Food and Beverage Consulting
The relentless pursuit of excellence
Your hotel’s food and beverage offering not only drives additional revenue but also plays a vital role in raising your positioning as a provider of positive customer experiences and high-quality service. Successful restaurants, hotel or otherwise, are not only based on quality, delicious food, but also on the level of customer experience they provide. Making dinner or an afternoon cocktail a memorable experience can therefore have a great effect on the overall guest experience, and customer retention and will ultimately drive brand recognition and subsequent sales.
We know that the food & beverage industry is ever-changing, so we work with restaurant consulting experts who have a wealth of experience, and who also have their finger on the pulse of the latest food and beverage trends and can adjust their menu and concept design and overall strategy accordingly. Several of our food and beverage consulting professionals are published authors, celebrated as mavericks in the food and beverage industry, and can therefore produce unparalleled, innovative food & beverage programs, taking advantage of the local ingredients as well as the geographical elements of interest in your area, which can be used to inspire your restaurant or bar design.
A successful food and beverage program is not just about the service, food, and drinks on offer, but also about the dining room and kitchen management, correct pricing strategies, careful cost analysis, and continuous cost management. Our food & beverage experts therefore also use their expertise to advise you on effective management strategies that ensure customer retention, revenue growth, and profitability, turning your food and beverage program into a true revenue-generating asset, rather than just an amenity to your guests.
In order to achieve this goal, restaurant experts as well as beverage consultants and top beverage consulting firms on our team often start the consulting process with a SWOT analysis of your existing services. This will ensure that any new concepts and strategies will be truly bespoke and based on the realistic status quo and needs of your company.
After this initial stage, the beverage and restaurant consulting services become much more hands-on. Each beverage or restaurant advisor will start the implementation process, carried out collaboratively with your in-house staff so that they can maintain the standard of restaurant management and beverage services once the initial project is completed.
Focusing on the F&B operations (restaurants, room service, banquets, catering, and bars), market, industry & consumer trends, and revenue and profitability — allows us to maximize the potential of your asset. This holistic approach also makes it possible to upscale your food and beverage offering, so that it can respond to the ever-growing demands of today’s consumers.
Our expert restaurant and beverage consultants have assisted many new and existing restaurant businesses in upscaling their operations based on consumer needs as well as market fluctuations, so we are confident they can replicate the process at your establishment to your satisfaction.
Our Areas of Expertise
Strategy
- Overall Food & Beverage Operations Assessment
- Food and Beverage Concept Development
- Bar Concept Development
- New Hotel Openings And Transitions
- Menu Analysis & Development
- Recipe Creation And Standardization
- Mixology Program Development
Structure
- Standard Operating Procedures
- Sustainability
- Analysis of Costs and Hiring strategies
- Technology Solutions
- Facility Design
People
- Service Training
- Culinary Training
- Bar Service Training
Meet our industry experts
FERNANDO SALAZAR
Food & Beverage
Background and Expertise
Fernando was awarded the Culinary Institute of America Gold Medal as well as the Royal Academy of Spanish Gastronomy and both named him Universal Ambassador. Salazar is currently the Executive Vice President of E-Spain, a company he co-founded in 2017; an international multidisciplinary company that specializes in the creation of international culinary competitions and culinary internships in the best restaurants in Spain.
Fernando is also the co-creator of The World Tapas Competition as well as the International Black Truffle Competition, both of which are typically held in Spain.
Previous Clients
Airlines, management companies, hotels, etc.
Featured Project
Client: Wyndham.
Project Scope: During my time as VP of F&B of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, the company acquired a hotel brand called TRYP, previously owned by the Spanish Melia Hotels. I was commissioned to come up with a Food & Beverage concept for the newly acquired brand, starting with the hotel situated in New York.
Strategies implemented: Considering that TRYP was a Spanish/Mediterranean chain originally, my team and I decided to turn the New York restaurant into a Gastro Bar, exploiting TRYP’s heritage as well as the acronym to give the new restaurant a distinctly Spanish/ Mediterranean ambiance. Each letter in the original acronym was spelled out to “Tapas, Raciones Y Pinchos,” and the restaurant started serving exactly that: Spanish tapas, sharing plates and small bites called pinchos.
The design was also changed to reflect the theme and the whole restaurant was moved into the lobby, which generated an appealing atmosphere that attracted a new customer base, consisting of locals as well as hotel guests. As with most of my projects, the idea was to steer away from the concept of a typical hotel restaurant and instead create an eatery that could rival other restaurants in the area, rather than just other hotels. To achieve this goal, we initially conducted market research to determine what cuisines and concepts were in high demand locally, in order to increase the chances of the project being a success even before the execution. On top of design and menu, we also made sure that the supply chain for the restaurant was cost-effective yet based on quality products and that the staff were effectively trained to maintain the standards necessary for the new program to work.
Results:
The new concept was so successful it was eventually replicated at many of the 96 TRYP Hotels across 15 countries, with me personally overseeing the openings of TRYP Gastro Bars in Quebec, Panama City, San Jose, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Medellin.
TRYP New York also caught the attention of prestigious media outlets such as the New York Times, and was highly praised for its food and beverage offering as well the innovative concept. The hotel became known as a quality hospitality establishment, both for its rooms and its restaurant, which was reflected in the increased average check as well as a tangible effect on other important hotel metrics.
NORMAN VAN AKEN
Chef
Background and Expertise
Norman Van Aken is a chef, author, teacher and is best known for introducing “fusion” into the lexicon of global cookery. He is also known as “the founding father of New World Cuisine” – a celebration of Latin, Caribbean, Asian, American, and African flavors, thus pioneering a new, visionary way of cooking in America. He is the only Floridian Chef inducted into the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s list of “Who’s Who in American Food and Beverage.”
Previous Clients
The most expensive hotels, management companies, ghost kitchens, etc.
Featured Project
Client: United Airlines.
Project Scope: Consulting on the design of items for onboard menus. Working with the food production facility, working with regional teams on the adaptation of these dishes for specific markets.
Strategies implemented: Menu design and adaptation of recipes to airline staff and conditions.
Results:
The program was deemed highly successful and was utilized in Latin America for over 3 years.
KIM HAASARUD
Beverage & Mixology
Background and Expertise
Kim Haasarud is a nationally recognized mixologist and beverage consultant, working with hundreds of liquor brands, restaurants, and hotels across the country in helping to create successful cocktail and bar programs. Her expertise and skills include bar design consultation, drink development, training, trend analysis, to-go programs, and menu design. In addition to consulting with groups such as PF Chang’s, Omni Hotels, Aimbridge Hospitality, and Darden Restaurants, she has worked with dozens of beverage and alcohol brands.
Kim has been a judge on Iron Chef America, as well as doing guest appearances on the “The Today Show” and CBS’ “Early Morning Show.” Kim is the author of the best-selling “101…” cocktail series with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Most recently, she was elected as President of the United States Bartenders Guild.
JOHN YOUNG
Food and Beverage Expert
Background and Expertise
John Young is a seasoned chef and F&B expert with 35 years of hospitality, restaurant, bar, nightclub, cruise line, and hotel management experience. Highly skilled in multi-outlet, multi-site operations, and concept development, John has a thorough knowledge of the international hospitality and F&B marketplace and has overseen multiple large-scale projects from concept and development to service implementation, P&P building, and menu build-out. Having worked on the launch of the new Cunard ship and collaborated with ownership of Hilton- and Marriot-managed properties, John’s skill set includes financial management skills such as P&L development and analysis, development of operating budgets, forecasting, and capital expenditure planning. His strong suit is also IT implementation and programming for effective property control as well as planning and training in all aspects of PH & safety in the workplace.
FAQ
What can a food and beverage expert help you with?
The role of our food and beverage experts (senior-level food and beverage consultants) is, among other things, to create impactful restaurant and bar concepts that will appeal to your target customers and have a tangible, measurable effect on your bottom line. The creativity that characterizes food and beverage experts goes hand-in-hand with their focus on market research and financial analysis, which in turn inform their menu & concept design and creation process. Considering that we only work with top-tier professionals with decades of experience in the hospitality industry, they can assist you with any aspect of your food and beverage program, including advice on which designer consultants to use and which suppliers to partner with. We are one of a few top consulting firms that look at food and beverage holistically, so we only partner with professionals who can deliver on the promise of providing data-based, results-oriented solutions that will help you reach your business goals.