The Dining Experience of the Future
The future of the restaurant industry has so many compelling challenges and opportunities facing it.
Opinion Articles
Going lean – how hospitality can overcome the challenges of food price inflation and record energy bills
Hospitality has been a driving force for the UK and European economies for years, employing 3.2 million people before the pandemic and generating £38 billion in tax revenue for the UK government. Providing job opportunities for young people and students and inspiring young entrepreneurs to launch enterprises of their own, hospitality was a dynamic and booming sector before the initial complications of COVID, and the many challenges that followed.
By Sam Martin, Co-founder and CEO of Peckwater Brands (PWB), Peckwater Brands
In Vino Veritas XCIX: Low Cal, Low Carb Wines
The world of dining is becoming increasingly health-conscious, diet-focused, and phobic of calories, carbohydrates, trans-fats, gluten and a slew of other buzz food components. As hoteliers and restaurateurs, we take great pains to ensure that our menus include items that address these now-popular customer requests, often identifying dishes that are best suited to specific dietary needs.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
What are truffles and why are they so expensive?
Truffle. A true love it or hate it delicacy, with its pungent flavour and heady scent, the truffle is not a flavour which takes a back seat in any dish and can easily overwhelm the palate if overdone. Ever wondered "what is a truffle?", well, a mushroom doesn't quite cut it... however, the truffle is an edible fungus belonging to the mushroom family. Many describe the taste as earthy, gamey even. Those on the other side of the fence might describe it as ‘musky’ or ‘funky’. Whatever the taste, there’s no denying for those who love it, it’s a unique, rich and luxurious ingredient that when found on a menu is extremely difficult to pass up the opportunity to taste once more.
By Patrick Ogheard, Dean of Practical Arts, EHL
In Vino Veritas XCVIII: Alcohol Alternatives
As restauranteurs and hoteliers, you have a serious obligation to ensure that your guests do not drink and drive. Legal penalties are significant. The good news is that there are alternatives, and these alternatives are growing in availability, quality and popularity.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
The price of Bordeaux 2022: What you need to know before you buy
Bordeaux is back in the news with the 2022 vintage said to be the best this century. But is it really that good? And, above all, should you buy these wines and at what price? Let’s find out.
By Philippe Masset, Associate Professor, EHL
Is ONDC the Turning Point for India’s Food Delivery Market?
The entry of ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), which is a government initiative, is challenging the current duopoly in the food delivery market in India, providing more choices both to sellers and buyers. This can bring better price parity and disrupt the existing status quo. Read on to know more.
New trends and challenges in the tea industy
The tea market reflects the quality of its product: it is discreet, differentiated and in good health. After water, tea is one of the most drunk beverages in the world. Yet the tea market seems far from having reached a maturity but keeps expanding and is now targeting Gen Z. In this short article we assess the tea market and we sketch the future trends and challenges faced by the expanding tea industry.
By Giuliano Bianchi, Co-director of Quantitas Institute and Associate Professor of Economics, EHL
Florida Jury Awards $5.6 MM For Alcohol-Fueled Pool Party Injury
A Florida jury awards $5.6 million for a spinal cord injury sustained during an alcohol-fueled pool party at the Retreat in Gainesville. According to the Complaint, the Defendant, Retreat at Gainesville, LLC, hosted a St. Patrick’s Day event and provided free beer at the Retreat on March 17, 2017. Promotional materials for the event encouraged attendees to bring their beer and did not mention any age restrictions.
By Preston Rideout, CEO of Rideout Hospitality, Founder of The Dram Shop Experts and Nightclub and Bar Consultant, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
Enjoy the art of modern pastry: EHL's La Pâtisserie book
For those of you who find the idea of pastry making a terrifying prospect, fear not. EHL’s patisserie experts, Julien Boutonnet and Julien Gradoz, have joined forces to create their definitive guide to easy pastry with an innovative twist. Their recently published book, 'La Pâtisserie à l’EHL: 60 recettes sucrées et salées', (‘Patisserie at EHL: 60 sweet and savory recipes’) is a delight for all baking fans, whether seasoned professionals or beginners, as it sets out to demystify the science of modern pastry.
By Beatrice Venturini, Hospitality Insights content editor, EHL
Why Uber Eats cracked down on ghost kitchens – and the lessons hospitality businesses need to learn
Virtual restaurants – brands that operate exclusively on delivery platforms without real-world venues – have proven hugely successful in recent years, offering existing restaurants and takeaways a much-needed opportunity to boost revenue and reach new customers by offering alternative menus from their kitchens. But while the best virtual brands have quickly become fan favourites on platforms like Deliveroo, Just Eats and Uber Eats, the rest may be about to reach the end of the road.
By Sam Martin, Co-founder and CEO of Peckwater Brands (PWB), Peckwater Brands
The Value of Great Servers Straight from a Michelin Server Captain
The onsite restaurant is a hallmark of nearly any great hotel, with customer sentiments towards the former entity reflecting back onto property reviews and, ultimately, guestroom bookings. Within the F&B silo, we glorify the cuisine, the beverage selection, the wine cellar, the décor, the location and the executive chef, but rarely do the servers get their moment in the spotlight. And yet, like a triage nurse who first attends to a desperately ill patient entering the emergency room and is the lifesaving determinant ahead of any doctor’s intervention, server teams are the frontline for success in any hotel’s F&B operation.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Future Foods for Hotels in 2023 and Beyond
Food and beverage for hotels is at a bit of an inflection point. On the one hand, we are still contending with all the inflationary wages, short staffing and supply chain headaches left over the pandemic. On the other, we have a recession year ahead of us where we still need to derive profits from the onsite eatery (or at least use the chef-driven restaurant concept to support hotel bookings).
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Best practice for pairing wine with art in the classroom: A synesthetic approach
For a few years now, Gildas L'Hostis, EHL Senior Lecturer in Oenology (the knowledge of wine, wine service, production, economics and tasting), has been trying out new tools enabling students to express themselves more freely and creatively. The synesthetic approach is a method that shuns traditional analytical wine tasting along with the ubiquitous wine tasting ‘grid’, replacing it with a more imaginative practice that summons up many of the senses. Here, students are encouraged to practice wine pairing by creating matches with specific paintings.
By Gildas L'Hostis, Senior Lecturer Practical Arts delivering courses in oenology (the knowledge of wine, wine service, production, economics, and tasting), EHL
How to make sure your F&B program bears fruit in 2023
According to the recent research study by Strategic Solution Partners, F&B has been one of the departments most affected by the ongoing staffing shortages. What does the current F&B situation look like and how should hotels adjust their programming for a successful 2023? Seasoned F&B experts Fernando Salazar and John Young share their viewpoints on the matter and provide useful, actionable advice on how to make the most out of your F&B program in 2023.
By Fernando Salazar and John Young
How to make sure your 2023 beverage program goes down well: 5 questions with Kim Haasarud
Learning to throw out the rule book and be flexible was among the most valuable lessons hotels learned from the pandemic. Adaptation and flexibility are still just as important now, as the industry navigates the staffing shortages, and to find out more about what that should look like in the F&B space, we have interviewed Kim Haasarud, a nationally recognized mixologist and Beverage Expert at Strategic Solution Partners.
By Kim Haasarud, Consultant, Strategic Solution Partners
2023 Outlook for the Foodservice Industry
As many of us have left the pandemic behind in 2022 and begun traveling again, airlines have begun seeing profits. Some tourist destinations also recorded the highest-ever RevPAR (revenue per available room, a key hotel performance indicator).
By Linchi Kwok
Plant-Based is Just an Extension of Data-Based
Vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, ovo-pescatarian, fruitarian – there are lots of diets out there and, significantly, more and more people are adjusting their habits away from the starchy, fried and meat-focused Standard American Diet (SAD). Underpinning any operational changes made to accommodate this societal shift, though, is the data.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky
Hospitality in a recession: how businesses can overcome economic downturn
The majority of hospitality businesses will have suffered at some point or another in the past few years, with the immediate and knock-on effects of Covid-19 lockdown measures massively curtailing revenues and profits while causing widespread closures throughout Europe.
By Sam Martin, Co-founder and CEO of Peckwater Brands (PWB), Peckwater Brands
In Vino Veritas XCVII: Serving Smartly
We would be remiss to write a series of articles on generating more wine sales without devoting one column to the most serious issue of drinking and driving. The statistics are almost mind-numbing; every day, some 30 lives are lost due to crashes caused by drunk driving. To reframe this in a less abstract way, in the time it takes a party of four to go through a bottle – say, roughly an hour – another person has died from an alcohol-related death.
By Larry Mogelonsky and Adam Mogelonsky