Mike has his own unique style. He draws on more than 27 years experience. He has worked most positions in the service industry and feels at home in more major cities than most people.
This time of year we are all (including me ) busy trying to forecast what the new food trends are going to be.
I gave a speak on the subject at the UK CESA conference in november – presenting the new and creative concepts that I have encountered in the major cities. Among these a quite unique concept in Barcelona – made by Camper. Watch it here.
One thing I have observed is that the new mantra for buffets and food displays is that less is more - simplicity and quality have replaced volume and variety in some of the best and most progressive concepts I have seen. Tappas and Sushi style bites have replace huge displays.
The photos here are both from the spanking new Renaissance Shanghai Hotel - note that the cokkie jars are there for quest to take their pick if the feel like a cokkie with their coffee.
What do you think are going to be the dominant new trends in the Food business this year?
You may remember the 4P of Marketing ( Product, Price, etc) Increasingly there semes to be a shift towards a new set of 4P’s : Purpose, People, Planet and Profit - and in that order.
This is the message that comes through loud and clear in Mavericks at Work - it is the driving force behind a new town guide out in San Fransisco the Green Zebra. Closer to home - for me - it is also the driving force behind by most favourite restaurant La Chassagnette.
The restaurants purpose is to promote the Carmargue region in the south of France - as such the restaurnt is part of a larger project know as Heureuse Camargue - in their own words:
“In this natural and preserved landscape the women and men of “Heureuse Camargue” have consciously chosen to take up a challenge, an undertaking to the practice of organic agriculture, incontestably sustainable and respectful of a major ecological balance. We are committing an act of faith.”
If you are in the South of France this summer I recomend that you pay them a visit.
The toilets in higher-end eateries have become seriously designed conceptual comfort stations, with restaurants attempting to outdo one another. Relieve yourself at The Federalist in the XV Beacon hotel on Beacon Hill, and you’ll find a grotto atmosphere of cobblestones, discreet stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors, and white porcelain sinks raised off the counter so no spills dampen clothing or purses. With two-ply toilet paper rolling freely and waffled-cloth hand towels amusingly stacked like mini Mayan temples, the Fed has got to be Boston’s poshest public powder room, followed by The Four Seasons, with new restaurant Sibling Rivalry in the running. Read the rest of this entry »
Some restaurants and other hospitality companies have adopted fingerprint scanner systems to act as virtual time clocks for employees. The electronic system eliminates “buddy-punching,” when one employee punches in for another, and other kinds of fraud, the report says.
Fingerprint-identification technology by DigitalPersona, including a print reader and scanner not unlike this model, has been incorporated into the Digital Dining point-of-sale system
The self proclaimed meeting place of the future, Cloud is a portable inflatable meeting room in white ripstop nylon. The floor has a green gray colour. Bag with fan, in graysilver sound-decreasing textile contain room when deflated.
) busy trying to forecast what the new food trends are going to be.
