How to Grow & Thrive in the Restaurant Business - … TO GROW & THRIVE IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS What makes a restaurant thrive? ... edge and experience as you plan for the future

How to Grow & Thrive in the Restaurant Business AUSTRALIA EDITION

H O W T O G R O W & T H R I V E I N T H E R E S T A U R A N T B U S I N E S S

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART 1: OPENING STAGECreate the Message

Tell Your Story

Use Outside Resources

Measure Your Success

On Reviews and Reviewers

PART 2: MIDDLE STAGEStay in the Flow


Is It Time To Change?

When Business Slows Down

Is It Time to Expand?

Respond to What Guests Want

PART 3: ONGOING SUCCESS AND LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITYStay Motivated: A Mature Restaurant’s Evolution

Marketing at this Stage

Follow the Competition or Stay the Course?

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What makes a restaurant thrive? What makes it last? And how can you set

yourself up for the kind of success you see and hear about from others? It’s

easy to say, “They got lucky,” or “That restaurant ended up in the right place

at the right time,” but sustained success and growth are more than a lucky

draw. Instead, maintaining, nurturing, and building your restaurant busi-

ness require careful and deliberate planning and execution at all stages of

development, from generating opening buzz to understanding when (and

how) to make a change to deciding you’re ready to expand.

You have to optimise across marketing, hospitality, and operations. You

have to create the best team, a team that understands your vision and

adapts to new challenges. You have to understand your location and mes-

sage and how those translate to your customers. You have to work hard,

taking advantage of every opportunity, strategising, and setting yourself up

for “luck.” And you have to apply all of these elements in a smart way over

your restaurant’s lifespan.

In this guide, successful chefs, restaurateurs, and experts share actionable

wisdom, warnings, and insights into everything that goes into building and

running a successful restaurant business. Use it to learn from their knowl-

edge and experience as you plan for the future of your restaurant business

—whether it’s your first year or your 30th.

KRISTEN HAWLEY

“You can’t have 20 years of luck, or 10 years of luck,

or five years of luck, or even three years of luck— it doesn’t work like that.”

—ERIC RIPERT

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Part 1: Opening StageThe earliest stage of your restaurant’s life—the

period directly before its opening, the opening

itself, and the first months of service—hold a lot

of potential. You’ve already made large decisions

about operations, systems, concept, location,

decor, menu, and staff. Now comes maximising

all of those elements for success.

Photo courtesy of Meat Fish Wine

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Make Sense of Where You AreYOUR LOCATION, MENU, CLIENTELE, DECOR, AND STAFF ALL SET THE TONE FOR YOUR RESTAURANT’S BRAND AND BUSINESS MODEL.

Before any sort of PR or marketing, fundamental business decisions shape a restau-rant’s landscape and reality. Location decisions, menu decisions, layout decisions, and staffing decisions all inform your restaurant’s messaging.

CONCEPT Ask yourself: what’s the role that this particular restaurant will play within the ecosys-tem of where you are and what you want people to experience? If you’re a neighbor-hood restaurant, you’re not relying on a world-famous chef to bring people in. Instead, you should focus on the needs of your particular restaurant. A neighborhood restaurant should be accessible by its neighbors several times per month. On the flip side, a restau-rant in the middle of a commercial district should focus on the speed at which you can serve and the ability to have food for someone who works in an office all day. Each is different from many standpoints, from menu to operations.

Consider how people like to dine in your area. “We’re in a busy area with a lot of restau-rants, so we decided not to take reservations for small groups. Instead, we have a bar at the back where people can wait,” says Kristian Klein of his Melbourne restaurant, Mr. Miyagi. “I don’t think people just go out to have dinner anymore. You go out for the night, and you eat dinner sometime in that period of time. We aim to give you an awe-some night out and a great experience.”

For restaurants with one location, this is an acutely focused process. For groups, the process can look more formal and is replicated with each opening, adjusting to the spe-cific location and vision of each restaurant.

Create the Message


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LOCATION Keep in mind general industry trends, too. The nature of dining today, for example, has become more casual. Even restaurants with high-quality food and a higher price point are embracing more casual service.

Sometimes, the location comes before the concept. “We were not looking at opening something at the time we found the space,” says Kristy Frawley of Kepos St. Kitchen, the restaurant she opened with her partner, Michael Rantissi. Instead, during a grocery store trip she and Michael noticed a property across the street. “We looked over and said, wouldn’t that be a great site if it ever came up for lease?” They went into the mar-ket and came out 20 minutes later to a “For Lease” sign on the building. “We couldn’t believe it, and that’s how we settled on the lease.” They decided to name the restau-rant after its street, as to not “dictate what the food is.” And they settled on the term

“kitchen” because, as Kristy says, “We wanted to say to the neighbors, this is our kitchen and this can be your home-away-from-home kitchen.”

Technology has changed the way diners discover and interact with restaurants, right down to determining a desirable vs. non-desirable location. Years ago, it was important to be on “Main and Main,” a busy intersection or high-traffic area where lots of foot or car traffic meant lots of visibility. For a fast-casual chain concept, that’s likely still an appealing location.

Marc Russo has been operating his Sydney restaurant Osteria di Russo & Russo for three years. “It began life in an area that didn’t have a lot of fine dining,” he says. “I could see that there was a shift happening, and the area was starting to become known for dining.” GPS systems and Google Maps have changed the way consumers find restaurants, so often it becomes a feature to open in an unfamiliar, off-the-beaten-path area.

The moral of the story: a location on a street with a lot of beautiful trees but not neces-sarily the main thoroughfare might be a better location for your particular concept than being on the busiest street in the area.

Photos courtesy of Kepos St. Kitchen

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Real Talk

“We didn’t have a plan, we didn’t search up for the right place. This found us as

opposed to us finding it.” —KRISTY FRAWLEY

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Set Operations Up for SuccessCUSTOMISE YOUR FLOOR MANAGEMENT TOOLS TO REFLECT YOUR RESTAU-RANT’S UNIQUE FLOW—DECIDE WHEN YOU WANT RESERVATIONS, WHAT YOU EXPECT TURN TIMES TO BE, AND WHEN YOU’LL ACCEPT LARGE PARTIES.

When your restaurant first opens—especially if you’re a first-time restaurateur—you’ll need to make some initial assumptions about your operations. What do you expect your traffic patterns to be, based on concept and location?

If you anticipate a big lunch business you may have shorter turn times, as business guests hurry back to the office. If you’re primarily a late-night destination, maybe you won’t serve weekday lunch and can save on food and labor cost there. Are you accept-ing reservations and running a waitlist at the same time?

All of these business decisions affect your operations. They affect how you staff your restaurants and how you set up your floor to accommodate guests. The floor manage-ment tools on OpenTable’s GuestCenter product can be customised to your individual restaurant, so you can set up the platform to reflect your floor plan exactly. You can also balance reservations, waitlist, and walk ins and manage your flow according to your unique traffic patterns.

When you’re first getting started, draw your floor plan. What tables do you have? Where are they? How big are they? Create your initial settings based on when you want to accept online reservations and when you think guests will be in the neighborhood, just stopping by.

Define special areas, such as bar and lounge seating, if you suspect the flow may be different in those spaces. The GuestCenter inventory system can create combinations of tables that can be pushed together and will assign tables based on availability—the operator doesn’t even have to think about it. Next, define your shifts. Between which hours are you serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner? You can set capacity and pacing inside each shift if you know a lunch turn will be a half-hour shorter than a dinner one.

“We want restaurateurs to say, ‘This tool has created time for me to do what I love,’” says Jon Morin, OpenTable’s GuestCenter Product Manager. Morin’s team uses knowledge from years of customer engagement to replicate the mind of a very savvy restaurateur. The product should facilitate the best possible version of the human interaction that happens throughout the dining experience.

Consider when you’ll welcome large parties and when you probably won’t be able to accommodate them, and set up your system accordingly. Pay attention to how guests book and how long your turns are during at different days and times in the first few months after opening so you can continue to tweak and optimise these settings.

Photo courtesy of Kepos St. Kitchen

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Build Your Reputation, Build Your Service StaffBEYOND VISION AND MESSAGING, YOUR STAFF IS THE FRONT LINE OF YOUR RESTAURANT’S IMAGE IN THE EYES OF THE PUBLIC. A TRAINED, INFORMED STAFF IS AN ELEMENT OF THE RESTAURANT PRODUCT AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.

SET THE RIGHT EXPECTATIONS WITH YOUR STAFF Obviously, people bring experiences of where they’ve worked before to any job; that’s why they’re valuable members of a service team. Experience is important, but so is immersion in your specific idea, especially if it’s a new or complicated concept.

Start at the beginning, especially if you are opening a brand new concept. Encourage your team to learn the new brand first, then apply their experience and opinions second. This makes a new concept like a brand new birth instead of a collage of disparate experiences.

The experience you bring to the table also affects staff training. Kristian Klein of Melbourne’s Mr. Miyagi wasn’t in the restaurant business until he partnered to open the restaurant. “From a service point of view and how things are actually run, I think it’s been a massive plus that we looked at it from a different angle,” he says. “Instead of doing things because someone told us that’s how to do them, we looked at it from the perspective of, how can we make this awesome? How can we do this the way we would love if we were a customer?

“We didn’t know what was traditionally correct,” he continues, “so we had no choice but to figure it out. Instead of having someone show me how to serve a table, we decided to serve a table in a way that’s going to wow the customer. There’s no old-school mental-ity in anything we do at the restaurant.”

CONNECT ALL THE DOTS Messaging and training don’t work in a vacuum. Instead, the process is fluid and involves lots of people. Make sure these processes work in tandem. This is where in-house marketing and communications teams (or specialists) become important.

If you’re a lean operation and don’t have internal marketing and communications, you as the restaurant’s visionary are responsible for the above. While these might seem like nuanced decisions, they’re vital to early success and are absolutely worth the time they take to establish properly.


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Tell Your Story

Early Marketing GoalsA MIX OF WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, PR, AND IN-RESTAURANT STORYTELLING ENFORCE YOUR BRAND. BE CREATIVE—AND GET IN FRONT OF AS MANY POTENTIAL DINERS AS POSSIBLE.

SET THE TONE Every project is different and should be treated differently, even within a larger restau-rant group. Obviously, a lot of elements go into a launch or opening. A formula is good, but whether this is your first restaurant or your 10th, the formula needs to be flexible.

Step one: Document a clear vision to serve as a map throughout the process. Use this vision to aid decision making, including what strategies fit with your restaurant’s open-ing promotional plan. No two launch plans are exactly the same.

GET CREATIVE “The initial getting the word out is a challenge,” says Klein. “It took us a little time to find our feet, but doing external events ended up giving us the most exposure. We branded all of our products; we had Mr. Miyagi all over everything. Strangely, no one else was doing that—other restaurants could have served you the best plate of food you’ve ever had, but without branding there’s nothing to associate with what you had.”

This managed to net some unexpected publicity: the restaurant’s Miyagi Fried Chicken, a tongue-in-cheek nod to a more famous fried chicken, was photographed by a major newspaper. Two weeks later, they received a cease-and-desist letter. “Usually you’d be worried about that, but we were stoked. We couldn’t believe we managed to market our tiny little restaurant to that point.”

Russo shares his approach. “We had a lot of interest generated by our chef, coupled with a focus on the local area. We tried to stand out and attract people walking past. I used artwork that an artist friend made. It didn’t tell you what was going on, but it made people want to check it out.” Even after opening, his restaurant is the only business on the street without a large sign. “We stand out by being a little more reserved,” he says.

“Seeming like we’re not trying to make a big splash has worked really well for us.”


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“In any other industry, you wouldn’t have a product if the packaging doesn’t look fantastic.

But for some reason in restaurants, people do it all the time.”

—KRISTIAN KLEIN

Real Talk

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SHOULD I ADVERTISE? The answer, of course, is “it depends.” But it also depends how you define advertis-ing. Millennials, for example, aren’t interested in traditional marketing or advertising. They are more likely to engage with your space, story, and messaging—in other words, everything that makes up a restaurant’s personality and brand.

“I’ve deliberately stayed away from anything that discounts what we do, or promotes what we do in terms of nightly deals,” says Russo. “If I’m going to spend money, it’s giving something extra to the person that did come in on a Wednesday, without a spe-cial promotion. We’re small enough that we can see the results of that strategy.”

SPECIAL EVENTS Food events and festivals can also bring great awareness to your brand, though partic-ipating in them can get expensive. “For us, doing Night Noodle Market and a few other small festivals in the area worked really well to get the name out there,” says Klein. “It didn’t matter if we made money. The product is great, we have a sensational chef, and the food is delicious, but unfortunately that’s not enough in Melbourne. You have to separate yourselves and be different.”

Given the size of the financial investment involved in participating in the festival, Klein acknowledges it was a big risk. “It was way too expensive,” he says. “We couldn’t afford it when we did it, and thankfully it’s worked out. Doing those kind of things that are a little bit different have been what’s made us different.”

REACHING DINERS While OpenTable is widely perceived as a reservation platform, it’s also an incredibly effective way to reach new diners, as we seat 20 million diners each month. When all of those diners are searching their OpenTable app for a reservation right now in their area, you’re missing out if your restaurant doesn’t appear in the results.

Use OpenTable’s features to:• Reach locals through the platform’s search, listing, and geo-targeting functions,

just by virtue of being on the network.• Assist in soft openings by providing friends and family with a secure

reservations link. • Start building your email database so you can market to and build relationships

with your guests.• Set up dashboards to begin tracking booking and service patterns, allowing you to

hone your hospitality over time.to owner Dan Simons, one of the biggest challenges was marketing an idea that no one had heard of. Here’s what his team did first.


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SAY IT YOURSELF

Use Social Media CHOOSE THE AMOUNT OF ONLINE PRESENCE YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN. PRIORITISE YOUR WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE FIRST, THEN BUILD AWARENESS ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER. As technology has changed the game in choosing a restaurant’s location, social media has revolutionised the way restaurants communicate with the public. You now have a direct line to people who are inherently interested in your cause and actively want to hear from you. What might have seemed an afterthought five years ago is now mission critical to any strategy and success story.

Ideally, you have the time and resources to build out a solid presence around the web before the restaurant opens. But if that’s not possible, it’s never too late to start and grow a following. You should reserve a website and social handles as far ahead of an opening as possible, even if you don’t use them for a while. Later we’ll cover best prac-tices for social media, but to start, here are some things to keep in mind.

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The first two items on this list are essential. Instagram is a “should have” and Twitter sits squarely in the “nice to have” category. Most importantly, choose the amount of online presence you have the ability to maintain. A dated Facebook page or Instagram feed sends the message that you can’t be bothered to update the page, and that trans-lates to your restaurant’s public perception.

In terms of initial content, “some things are really obvious,” says Russo. Truffle sea-son, for example. “There’s a particular demographic that would like truffles shaved on everything. It’s quite obvious that an Instagram picture of pasta with fresh truffles on top will do well.” Also, be authentic. “The people that seem to do it best are the ones that do it themselves,” he says. Your followers want to feel like an insider, to know the people behind the food and experience they love.

WHERE TO SAY IT? IMPORTANT CHANNELS

1. Your website. This can be as simple as a landing page with your name, phone number, address, and opening hours or can be more complex. Make sure a booking link is front and center so guests find it easily. Your website is a great place for all other social media to link back to, giving your online presence strong roots. Many online services allow you to do this with modern, clean, and low-cost designs. Larger groups may want to go with a design and development agency that will work with you through the design, implementation, and website management process.

2. Facebook. The largest of the networks, we’re more comfortable using Facebook to connect than a phone these days. Use your Facebook page for important information like hours and location, and consider adding and updating photo albums to give people a real feel for your restaurant.

3. Instagram. Instagram is white-hot with restaurants right now, and not just for pictures of beautifully-composed dishes (though those certainly work well).

4. Twitter. For communicating with a tech-savvy, very local audience, Twitter is the way to go. Twitter can require more care and feeding than the other channels and can do great things for a business—but it’s only as valuable as you are active, especially if you get a lot of customer service-type requests, which Twitter has become known for.

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“I let the chefs do the photos and I write the words. I’m constantly curious about who other people

follow and why they like that person and what the point of it is. There’s often a big divide between the

people coming and eating dinner at a restaurant and people who work in the restaurant.”

—MARC RUSSO

Real Talk

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“Our voice has evolved a lot, but from the start we had a voice for the brand,” says Klein. “That voice is that Mr. Miyagi is a beautiful restaurant where you will get A+ service and be treated like royalty. The voice of our character, Mr. M., is rude and crude and hilari-ous. So we have two ends of the spectrum and we project that through our posts. Often, we’ll post a photo of beautiful food or a beautiful setting but the words underneath will be completely contradictory of that.”

A SUCCESSFUL TONE GUIDE INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING: 1. Your mission or vision statement. 2. A personification of your voice. (‘Your hip friend who knows about all the newest

hot spots before anyone else.”)3. Words you use to describe your brand. 4. Words you’d never use to describe your brand. 5. Subjects or content areas important to the restaurant and brand. 6. A rough schedule or sense of post frequency.

A tone guide should be considered a living document, updated frequently with success-ful examples, ideas, or learnings from past campaigns.

SOCIAL AS A SERVICE Besides projecting your image outward, social media channels give you a direct line to your customers. When they talk to you on social, don’t just listen, respond!

Obviously, responding to all comments yourself isn’t sustainable nor a good use of your time as your business grows. Continue to treat social media like table visits. You don’t let entry-level employees handle table visits, so don’t let entry-level people do your social media. Just because someone is active on social doesn’t make them the best qualified to run a brand on social. (Though sometimes it works out that way.)

What to Say? Creating ToneCREATE A TONE GUIDE FOR CONSISTENCY ACROSS CHANNELS, AND USE IT AS A POINT OF REFERENCE FOR YOUR WHOLE TEAM.

Consistency of the tone you use on social media will extend your restaurant’s message. Outside consulting services and internal marketing teams usually create tone guides for a brand’s social media presence, but you don’t need a marketing team to create your own. A GM or interested manager can establish similar standards based your brand vision and messaging. The important thing is that a guide serves as a point of reference for anyone who touches the social accounts. It’s especially useful when training new team members to take over, or maintaining consistency as your team and brand grow.

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Don’t be afraid to let your voice evolve. We try to work out if we have a character in here, what would he be? Would he be funny? Our voice has developed over time. We started with Mr. M being the wise, a bit like Confucius, but funnier. He’s changed a bit, he’s become a little more angry in his old age. Build on what you have. Add new elements. We’ve added on another character, Mr. M’s mistress to correspond with our bar next door that’s been branded a little differently. She’s called Yuki and she’s a little bit angry because she doesn’t get enough attention, but she’s also sophisticated.

Keep it close. We do all of this in-house. We’ve had others try and take it over, but no one knows the brand like we know the brand. No one can communicate what Mr. M is like more than we can. We like to keep doing it ourselves.

How to: Develop and Hone Your Social

Media Voice —Kristian Klein, Mr. Miyagi

Keep it lighthearted. We did a lot of brainstorming, but I think the main thing that has made our voice so good is our sense of humor. We constantly bounce ideas off of each other. What’s funny? What appeals to people? What can everyone relate to?

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Use Outside Resources

Generating PressYOU HAVE ONE SHOT AT OPENING COVERAGE. ENLIST A PR AGENCY TO HELP YOU CREATE ALL OF THE ASSETS YOU NEED TO TELL YOUR STORY—BIOS, PHOTOS, A PRESS RELEASE—AND GET THAT STORY IN FRONT OF THE MEDIA. You message is honed, your staff trained, your calendar set. What’s missing? A profes-sional PR agency ties all of these things together in a neat package with a bow on top

—and puts your message squarely in front of the people who need to hear it first: the media.

“You only have one shot at that opening coverage,” says Elizabeth Hamel, account supervisor at Wagstaff Worldwide, a travel and hospitality marketing firm. “There are great opportunities—dedicated coverage, a post that’s only about your restaurant—that are only available when you first open.”

A PR agency is able to hone your focus and fill in any blanks in your strategy that could leave press guessing. Offerings vary by agency and relationship, but generally you can expect an agency to do the following:

• Draft bios of key players in the restaurant.• Create a one-sheet document to familiarise press with your concept, chef, other

personalities, menu, decor, or any other restaurant highlights.• Create an opening press release. • Produce photographs, or help you produce an early photo shoot to showcase your

restaurant and menu.• Create an opening press strategy, securing well-timed placement via appropriate

channels, from long-lead magazines to websites and blogs that thrive on of-the-moment coverage.

• Manage relationships with press before, during, and after an opening. • Gather and share press feedback. PR professionals are good at synthesising

feedback and presenting it to the client in an actionable way.

If at all possible, plan to engage with a firm several months before your restaurant’s opening. It’s much easier for them to shape and control the message from the start than to come in several months later when you’re concerned your restaurant isn’t receiving enough press.

Photo courtesy of Aria



How to: UsePR to Maximise

an Opening —Elizabeth Hamel, Wagstaff Worldwide

Elizabeth Hamel’s tips for capitalising on the big impact an opening will have in the media.

Sign on with PR early. Agencies like to work with clients well before a restaurant opening—ideally, according to Hamel, at least three months in advance.

Take photos. Don’t worry if your space isn’t finished. As soon as the chef knows at least a few dishes that will appear on the menu, make arrangements to photograph them. Use a different restaurant or kitchen space if necessary. It’s best to have images ready to go to share with press, says Hamel.

Talk social strategy. Whether you’re hiring someone in-house, already have a staff member eager to help, or engage with an outside agency, social media strategy is a huge part of your larger PR strategy. If your social and PR are handled by different people, take time to make sure everyone is on the same page from the beginning: both messaging- and expectations-wise.

Get a splash page online immediately. It’s OK if your website isn’t ready to go months before your opening—that’s normal. But prioritise a splash or landing page, a single page that lives at your website address listing at least your restaurant’s name. Hamel also likes to include links to any social channels you plan to use to this page.

Talk opening date. Or at least opening season. When you do set an exact date, Hamel likes to announce it about a week before. This gives press a comfortable heads-up while giving you enough time and assurance that you’ll make that date.

Be clear about plans. If you’re opening with dinner service but plan to launch brunch within the first year, share that information. There’s no substitute for opening press, but new service launches or big menu changes make great stories.

“Our early PR strategy focused on traditional food media,” says Klein. “A lot of launch parties feature local celebrities, and we didn’t want that. Instead, we hosted food writ-ers to help us get the word out. It was great because we got to spend time with them and also had a lot of fantastic articles published within a couple of weeks after opening.”



Reservations As a Media Moment

START A COUNTDOWN TO THE DAY YOU TURN ON ONLINE RESERVATIONS TO BUILD ANTICIPATION, CREATE DEMAND, AND DRIVE BOOKINGS.

Beyond convenience and tech savvy, using OpenTable for opening reservations creates an additional hook for press coverage. Some restaurants have generated press coverage by announcing their initial OpenTable reservations date—resulting in thousands of reservations in the first day.

REAL TALK

“Sometimes we end up being on longer before the opening than a client initially anticipated because the opening gets pushed back. That happens all the time

and is expected with restaurant openings.” —ELIZABETH HAMEL



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METRICS TO CONSIDER Finding a magic metric that measures the success or ROI of these “squishy” efforts (squishy as the opposite of concrete) is a near-impossible task. There are several ways you can measure success, though, and together these metrics paint a larger picture.

• Bookings and covers: Brand awareness is important, but the most critical measure of success if you want to stay in business will always be this: Are people coming to your restaurant? You can’t always tie visits back to specific marketing efforts, but if a spike in reservations is correlated with a major media story, you can assume a connection. Plus, sometimes the simplest answers are the best. Plenty of successful restaurateurs welcome guests at the host stand and ask, “How did you hear about us?”

• Website visits that come from other digital, social content: This varies depending on the service you use to build and maintain your website. If you’ve built your site in Squarespace, for example, you can use Squarespace’s analytics tool. Google Analytics also works for any site (including those from Squarespace). The amount of available information may seem daunting, so focus on what’s most important to you: total visits, the traffic coming from a social campaign, or search terms used to land on your page.

• Media hits: Who wrote about your restaurant? How big was the feature? What sort of audience did it reach? Were other restaurants included? Start a spreadsheet of publications and the names of reporters so you can reach out, thank them for the coverage, and start an ongoing conversation. These are people you can reach out to later on when you open for lunch or offer a New Year’s Eve special.

• Digital ad tracking: How many impressions did your ad receive? Clicks? Conversions? Accessing these analytical tools depends on the platform you use to run your ads. If you’re just getting started, Google Ads (google.com/ads) is a good place to start; you can build and customise your own ad campaign which will give you immediate access to reports that track how many people saw your ad, and how many clicked. While investing here might make sense for larger groups, it’s not necessarily a good use of precious capital for smaller, independent restaurants. Those types of concepts will benefit from OpenTable’s in-house digital marketing efforts, which aim to get your restaurant’s table availability at the top of search results.


Photo courtesy of Burma Lane

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Anecdotal EvidenceLOOK AT A MIX OF BUSINESS AND ENGAGEMENT METRICS TO MEASURE SUCCESS, AND HAVE FAITH THAT THE EFFORT YOU PUT INTO BUILDING YOUR BRAND WILL PAY OFF. Don’t discount that gut feeling you have after spending a lot of time on a social media or PR initiative—creative marketing does translate to guest visits. While, again, there’s no magic metric that says an Instagram post to 1,000 followers leads to 100 reserva-tions, you will begin to notice patterns.

“I look at things like social media engagement,” says Klein. “We get a consistent amount of likes and comments on everything we post, so if we post something especially great, I can track it through. I can look at our OpenTable stats and see how many bookings we’ve had. I can see how many views our pages have. The first thing anyone does when they hear about something new is that they Google it—so I check our website views. I think it’s easy to gauge whether or not something has been successful just through traffic.”

“We’ve started posting more on Instagram, and we’re finding that customers come in and tell us they saw the posting. We put a breakfast special on there the other day, and people are coming in and ordering it based off of the post,” says Frawley. She shares a second example: “We posted a photo of our chef making a dessert and had three customers come in that night specifically to order that desert. For a 36-seat restaurant, that’s pretty amazing. We look at our posts, and they seem like they’re working, but we’ve loved having actual follow-through on them.”

In short: you can measure both business metrics (people in your restaurant, covers, sales) and brand engagement metrics (impressions, followers). Keep in mind that both of these are important and deserve your attention. An Instagram “like” may translate to a sale, but there’s no guarantee—so you should maintain a healthy balance of measur-ing both of these metrics.

• Growth of social followings: Has your following grown? By how much? Twitter accounts come with built-in analytics at analytics.twitter.com. The breakdown shows reach, follower growth, and popular posts helpfully organised by month. Instagram is now offering analytics support for business accounts only—to designate your account as a business account, you must link it to a business Facebook page. (Currently this is the only way to access Instagram’s in-house analytics platform.)

• Engagement on social media: How many people are commenting? Sharing? And what are they saying? Praise or critical feedback early on can be incredibly helpful in solidifying your social strategy, training your staff, and so much more.

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On Reviews and Reviewers

Early Diner ReviewsASK GUESTS FOR FEEDBACK ONLINE AND OFFLINE TO START BUILDING YOUR REPUTATION. You’re already familiar with the notion of user-submitted reviews on online sites and how important they’ve become to business success. For a new or young restaurant, good reviews on these sites are important for generating new business and contribut-ing to your restaurant’s overall reputation. As early as opening day, you can encourage positive reviews.

If people have a positive experience and express that sentiment to you or your staff, let them know you’d appreciate a review on OpenTable or other review sites. Mention you are a new restaurant and you would love their help to get the word out. You can also subtly include this information with the check presenter; a separate card or line on the check encouraging diners to leave a review of your new restaurant isn’t intrusive. This way, you start to lay a positive foundation that will definitely be useful and important down the road.

PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS A successful review in the press is perhaps the best proof of early PR and marketing success, and of course everyone wants one. An early review is a true test of all of your planning and marketing in action.

A solid PR strategy can help, but obviously can’t completely control a journalist’s opin-ion. “When the expectation that a reviewer had going into the restaurant matched with what they received once there—that’s how you get a good review,” says Hamel. “If they have a different expectation—maybe they heard wrong information from a friend, or misunderstand your concept—it could make for a bad review. When the experience doesn’t match what a reviewer thought it would be, that’s how you get a bad review.” She adds that it’s PR’s job to manage these expectations for journalists, hence the importance of early messaging and action.

No one is immune from this press cycle, and you can’t control food critics. When reviews are positive, be sure to share that feedback with your staff—and celebrate! On the flip side, if it’s not as positive, share feedback in a constructive way. Discuss the mistake or perceived weakness and change it.

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8. Make the most of opening coverage. Enlist a PR agency to help you create all of the assets you need to tell your story—bios, photos, a press release—and get that story in front of the media. Use reservations as a media moment!

9. Measure your success. As early as possible, strike a balance between business metrics (covers, sales) and anecdotal evidence (social followers, “likes”). Understanding how these work in tandem is key to understanding and guiding your success.

10. Encourage positive reviews. Ask guests for feedback online and offline to start building your reputation.

Key Takeaways1. Understand your place in the restaurant ecosystem. Your location, menu,

clientele, decor, and staff all set the tone for your restaurant’s brand, tone, and feel.

2. Set up your floor for success. Customise your floor management tools to reflect your restaurant’s unique flow—decide when you want reservations, what you expect turn times to be, and when you’ll accept large parties.

3. Prioritise staff training. The people who work in your restaurant are a critical part of your brand and your communication with guests.

4. Figure out the best way to tell your story. A solid mix of website, social media, PR, and in-restaurant storytelling enhance and enforce your brand. Be creative!

5. Choose the amount of online presence you have the ability to maintain. Prioritise your website and Facebook page first, then build awareness on Instagram and Twitter.

6. Reach as many potential diners as possible. Think outside traditional advertising channels and get in front of diners where they are looking for a special experience. Start building relationships with them early on.

7. Create a tone guide for consistency across channels. Define your vision, voice, and content plan, and use the guide as a point of reference for your whole team.

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Part 2: Middle StageAfter a few months of operation but after the

opening buzz has worn off, the next part of a

restaurant’s lifecycle contains unique challenges.

Now that you have some operation under your

belt, it’s likely time to make decisions that take

advantage of a knowledgeable, engaged staff;

maximise efficiency; and enhance your current

marketing and PR strategy. You might also

consider a change—staff, menu, layout—or even

a new location.

Photo courtesy of Thievery



Stay In The Flow

Invest in PeopleTHE FIRST STEP IN THIS STAGE: OPERATE EFFICIENTLY. THIS MEANS INVESTING IN A WELL-TRAINED STAFF AND STREAMLINED AND EFFICIENT OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES, WHILE KEEPING AN EYE TOWARD THE FUTURE.

As discussed previously, people are some of the most important resources you have. After you’ve found good talent for opening, it’s important to nurture that talent.

“We spend money on staff that suit the culture rather than equipment or other things,” says Marc Russo. “We put the value in the staff and developing them. My staff do a really great job, and that’s the best way I can support them. It’s something I haven’t conceded.”

SUSTAINABLE STAFFING “I’ve had the most success selecting for personality and attitude and developing my staff,” says Russo. “I still have most of the staff that I opened with.” This approach— starting with the right people and then building the right set of skills—is key to devel-oping and maintaining your restaurant’s personality. “Work with people that have an interest and help them grow,” he recommends. He also recommends flexibility and making sure the job fits into the worker’s life. “We want, for example, a staff member’s wife to get along with everyone and feel a part of our success, too. We want to adapt working hours to suit the fact that someone broke their arm or their family is in town from overseas.”

Photo courtesy of Thievery

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STAFF TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION Everyone, from restaurants with one location to the largest national groups, can benefit from a formalised training program. The program itself doesn’t have to be formal, just the approach. Here are a few strategies to consider:

• Choose what works best for your situation. Your restaurant’s vision, mission, location, and resources all dictate how to best educate staff. What works for a small restaurant might not scale for a large group.

• Standardise training and education. Whether on-the-job, classroom, or some combination, work through an onboarding and continuing education process. Then document it.

• Be flexible. As your restaurant or group changes, grows, or expands, your needs will change. Any training programs should adjust accordingly. That could mean taking an oral tradition and translating it to paper or digital as you scale.

AN EYE TO THE FUTURE In addition to the day-to-day improvements you’ll notice with a well-trained and educated staff, remember to keep an eye toward what’s ahead. When staff members show promise, consider them for promotions or new positions. This way you’re able to nurture talent you have in order to create the best possible fit for your growing business.

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Operate EfficientlyLOOK FOR ANY OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY. SEEMINGLY SMALL CHANGES TO LABOR AND FLOW CAN HELP YOU SERVE MORE GUESTS AND BOOST PROFITS. Efficient operations create a good work environment—and help your restaurant’s bottom line. After some time spent in business, work to identify any areas for improve-ment, however small.

REAL TALK

“There’s great choice, which means you have to have a good product if you want people to come. You can’t

just put great food on a plate here, you have to have the whole package.”

—ANDREW CAMERON, APPLES AND PEARS

EXAMINE THE NUMBERS Look closely at things like productivity, labor cost, and sales to get your production to align as closely as possible to your demand. Pay attention to all areas of the restau-rant—the prep kitchen, the line, and server performance, for example—and identify the productivity metrics of each, such as sales per labor hour. By tracking productivity, you can reduce labor costs. You’ll see inefficiencies clearly and discover new ways to either reeingineer the work or drive more sales.

CONSIDER YOUR FRONT-OF-HOUSE FLOW Analyse your spend and output and find opportunities there, but also look critically at your front-of-house flow. Look at:

• Number of covers per night. Could you do more, based on your concept and space?

• Turn times. Are they accurate in your floor management settings? Are there ways to optimise them based on the patterns you’ve observed? Where might there be opportunities for an additional turn?

• Reservation settings. What is your largest reservation size? Could you adjust your settings to accept larger parties at certain times on certain days of the week? (Tuesday at 5 p.m., you may find space for that party of 10.)

• Shoulder times. When is your restaurant empty? When do you need more business?

• Steps of service. Are there things you can eliminate or streamline to turn tables faster?

• Your menu. What’s selling? What’s not selling? Remember: listen to guest feedback and adapt appropriately.

• Staffing. Determine your busiest hours and slowest hours. Are you scheduling the right mix of staff at the right time? For example: don’t pay three managers during a time that’s better suited for two.

Photo courtesy of Maha

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If you’re working with a full restaurant most nights, there’s still room for table optimi-sation. OpenTable’s GuestCenter system is designed to be flexible to help you get the most out of every table—it can make decisions to optimise turns, depending how much demand you have for a certain date. It can block certain times to encourage reserva-tions that maximise table turns.

“Every restaurant wants to be full, but not right away and not all at one time,” says Adam Wagner, OpenTable’s Product Manager for inventory solutions. “It’s important to control the flow of people in and out of the door.”

Let’s say you have a 100-seat restaurant. If 100 people all showed up at the same time, the restaurant would fall apart—the dining room, the bar, the kitchen. Instead, you want to control the pacing: by limiting the number of people who can walk in the door at any given time, or by carefully choosing how much availability you want to show online. Operators can control access to reservation times, creating a night with three turns instead of two, for example. But the process has always been manual and imper-fect. With OpenTable data, we can see how many people are searching for a restaurant on a particular date, and how many people searched for the past three years. With this information, the system can intelligently optimise availability according to demand in a way that’s completely automated. The way you can think about it is, get three turns without having to do all this manual work at restaurants that have the demand to do so,” says Wagner.

GuestCenter is designed to be adaptable, to work for any restaurant at any stage and to grow along with your restaurant. Hone in on the details to drill down and truly under-stand your guests. Each operational observation is an opportunity to improve your sys-tems, run more smoothly, and build your business. Never stop digging in and making seemingly small adjustments—they will pay off big.

ADJUST ACCORDINGLY The front of the house doesn’t operate in a vacuum, so changes you make up front will affect the rest of your restaurant’s flow. “When we opened, we only had seven tables and we had to stagger everything,” says Russo. “Now that we’re bigger, it makes a real difference as to how the kitchen operates. We used to be able to have less chefs, but had to hire more as we’ve been able to seat more guests. Our seatings are a way of being efficient with everything—both staffing and space.”

These will evolve over time. “When we first set up our reservation system, the staff were worried about customers showing up having just made an online booking, so we made a cutoff time of 5 p.m.,” says Kristy Frawley. “We recently changed that, so that if you’re in the area and we have availability, our restaurants will show up. We’ve definitely picked up customers that way. There’s so much competition here, and we’re competing with other restaurants that are just a short walk away.”

Once you know what’s working and what’s not, take action. Update turn times in your system to reflect your typical traffic patterns, and you may find you can squeeze in an extra turn. Welcome large parties during your shoulder times to generate extra busi-ness. Tweak your menu to showcase more of the dishes and ingredients your guests love. Control your labor cost.

Photo courtesy of Red Spice Road

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When Business Slows DownWHEN YOU NEED MORE DINERS, FIRST IDENTIFY WHEN YOU NEED THEM. THEN BOOST YOUR PRESENCE ACROSS CERTAIN WEBSITES AND PLATFORMS TO REACH A NEW, HUNGRY AUDIENCE.

Most restaurants experience the up-and-down shifts of demand as they evolve. But there’s plenty you can do from a marketing perspective to reach new diners and re-en-gage with those you already know.

“This is something that we work at,” says Vanessa Green, of Melbourne-based restaurant group Apples and Pears. “There’s definitely an opening buzz, and then it dips down. You’ve got to keep something going all the time.” She recommends focusing on ongoing marketing campaigns, inviting different bloggers and press to come in at different times, and constantly sharing different messages. “Talk about the chef. Talk about the food. Talk about the wine,” she advises.

“We’ve been quite lucky in that the area around us has continued to expand and get busier and busier. But there’s certainly events that affect trade,” says Kristian Klein.

“We see dips in trade, but there haven’t been dead periods because we don’t stop pro-moting what we’re doing.”

Instead, he says, consider what might be causing the slowdown and adjust accordingly. “I worked for a guy in the nightclub industry who stayed open on Christmas Eve—the guests hadn’t left town, they had to go somewhere. That stuck with me. A dead period for me means we’re doing something wrong, not that people don’t exist.” When Klein does notice a lull at his restaurants, he likes to use social media to promote the restau-rant or special dishes, and spend extra time with customers. “We do what it takes to make sure people are still talking about us,” he says. “This way, when they do go out, they think about us.”

Frawley employs similar thinking at her restaurants. “Just last night it was quiet, and we were talking about what we can do. We’re going to adjust our times in OpenTable, and looking at doing some special dinners once a month. We’ve just started brain-storming, but there’s a lot you can do.”

“OpenTable is a great resource because it has huge numbers of followers and people making dining choices based on what they find on the platform,” Andrew Cameron, owner of Apples and Pears. With five different restaurants in three cities, the team must stay on top of each individual restaurant’s offerings. “We make sure that any new con-tent or offerings at any of our restaurants are up to date on OpenTable,” he continues. This ensures that guests searching for a reservation at a place they may not be familiar with have all the latest information about your offerings.

REAL TALK

“You have to be smart with the tools that you have, not just deciding you’re going to pay for someone to help. If

you put your mind to it there’s plenty of things you can do inexpensively.”

—KRISTY FRAWLEY

IDENTIFY YOUR WEAK SPOTS If you’ve looked at your shoulder times and determined when you’re empty, you know where you need help. What can you do to encourage more traffic? Focus on filling the house during those times.

To acquire more diners and generate more business, you may decide to purchase ads on sites like Facebook or Google. Those sites will then “boost” your ad to certain people in their audience, who will see it and hopefully click through and book a table. Restaurants on OpenTable only pay when a diner is actually seated, so restaurants don’t pay for exposure alone—only true guests.

Restaurants can also boost their presence on OpenTable and position themselves in front of an audience of diners who are actively looking for a table. OpenTable’s Bonus Point Tables program can drive interest and traffic to your restaurant, offering higher reward points at certain times of day (and having your restaurant appear at the top of search results). The cost per seated diner is higher with this program, but if you’re already invested in your restaurant’s opening hours, paying a bit more for a table that will spend $40/per person works in your favor. Think of it like search engine market-ing: you’re securing premium placement and unparalleled visibility with some of the world’s most sophisticated diners.

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This is also a good time to test new ideas, especially if you have the staff to support these initiatives. “We have a full-time employee dedicated to social media,” says Green. “She posts a lot of photos and also shoots short videos for our YouTube channel.” Creating original content is important, says Green, not only for restaurant marketing but also to give journalists and bloggers easy access to images and videos that represent your brand. “If we can provide everyone with pictures, videos, and sharable interesting content, it makes a massive difference. We get a much better response from video con-tent than we do from any other content.”

Video is important to Apples and Pears, and Green believes it’s a good place to spend both time and money. “You don’t necessarily have to get caught up and use the big agencies,” she says. “You can do it yourself with access to cheaper equipment.”

And, finally, check your following! Who are your fans and followers? What do they like? What do they ask for in the comments? You’ve captured a captive audience that wants to hear from you, so give them what they want. This is also the time to identify key play-ers in your market on social media. Who are the local influencers—food press, bloggers, photographers, and others who dine out regularly? Follow them and engage with their posts. Next time you have a newsworthy moment (opening for brunch service, for example) invite these folks in for a preview to engage them even further.

Social MediaA PERSONAL APPROACH TO YOUR SOCIAL PRESENCE WILL PAY OFF IN FOLLOWERS, ENGAGEMENT, AND BRAND LOYALTY.

At this stage, it’s time to continue your social media and marketing plans, remaining consistent in style and tone, while considering what a potential guest or repeat cus-tomer might want to see. Think carefully about how you position yourself instead of simply posting what you think people want to see. Use social media to evoke your restaurant’s feel, but don’t give followers a barrage of menu items.

This is also a good time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Are there specific social posts that received a lot of engagement? How do you build on those? Use your past success to firm up your social strategy. Is the right person on your staff managing social accounts? Is the process as streamlined as it could be? Once you have an idea of what’s working, you’ll be better suited to optimise it for success.

Above all, be personal. “Every chef, on their break, looks at other chefs’ photos of their dishes. The fact that they love that means they become much better at doing that for everyone else,” says Russo. “I realise that I don’t care about Facebook, but other peo-ple do, and it’s important that it comes across as genuine. You need to say something worthwhile that people want to hear about. Otherwise it’s really obviously marketing, not social.”

“Any social post that makes it seem less professionaland more personalised works better and cuts

through the noise.” —MARC RUSSO

Photo courtesy of Apples + Pears Entertainment Group

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RATINGS AND REVIEWS As discussed in the first section of this guide, user-submitted review sites are a necessary part of your restaurant’s message and, ultimately, its success. Your restaurant’s reputation is constantly projected outward through social media and user-submitted reviews. It’s important to understand how to take advantage of this and help control the message.

Many review sites allow you, the business owner, to respond directly to guest ratings and reviews. Most are public-facing, meaning that anyone who can read a user-submitted review can also see your response. Others, like OpenTable, give diners the option to share their contact information so that owners and managers can follow up to learn exactly what happened and how they can make it right.

The frequency with which you respond to reviews will vary depending on time and resources, but there are a few guidelines to consider.

• Be consistent. Some business owners like to respond to every single review. Others will respond to only negative reviews, or those that contain misinformation. Whatever tactic you choose, try to practice it across the board. If you’re overwhelmed by the volume of comments and reviews, decide on a number or frequency to address. Responding to every critique is unreasonable and can make you look defensive. Replying to only positive reviews or comments gives the impression you’re purposely ignoring negative feedback.

• Don’t get defensive. Sometimes a reviewer is just wrong, but calling too much attention to the mistake may put you on the defensive in the eyes of the reader. For example: a GM shared recently that a reviewer posted that their soup was thickened with cornstarch, which was absolutely false.

• Respond directly to serious allegations. Allegations of foodborne illness or staff misconduct require a fast and personal response.

• It’s OK to message someone directly. Thanks to the internet, it’s relatively easy to contact someone directly. It’s also OK to ask for contact information in order to follow up or offer a more thorough response than one shared on a public site. This is also a good venue to privately invite them back into the restaurant to give you another chance to make it right.

EXTERNAL PRESS What’s a PR moment in this middle stage, after the opening buzz? Articles written about you obviously help, but no one has continuous unending articles. After the initial splash, you need to create newsworthy events that lend easily to press coverage.

This is something a PR agency or internal marketing team can help to do, but there’s plenty an owner or General Manager can do to make news when you might not see an obvious story.

POTENTIAL MEDIA MOMENTS: • Extend opening buzz by staggering announcements of lunch, brunch, or

breakfast service. • Open another space within your space—a downstairs bar, a private dining room, or

a chef’s table, for example. • Plan for anniversaries. Think “one year in” features that highlight your restaurant’s

first year, challenges, and any changes you’ve made along the way. • Announce something new on an important date: a new cocktail in honor of your

one-year anniversary, or a new signature menu item released for a holiday or special event in your city.

• Feature your staff. A new bartender or chef makes for great press. Or, focus on a staff member’s interest or passion. Does your head bartender know everything about Japanese whisky? Did your head chef just complete an inspirational tour of Asia?

• Consider partnerships or special promotions. Local distillers, winemakers, breweries, or local food suppliers are great for this.

• Throw a special event: a tasting menu with your sommelier’s favorite pairings, or a passed hors d’oeuvres event to celebrate a new appetiser menu.

• Participate in a charity event. Cater food, or offer your restaurant as a venue. Doing good makes you look good—in the most authentic way.

Essentially, you want to be able to talk about something new at any stage. Remember, while you’re head-down operating your business, plenty of moments can potentially stand out as unique opportunities for media coverage.

Timing is critical here. Wagstaff Worldwide’s Elizabeth Hamel recommends waiting a couple months (perhaps two to three) before either announcing new meal service or a new space to extend your reach. “We’re able to help secure mini opening coverage fea-tures around these events,” she says.

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Metrics to ConsiderTAKE STOCK OF YOUR PERFORMANCE BY REEXAMINING YOUR COVER VOLUME, YOUR MENU, AND BUSINESS NUMBERS. WHERE CAN YOU DO BETTER?

With months of operation and real data to reflect upon, you probably have a good sense of where your restaurant is, what’s working, what’s not working, and what needs to change.

What to look at: • Number and frequency of reservations: Have they changed? How and why?

Which times are most popular (and least popular)?• Party size: What size is most typical? Are you meeting demand? Is your floor set

up accordingly?• Popularity of special programs: Private dining. Gift cards. Are you offering

enough? Are you promoting them enough?• Menu items: What do people ask for? What keeps them coming back? Is anything

missing? Think about any specials you’ve offered. Were any crowd-pleasing enough to make the regular menu?

• Guest feedback: What are people saying in the restaurant? What are they saying on social media? In reviews?

• Numbers: Metrics are your best friend here. What costs are too high? Where can you cut costs or eliminate inefficiencies?

Use this time to develop a daily routine around how you interact with your restaurant as a manager. Maybe you review last night’s sales and tonight’s reservations over your morning cup of coffee and check in with your team to make adjustments. Whatever you do, always know what’s happening on the floor and where you stand with your success metrics. Especially when you’re operating more than one concept, that can be challenging.


Photo courtesy of Burma Lane

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One way OpenTable has empowered restaurant owners and managers to make better business decisions is with our Guest Center iPhone app. You can see real-time insights about your business and know what’s happening at the host stand no matter where you are: shift overviews, total covers, and peaks in service. And when VIPs call asking for a table, you can add their reservation straight from your phone. That kind of instant access allows you to prepare for service (and prepare your team).

With the iPhone app, we’re also laying a foundation to deliver powerful business tools into the hands of owners and GMs—to optimise their marketing and generate demand at the push of a button.

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCEAgain, so many of a restaurant’s PR and marketing efforts are hard to quantify. “As we go on and are working with clients who have been open over three years, it’s a little tougher to show ROI. It’s hard to equate a small media placement with actual people going into the restaurant,” says Elizabeth Hamel. “We try to make sure our efforts are being amplified on social media by our restaurant and by our agency. This is tough, and as an industry we struggle with it.”

That said, you’ll begin to notice patterns as you post new content and listen for more guest feedback. If you have a good feeling something is working, trust your gut.

Photo courtesy of Mercato e Cucina

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The Realisation MomentFROM SMALL CHANGES AND GRADUAL EVOLUTION TO A FULL-ON RECONCEPTING, CHANGE IS INEVITABLE IN THIS INDUSTRY. RETHINKING YOUR SERVICE STYLE, SPACE, OR TALENT CAN BOOST YOUR BUSINESS AND KEEP YOU RELEVANT OVER THE YEARS.

Sometimes, even after doing all of the above, you come to the realisation that it’s time for a change. It doesn’t have to be a big change, either; don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself all the time. This could be because it’s been years since your restaurant has had a change, or it could be that you sense something’s not working as well as it should be, and you need to adjust to survive. No one is immune to this, and don’t fear the big projects—that’s how you stay in business.

Often, you know it’s time for a big change before you have to make a big change. Chef Matt Moran of Sydney’s 17-year-old Aria, which recently reopened after a complete ren-ovation and rebrand, says, “I wanted the space to be renovated before someone told me I had to renovate it. After going there every day, you see that it’s a little bit tired. We’ve always been in the top 10 restaurants in the country and I want to stay there. This renova-tion was my commitment to the restaurant and to the industry—we want to make sure that it’s going to be around for another 15 years.” Moran and his team started talking about implementing the big changes about two years before they actually happened.

“The first part of a restaurant’s evolution is what gets moved around and changed and delivered in a slightly different way on paper,” adds Cameron. “This comes down to trusting your GMs and staff on the ground.”

If you do decide it’s time for a larger change, try to plan in advance. Major renovations or brand changes affect every arm of your business, from staff to bottom line. Moran feels lucky, he says, that he was able to retain over 80 percent of Aria’s staff by relocat-ing them at some of his group’s 26 other venues.

Is It Time To Change?

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CHANGE THE SERVICE “At one point we realised the service and ambiance was very haughty—the style the clientele liked in the ‘70s and ‘80s but what today would be seen as stuffy service,” says New York chef/owner Eric Ripert of his iconic restaurant, Le Bernardin. “In the ‘90s we decided that style wasn’t relevant anymore and we decided to relax our service. We kept the formality in terms of steps of service, the technicality and the excellence, but we changed the way waiters interacted with clients.” In 2016, after 30 years of operation, Le Bernardin was named one of the top restaurants in New York City by writer Adam Platt.

CHANGE THE SPACE Obviously, in Le Bernardin’s 30 years of existence, they’ve experienced more than just service changes. “Five years ago we redid the dining room entirely,” says Ripert. “We felt the service had evolved, the food had evolved, and the decor was no longer in harmony with our food and service.” Le Bernardin chose a more contemporary design, bringing more energy and interactivity to the room. “Keeping the same comfort but taking the stuffy away.”

A New York Times restaurant reviewer reacted to the change, saying, “The old dining room was always compared to a corporate boardroom, but for some reason its monu-mental scale and profusion of framed canvases in an antiquated style made me think of the atrium of a minor art museum. That’s all different now… The achievement of [the new] design is that the interior now walks in step with Le Bernardin’s cuisine. Both are up-to-date, lively, intimate and playful.”

CHANGE THE CHEF Depending on your restaurant, a change in kitchen talent could create the feel of a brand new opening, since each chef brings a unique menu and point of view to a space.

CHANGE THE MENU As part of a larger change, Moran completely revamped the Aria menu. “We spent about six weeks in development,” he says. “A couple of my guys left and worked overseas in some two- and three-star Michelin restaurants. They came back and we started coming up with ideas.” The team had four tastings during the development process to refine the new menu.

CHANGE IT ALL “The general rule in Australia is that you have to refresh a restaurant every five years and you have to fully rebuild them every 10,” says Cameron. “Red Spice Road is nine years old and has just gone through a major rebuild—a facelift, a new kitchen, new everything else. This is something you have to price for and have to do.”

Cameron recommends doing this based on business and the numbers. “At some point, kitchens start costing more to maintain than they do to throw out and start again. A five-year-old kitchen will have everything that a one- or two-year-old kitchen has— there won’t be much in the kitchen that’s actually five years old.” The dining room is the same, he says. “Unless you have a truly iconic restaurant—and there are certainly a rare few around the world—you have to keep things fresh and new and keep up with style and trends.”

Photo courtesy of Red Spice QV

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/dining/reviews/le-bernardin-in-midtown-manhattan.html?_r=0vvv


Take Advice From OthersFEEDBACK FROM A PR AGENCY OR GUEST REVIEWS SHOULD GUIDE YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE.

PR staff, whether agency or internal, are great barometers for understanding how well your restaurant is being received, both in the press and with diners. Because PR pros get feedback directly from media—those who craft your restaurant’s press image—they’re able to identify any issues (or success stories) early on.

“Generally, feedback that we see in reviews is especially important, and we always flag that for clients,” says Hamel. “If one person says something I’ve never heard before, I don’t usually bring that up.” Conversely, “If I start hearing the same thing over and over again, it’s time to address it.”

These issues can range from small to large. “If it’s something really major, like they got a terrible review, or the menu isn’t working, or the concept doesn’t work, we’ll have those conversations,” she adds. “But usually we don’t have to tell a restaurant these things, because they already know.” In this scenario, consider a PR agency the messen-ger, but restaurateurs should look to their own teams for major decisions.

Photo courtesy of Red Spice QV

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Is It Time To Expand?

The Realisation MomentHEALTHY GROWTH HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE A SOLID TEAM AND SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS IN PLACE. Your restaurant is successful. Your vision is solid. Your marketing strategy is working and you are enjoying increased popularity. What’s next? Perhaps a second location— either more of the same, or perhaps a new concept. Or maybe you should just expand the space that you have.

Russo & Russo expanded its space a few years after opening. “When we added the extra space, we started to jump up the number of customers and the number of staff. For us, it was a case of being the right price point and the right style in the right place at the right time,” says Russo. “In terms of sustaining interest, all we’ve done is have people consistently come in and walk out being surprised at how good it was.”

TIMING IS EVERYTHING Moving from one restaurant to two is a challenging proposition. “In some ways you’re taking customers away from your other restaurant,” says Frawley. “But in other ways, if one restaurant is busy, you can send customers to the other restaurant. It’s both a hindrance and a help.” Ask yourself:

• Do we have the resources? A new restaurant requires different priorities than an existing restaurant. For example, Cameron suggests spending eight to nine percent of a new restaurant’s first-year revenue on marketing. Beyond money—do you have the right people? The right roles? In some cases, restaurateurs are driven to open new concepts because they want to develop talent who deserves to move up. This is an excellent situation to find yourself in.

• Do we have the time? There aren’t enough hours in the day to replicate everything you did with your first opening without the ability to do some of those things yourself. A trustworthy team is critical for this.

• Do we have the right systems in place in the original location to sustain a second? A second restaurant does not operate in a vacuum; the original location will feel effects even if the second concept is completely different.

• Understand why you were successful in the first place. Is it your pricing? Is it your food quality? If you’re not replicating what made your first restaurant work, you won’t be connected to the same segment when you open a second. Photo courtesy of Kepos & Co.

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SWEAT THE DETAILS Once you’ve made that decision, though, the details matter. Ask yourself:

• Will this be a second location or new concept? Or should we just expand the space we already have?

• What flagship elements do I need to keep and translate to the new location? • What do I need to change? This could be a lot or a little, depending on your location.

What hours can your new market support? What menu items won’t work? What resonates? You can’t expect the exact same things to work in a new location— something as simple as work schedules in the neighborhood will affect business.

• Who will run the restaurant? Will you take staff from an existing location? What does that mean for the existing location’s continued success?

• What intentional changes should we make? What can we build upon? Is there a new market you may want to target that your first restaurant doesn’t access?

• How will we reach potential diners? “We maintain a large database,” says Green. “When we enter a new market, we focus on building that database. We reach out to the community in any way we can, encouraging people to sign up to stay in contact. We also offer a loyalty program, so there is real motivation for people to connect with us. Then, we continue to connect with them as we grow.”

Russo’s expansion and continued success aren’t just about luck. When he started with a tiny restaurant, people had a hard time booking larger tables. Now, they can handle groups of up to 14 (and larger, for private functions.) “Now people can come for an event like their birthday, and bring a group. They’ve been to the restaurant and then bring others, which has been really good for us and happened organically.”

He’s also adjusted the menu accordingly. “We do sharing dishes,” he says, “and we’re excited about catering to all of the dietary preferences that a group of 14 might have. Everyone gets a dish designed for them.” That’s been instrumental in their success, because guests know that no matter who they bring to the restaurant, they’ll have the same great experience. “It’s catering to the exception rather than the majority.”

Cameron outlines a strategy that worked for the Apples and Pears group. Instead of completely reinventing a restaurant for a new market, they step in to take over an existing restaurant. “Later, we can go in and find and fix any inefficiencies we see,” he says. “Instead of starting from zero, we repositioned the restaurant after a year.”

Pop-up restaurants are a smart way to both test the waters in a new area and begin to plant the first seeds of brand recognition, but they can be a tricky undertaking.

ning in a new market, but you can’t always replicate what you’ve done elsewhere. Be willing to adjust quickly.

Photo courtesy of Kepos & Co.

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Respond to What Guests Want

STAY AHEAD OF EMERGING DINING AND SERVICE TRENDS, AND BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR VISION.

Initially, Russo didn’t set out to open a destination restaurant that was popular for spe-cial events. “Originally, it was going to be quite low-key. I wanted it to be an everyday luxury, but it turned out to be a wedding-anniversary-birthday-special occasion place. I’ve had to be very flexible with my idea.”

There’s a balance between responding to your guests and staying true to your vision, however. “You have to consider what makes you unique and what you don’t want to change or concede,” he continues. “There’s no definitive answer, but maintaining close relationships with customers helps.”

REAL TALK

“Other businesses open to make money. Restaurateurs work long hours for no money because they want this beautiful place. I’ve had to strike a balance between

staying true to who we are and being willing to look at ways we can improve.”

—MARC RUSSO

For Klein at Mr. Miyagi, the natural response to a crowded restaurant was to open a bar next door. “We run this fine line telling people to come try our restaurant, but when they get here they can’t get in,” he says. “People were happy to wait, but there wasn’t a good place to send them. We realised we were missing out on a lot of business, and upsetting them in the process.” When the opportunity came to expand into the adjoin-ing building, the team jumped at the chance. “We thought there would be no way we could do it—the buildings have separate landlords and we had to knock down a wall. Luckily they were both open to it.”

• Stay ahead of the market. This is where listening to your guests is crucial, because they tell you when and how they want to eat. Are they sharing dishes? Ordering multiple appetisers with waves of cocktails? This changes over time.

• A new location is an opportunity to tweak your formula. Adjust your menu, serving style, or elements of your restaurant’s decor to the second location. A second location can be an opportunity to A/B test all of these things—especially if you’re curious how guests will respond.

• Anticipate guests’ preferences, but respond retroactively if you have to. This is part of being flexible and willing to change within the constraints of your brand. For example, certain menu items or ingredients might perform well in a restaurant’s original location but won’t translate to new diners in a new city. Be prepared for this feedback—especially if it could impact a signature menu item that you consider important to the brand.

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SPECIAL CONCERNS FOR ENTERING A NEW MARKET What works in one location may not work in a second—and you don’t have to cross time zones to notice these differences. Even a location in a different part of town could have its own set of challenges: a suburban vs. a city location, for example. A few things to consider:

• Staff. Relocating trained staff members from your original location can help your brand; training a brand-new staff with no connection to the first restaurant might create a discord. A GM or head chef who is completely indoctrinated in the culture of the restaurant (and is highly competent) will make the opening much smoother.

• Menu items. What’s popular in one location may not translate to a different city. Take advantage of what you have. “We partner with suppliers in new markets,” says Green. “We do promotions to reach their audiences.”

• Local press and influencers. “When we go into a new market, we need to make friends quickly with press and bloggers,” says Green. “For us, that means putting gift packs together for print journalists, giving them something with your name on it that you hope they’re going to keep. It’s a small step but very helpful, especially to establish those early relationships.”

• Other intangible resources. Who is the best liquor distributor? What local brewery is doing great work? What channels are best for self-promotion? Who are the local influencers? These small pieces of information can make all the difference as you get to know a new area. Don’t discount the community that makes your original location successful. What can you learn from the first and bring to the next one?

Photo courtesy of Kepos & Co.

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7. Create buzz after an opening with PR. Announce a new service period, celebrate milestones, or partner with other brands.

8. Don’t be afraid of change—embrace it! Big projects, like a complete overhaul of the dining room, can mean big changes in business. Small changes can make a big difference, too. Tell your new story and reach a new audience.

9. When considering expansion, take stock of where you are and where you want to go. Make sure you have a solid team and sustainable systems in place before you grow your business. Tap into the community in your new location and start forging relationships early on.

10. Be proactive about your evolution. Stay ahead of dining trends, and be flexible with your vision so you can stay relevant over the years to come.

Key Takeaways1. Efficient operation is the first step to ensuring continued success after

opening. Look for ways to make all of your processes, from staffing to front-of-house operations, as efficient as possible.

2. Your staff is your most important asset. A consistent vision, message, and proper training will ensure they deliver the best possible results. Continue to engage and develop them as time goes on.

3. Pay close attention to your success metrics. Look at productivity, covers, sales, and labor to identify areas for improvement. Understand what’s really working, and respond accordingly.

4. Optimise your front-of-house flow. Analyse covers and turn times regularly to identify smart ways to move faster and serve more guests.

5. Implement practices to maintain efficiency and consistency. Especially in larger organisations, establish a workflow with your staff that includes accessible training, clear responsibilities, and room for new learnings.

6. Identify your weak areas. In the inevitable business lull that occurs after the opening buzz has worn off, look for ways to engage with customers: social media engagement, new PR moments, and advertising solutions are great ways to increase awareness and bring people in.

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Part 3: Ongoing Success and Long-Term SustainabilityThere’s no strict timeline for reaching this stage of stability

and lasting success. Markers of this success are different for

everyone and can include feeling as if your vision is realised

and honed, your operations run efficiently—thanks to

procedure, process, and a well-trained staff—or, of course,

reaching a profitable state.

Photo courtesy of Mercato e Cucina



Finally, success! This is no time to stay stagnant. If anything, reaching this level of ongoing success is a perfect opportunity to continue to iterate on the elements of your restaurant that made it a success in the first place.

REAL TALK

“It’s always good to be on top and stay on top,” says Matt Moran. “You have to be honest with yourself. I want my

restaurant to be better every year. If something is old and it’s getting tired, I prefer to tell myself that rather than

having someone else say it. Forget the ego and just be honest with yourself.”

The Reality of Constant Change TO STAY RELEVANT, YOU HAVE TO KEEP CHANGING—YOUR MENU, YOUR SERVICE, AND YOUR SPACE. Just because you’ve found what works doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way forever. All restaurants have to evolve in order to maintain business.

WHAT TO CHANGE? To be fair, the changes needed vary depending on restaurant type and location. If your restaurant is located in a tourist-driven area with near-constant traffic and an ever-changing clientele of tourists, a tried-and-true formula could work for years. But for a restaurant looking to maintain its appeal over the course of five, 10, 20 years or more, you should be constantly evolving. A good rule of thumb when considering how to slowly evolve: anything you’re selling should change over time (particularly the food and drink offerings) because diners’ tastes are always changing, too.

This evolution can come in small increments and create larger changes over time. “It’s not like there was ever a massive paradigm shift for us,” says Marc Russo. “It’s just one little vision at a time.” Originally, he says, he wanted to offer a very small, very curated Italian wine list. Eventually he realised that offering a larger and more diverse wine selection made customers happy.

Stay Motivated: A Mature

Restaurant’s Evolution


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“We stuck with the basic idea of offering only Italian wine from small-scale and fam-ily producers, but the idea has been adapted over time to what customers ask for.” Similarly, he says, the restaurant’s food offerings have evolved. “In the beginning, we started with fine-dining riffs on Italian classics. We maintain that feeling but also fea-ture lots of techniques, showing how to make intricate things look simple, while using more native ingredients.”

REAL TALK

“The bigger your reputation, the more you’re able to convince someone to try something they may not have

tried otherwise.” —MARC RUSSO

Small dining room tweaks and updates make a difference, too. Your space should evolve in look and style so that it remains true to your brand but relevant to the way your guests like to dine (think bar and lounge areas).

WHAT NOT TO CHANGE? Over time, your restaurant’s vision becomes its soul. This creates an inherent vibe that should be preserved while still tweaking elements around the edges. New York chef/owner Eric Ripert says, “Le Bernardin is 30 years old. What’s interesting in our history is that we have always kept our soul and core. At the same time, we have evolved and we are still relevant.” How? By tweaking execution (not core vision) along the way.

Aim to reach the point where change becomes so ingrained in your restaurant’s ethos that you hardly notice those changes happening behind the scenes. “Now we evolve without knowing we evolve. When we look back then we see, ‘Wow, in 10 years we have changed so much.’”

Moran’s Aria has been successful for 17 years and counting. “It’s always been a little bit exclusive and expensive, and I don’t see any reason to change that. We did renovate and are still incredibly busy and successful. We’re booked up to two months in advance on weekends.”

Consider the elements that you believe are critical to your restaurant’s soul. Signature drinks or dishes can, over time, become classics that represent your business and brand.

“At Red Spice Road, our signature dish is pork belly,” says Vanessa Green. “The head chef is known for it. It’s been around for nine years and is incredibly popular. Having a sig-nature dish helps us engage with our diners, both online and in the dining room.”

INTRODUCE NEW, CREATIVE IDEAS Extend your brand in ways that make sense. Beyond offering lunch, breakfast, or brunch service as discussed previously, look for other opportunities to expand your business as you see fit. At Kepos St. Kitchen, Kristy Frawley and her partner Michael Rantissi started offering catering for local businesses. “Michael is very hands-on in each job he’s doing, and the customers like to deal with him,” says Frawley. This translated into catering orders (customers asked for them before the restaurant offi-cially offered them) and a new stream of revenue. Similarly, after being asked by a customer who frequently gave work presentations to groups, Rantissi created branded lunch boxes to be handed out during his presentations. These boxes are now sold in the restaurant, generating revenue and projecting the restaurant’s name and reputation to a new audience.

Photo courtesy of Red Spice Road

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Staying Culturally RelevantFROM SEASONAL MENUS TO SHARE PLATES, KEEP UP WITH LARGER SHIFTS IN THE FOOD AND DINING SCENE. Intentional internal change, however small, is something you can control as a restaura-teur. Larger cultural change, though, is something you have to respond to.

CULTURAL CHANGES THAT CAN AFFECT YOUR RESTAURANT’S ETHOS & SUCCESS• Menu trends. At a chef-driven or seasonal restaurant, menu changes happen all

the time. This means product is constantly refreshing. • The way people eat. The small, shareable plate trend has influenced all aspects of

a restaurant, from table size and layout to serveware selections. • The mix of reservations and walk ins. Destination restaurants don’t benefit

from as much foot traffic as those in popular locations, for example. But a destination restaurant in an up-and-coming neighborhood can quickly benefit from increased foot traffic as the area becomes more densely populated with restaurants, stores, or apartments.

• Formality of service. Service, especially in fine dining, has become decidedly less formal over the years. Restaurants of all types are evolving their service styles to represent what diners want—but also what owners and operators feel is best.

• Your clientele. A restaurant that’s popular for special occasions has a different feel than a neighborhood restaurant that serves local diners several times each month.

• Diners themselves. What your guests order and how they order makes a difference, but all characteristics of the guests that dine in your restaurant contribute to its soul. Allow your community to shape your restaurant’s brand over time.

NOW, MORE THAN EVER, SWEAT THE SMALL THINGS Nailing the details sets your restaurant apart at any stage. Now that the big things are managed, you have more time to focus on those nuances that make your restaurant stand out. From Russo’s perspective, this means representing the restaurant to every diner. “I’ve seen other restaurants underestimate customers, underestimating their knowledge. Every customer could be the best customer you’ve ever had.”

Instead of worrying about VIP tables, or tables that need special treatment (or worse, reviewers who get special treatment), he focuses on providing a consistent experience to every guest. Is the guest enjoying the experience? If not, what can you do to fix that?

Hold Yourself AccountableSET TANGIBLE GOALS TO STAY MOTIVATED AND KEEP STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE. If your business is riding a wave of success, complacency can creep in. Make a plan to hold you and your team accountable for continued success. A few suggestions:

• Set goals for the next 12 months and share them with your staff. In the early stages of a restaurant, goals are more concrete (professional reviews, accolades). After five or six years, get more creative.

• Evaluate these goals after a year. Ask yourself: How did you perform? Did you meet the goals? Why or why not?

• Always keep talking about what could be and trying to improve on different aspects of the restaurant—your guests will reward you with loyalty.

Photo courtesy of 80 Proof

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Fresh ideas and new takes on tried-and-tested formulas will help spread the word about your restaurant, however established.

STAY TRUE TO YOUR STYLEYour restaurant’s best marketing asset is its unique story, so stick with it! “Our restau-rant channels this old-fashioned, Italian trattoria vibe. But the service is very modern,” says Russo. “Natives’ idea of authentic Italian is importing everything from Italy so it tastes the same. Instead, we use a couple ingredients when they’re in perfect season, applying the traditional to what’s available locally.”

Create marketing from the inside out using the people you have—you and your staff. When you do a good job, word of mouth spreads and you build your diner base.

Build RelationshipsBUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GUESTS WILL SET YOU APART FROM THECOMPETITION AND ESTABLISH A BASE OF LOYAL REGULARS. The key to ongoing success in the restaurant business is hospitality. Not service, but truly taking care of your guests and making them feel valued. The only way to do that is to build meaningful relationships with guests—and once you do, these relationships will give back to your business again and again.

If you’re using it correctly, your reservation book is a wealth of information about guests who have visited your restaurant. Whether it’s the neighborhood couple that books a table every Friday night or the family visiting from out of town, every guest is an opportunity to create a connection and a memorable experience.

Use every interaction as an opportunity to learn about guests and their preferences. Add your learnings to the Guest Notes in a guest’s profile: dietary restrictions, favorite wines and cocktails, and special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries. That gives your team the tools and knowledge to delight guests by having their favorite drink ready as soon as they sit down, or to send over a special appetiser because you know how much they enjoyed the foie gras last time. And if someone booked last year for their anniversary dinner, you can contact them again this year to let them know you’d love to have them back. That kind of personalised treatment goes a long way.

Marketing At This Stage


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Social MediaSHARE INSPIRING CONTENT, NEWS, AND A SENSE OF FUN TO KEEP GROWING YOUR FOLLOWING. It’s never a bad time to reach a new audience from a fresh perspective, and social media is the best way to do that, whether your restaurant is 10 or 110 years old.

SOCIAL TIPS TO TRANSCEND RESTAURANT STAGE• Be inspirational. Share what excites you. “We don’t expect all of our followers to

end up in the dining room,” says Eric Ripert. “But we believe that being inspirational creates an interest and visibility. Of course, potentially it will have some positive impact on the life of the restaurant by adding people coming to Le Bernardin.”

• Share news. Established restaurants can use social to create news events the same way a new restaurant does. Share specials, anniversaries, new menus, new dining room changes, a new staff member—anything! “It’s basically like having your own magazine,” says Ripert. “We now have a massive audience of followers who receive news directly from us.”

• Don’t overthink the process. “We use social media the exact same way we were using appearances on TV or articles in a magazine or newspaper,” says Ripert. “It’s just an extra element to promote the fact that we exist.”

• Have fun. You’ve grown your following by doing what works best for you. Now’s a great time to push the boundaries and try new things to see how people respond. Stick to your strategy here, but don’t be afraid to get creative or take inspiration from others who do it well.

NEW SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIESIf you’ve mastered the social platforms that are necessary for your restaurant, consider experimenting with new ones. Or, start using more features of existing services to tell your restaurant’s story in a new way.

When guests book via OpenTable, you also have the power to keep the conversation going with them far after their visit. OpenTable partners with email marketing platforms so that you can export your OpenTable email database and create lists for continued communication with guests. For example, you may build a list of all guests who share your post code and send them information about a neighborhood appreciation event.

Finally, train your team to remember and record knowledge gleaned at different touch points. Even if you’re operating a more casual restaurant, you can still create a culture of relationship building and knowledge keeping that will inspire guest loyalty and repeat visits.


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Share casual stories with Instagram Stories and SnapchatUSE INSTAGRAM STORIES, SNAPCHAT, AND LIVE-STREAMING PLATFORMS TO SHOW FOLLOWERS WHAT MAKES YOUR TEAM, FOOD, AND CULTURE UNIQUE.

Snapchat has become a solid social network in its own right. The learning curve may take a little longer than some of the “traditional” networks, but if you or someone on your staff is excited about the product, it’s an innovative way to reach a particular audience. In short: users post short stories that eventually disappear. You can send these Snaps directly to others—but more importantly for your business you can create a series of Snapchat Stories that are displayed to followers. Because they’re so fleeting, posts on Snapchat are a great way to experiment with creating new types of content. Plus, the off-the-cuff nature of the platform gives followers an insider peek inside the restaurant—your kitchen, staff, and community—that more established channels can’t always offer.

Instagram recently launched a similar feature, allowing users to post a series of images or video meant to feel more casual than a regular Instagram post. Stories are an important way to stay active and relevant on the Instagram platform, especially now that the service algorithmically weighs posts and displays them for relevance, not just timeliness. (Snapchat is a vibrant and robust platform, but if you have time for one, choose Instagram Stories—especially if you already have a viable Instagram presence.)

LIVE-STREAM WITH FACEBOOK LIVE AND TWITTER PERISCOPE Live-streaming is hot right now, and the functionality is available on both Facebook and Twitter. This means that you can use new technology to reach those same fans and followers you’ve already amassed. The same general social content rules apply here: identify the story you want to tell, then show the story. Live-streaming is adaptable to planned and scheduled posts (think: a “how-to” series or reveal of your seasonal menu), but it’s also great for unscripted moments like a trip to the market, the moment a par-ticularly exciting seasonal ingredient arrives in your kitchen, or just having a fun with your bar or front-of-house staff.

Operational IdeasCARRY THE SAME EXPERIMENTAL ATTITUDE THROUGH YOUR RESTAURANT’S OPERATIONS BY ADDING IN SPECIAL EVENTS OR NEW IDEAS TO YOUR REGULAR SERVICE.

• Special events: Seasonal dinners full of market-driven ingredients, an anniversary party in honor of your tenth year, a or a celebration during a particularly special time for your city or town (a World Series win, Pride weekend, the local dog parade—anything!).

• Special menus: A late-night burger-and-beer special or a special menu celebrating a certain ingredient are easy ways to give a fresh feel to your restaurant.

• Wine dinners: Partner with a local wine producer (or distillery or brewery) for a special menu with beverage pairings. Promote to your guests and your partner’s following.

• Guest chefs: Invite your friends (or your chef’s friends) to guest cook in your kitchen for the evening. Promote the event to your regulars—and your guest’s regulars if they have them.

• Classes or lectures: If you have the space and time, consider positioning your chef as expert on their signature item or a particular technique. Or, enlist a trusted purveyor or friend of your restaurant to lead a class.

Once you’re established, running smoothly, and thinking through these ideas, you should also think broadly about how to get the most out of your space. If you have a large bar or lounge area and that’s an important part of your concept, you can fill the house more often by offering those spots up for reservations—and setting expectations accordingly. OpenTable offers a way to designate bar seats, counter seats, or high-top tables for reservations so you can effectively increase the size your restaurant and availability online. This is another way to give guests exactly what they’re looking for while maximising any and every available space (and it makes solo dining a lot less awkward).

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Follow the Competition or

Stay the Course?

DON’T FEEL PRESSURED TO FOLLOW EVERY TREND, BUT DO EXPLORE NEW IDEAS TO SEE IF THEY FIT YOUR BRAND. Healthy competition equals evolution, which isn’t a bad thing. Every restaurant—large, small, established, or new—should embrace competition. Understand the difference between embracing the competition, though, and chasing trends for trends’ sake.

“I don’t follow trends consciously, but I’m sure unconsciously the trends do have an impact on me,” says Ripert. “I absorb all the trends, but I don’t have a timeline that tells me ‘now is the right time to do X.’” Instead, he recognises when he has a new idea, and works on it with his team before it makes it to the menu. Le Bernardin has a research and development team that’s dedicated to the study of new techniques, but they’re not following the trends by month, season, or year. “It’s more of an organic way of absorb-ing what’s happening around me,” he says.

Celebrate Your SuccessesMARK WINS AND MILESTONES WITH STAFF AND GUESTS ALIKE TO BUILD COMMUNITY AROUND YOUR RESTAURANT.

Major milestones are as much a celebration for you as a business as they are for your guests, and you should mark them appropriately. Whether it’s taking your team on a trip, making a special TV appearance to mark an anniversary, or throwing a party for your community, taking time to celebrate how far you’ve come will make your guests feel even more a part of your story.

For example, when Red Spice Road turned nine years old, the team gave away an exclusive dinner prepared and served by the restaurant’s executive chef in the winner’s home. Guests appreciate this authenticity and a true story. Celebrate your success in a way that feels authentic to you and your business—this enthusiasm will translate.


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8. Hold special events to engage your community. Events, new menus, pop-ups and wine dinners will bring new guests in and give your regulars yet another reason to love you.

9. Stay relevant, but don’t chase the competition. Do what makes sense for your brands in the face of new trends and technology.

10. Celebrate your success! This is a tough business—you (and your team) earned it. Never be too busy to mark wins and milestones.

Key Takeaways1. Change is necessary for success. Just because you found what works doesn’t

mean it’ll stay that way forever. Always keep evolving your brand—including your menu, service, and space.

2. Hold yourself accountable. Set goals to stay motivated and keep striving for excellence (James Beard Foundation, here you come!).

3. Pay attention to cultural shifts and apply them to your restaurant. You can control what happens in your restaurant, but not what happens on a larger scale outside of it. Stay quietly relevant.

4. Honor the past and prepare for the future. Protect your restaurant’s soul and legacy, but be flexible enough to appeal to new audiences.

5. Build relationships with your guests. It’s not enough to bring new people in the door constantly; you need to create loyalty and make them want to come back. Pull it off by giving great hospitality and creating memorable experiences.

6. Keep growing your social following. Share inspiring content and news (and a sense of fun).

7. Don’t be afraid to experiment. When your restaurant business is established, it’s a great time to experiment with new channels and platforms, such as Snapchat and live-streaming. Get creative!

Photo courtesy of 80 Proof

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ANDREW CAMERON, CEOApples + Pears Entertainment Group Andrew Cameron and Vanessa Green are co-owners of the Apples + Pears

Entertainment Group, which includes the restaurants Meat Fish Wine

in Auckland and Melbourne, Red Spice Road, Red Spice QV, and Burma

Lane. Andrew is the founder of the company, having launched his first

restaurant, Zest, in Hong Kong in 2005. This was the starting point for

the impressive portfolio of award-winning restaurants that exists today.

When Andrew is not in one of the restaurants trying to leverage a new

ideas or concept, he will be at his desk running Cliftons Conference

Centres, the company that helped start it all back in 1997. Add to this

architectural and furniture design and photography. Andrew certainly

wears multiple hats—a true entrepreneur who will always be on the

lookout for a novel and exciting business venture.

He is a driving force behind the magnificent success of the Apples +

Pears Group, with a host of award-winning restaurants in Melbourne

and a new restaurant opening in Auckland, New Zealand. Stay tuned for

new ventures launching soon!

KRISTY FRAWLEY, MANAGERMICHAEL RANTISSI, CHEF, OWNERKepos St. Kitchen, Kepos & Co. Meeting whilst working together at Sydney’s iconic Bathers’ Pavilion,

Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley combined their skills to open

Kepos Street Kitchen in November 2012. Michael is a chef and has now

also honed his skills in the front of house. Kristy’s experience as Office

Manager at the Bathers’ Pavilion means that the admin side of things is

covered for their restaurants.

Kepos & Co. is the second restaurant for Michael and Kristy, opening in

June 2015. The pair released their first cookbook, Falafel for Breakfast, also

in 2015 and are now working on their next book, due for release at the

end of 2017.

Bios

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MARC RUSSOOwner/Manager, Osteria di Russo & RussoMarc Russo is a second generation Australian Italian, who grew up

working in his family’s restaurants in Sydney. Marc spent his 20’s living

and working in Berlin and Melbourne, where he completed a Bachelor

and Science and Masters in Education. Despite teaching in Maths and

Chemistry in high schools by day, Marc continued to work in small

high end restaurants in Melbourne and was inspired by the city’s

combination of small, idiosyncratic spaces with refined food and wine.

He returned to Sydney in 2012 to find the city’s dining scene rapidly

changing. He opened Osteria di Russo & Russo the following year, taking

a tiny space in the forgotten about suburb of Enmore and transforming it

into a homage to the first generation of Italian migrants and their

influence on Australian dining habits. The restaurant combines the

warmth and personality of an old fashioned family owned Trattoria

with the surprising and unusual use of Australian native ingredients

and high end products and cooking techniques.

ELIZABETH HAMEL Account Supervisor, Wagstaff WorldwideOriginally hailing from Orlando, FL, Elizabeth arrived in Chicago in 2002,

ready to take on whatever the big city could dish out. While attending

the University of Illinois at Chicago, she worked at a number of the city’s

best restaurants, hosting, serving, and occasionally stepping behind the

bar. Following graduation, Elizabeth worked as director of special events

at the acclaimed BOKA Restaurant Group, a position she held for the

next three years. At BOKA, Elizabeth discovered an interest for hospital-

ity marketing and public relations, skills she honed further at her next

position with a boutique public relations firm in downtown Chicago and

then by earning her master’s degree from Northwestern University’s

Integrated Marketing Communications program in December 2012.

Elizabeth brings a keen interest in the ever-changing Chicago culinary

scene to her position at Wagstaff, always keeping an eye out for the next

trend or great opportunity for her chef and restaurant clients. Outside

of work, Elizabeth enjoys taking her Boston Terrier to the dog beach,

exploring new neighborhoods, or simply reading a great book.

VANESSA GREEN, WINE DIRECTOR & MARKETING DIRECTORApples + Pears Entertainment GroupVanessa Green and Andrew Cameron are co-owners of the Apples + Pears

Entertainment Group, which includes the restaurants Meat Fish Wine in

Auckland and Melbourne, Red Spice Road, Red Spice QV and Burma Lane.

Vanessa focuses on wine for the group and believes discovering, enjoy-

ing and sharing great wines with clients, friends and guests is one of the

most rewarding aspects of her work.

Current key projects she is working on include sourcing and importing

wines from around the world to Australia and New Zealand, developing

the cellars and wine lists for the restaurant group and developing wine

related events and a wine education program for wine lovers.

Vanessa also judges at wine shows around the world, is a certi-

fied Ambassador of Italian Wine for Vinitaly, Commandeur of the

Commanderie de Bordeaux, Chevalier of the Ordre des Coteaux de

Champagne and has professional accreditations from WSET and the

Australian Wine Institute.

When not focussing on wine, Vanessa looks after marketing for the

group and strategic development of the wider group of sister compa-

nies including Cliftons Conference Centres, BCG Design Group, Crimson

Cartwheel and Crimson Wine in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong

and Singapore.

5 1


KRISTIAN KLEINCo-Founder, Mr. MiyagiCo-Founder of Mr. Miyagi, 29 years old Kristian Klein is born and raised

in the food capital of the world, Melbourne.

After previous ventures in event management and after founding a suc-

cessful footwear brand, Kristian has ended up in the world of restaurants.

His approach to dining is nothing short of truly unique, as evident to

anybody who has ever dined at a Mr. Miyagi venue. Mr. Miyagi launched

in late 2013 and is a leader in the restaurant world of elite and modern

dining, offering an original, high quality, yet casual experience to diners.

MATT MORAN Chef, Owner, Aria Sydney, Aria Brisbane, Chiswick, Opera Bar, North Bondi Fish, Riverbay & Kitchen, Chiswick at the Gallery and Aria CateringWith over 30 stellar years in the food industry behind him, a plethora of

awards to his name, a handful of best-selling cookbooks under his belt,

and the tour de force behind some of Australia’s most celebrated dining

establishments, it’s safe to say that Matt Moran is an Australian food

icon. He is the owner of Aria Sydney, Aria Brisbane, Chiswick, Opera Bar,

North Bondi Fish, Riverbar & Kitchen, Chiswick at the Gallery and Aria

Catering. His business continues to expand with the recent announce-

ment of a new restaurant at Barangaroo on Sydney’s foreshore.

Matt started his food career at the age of 15. He opened his first restaurant,

The Paddington Inn Bistro, in 1991 at just 22 years old. In 1995 he opened

Moran’s Restaurant and Café, which was awarded best new restaurant

in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. At the age of 30, Matt

opened his iconic two-hat Aria Restaurant in an unparalleled location on

Sydney Harbour. He continued to expand the business with the opening

Opera Bar in 2006 and establishing Aria Catering in Sydney, Brisbane and

exclusively at the Sydney Opera House. ARIA Brisbane opened its doors

in 2009, and has been awarded two coveted Chefs Hats like its Sydney

sister. Chiswick in Woollahra and Riverbar & Kitchen in Brisbane were

established in 2012. The most recent additions to his ever-expanding

empire include North Bondi Fish and Chiswick at the Gallery.

Matt is one of Australia’s most recognised, celebrated and influen-

tial chefs, having hosted prime-time shows such as Masterchef and

Masterchef Junior, Heat in the Kitchen, The Chopping Block, My

Restaurant Rules, The Bank, his own conceptualised award-winning

TV show Paddock to Plate, and most recently, The Great Australian

Bake Off alongside Maggie Beer. Matt is also a published author, hav-

ing written four best-selling cookbooks: Matt’s Kitchen Garden (2014),

When I Get Home (2013), Dinner at Matt’s (2011) and Matt Moran (2008).

ERIC RIPERT Chef, Co-Owner, Le BernardinEric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of the acclaimed New York

restaurant Le Bernardin. Born in Antibes, France, Eric moved to to

Andorra, a small country just over the Spanish border as a young

child. His family instilled their own passion for food in the young

Ripert, and at the age of 15 he left home to attend culinary school in

Perpignan. At 17, he moved to Paris and cooked at the legendary La

Tour D’Argent before taking a position at the Michelin three-starred

Jamin. After fulfilling his military service, Ripert returned to Jamin

under Joel Robuchon to serve as chef poissonier.

In 1989, Ripert worked under Jean-Louis Palladin as sous-chef at Jean

Louis at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Ripert moved to

New York in 1991, working briefly as David Bouley’s sous-chef before

Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze recruited him as chef for Le Bernardin.

Ripert has since firmly established himself as one of New York’s—and

the world’s—great chefs.

In September 2014, Ripert and Le Coze opened Aldo Sohm Wine

Bar, named for their acclaimed wine director Aldo Sohm. That same

month, the two expanded Le Bernardin’s private dining offerings

with Le Bernardin Privé, a dynamic space above Aldo Sohm Wine Bar

that can accommodate a range of events.

Ripert is the Vice Chairman of the board of City Harvest, working to

bring together New York’s top chefs and restaurateurs to raise funds

and increase the quality and quantity of food donations to New

York’s neediest. When not in the kitchen, Ripert enjoys good tequila

and peace and quiet.

5 2


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