Delegates debate the importance of training in F&B at the Caterer Middle East Chef & Ingredients Forum.
Cullen admitted menu prices are up, but they are still not as high as 2007. “That is because there are a lot more suppliers in the market than in 2007,” interjected Azzabi.
Murthy asked about the use of special offers to save costs, and the panel was adamant they would never run a special item on the menu to shift an oversupply of certain ingredients. “We don’t do deals or specials,” said Cullen. Waddell admitted that while specials can be a way to get rid of oversupply, they should be used to enhance the menu rather than to shift bad stock.
REINVENTION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
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Jason Myers, GM of Jumeirah Group (Restaurants & Bars) & MD of Jumeirah Restaurants LLC and Dubai Golf culinary director Max Grenard discussed reinvention, moderated by The Cutting Agency founder Duncan Fraser Smith.
Myers came out firing by stating that ROI is “one of the worst things to be associated with F&B” and is an insufficient method of judging the success of a restaurant. However, Grenard said restaurants in Dubai are expected to make a ROI in three years, compared to five in Europe.
The trend of copy-pasting international brands in the region was debated, and Myers said Dubai is almost a mature market. Grenard said: “Here they put exactly the same team, the same name, the same decor, copy paste and at the end of the day it doesn’t work. You need to know about the Dubai market, the customers are not the same as in Paris, so you need to adapt to them. Definitely you have to be able to recognise the brand, but if you copy 100% it is not going to work.”
Myers agreed with Grenard and added: “However, what we all forget is that there is some really cool F&B in this city, which has grown here and been developed here. I believe that we’ve got a lot of talent now in the city, and we need to be convincing owners to bring in less brands and we need to innovate our own concepts and new things.”
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
The first workshop hosted was the Red Meat masterclass by Tarek Ibrahim, executive chef for Meat & Livestock Australia. In his class Ibrahim brought an impressive cut of meat and demonstrated how it can be cut, prepared and cooked to maximise a restaurant’s menu. He also informed the crowd about the benefits of ageing, vacuum packing and how to tell your marbling from your connective tissue.
After a really hands-on session, it was time for the HACCP Hygiene and Food Care Workshop from Dr. Rafiq Al Khatib, managing director of RMK — The Experts.
He outlined basics of an HACCP hygiene workshop, and the real benefits of the HACCP system and managing staff food safety habits.
With that, the Caterer Middle East Chef & Ingredients forum came to a close, with attendees revealing it was an informative day, and one saying they noticed the “interest has increased from last year”.
Email devina.divecha@itp.com for feedback and any talking points for the next edition in 2014.
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