardi, John Burfitt, Ben Canaider, Kellie Morle, Kerryn Ramsey, Danielle Veldre
Commercial Director: Mark Brown Sales Director: Steve Flatley
As always at this time of year, I hope all our members are too busy to read this article. If restaurants, cafes and caterers are not too busy right now, we have a real problem!
As you try to meet the challenges of this very busy time of year, I urge you to use the association to help you. There are a number
of programs to help you access new staff and train the staff you have. Please call us on 1300 722 878 if you need us.
There is also support for migration inquiries. Restaurant & Catering has a dedicated resource from the Department of Immigration to answer any questions you have about skilled migration. Please use these services—we know skilled staff will be a significant issue at the end of 2010 into 2011.
If you are a sole trader or a partnership in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia or Tasmania please think about the changes to pay rates effective in 2011. As the State referral of IR powers take effect, pay and conditions will change. Make sure you call the IR team to check you are paying the correct rates under the correct conditions.
Trade well over the holiday season!
John Hart CEO, Restaurant & Catering
7,732 - CAB Audited as at September 30, 2009
As we go into the busiest period, don’t forget your Association can help you in a number of ways
Here to help
RESTAURANT & CATERING 5
This year has seen a Federal Election (called in a great hurry after a PM was deposed), a State Election in Victoria and an inert political environment in other States in which a delicate political balance exists. From an Association perspective, this means we face an extremely risk-averse environment where many of our strongly held
desires can not be progressed. We don’t give up; but, we need to be realistic as to what can be achieved in the short-term. At the same time we need to build the rhetoric for longer-term change. Elsewhere around the globe, tourism and hospitality is being lauded as the great hope to bring countries out of the GFC. To help facilitate this, governments are supporting the industry with immigration, flexible working conditions and favorable investment arrangements. In Australia, hospitality in particular was the engine behind our GFC recovery, yet the governments provided no support. In fact they reduced skilled immigration, shut down training places, made awards less flexible and increased regulation.
Why? Because they don’t appreciate our economic and social impact! This is the situation we need to turn around. Future economic stability is as much about shoring up our growth as it is about so-called high-value (high-tech) industries.
Happy Holidays!Brien Trippas
President, Restaurant & Catering
The year that wasThe end of 2010 is a good time to reflect on the year we have had. And what a year it has been!
Foundation Associate Members, and Associate Members: ALSCO • AON • APRA • Bartercard • Crown Commercial • H&L Australia • Luigi Bormioli
Platinum Associate Members: American Express International • Fosters Group • Westpac Banking Corporation
Gold Associate Members: Diners Club International • Fine Wine Partners • Goodman Fielder Food Services • Lion Nathan • Meat & Livestock Australia
Diamond Associate Member:
HOSTPLUS
The NSW Food Authority has begun to seek feedback from the public and the hospitality industry on the Scores on Doors
initiative, an Australian first in delivering a standardised, state-wide system to rate the food safety and hygiene standards of food-service businesses.
“The purpose of the Scores on Doors ini-tiative is to benefit the consumer and drive up standards in the food industry,” NSW Food Authority CEO Alan Coutts says.
“This is about improving transparency and accountability. There is strong consum-er demand for information about the safety of the food people purchase and eat. The Scores on Doors pilot provides the consumers of NSW with point of sale information that shows how well foodser-vice businesses comply with food hygiene standards during inspections.”
Mr Coutts said a six-month pilot of the system was commenced on 1 July 2010 with 20 councils across NSW volunteering to take part. “The very purpose of this pilot is to trial the system and get feedback from
participants, consumers and industry and incorporate that feedback in our assessment of the trial before a state-wide roll-out of the voluntary program in 2011,” he said.
The pilot is being undertaken using a stan-dardised inspection checklist to get a more consistent inspection program across NSW.
“We are well aware there are a variety of factors to be taken into account when assess-ing the program in action and we welcome any feedback to help us in developing the best system possible.”
One issue that has been raised by some sectors of industry and some local councils has been the use of letters (ABC) versus sym-bols (eg stars) to indicate the performance of a business. The Authority maintains the letter grading was chosen for the pilot after consideration of overseas research. “We have a simple, user-friendly survey set up on our website that allows consumers to have their say about what sort of system they’d prefer,” Mr Coutts said. “The NSW Food Authority will review the proposed system at the com-pletion of the pilot based upon the feedback we receive from all stakeholders.” ô
The Scores on Doors pilot is seeking feedback from the public and industry
Scoring Scores on Doors
News&events
6 RESTAURANT & CATERING
The NSW Food Authority wants your opinion on Scores on Doors
Henschke named Winery of the Year
Henschke, one of Australia’s most celebrated wineries, has been honoured as ‘Winery of the Year’ in the inaugural The Age/Sydney Morning Herald Good Wine Guide Awards. The South Australian winery established in 1868 by Johann Christian Henschke, is notable for pioneering single-vineyard wines in Australia and for the internationally re-nowned shiraz, Hill of Grace. Wine critic and author of the Good Wine Guide, Nick Stock says the quality of Henschke wines has never looked bet-ter. “Its hard to sum up just how precious an asset this winery is; Henschke are the custodians of not just Australia’s, but the world’s most impor-tant vineyards.”Since taking over as the fifth generation in 1979, Stephen and Prue Henschke have jointly collected many accolades, including 1995 International Red Winemaker of the Year, UK International Wine and Spirit Com-petition, induction into the 2005 USA Wine & Spirit Magazine Hall of Fame and 2006 Winemaker of the Year from Australia’s Gour-met Traveller Wine magazine. ô
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News&events
Matt Moran and Peter Sul-livan last month launched ARIA Catering, pitching the business at spectacu-lar, conceptual and unique catering for events and private functions in and around Sydney.
“People have been ask-ing us for ages to cater for special events and private functions, but we’ve been blown away by the increase in these sorts of requests over the last twelve months,” said ARIA co-owner Matt Moran. “When it comes to events, there’s demand in Sydney for something different
to make it memorable. It doesn’t matter if the event’s for a few friends or a thousand people, it needs to make its mark. And the people who have been asking us to consider this sort of thing have switched on to the fact that having remark-able food is an easy way to make their event special. Like our restaurants, ARIA Catering will be all about excellent food using great produce. Every event will get its own menu based on what’s in season.”
For more info, visit www.ariacatering.com.au. ô
ARIA launches catering arm
ARIA Catering promises to treat every event individually.
Due for completion in June 2011, the Fresh Centre will provide office space over three levels together with training rooms, a demonstration kitchen, serviced office and the ground floor café all of which will be supported by ample customer parking and 24 hour security.
Just 11km from Brisbane’s CBD, the Brisbane Markets provides accommodation and facilities to over 150 businesses with up to 4,000 people entering the Markets on peak days.
Brisbane Markets Limited is calling for EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST from experienced operators to lease and operate a café and takeaway food outlet at the Fresh Centre, Brisbane Markets.
For a copy of the Expression of Interest, visit www.brisbanemarkets.com.au
or contact the Property Manager on 07 3915 4200
RESTAURANT & CATERING 9
EVERY FEATURE.EVERYWHERE.
When it comes to features the new improved E31D4 in the Turbofan 30 Series certainly sets the
standard. First, you’ve got all the characteristics, durability and performance that made the old E31so
popular. Then there’s the array of stunning new attributes, such as the electronic thermostat control
and the ability to hold 20 preset programs. Built to broil, bake, roast and hold anywhere you want to
take it, the E31D4 simply delivers the very best in good-to-go performance.
hris Lucas could never be accused of being afraid of a challenge. In fact, it has to be said that Lucas is a man who appears to thrive on them—even in the toughest of times.
In the past three years, not exactly the best in the history of the restaurant game as the financial crisis took its bite, Lucas has been keep-ing busy with a wide range of dealings. And it’s no hype to say he has come up trumps on every occasion.
In 2007, Lucas sold Melbourne’s landmark The Botanical for a re-ported figure well in excess of $16 million. Just over 12 months ago, he bought the Pearl Restaurant Group, and now happily reports that business at Melbourne’s Pearl Restaurant, Pearl Café and Pearl’s catering arm has seen an increase of 25—30 per cent.
Rather than rest on the generous rewards of the recent times, however, Lucas now says he still has more work to do. There are plans to open two more Pearl Cafes, and he has just signed a lease for an all-new restaurant and bar business in Melbourne’s CBD.
With all his bold confidence and many irons in the fire, Lucas, 50, sounds like a man on a mission to build an empire. While he does admit he has grand plans for the future, he stresses he is doing so with guided caution.
“I do worry about spreading myself too thin,” Lucas says. “But, I always keep an eye on making sure we don’t dilute what we are known for and what our capa-
bilities are or just pursuing growth for the sake of growing. Many people in the industry do that, but I don’t.
“Unless I have a clear vision about what I want to achieve in terms of a product, I won’t open a new business. Growth
can be a double-edge sword. It can be very exciting, but it can also
kill your business. It can sap all your capital and your
resources, so I take a very, very conservative approach to growth.”
Conservative, however, does not sound like the best word to describe the
overhaul Lucas applied to Pearl when he took over
the business in September 2009. He worked over the business
from the front door to the back of the kitchen. As Lucas explains, at Pearl
he saw an opportunity with a business that needed attention, and so he got to work. Menus were changed and replaced
12 RESTAURANT & CATERING
WORDS: JOHN BURFITT PHOTOGRAPH: EAMON GALLAGHER
Pearls of wisdomChris Lucas dramatically turned around the fortunes of Melbourne’s Pearl restaurant in just one year. But he now has bigger sites in mind
Chris Lucas has turned around the fortunes of the Pearl Restaurant Group in one of the hardest years for hospitality in memory.
Cover story
“I always make sure we don’t dilute what we are known
for and what our capabilities are, or just pursue growth
for the sake of growing.”
Chris Lucas, Pearl Restaurant group
hris Lucas could never be accused of being afraid of a challenge. In fact, it has to be said that Lucas is a man who appears to thrive on them—even in the toughest of times.
In the past three years, not exactly the best in the history of the restaurant game as the financial crisis took its bite, Lucas has been keep-ing busy with a wide range of dealings. And it’s no hype to say he has come up trumps on every occasion.
In 2007, Lucas sold Melbourne’s landmark The Botanical for a re-ported figure well in excess of $16 million. Just over 12 months ago, he bought the Pearl Restaurant Group, and now happily reports that business at Melbourne’s Pearl Restaurant, Pearl Café and Pearl’s catering arm has seen an increase of 25—30 per cent.
Rather than rest on the generous rewards of the recent times, however, Lucas now says he still has more work to do. There are plans to open two more Pearl Cafes, and he has just signed a lease for an all-new restaurant and bar business in Melbourne’s CBD.
With all his bold confidence and many irons in the fire, Lucas, 50, sounds like a man on a mission to build an empire. While he does admit he has grand plans for the future, he stresses he is doing so with guided caution.
“I do worry about spreading myself too thin,” Lucas says. “But, I always keep an eye on making sure we don’t dilute what we are known for and what our capa-
bilities are or just pursuing growth for the sake of growing. Many people in the industry do that, but I don’t.
“Unless I have a clear vision about what I want to achieve in terms of a product, I won’t open a new business. Growth
can be a double-edge sword. It can be very exciting, but it can also
kill your business. It can sap all your capital and your
resources, so I take a very, very conservative approach to growth.”
Conservative, however, does not sound like the best word to describe the
overhaul Lucas applied to Pearl when he took over
the business in September 2009. He worked over the business
from the front door to the back of the kitchen. As Lucas explains, at Pearl
he saw an opportunity with a business that needed attention, and so he got to work. Menus were changed and replaced
14 RESTAURANT & CATERING
by iPads, pricing was altered at both ends of the range, a new booking system was introduced, and at the back-of-house, changes were made to stocktaking, financial targets and ordering.
What came in for the most radical change, however, was the way Pearl was presented in its marketing. “The number one essential was that we re-engaged with the market,” he says. “The business had disengaged with the market and it had become introspective and had lost some of its focus about what its customers were all about. We made the group more outward-looking.
“We re-engaged with the market, and brought it up to what we the market wanted. We became more aggressive with our marketing and we wanted to re-engage all the customers that used to come into The Botanical and had been loyal to that brand, and so I captured a large part of that market.
“Rather than thinking about what was impor-tant to us, we thought about what was important to our customers. To me, that is second nature and is the way we operate. It may be bold or a significant task to someone who is not comfort-able with the culture I had, but to me, it was just jumping out of the way I operated The Botanical and applying the same rules at Pearl.”
It is not a smug comment but sounds rather more like a relieved admission when he adds: “It has been a very successful transition in 12
Pearl (above, right) was made-over from front-to-back, and re-engaged with its market with dishes like the tartare of Hopkins River beef, beetroot shoots and quail egg yolk and soldiers (above).
Cover story
months.” The two new Pearl Cafes will be located in the city centre and sub-urban Melbourne, and there are plans are to open within the coming twelve months, with as many as eight Pearl Cafes operating around Melbourne in the coming years.
In April, the all-new restaurant is set to open, and Lucas explains it will not be a part of the Pearl brand. “The concept is going to be a casual Asian eatery with an exciting bar concept that will open until 3am. It’s a different brand and whole new concept,” he says. “It will have some of the skills set we are known for, but it will be an all-new product.
“My ultimate goal is to build a multi-faceted business, with a number of different brands in different levels in the marketplace.”
As Lucas talks of his approach to his many ventures, he seems to do so in a fearless manner, and
always in strictly business terms. He speaks about branding, products and marketing as
readily as he does about menus, produce and kitchens. The apparent lack of fear is possibly explained by the fact he grew up in Geelong, the son of publican parents who ran hotels and restaurants. He trained as a short order cook at the age of 14. He says the lessons from those days he
has carried with him to today are two very simple rules.
“You must have the very best staff and nurture them to create a culture of excellence and loyalty,”
he says. “The other rule is to have outstanding cus-tomer service and to always keep the customer in your sights.”
After studying science at university, Lucas then went to work at corporate giant IBM, later transferring to live in Japan and New York.
After returning to Australia in 1995, Lucas decided to return to the industry he grew up with and knew best, and so opened Number One Fitzroy Street on Port Philip Bay. The restaurant was a popular success, and then in 2002, he bought The Botanical in South Yarra and gave it a complete makeover.
Two years later, the establishment was awarded The Age Good Food Guide’s Restaurant of the Year title.
“Ramsey is a man who was a great
chef and had one restaurant. Then he became a rock star and opened a large number of
restaurants, many of which have failed.”
Chris Lucas, Pearl Restaurant
He says the lessons from his childhood, coupled with the years of work-ing in the corporate field, have had a strong influence on the way he does business. “IBM was the most successful marketing company in the world at one stage, and I leant a lot of those skills from that business,” he says. “So I gained a global perspective of business and then applied that at a micro-level. If you are comfortable with your capabilities, there is nothing wrong with testing them and letting them out there.
“At the same time, you don’t take things for granted and you keep an eye on what can be improved. You keep your ego in check and your ambitions within a scope of skills that you know you can fly with.
“If you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and they are based on strong principles—and my principles are about quality and making sure my brand represents my values—then the success will come.”
Being true to values of good service along with good business is some-thing Lucas passionately believes in. It is also why he has spoken out about the cult of the celebrity chef. Lucas claims that the crop of celebrity chefs chasing fame is distorting the industry, and he doesn’t like it.
“What this industry is about is good restaurateurs are meant to run good restaurants, waiters are meant to be good waiters and chefs are meant to be good chefs. But the aura of celebrity is distorting that.
“When I see how many food TV shows are slated for 2011, I want to ask—if you are so good at running a successful restaurant, then why do you want
to be on TV? If you are a TV personality and that is your career, then there is nothing wrong with that. But if you are a great chef, then your priority, in my view, should be about producing great food and not chasing TV ratings. That has nothing to do with producing great food and delivering great outcomes for customers. It can take away from it.”
Lucas cites the example of Gordon Ramsay as an industry professional whose celebrity status has since eclipsed the culinary skills he was once so acclaimed for.
“He is a man who was a great chef and had one restaurant. Then he became a rock star and opened a large number of restaurants, many of which have failed. So where are the positive out-comes for his customers?” Lucas asks.
“I just don’t believe you can run a great res-taurant and chase celebrity—they are mutually exclusive. Everyone wants to be a brand and be famous, but only so many people can be famous—and George Clooney is one of them.
“But,” he adds with a laugh, “we don’t all look like George, so that means the rest of us will have to work for a living.” ô
RESTAURANT & CATERING 15
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n October this year, Fairfax’s property editor Jonathan Chancellor published an article that called for Sydney home owners to face up to the fact that their slice of the market probably wasn’t worth what they thought it was.
“It is time for Sydney vendors to be realistic about what their houses are worth,” he wrote. “Prices are not necessarily going up and probably will not for some time.”
The same reality check was also playing out in major cities like Melbourne and Canberra, and, to a lesser extent, across regional areas around the nation.
And, according to a range of experts, running a business like a restaurant or catering company on that property involves similar assumptions about its true current value.
“Most business owners think their business is worth more than it is,” says NSW-based accountant Bruce Morton. “When that business is a restaurant or other similar food service operation, there’s the added emo-tional value that owners often put on their perception of its worth, because of the long hours they’ve poured into it, year after year,” he says.
But there are some simple rules about determining the value of a restaurant that remain more or less the same, regardless of what the property market or global economy is doing.
The first, according to Morton, is to separate the value of any real estate involved in the business.
“If restaurateurs own the premises or storage facilities used in running their business, they need to get an idea of the current value of that property, and I’d suggest using a property valuer for that job,” he says.
James Alexander is a valuer working on the NSW South Coast, and agrees many busi-ness operators overestimate the value of their property.
“The most common situation I see is where property owners — whether it’s a private home or commercial space—hang on to a value they have in their heads from when the market was particularly good,” he explains.
“They might have been offered a certain figure for their property five or 10 years
Value addingWe’re being told to wake up and smell the post-GFC property prices, but what if that property is a restaurant?
16 RESTAURANT & CATERING
earlier, or a real estate agent might have given them an indication of what their place would be worth in a certain market. But the only way to get a true value of property in a current market is to look at things like recent compara-tive sales in the area, rental yields, and any improvements that might have been made since the property was purchased,” he says.
Once an estimate of the value of your restaurant’s associated
property has been established, Morton says two other factors come into play in determining the overall value of a business: assets and goodwill.
“By assets, I mean things like stock and equipment, and also wherewithal, which refers to
your cashflow and the resources to steer the business through a
sudden downturn or unforseen costs,” Morton explains.
So far, the process of forming an idea of the value of your business might seem obvious. But determining the goodwill of your restaurant is undoubt-edly trickier.
In the middle of this year, a well-established café changed hands in a
WORDS LUCY ROBERTSON
Management
“They might have been offered a
certain figure for their property five or 10 years earlier, or an agent might
have given them an indication of what
their place would be worth.”
James Alexander, valuer, NSW
Determining a realistic value for your restaurant at the start of the sales process makes for happier vendors.
RESTAURANT & CATERING 17
small, regional town on the Victorian east coast. The new owners, who don’t want to be identified, paid a sum for the business that included a “significant” portion for goodwill, which had been estimated according to the value of things like solid patronage and high levels of recognition in the local community.
But within a month of taking over, they realised the goodwill estimate had been misleading.
“One of the things that first attracted us to the place was its large rear courtyard, which included a garden and a small stage where the previous owners hosted live music,” the chef and co-owner says. “But we quickly realised that we’d inherited a free-for-all, where local people expected to be able to come and drink and hang out, without buying anything.”
The owners had a battle on their hands in changing the culture of the café’s patronage, and clawing back the business’s profit-ability with a more workable economic model. And it’s a battle they say should have been taken into account in the estimate of goodwill they sought before buying into the business.
“We felt like we’d been cheated, because on the surface, it was true that the café had been recogni-sable in the community and busy for most of the time, but in reality,
those two things were actually the source of major problems in the business. And we felt like we’d paid extra for it.”
Morton warns potential buyers of restaurant or catering busi-nesses that it is their responsibility to make sure due diligence is completed, and suggests these particular owners might not have done so if their consideration of the sale didn’t turn up clues to this apparent disconnect.
But it certainly highlights the minefield that can be determin-ing the value of goodwill.
“It is a hard one to examine,” he admits. “But even though it’s complicated, there is a certain logic to it, and a theory, so you should be able to trust in the figure that comes back if it’s been done properly.”
He also says the restaurateur’s behaviour and at-titude to his business can play a part.
“From a purely accounting perspective, res-taurateurs usually overestimate the value of goodwill because there’s a huge emotional element for them,” Morton explains.
“Gut feeling does come into it, but you’ve got to look at the whole picture.”
For instance, restaurants are often only owned and operated for about five years because of the toll of long hours and constant work, he says. “Food service busi-nesses are hard, but you’ve then got to weigh that up against things like being your own boss and managerial independence.”
“Of course you look at the economy of it, so you’d consider the number of hours the owners work in the business and the amount they take home in the equivalent of a wage... but if it turns out that once you look at those figures and realise they’ve been working for the equivalent of ten dollars an hour, you have to consider what else they’re getting out of it to make it worthwhile.”
In terms of improving the value of your restaurant or catering outfit, Alexander says many of the same rules apply as residential real estate.
“Restaurateurs need to remember that you don’t always get back what you’ve put in when it comes to improvements, so
be careful not to overcapitalise,” he says. That means, while building a new deck might add value to the business because the kitchen
can turn out more covers and more latte-sip-pers can be served, it doesn’t necessarily equate to an extra hundred grand in the value of the actual property.
“The best thing you can do is keep the place looking good, and as functional as possible. Keep it painted inside and out,
keep the kitchen up-to-date, maybe give the bathrooms a bit of a makeover every few
years,” Alexander explains. For every aspect of the property that doesn’t
work or is seriously outdated, you should expect a potential buyer to factor in the cost of fixing it into their
perceived value of the whole place. So, if you do end up putting in a new deck, keep it oiled.
And whatever you do, see your financial advisor and other professionals before embarking on any valuation exercise with your restaurant. They’ll be able to give you Jonathan Chancel-lor’s idea of a ‘realistic’ vendor value. ô
Management
18 RESTAURANT & CATERING
Step one is separating the value of the property, stock and equipment from the value of the business.
“We quickly realised that we’d inherited a free-for-all, where
local people expected to be able to come
and drink and hang out, without buying
anything.”
’ve got Greek origins. The family has been here nearly 100 years and owned cafes from 1920 to the 1960s in Sydney and Newcastle. Whether you liked it or not, you worked in the shop after school. It felt like winning the Gold lotto when my father sold the shop.
I studied accountancy in Sydney and went to work for British Tobacco as a young accountant trainee in 1970. But I was still waiting tables while I studied. Then I married a girl whose father, Michael Karlos, pioneered licensed restaurants in Queensland. He owned the Camelia in Queen Street. Prior to that there was only BYO. A couple of years after we married he asked me if I would be interested in buying the restaurant with another son-in-law. I weighed up my future in either profession. I bought my first restaurant. Shortly after that I bought the Cubana from him as well.
The Camelia was fine-dining, and we turned the 180-seater Cubana Café into a coffee shop/café that was one of the only ones open in the city at night. We were working 18 hours a day. After I sold the Camelia and the Cubana my wife Marcia encouraged me to open a modern Italian bistro. We spent two years researching to get it right, travelling to Italy and France. We opened Il Centro in 1992. We’ve been run-ning it ever since.
We’re on the Brisbane River facing the Story Bridge. Twenty years ago no-one wanted to be on the river. They said I was crazy. But there are 180,000 people around here—all the corporates. I thought the restaurant was so close to such a big number of people, it would succeed. This centre was designed for retail and a couple of restaurants. Our space was empty for three years, so we got a good deal. Now the River is the focal point of Brisbane.
The original planning was to cater to middle management. But it turned out a lot of the top tier were inter-ested as well. We’re not fine dining, but somewhere between a bistro and fine dining.
We’re now on our fourth chef in 20 years and she was the sous chef before that. It’s all about the right people. Our manager has been here 13 years, our sommelier for nine years. They’re part of the family. They give people attention that’s friendly and professional.
We don’t often change staff, but we’ll go through five waiters to get a good one. We’re flexible with hours and we’re big enough to accommodate staff—every third weekend off, that sort of thing. My wife plays a big role. She used to be full time but you have to strike a balance. That’s why I insist staff have two straight days off a week. No-one works more than 40-to-45 hours, so no-one comes into work gloomy.
To retain staff you’ve got to show them a lot of respect. I’m prepared to do anything—I mop, I clear tables.
They do what I do. The main thing I believe is if you’re not hands-on, it’s not going to work. An
owner’s got to be around—even with great staff. I’m here every day, lunch hour in par-ticular. Food is one thing but service is para-mount. This business is all about commu-nication. I can talk about the racehorses, golf, tennis, I know a bit about everything. You talk to customers—it’s very important.
Recently we refurbished. We had to redo the kitchen so we closed for five days
and put in new furniture—all Italian. The menu presentation changed. You’ve got to keep up to
date. When people come in they want to see you’re doing something.
I’m the longest member of the restaurant association here. I’m still involved. I just got awarded the Lifetime Achieve-ment Award. It was touching. I was 25 when I first went onto the committee.
I’m not interested in opening any more restaurants. I’m happy to have this. But we might put in a champagne bar.
I don’t do discounts or happy hour. I think the best promotion is acknowledging the people who come in, then they become your promoters. People come in and they have their likes and dislikes, we just do it. If it can be, it will be done. ô
The Lifetime Achiever and owner of Brisbane’s Il Centro on the importance of staff and knowing your market
Georges
“I don’t do discounts or happy hour. I think the best promotion is
acknowledging the people who come in,
then they become your promoters.”
What I’ve learnt
20 RESTAURANT & CATERING
PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD WHITFIELDINTERVIEW: SHARON ARIS
Andy
RESTAURANT & CATERING 21
AUSTRALIAN
MADEAND
OWNED
e had to apply for council per-mission to set-up alfresco dining because that wasn’t included in our original licence, but it has been very beneficial as it attracts people walking past,” Darren O’Brien,
manager of the Witch’s Cauldron in Subiaco, says.“But there is also a cost to alfresco dining because of the
labour involved in setting up everyday, ensuring the furni-ture is appropriate which you have replace every couple of years and constant maintenance in the area.
“Overall though, I would say the benefits outweigh the costs because if people see customers outside sitting in the sun and they seem to be enjoying themselves, there is a good chance they will stop and come inside.”
The temperate climate is a large factor in determining the popular-ity of alfresco dining. “In South Australia, we average only 10 days a year of rain at lunchtime, so alfresco dining is very important to the State,” says Sally Neville, CEO of RCSA. “Most restaurants and cafes are set up to accommodate alfresco dining and we do everything we can to support them.”
There are many issues that confront restaurants and cafes when it comes to al-fresco dining. There are numerous council
regulations to adhere to and these vary from council to council,
state to state. There is also the decision on opening
and closing times (usual-ly regulated by council if it is council land), what meals to serve and what furniture to buy to accommodate your customers. Of course, if you want
to change anything that was originally granted to you
under your original licence you then have to go back to your local
council and go through the approval pro-cess again, which in some areas can take up to three months.
Offering the option of dining alfresco seems a surefire way to make money. But it isn’t as simple as throwing some chairs and tables outside
WORDS LOUIS WHITE
RESTAURANT & CATERING 23
Special report
Offering alfresco is much more than the
chairs and tables
“I would say the benefits outweigh
the costs because if people see customers
outside sitting in the sun enjoying
themselves, there is a good chance they
will stop.”Darren O’Brien, Which’s Cauldron,
Melbourne.
outsideThe upside of
PHO
TO
GR
APH
Y: V
ISIO
NS
OF
VIC
TO
RIA
This means that a whole season can pass, meaning a potential loss of income, while the bureaucratic process goes through the motions.
“The costs vary from council to council,” Jade Tustin, Hugos Group events and marketing manager, said. “It’s hard to put a figure on it but there is definitely a cost for having tables and chairs on the footpath. Other costs associated with alfresco dining are expenses to ensure the area is comfortable all year round. This can include shelter and heating.
“It’s important you control the environment. Whether it’s sound, smoking or alcohol-related. Councils can take away your permits if you don’t control the areas properly.”
Tustin believes that alfresco dining is very important to most restaurants and cafes across Australia, as most states experience more good weather than bad throughout the year.
“With Sydney’s weather, everyone wants to dine outside,” she said. “Hugos Manly has an amazing view of the harbour as we are located right on Manly Wharf, so people want to be as close to the water as possible. Alfresco dining also works for Hugos Bar Pizza in Kings Cross, as we are located right next to our nightclub. There is a lot of atmosphere and our outdoor seating is always booked in advance. Alfresco dining is vital to our business.”
Manly is one of the most competitive areas for alfresco dining in Australia. It has a plethora of restaurants and cafes along the
ocean and strict council policies that follow suit. One regulation in particular appears to be somewhat over the
top: ‘All Licensees are only to use chairs, tables, umbrellas or any other equipment which are of a design, colour and specifi-cation selected and/or approved by Council. The only umbrella advertising permitted is to be the name of the business e.g. “Ceruti”s” etc. However, this does not apply in The Corso
Special report
24 RESTAURANT & CATERING
Councils regulate outdoor dining carefully, which can lead to a lot of effort and headache for restaurateurs.
the
roomprivate
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where Council provides umbrellas.’ Since when have Manly Councillors become experts in fashion?
“There are certainly a lot of rangers in the area,” David Quaid, general manager of White Water Restaurant and Blue Water Café, says. “If I was to have a table or chair 10cm over my licensed area, I would get a warning.”
Manly Council regulations again state this very clearly in black and white: ‘That licensees be required to remove all outdoor equipment from the footpath and store it within their premises when not in use and that the area to be used for outdoor eating be agreed with each restaurateur and its area measured.’
But overall, the benefits of alfresco dining weigh more heavily in favour than against. “To have a restaurant by the beachfront is ideal,” Quaid continued. “Obviously, in the winter you suffer, but Australia has generally good weather for the majority of the year so you are generally covered.
“But we can’t book outside in the summer because of the risk of bad weather. We simply say to patrons we will put you inside and if it is a fine night we will move you outside. With the White Water restaurant, we have 100 seats inside and only 30 outside, and on a beautiful summer’s night everyone wants to be out-side. Of course, having people outside enjoying themselves is a big drawcard. Equally important is the quality of the furniture you use because it has to look attractive and be durable too. It has to be clean, comfortable and arranged conveniently.”
“We have been importing chairs, tables and lounges for three years and I can’t find a locally made competitor,” says John Batori of Have A Seat, which specialises in outdoor furniture. “We supply small cafes, restaurants, shops and clubs, and we are growing rapidly.
“We offer a good product, good service and a good price.”Equally important for any café or restaurant offering alfresco
dining is the lighting and heating. One company specialising in this area is Climate Australia.
“It was hard initially because Australians don’t understand heating and cooling for patio,” David Diamond, CEO of Climate Australia says. “It took a while to explain the products and how they are beneficial to your restaurant or café.”
Diamond’s company has two core products: the Firestick and the Mistmate. The Firestick is an outdoor gas patio heater and lantern, which covers up to 20 sqm, while the Tornado Mistmate Misting Fan is a 660mm fan that uses recycled unused water which covers up to 10 metres.
“The Mistmate is the answer to the outdoor air-conditioner,” Diamond says. “Both products are not only effective but look good too.”
Alfresco dining is set to grow in popularity across Australia as more diners look to take advantage of improved climate condi-tions. Despite some overly eager councils, there are plenty of reasons that alfresco dining is beneficial. ô
RESTAURANT & CATERING 25
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ne of the hurdles many restaurateurs face when trying to run a sustainable business is many of the steps they’ll take to do so are invisible. Consumers tell researchers over and over that their purchasing decisions are affected by how green your business is—but are you going to show them a power bill or a compost bin to prove you are?
Ironically, according to a study released in the middle of this year, you can put all the sustainable, fair trade branding
you want on your takeaway cups and packaging, and it won’t impress customers that you’re running a sustainable business. But they will be influenced by your green creden-tials if the packaging itself is environmentally-friendly.
According to Datamonitor’s ‘Offering Ethicality and Sustainability in Food and Drinks’ study, about 57 per cent of consumers thought that it is important to buy ethical or socially responsible products, but only 42 per cent reported altering their habits to do so, revealing a significant disconnect between what consumers perceive as important to their purchasing habits and what they actually buy.
However, the study also suggests that exactly the same proportion of consumers said packaging was a key consideration in their purchase decisions, to those who changed their buying habits to include products with reduced packaging.
“The more tangible nature of packaging allows consumers to actually see and feel the difference they are making. Sustainable packaging is a claim that can be physically substantiated,” explained Katrina Diamonon, Datamonitor consumer markets analyst.
Packaged goodsNo matter how sustainable your business is, your customers will judge how ‘green’ you are on your takeaway packaging
David Rosa of Sydney’s Bay Cof-fee—who both roast their own beans and sell wholsesale and direct to consumers—agrees that consumers can be influenced by packaging, but says that in his experience price often outweighs sustainability when it comes to purchasing decisions.
“It’ll influence people as long as they don’t have to pay significantly more,” he says. “That’s what I’ve found going down the track with all these things, including fair trade coffee and green power—people say they’re happy to pay more but in reality they’re not.”
Rosa is happy to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to sustainable business—he offers Direct Trade, Fair Trade and Rainfor-est Alliance certified coffees, switched to Green Power in 2007, and actively tries to reduce the business’s carbon
WORDS ROB JOHNSON
28 RESTAURANT & CATERING
Special Report
Environmentally friendly packaging will have your customers toasting you.
footprint. However, when he started investigating using biode-gradable or compostable cups for both his takeaway business and his wholesale business, he found the price was at that stage prohibitively high.
“In terms of my wholesale customers, some are really for us-ing biodegradable cups, but there are only a handful that have asked when I’ll be switching to it,” he says.
“It was too expensive when I last looked at it—but I know the price was coming down as techniques improve, and soon it will be com-petitive. Really, I think the onus is on manufac-turers to produce something that is competi-
tive with traditional paper products and truly biodegradable.”That was certainly what Detpak had in mind when the compa-
ny developed its Rebbit™ range of compostable food packaging. “The development of the Rebbit™ range has been driven by both demand from customers and innovation within the company,” explains product manager Lisa Mezzini. “We wanted to provide customers with another alternative to plastic-lined products. We had been investigating materials and found something suitable to replace the traditional polymer lining in paper cups.”
The Rebbit™ products are 100 per cent compostable in com-mercial composting facilities due to the bio-film lining, and made with paper sourced from sustainable and ethical sources.
The company’s decision to develop compostable products is quite a practical approach to the environmental problems presented by disposable food packaging. Whilst the Rebbit™ range is a great illustration of how to solve customer demand for environmental products, Detpak has found—as did David Rosa—that there is sometimes a gulf between what people say they want and what they’re prepared to pay for.
“There is more of a demand for environmentally friendly products, although whether people actually take it up or not is another matter,” says Mezzini. “There is a price difference, but as with almost all emerging technologies,as there is greater uptake of the product, their price differential will continue to narrow.”
But while that price pressure remains at a wholesale or busi-ness-to-business level, perhaps pressure from consumers can tip the balance towards the environmentally friendlier products. ô
Special report
Detpak’s Rebbit™ range of compostable food packaging.
RESTAURANT & CATERING 31
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ffering customers something they cannot get at home is the reason most hospitality businesses exist. Your menu, your levels of service, your premises’ ambience—these are all things that at-tract customers. Your range of beverages also has pulling power, particularly if you can develop a reputation for stocking good quality and attractively obscure wines, beers, and spirits.
This approach has—in recent times—worked well with regard to boutique and imported premium beers (particularly delivered
via twin-tap set-ups), and also with single malt whiskies. Service of such beverages has helped to bring some dynamism to what has otherwise been a fairly static drinks market.
Yet is there room for some lateral movement on your wine list?Boutique and imported wines have demonstrated this is possible, to good effect. Trendy
organic wine might yet be still to find its on-premise, profitable feet. And low-alcohol wine, we keep being told, is in demand with consumers, yet just not the ones that seem to dine or drink out. Funny, that...
There’s another area, of course. Cellared, or bottle-aged wine. This sort of wine is a goods and service that certainly ticks our first box: it is invariably something that your cus-tomers cannot get at home. It also brings a higher level of wine seriousness to your wine
32 RESTAURANT & CATERING
with ageOffering cellared, or bottle-aged, wines can broaden your wine list and impress your customers. Yet creating and maintaining a cellar can be a challenge
Here’s to giving customers something they can’t get at
home—a really flash old wine.
list, which—depending on the nature of your business and cli-entele—might have a positive effect. Yet how to establish and maintain such an inventory, and how to sell it, brings some other challenges that need to be carefully considered.
Stocking wines to cellar on-premise (should you have such a cellaring facility) is not quite the sneakily clever investment it might seem. Your busi-ness has to carry the capital expense and wait for a day, five or 10 years down the track, when it can finally realise the profit. Or, if things don’t quite
WORDS BEN CANAIDER
Drinks
Better
go to plan, the cost price, or, even worse, the clearance price. And much depends on what wines you invest in. Punting on an unknown cellar performer is risky business; whilst buy-ing recently released wines with that essential cellaring track record and pedigree is expensive.
So too can be the practise of buying well-regarded bottle-aged wines at auction. A ten year old Penfold’s Bin 389, to choose one very obvious and still popular red wine, can fetch $50 on the secondary market. If you have customers that want to pay up to $150 for it on your wine list, then perhaps you should invest; but I’d suggest that such customers—like so many wine-price savvy patrons nowadays—seem to know the cost of every bottle of wine you offer them, from LUCs to Dan Murphy’s discount rates to online auction prices...
Should the customer not care about such base thoughts there’s still a problem of provenance. Too many aged wines bought at auction have a cloud of query about their kept condi-tions. Have they been properly cellared in a climate-controlled environment, or have they been in the hallway cupboard of a second-story, north-facing flat? In my experience, the latter is often the case. This point has been brought home recently—and powerfully—with the arrival of screw-capped, bottle-aged wines appearing on some wine lists. The screw cap might elimi-nate any cork taint concerns, but it does not prevent the wine from the damaging torture of poor cellaring or storage. These wines might not be ‘corked’, but they can be terribly ‘stored’, losing their freshness and vitality, and tasting like old, tired wines. Ambient temperature spikes are to blame.
Of course, should all of these in-ventory and establishment problems be overcome, cellared wines are, by default, going to be towards the bottom (or expensive) part of your wine list. To sell such wines you may well need other promotional and marketing ploys to bring in the right sort of customers. Offering such bottle-aged wines as part of a degustation menu might be one way, or offering older wines—in obviously very limited numbers—by the glass. Many owner/operators, however, have found out that the best way to sell such wines is very much by hand.
Given these hurdles it is worth noting that in the latest Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine (which it needs be remembered is, in part, a guide to a wine’s cellarability), the number of wines in the top classification, ‘Exceptional”, now amounts to seventeen. In 1990, when the classification was first published, only one wine was thus listed—Grange. If this re-flects a growing market and demand for such collectable wines, then there could be a flow-on effect, with more and more din-ers wanting to try aged wine. Or this growing list of posh wines might simply reflect the growth in wine companies in Australia, which has increased fourfold since 1990. There is wine in abun-dance and not all of it current release. Be careful establishing or expanding an aged-wine inventory, and be sure you can sell it before you take the plunge. ô
RESTAURANT & CATERING 33
The screw cap might eliminate any cork taint concerns, but it does not prevent the wine from the damaging torture
ack in 2003, I was working on the design of a Palm Cove resort and met Jason [Rowbottom, co-owner] who had bought a nearby site [with chef Nick Holloway]. Jason explained that he wanted the new restaurant to have a fresh and contemporary look, and we teamed up to work on the fitout.
“For inspiration, Jason mentioned that the word ‘nu nu’ means ‘nude coconut’ in East Timor or ‘sweet little thing’ in the Cook Islands. It meant that the restaurant needed to have
something fairly textured, breezy and very modern.“It was obvious that the design would be defined by the architecture of the space. It’s
very open without walls. When eating at Nu Nu, you experience and become part of the environment. The space is anchored with dark timbered flooring.
“The roof is made of a tensioned membrane material that is weatherproof but allows in plenty of natural light. The protected melaleuca trees running along the promenade are very much a part of the local environment. The melaleucas also add to the internal envi-ronment by extending through the main dining zone.
“During the day, natural light is diffused through the roof structure, making it feel bright and airy. The sound and sight of the ocean permeates the room, creating a wonderful tropical atmosphere. At night, ‘Coral’ pendant lights in bamboo plywood by David Tru-bridge [www.davidtrubridge.com] illuminate the space, along with candles on the tables. It’s warm and inviting, and just the place for an extended dinner.
“There isn’t any artwork within the restaurant as it’s free of walls on which to hang it. Artwork wouldn’t be able to compete with the ocean views this site commands. As the restaurant is so open to its surroundings, you are very much part of the environment. If there’s a storm, pull-down plastic sides are operated, enabling patrons to eat in comfort with wild nature just outside.
“Sheer blue and silver curtains run along either side of the dining area which deli-cately demarcates the space while allowing the breeze free access. White tables are complemented with natural timber chairs from Melbourne’s Hermon & Hermon. Two large banquettes with white and pale blue cushions add a lounge-type feel. Custom-ised wall panelling with textured wallpaper placed in a random pattern, located near
Designed by Miriam Fanning, this Far-North Queensland establishment injects a sultry ambience, all achieved through natural materials, contemporary furnishings and idyllic views
Details
the kitchen, creates a fresh, contemporary feel to the con-cierge and bar zone.
“Nick Holloway looked after the design and fitout of the kitchen. In the dining area, up to eighty five patrons can be seated.
“The functionality works really well now; the wait staff can move around easily, but it took a while to get it right. It was an evolving process in the beginning.
“I’ve eaten there when on holidays and the menu is fantastic. It’s such a relaxed, welcoming room yet the food is quite upmarket. It’s so much more than a standard bistro that I call it ‘casual deluxe dining’.” ô
WORDS: KERRYN RAMSEY
34 RESTAURANT & CATERING
Nu Nu
Miriam Fanning, director of Mim Design1/4 Bond StreetSouth Yarra, VICTel: (03) 9826 1266W: www.mimdesign.com.au
Restaurant
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