The restaurant managers of some of Dubai’s top outlets tell Caterer what makes their outlets successful and share their concerns for 2013.

Industry Experts:

  • Rajan Malik, Asha’s
  • Cedric Toussaint, La Petite Maison
  • Zaigham Haque, Scafe
  • Amit Goel, Hakkasan
  • Laurence Fernandez, Trader Vic’s DFC

Responsible for ensuring the day-to-day success of their outlets and keeping all staff happy — which in today’s industry is a challenge in itself — restaurant managers carry nothing short of a burden on their shoulders.

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From keeping an eye on the menus, to ensuring each customer has an incredible experience and that the outlet makes a profit, there are a number of things a manager is accountable for.

As more and more pop up on the backdrop of the regional F&B landscape, competition is yet a further concern. So how do they ensure their outlets are a cut above the rest? We find out at a roundtable hosted at the luxurious Hakkasan Dubai in Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

Let’s ask the age old question – is it concept or location?
Rajan Malik, general manager, Asha’s WAFI Pyramids: Honestly? It’s both, and more importantly, it’s consistency. 10 years ago, Asha’s was lucky because of the footfall it received from the WAFI Mall.

Now things have changed, especially with the emergence of Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates. They might not have the best concepts but the kind of turnover they do because of the footfall is phenomenal. The one thing that has kept us going is consistency — in our food delivery, our service, our ambience and our attention to detail.

Cedric Toussaint, restaurant manager, La Petite Maison, Dubai: Consistency — it is why people go into a non-hotel restaurant. Where we are, in DIFC, yes it has really helped having Zuma and Roberto’s there — the restaurants are more a ‘destination’. Concept? Let’s take Roberto’s. It’s a new guy who chose to do a new restaurant. He’s doing pretty well. Location is the first thing. You got no footfall, forget it.

Zaigham Haque, founder and restaurant manager, Scafe: If you take the JBR walk, it doesn’t matter what type of restaurant you are operating, you could be serving rubbish food but you’d still get footfall. JLT doesn’t have that at the moment,in a couple of years it will become a more desirable location than the marina — the roads will be finished, it will become more spacious. One of the fastest growing things there at the moment is food outlets.

Laurence Fernandez, general manager, Trader Vic’s Dubai Festival City: Success is our main objective and has been for more than 70 years worldwide. In Dubai we’ve now got four outlets. The first one being 18 years old. People look for consistent design and features. We have the Chinese oven, recognisable only at Trader Vic’s — people come for this sort of consistency.

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