Concepts
“What makes a restaurant concept work?”
A guest who needs it, a price they will pay often, and a kitchen that can deliver it every night. The idea is the easy part.
School FB · F&B and Restaurants
A restaurant makes money on contribution per seat hour, not on food cost percentage.
Concepts, design, kitchens and back of house, recipes, menus, wine and the arithmetic of the table, from a principal who has created more than 67 restaurant concepts.
1 · What we do for you
Ways we work with you.
Concepts and positioning
Name, idea, guest, menu and price, written as one concept from name to napkin.
Design, kitchens and back of house
Front of house, kitchen and bar planning, flows and equipment, with the kitchen services (MEP) coordinated with the engineers.
Menus, recipes and costing
Recipe development, standard recipes, plate costing and menu engineering.
Wine and beverage
The list, the cellar, by-the-glass programmes and pricing.
Restaurant revenue management
Seats, turns, demand periods and RevPASH.
SOPs and opening
Service standards, sequence of service, training and the opening plan.
2 · What we know
The questions people ask, each answered with its conclusion first.
Design
“How much of the space should be kitchen?”
Enough to produce the menu at peak. Size the kitchen from covers per hour, not from what is left over.
Kitchen and BOH design
“Why is our kitchen slow?”
Usually flow: goods, people and plates crossing. Raw to cooked to served should run one way.
Menu engineering
“Which dishes should we keep?”
The ones that sell and leave money. Reprice the popular low earners, promote the rich slow sellers, remove the rest.
Wine and beverage
“How should wine be priced?”
On a sliding multiplier: higher on cheaper bottles, lower on fine ones, so guests trade up and the cellar turns.
Restaurant revenue management
“How do we earn more without more seats?”
Manage duration and demand: RevPASH by day part, table mix matched to party size, and pricing by demand period.
Recipes and standards
“How do we keep a dish the same every night?”
A standard recipe with weights, method and a photograph, costed, and checked at the pass.
3 · What you can use
Free tools. Your figures stay on your screen.
FB · ToolLive
Menu matrix
Classify your own dishes as stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs.
Open →FB · ToolLive
Plate cost and guide price
From purchase price and yield to the cost of the plate.
Open →FB · ToolLive
Wine pricing grid
A tiered multiplier from bottle cost to list price.
Open →FB · ToolLive
Pour cost
The cost and price of a measure.
Open →FB · ToolLive
RevPASH
Revenue per available seat hour by day part.
Open →FB · ToolLive
VAS Restaurant Valuation
What a trading restaurant is worth, licences included.
Open →4 · What you can watch
Short films with the transcript beside them.
Film 1 · Recording
The menu matrix
Four kinds of dish and what to do with each.
Film 2 · Recording
Pricing wine
Why the multiplier should fall as the bottle rises.
Film 3 · Recording
RevPASH
The restaurant’s RevPAR.
5 · What you can read
Courses, papers and cases.
F&B Concepts and Advisory
How Excelsior conceives, designs and opens restaurants and bars, and the record behind it.
Read →The Menu Engineering Playbook
Stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs: what to do with each, and how to run the matrix every month.
Read →The Wine Programme
How to run a cellar and a list: bins, the list, by the glass, formats and the pricing system.
Read →Kitchen and BOH Design
Flow, areas and equipment logic for kitchens and back of house, with a capacity tool.
Read →Restaurant Revenue Management
RevPASH, table mix, meal duration and demand periods, with a calculator.
Read →Catering and Banquet Standards
Function files, room geometry, controls and pours for banqueting that earns its space.
Read →MKT, New Delhi
Four kitchens and a bar under one roof, planned as one business.
Read →Ozumo
A contemporary Japanese restaurant concept, from name to napkin.
Read →Food and Beverage 101
How a hotel’s restaurants and bars should be run and measured.
Read →