Last month, Trader Vic’s Doha was highly commended at the Caterer Middle East Awards 2016, as the Restaurant Team of the Year — Hotel Managed Outlet, fighting off stiff competition from other venues in the UAE.
The venue at the Hilton Doha opened in April 2012, and has won many awards since its opening. It is also the second biggest Trader Vic’s in the world in terms of revenue, and represents, according to director of operations Julien Besançon, more than 25% of the total F&B revenue of the hotel.
Pointing out to its good location on the beach, Besançon says the venue benefits from a steady base of regular customers, which has helped it retain its market share in the face of new openings from other branded outlets.
He is aware of the competition, and so the restaurant team has worked on reviewing all its offerings, which led to the re-launch of the brunch and the happy hour deals. In the last year, Trader Vic’s hosted a variety of events such as Malaysian week, Brazilian week, Spanish week, French community events, Flamenco shows, an Irish festival, and specific promotions for business councils, after work gatherings, and multinational companies’ gala dinners.
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The restaurant usually closes in Ramadan, but this year, the team stayed open due to the Euros 2016 with the venue converted into a “football fan-zone”. With flags put up bunting-style across the entire venue and 14 large screens, Besançon says that even though alcohol will not be served during the holy month, business will still flow due to the football matches.
Connected to generating footfall for this strategy is an initiative put into place earlier this year which sees “champions” of various communities. Besançon explains: “From a commercial perspective, one of our strategies is to target communities. In addition to our advertising strategy, we have appointed champions of communities. For example, my job is to bring in the French. I have people from Croatia who will bring communities from the Balkans. We have all these contacts, and it’s not just for the Euros.”
Besançon credits the general manager, Adham El Sebaey, with supporting projects like these, and says the restaurant’s manager Rodrigo Ciordia and head chef Simon Chen San Wen work well together with the teams on-ground.
Both joined a year ago, but have more than 10 years’ experience within the region. After joining forces last year, Ciordia and Wen achieved all cost savings targets and increased profitability with a series of initiatives. From wastage reduction to energy saving, the team did all it could to improve the bottom line. For example, LED lights were installed, the extractor in the kitchen was optimised, and AC usage was optimised. Ciordia reveals that even small gestures such as closing the curtains during the day resulted in big savings — with the idea coming from one of the waiters.
Food wastage was also tackled, and both Ciordia and Wen reviewed basic practices, with the latter specifically looking at brunch portions. Wen says: “Through the feedback we get from the front-of-house staff, we have reduced portion size compared to the previous menu before the re-launch.”
Ciordia adds: “We try to work as a team, and the communication between the food runners, waiters, bartenders and chefs has definitely contributed.”
And the team is also thinking long-term. Besançon is currently working on plans for an eventual renovation to the outdoor space — at this stage, timeframes are not confirmed. The current plans include a second entrance, a smoking area, a small terrace off to one side supported by pillars, and at the end of the pier, a structure with a thatched roof with a BBQ and bar.
With a Caterer Award nod as well this year, we’re looking at a bright future for the Doha outlet.
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