The heat is on

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The UAE’s top executive chefs gathered at award-winning restaurant Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire at InterContinental Dubai Festival City to debate how hotel restaurants can maintain quality and generate profit when kitchens are running with less manpower in today’s tough marketplace.

With hotels dropping their rates, the pressure is on for F&B outlets to bring in the money. What are you doing to protect your bottom line?

Anston Fivaz: I think you have to streamline your operation; being more productive is the key.

You also need to be more creative with your promotions. If you are to refer to set menus, I’ve noticed [people are choosing] value for money. They read the à la carte menu and work out if they are going to have three courses, it’s going to cost AED 300-400 (US $82-109), so what we do is channel a three or four course menu at below the price of the three items you would normally order off the à la carte and it would cost AED 250 ($68) instead — people opt for that because it’s better value for money.

Another thing is campaigns; tie in a campaign with suppliers like A&E or MMI; bring diners into your restaurant and offer a bottle of wine. Last month we ran a campaign in Spice Emporium, which was every Monday pay what you like; it’s not something that’s been just been invented, it has happened before.

Uwe Micheel: Yes, I did a promotion like this about 10 years ago and actually we made more money than if we had charged for those dishes. With promotions it’s not about creativity, it’s about who gives more discount. Open Time Out now — it’s only about discounts. So you have to look at how far can you pull your trouser down; how low can you go?

You have to be creative but it’s much more difficult because of pricing, it’s more sensitive. You can change your products — I can buy a piece of beef for AED 30 ($8) or AED 230 ($63) — how far do we go?

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