What's on the menu
Caterer Middle East met up with top executive chefs from across the region at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Spa’s Bussola restaurant to discuss what issues are impacting menu development in the current climate
What are the most important things to consider when developing a menu?
Anston Fivaz: There are a lot of factors; you’ve got market demographic, market expectations, market trends, availability, supply and demand, creativity, costs, menu engineering, variety, guest expectations — the list goes on and on.
Lionel Boyce: I think initially though you’ve got to look at your target audience and obviously what you want out of your business; from there the other bits and pieces fall into place.
Russell Impiazzi: I think also your staff play an important part. There’s no point putting this fantastic menu together if it’s a disaster when they create it. You’ve got to put the right training system into place and make sure that your guys know exactly what they’re doing.
Christian Gradnitzer: You’ve also got to do your market research and look at your products and your pricing; plus it’s essential to have a fair mix of dish break-downs and look at who you’re attracting — a young clientele, a business clientele or whatever.
Alfred Zuberbühler: We cater to a well defined market segment and their particularities are the first factors that determine the direction of developing a menu. Guests have preferences and requirements and a well-designed menu should always reflect them.
Wolfgang Eberle: I would say the preferences of the local clientele in regards to traditional taste and local ingredients is important, as well as integrating the chef’s own signature touch.
How often do you change your menus and why?
Impiazzi: I think there are always ideas and concepts floating around; you’re always looking to develop what you’ve got. As soon as you finish one menu, you have to think ‘what’s next’, otherwise you just get stuck — and bored as well.
Gradnitzer: It keeps you going and keeps the whole trend going as well.
Richy: You have to look at customer feedback too.
Zuberbühler: We generally change the menus twice a year in order to diversify the experience for our repeat guests or to meet changes in trends.
Do you accommodate special dietary requests into your menus or would you just accommodate off-menu ordering instead?
Zuberbühler: As in most restaurants, vegetarian dishes are available in a special section of the menu. But our restaurant’s a small operation so we can easily accommodate any special dietary requests.
Eberle: I think it’s important to — and personalised service is a must. Our chef de cuisine will approach the guest directly in order to discuss their dietary needs.
Gradnitzer: I think what we have in Dubai is many restaurants crammed into small areas; for example in Emirates Towers we have 15 restaurants. You have so much variety.
So to compete it’s really about balancing your concepts. You will always have your vegetarian dishes, you’ll always have fish and meat options — this is common. But how you mix it up and appeal to the market mix coming in is important. So what you offer for lunch won’t necessarily be what you have on the menu for dinner.
Fivaz: It’s basically giving your clients what they want. We all talk about healthy foods and super foods and different trends, but at the end of the day it’s all about the bottom line right now. We have policies and procedures for healthy foods and special dietary requirements, but it’s no good having 2% of your menu being lost leaders and not moving.
Impiazzi: But then chefs are much more flexible about requests these days; trends change fast and they have to cater to preferences.
Richy: We see the trend now is going towards vitality and organic food; we’re working on products that meet this demand. The market is going for this — it’s not going headlong for it right now, but I think this is a trend we’ll see progressing from next year.
Impiazzi: I think products like this should become more widely available in the market; it’s opening up a bit now, and produce is certainly cheaper than it was a couple of years ago. Whether that’ll keep going down as demand and production increases, I don’t know.
Boyce: I don’t think people ever come out thinking ‘I want something healthy’; what they will do is look for balance in your dishes; flavours, balance and interest. It is important to have a good mix of products on your menu, hitting all sectors, whether they be health- or flavour-conscious.
Impiazzi: Most menus are going lighter anyway nowadays; I don’t see as much heavy-based dishes with cream and butter. It’s still there, but not as much.
What are the main challenges when trying to create a new menu?
Richy: It’s essential to have the right equipment — if you don’t, then your menu’s going to be limited by that. And skilled labour is also a key factor, as is the availability of fresh ingredients.
Zuberbühler: Availability of products on the local market would be one of the first challenges to be mentioned here, as we also have to be able to ensure consistency and maintain quality standards at every single service in the restaurants.
Eberle: The constant challenge is to surprise the customers with new and innovative dishes, while maintaining the same high standard at all times.
Fivaz: I think you’ve got to be cost-conscious. This year calls for special measures and careful menu engineering and I can’t emphasise enough about bottom line. Everyone’s trying to make their budgets and we have to give our clients what they want so we can achieve that bottom line.
To what extent is your creativity limited by what fresh produce is regularly available in the region?
Zuberbühler: Very much, I would say. Many of the local suppliers are not even aware that there are higher-quality products available, as they focus on the best prices.
In the local market, the product availability is very limited and some fresh products are only being imported once a week. And you cannot have items on the menu that you only get in once a week.
Gradnitzer: It’s changed a lot over the past five years though. The quality can still be an issue, since it all comes over from overseas and you have the heat here as well, but with HACCP in operation that’s all getting off the ground now.
Also the chef needs to be open-minded and proactive, and go out there and track what they want down. It’s hard work — not like we’re used to in Europe; you really have to organise it yourself.We work with suppliers and give them support to get a product in. You have to give them the proper brief about where to get something, what to get and so on. And ultimately this helps you.
This is key, because everything on your menu, from the most complex dishes to the soups and salads, depends on the quality of ingredients you have coming in.
Impiazzi: I do think that chefs need to talk to each other and not be so protective about their sources, because at the end of the day it helps the whole industry.
Gradnitzer: Yes, that ‘I do what I do’ attitude is the old school chef’s ego coming out!
Boyce: For us to really grow the industry, we need to talk to each other a lot more. I can admit that I do originally come from an old school where it was all about egos, and I had to change my way of thinking, because it’s just not like that anymore.
It’s vital for us to talk to people, network, find out what else is going on — and not just here but elsewhere as well. Because that enables you to find new trends and develop new dishes.
Let’s face it: that approach is a lot more productive than just being an egotistical maniac and saying ‘my food’s good and that’s it’, because that won’t get you very far nowadays.
Richy: Going back to the fresh produce issue, I believe where there’s a will, there’s a way; if you are a good chef you will be able to create dishes that are excellent using whatever is in season.
Impiazzi: That’s the great thing about cooking — whatever product you want is always in season somewhere in the world.
Richy: You just have to make sure the quality is really good. And you have to accept that an excellent product that is naturally in season somewhere else in the world may be a bit more expensive than if bought from a hot house.
How do fluctuating food prices affecting your menus?
Eberle: We are constantly trying to serve value-for-money food. Price-hikes on individual products only partially affecting menu prices — it’s still our philosophy to serve guests the very best product available.
Zuberbühler: But prices keep going up; this is part of the business and even the guests are aware and they accept it. However top-quality products are becoming very expensive; it’s not rice that influences our cost, but meat, seafood and other delicacies.
Impiazzi: With the oil-price rise, I think a lot of suppliers took advantage of that; they jacked their prices up ridiculously. I mean, I know what things cost in Europe; I make it a point to check. And if I’m paying three times the price I know they’re having me over a little bit and you have room to negotiate.
But now, with the exchange rate the way it is, I’ve seen big drops — especially with fresh fish, which helps. And hopefully we’re in a position to pass that saving on to the customer.
Richy: I think some chefs go for lower-priced product, which then means lower quality. You always have to look for excellent quality in food, with the maximum value you can get. It might seem like a cost-effective plan, but it’ll come back on you.
Impiazzi: When time are tough, you don’t compromise on food quality — you make a decision and if you can’t justify staying open, you close.
Fivaz: One thing we can’t forget is that we’re in the middle of a global situation and that’s affecting everybody. As a result you have to get your pricings right. If you don’t, you’ll end up with an empty restaurant.
I was at Taste of Dubai recently and I saw the menu of a particular restaurant where the average starter used to be AED 120 (US $33) and the average main course from AED 200-500 (US $54-136); but they had dropped prices as low as AED 70 (US $19) for a starter and AED 90-200 (US $25-54) for a main. That’s a trend that’s really happening now — you’ve got to look at your guests. Dubai relies on its tourists and if there are no tourists there are no jobs, so in your restaurants you’ve got to look at who you’re getting into the hotel and offer them the best you can.
Impiazzi: This is where our suppliers are important, because they need to realise this as well.
Gradnitzer: We also need to be careful we don’t drop into a hole. I do think you’re right, but that does not mean we should start chopping, chopping, chopping. Yes, we will chop prices, I agree. But you do need to look at your profit margins sometimes. I think the danger is that if you chop prices, you chop quality of product. You start feeling it in certain restaurants.
Fivaz: I don’t think it’s about dropping quality, I think it’s about re-engineering and getting better value, pushing your suppliers. You can either have an empty restaurant or a full restaurant, at the end of the day; if you don’t drop your prices in this current state, then next year we’ll be talking about who’s not there.
It’s all about your engineering; I mean, Japanese Kobe beef has just come on the market. In Hunter’s Room and Grill I wanted to put it on the menu, but unfortunately there’s no way — it’s a luxury. So I’ll just stick with my Australian Wagyu. It’s about tightening your margins and still getting good return.