In today's increasingly competitive landscape, hotel owners and operators must search for new ways to set themselves apart from their competition. One of the areas that is emerging as a potential game changer is a hotel's restaurant. A quality restaurant with a creative concept and distinctive personality can “captivate” the customer, becoming a profit center by taking on a life of its own and serving a destination for not only the hotel's guests but also for people who live in the local community and are seeking a quality dining experience. READ MORE

Besides how flavorful a dish is, one very critical aspect of meal design is whether it fills you up. Meal satiety can significantly influence a person's emotional state of mind which in turn can change a guest's opinion of a restaurant or even a hotel. As the hospitality industry is concerned, sensory-specific satiety describes how various foods react differently with the gastrointestinal tract and how you might better induce satiety by incorporating specific ingredients. This extends to the use of organic foods as well as considering the other four senses and how they work to amplify the overall dining experience. READ MORE

'Consolidated Purchasing Power' with food or any other medium suggestions efficiency, savings and economy of scale. If you are in the business of being a chain restaurant offering a standardized menu throughout your operations with consistent menus, and defined dish specifications then the recipe for success can be efficient, quickly successful and generate enormous savings. But what if you are a national hotel ownership / management company operating multiple hotel brands in different geographical regions with varying property sizes, and still looking to drive economy of scale, reduce unit prices and generate the maximum product rebate potential, while at the same time respecting property menu brand standards, regional culinary fashions and requirements, and ultimately stabilizing a consistent food cost margin for the property type? READ MORE

Wine consumption among Americans has been on the rise for 19 straight years. According to the Wine Market Council, about one-quarter of the U.S. adult population is made up of “core” wine drinkers, meaning they drink wine on a consistent weekly or monthly basis. These core drinkers want and expect choices. Six in 10 consumers order wine once a month, or more often, in on-premises locations, such as bars, restaurants, hotels and lounges, according to Technomic's 2013 BarTAB Report. READ MORE

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not just for our bodies, but for our business. A satisfying breakfast is the fuel that sets the stage for a day ahead. Likewise, breakfast has proven to be one of the most important brand pillars of Hilton Garden Inn. An unsatisfying food and beverage experience at breakfast will tarnish everything else that follows during a guest's stay. Getting breakfast service just right is considered one of the most crucial elements to defining a positive identity for a hotel brand. READ MORE

The day has just started, congratulations! We have yet another opportunity to do something great. In the amount of time it just took someone to read that first sentence, they may have received eight emails, three text messages, and missed two calls - and it's only 7:30am. They are debating if they will make it to the gym this morning or this evening, whether they should go to dinner with friends, or just disregard the invite so they can catch up on work. Decisions, decisions, decisions. . . They seem to be more difficult the older we get. Not difficult in the sense that we do not know what we want to do, but difficult in the sense of finding the 25th hour in the day. READ MORE

Beginning preparations for event or meeting planning virtually starts with a few clicks. These days, a potential guest goes on their computer and searches various sites. Perhaps it is a Google search, or using a search engine specifically for wedding venues. But one thing is certain - finding the best venue for your event is critical to executing a productive program. In our business, it truly is all in the details. In addition to site selection, confidence in the on-site team and quality and consistency in service and product delivery are of paramount importance, and contribute vastly to executing a successful event. Success can be measured in a number of ways, but the most critical is the value attendees received given their time and money invested in participating. Hosting an event, you want to leave feeling that you executed an outstanding day or evening, and that your guests' left with a memorable experience that they won't soon forget. READ MORE

The Kessler Collection - a portfolio of 12 artistically inspired boutique hotels and restaurants in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Carolina - celebrates artistic expression throughout the collection, not only with hand-selected, one-of-a-kind artwork, custom-created music, rich designs and bold architecture, but also through its inspiring culinary passion - catering to all generations, with specific offerings ideal for the millennial traveler. READ MORE

Trends in the beverage scene -- they are a changing. To keep pace with a rapidly evolving industry, the availability of resources, patrons' requests, and guests' preferences, beverage connoisseurs and mixologists are experimenting with unique and innovative ways to maximize profits while serving up quality concoctions. READ MORE

It seems common sense, that to improve customer service, you should give customers what they say they want. Yet a common frustration in hospitality and service firms is that this often does not work. One reason for this is that customers actually do not remember their experiences accurately, and it is actually quite difficult for people to predict what they will remember. To facilitate better service design, service producers must create experiences that will “stick” with the customer. READ MORE

An upscale hotel spent a considerable sum of money to renovate its F&B last year. The renovations include a new lounge with a jazz program, a beer focus, and a new sushi bar. The renovation might not have happened at all without the benefit of analysis of social (media) reviews, also referred to as Social Intelligence. If the renovation had happened without the analysis, there would be no jazz bar, fewer beers on tap and perhaps no sushi. Many hotel companies rely on guest rating surveys to rate their guests' satisfaction levels. These surveys are helpful and important, but are rating systems able to shed a bright enough light on the Guest Experience? In the example above, the guest surveys told management that the bar should be improved. But they didn't tell management how to improve it. Surveys like this are important, but tell just one part of the story. READ MORE

When people think of the Caribbean it's often the crystal clear, turquoise blue waters and powdery white sand beaches that come to mind first. For most, the culinary options are not at the forefront when booking a Caribbean getaway, but this perception is changing and the Caribbean Food & Wine Festival has led the way in making Turks and Caicos an international destination for sophisticated epicurean travelers over the past few years. Our award-winning team at Grace Bay Resorts, in partnership with the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board and The Wine Cellar, is proudly going into its fourth year hosting the annual Caribbean Food & Wine Festival in Providenciales on November 6 - 8, 2014. The festival brings together international chefs and winemakers who partner with local chefs to create a truly memorable, and always sold-out, event focused on the local food and flavors of the island. READ MORE

Investing in our culinary leaders will give us more strength and depth and a better future. As a chef, learning is exciting as well as the opportunity to attend a prestigious culinary campus for a full immersion program. This is an amazing opportunity for ongoing education not to be afraid of. Attention to our highly specialized field intrigues our servers and line cooks who aspire to one day have our job. There is nothing better than a company that invests in its culinary program with a partnership at a culinary school. The respective property of the chef now has another tool in its kit for marketing and local public relations that can champion the chef's extended educational pursuit and qualifications. READ MORE

Baby Boomers are running hotels and restaurants where they're facing an increasing number of guests from the Millennial generation: twenty- and thirty-something, technology-savvy users of social media who are ready to tell the world about their experiences at your business. There are more than 80 million Millennials in the United States and their purchasing power reaches $200 billion. Millennials are - right now and for the years to come - our customers. If we don't learn their habits, likes and dislikes and if we don't please them, we risk losing them to businesses that are willing to do so. READ MORE

The term “Farm to Table” was created back in the 1970's by chef Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Since then, the term has become popularized across the country in restaurants and dining establishments. The “farm to table” movement has now become the norm across the nation and the restaurant and hospitality industry has made it a point to implement local and sustainable practices into their establishments. People are now paying attention to where their food is coming from when they serve it at home, and they expect the same thoughtfulness to be applied while on vacation or out to dinner. READ MORE

In the years following the recession, travelers, both business and leisure, have increasingly gravitated toward more casual, “live like a local” experiences, and away from formal and elitist environments. It is important for hotel executives to consider how this trend can be applied to on-site food and beverage concepts. Creating a comfortable, come-as-you-are environment in restaurants frequented by transient customers means achieving an inviting atmosphere without trading down on quality and overall sophistication. When done correctly, a casual food & beverage concept that delivers exceptional and authentic experiences to visiting guests and locals alike can be a huge boon to hotel businesses. READ MORE