Espresso delivery

7/28/2019 Espresso delivery

1/378|restaurant|May 2013|www.bighospitality.co.uk

EspressodeliveryWith consumers looking for greater choice when they dineout, a more extensive and consistent coffee offer could giverestaurants that vital USP

If you go to a restaurant that sells poor

coffee, when you leave it ruins

everything thats gone before it, says

Rebecca Mascarenhas, the owner of

Sonnys Kitchen in Barnes, south-west

London. While not a revelatory statement, its a

point that not all restaurateurs have grasped, she

adds. The quality of coffee in restaurants on the

whole in the UK is still very poor. There is a very

small echelon of restaurants that care enough

about it, but most see i t as a profit centre that they

just want to milk.

Despite the UK being in the midst of a coffee

boom that started with the emergence of brands

such as Starbucks and has continued with the rise

of independent coffee houses, many of which have

taken coffee making to a higher level, it is still not

that uncommon to be served a distinctly average

or worse cup of coffee in a restaurant. And, unlike

other beverages, such as tea, spirits and even water,

the range of styles of coffee many restaurants stock

is still extremely limited. This is at odds with the

experience a customer gets when perusing the

supermarket coffee aisle, for example, which is

replete with different blends of varying strengths

and origins.

The question remains, therefore: what can

restaurateurs do to reflect the growing interest in

coffee and widen their selection without causing

too much strain on their front-of-house staff and

impacting on their profits? That was the issue

posed at a roundtable of front of house operators

and buyers last month, organised byRestaurantin

partnership withNespresso.

Wrs

Stefan Chomka

Phgrphs

Rob Lawson

Delegates

Thomas Agius

Ferrante

Manager, The Caramel

Room, The Berkeley,

London

Rebecca

Mascarenhas

Owner, Sonnys

Kitchen, London

Peter Egli

General manager,

Whatley Manor,

Wiltshire

Susan Webb

Co-owner, Tyddyn Llan,

Llandrillo,

North Wales

Paulo de Tarso

Senior maitre d, Bar

Boulud, London

Jen Meisman

Group purchasing

co-ordinator, D&D

London

Michael

Westenbrink

General manager,Brigade, London

Shauna Caithness

Operations

management team,The Gilbert Scott,

London

Ian McDonald

B2B commercial

manager UK andIreland,Nespresso

Stefan Chomka

Deputy editor,

Restaurantmagazine

Phil Howard

Chef-patron, The

Square, London (notseated)


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Roundtable event

During the discussion guests indulged in a

top-class meal at The Square in Londons Mayfair.

The dessert, a pav of bitter chocolate with burnt

orange, was matched withNespressos sHawaii

Kona Special Reserve by chef-patron Phil Howard

as well as its Ristretto blend, which proved

particular food for thought.

Why is impr srg cffPaulo de Tarso: Michelin-starred chefs focus so

much on the food that they sometimes forget that

people go away with memories of the coffee. When

you leave a restaurant, however good it was, if

youve had a bad espresso youre going to

remember it. People would talk about a restaurant

to my grandfather and he would go there and

order a coffee. He would also t aste the bread. If the

coffee and the bread was good hed dine there

thats how he could judge a good restaurant.

Shauna Caithness: I stayed in The Connaught

recently and when you walked into the bedroom

the first thing you saw was the espresso machine

and a beautiful box of all the different coffees you

could have, and that was the excitement. It was like

a dream. It makes a difference.

Rebecca Mascarenhas: We concentrate so hard

on the food and wine and we say to our staff what

do we think our USP is? Is it good food and good

wine? Show me a restaurant that thinks they serve

crap food and crap wine. Its in the details and

coffee is the detail.

br ci cff

Susan Webb: We do wine dinners all the time andthats very successful for us. The next one were

going to do is with Reidel glasses what different

shapes of glasses you need for different types of

Sponsored by

wine so why dont we do the same for coffee? We

could have a matching food-and-coffee dinner

which could cause excitement and make people

understand more about coffee. Even if its just

matching coffees with desserts, it would work.

RM: Tea has been very successful at educating

people about its different types. We all know if

youre going to have white tea youre going to pay for

it because its expensive. Im not a big tea-drinker

and [yet] I know that. Why not the same for coffee?

PT: People are in the market for 6, 12 even 18

glasses of wine, but they want to learn about and

understand it, and its up to us to teach them. The

same can be done for coffee. Bar Boulud does a lot

of covers, it would be nice to have the time to

explain a little bit more about coffee and break

down the different styles.

Thomas Agius Ferrante: People know about

wine and their basic knowledge of tea has gone up,

but coffee has stayed the same. I couldnt talk to

you about coffee as I could about tea or wine, but

maybe I need to.

Ian McDonald:Where people have a wide

knowledge of the range of coffees they are far more

likely to be interested in one or two of them. If you

talk about different types of coffee with people this

interest grows.

a grwig fr csiscyPeter Egli: The good thing about a [capsulemachine] is that after 10 or 20 coffees its still the

same. I love espresso and I have a proper Italian

machine at home but when I made coffee

[recently] the first was great, the second one was

slightly burnt and the third wasnt really coming

out any more. Then you kind of lose the fascination

for this kind of great-looking machine because at

the end of the day you want the quality in the cup.

Thats the same in our business as well

consistency of quality is key.

RM: Consistency is the main thing. Consistency in

my restaurant is not 100%. I had a burnt coffee

yesterday. Its tough.

TF: From a consistency point of view, of the hot

drinks we make, coffee is the hardest to get right

every time. The idea of having a consistent method

of serving perfect coffee in a high-volume, high-end

business is fantastic. Im lucky that we have trained

Italian baristas, but they are not always there.

Sometimes I make the coffee and its terrible and

the poor guest has a different experience.

Phil Howard: Consistency is one of the big words

in the restaurant industry. Our food is aimed at the

top of the market, but ultimately were nothing if

were not consistent. One of the benefits of the

capsule is the fact that it is just so consistent. I was

completely unconvinced in the early days, but

weve bought into it completely.

th chgs fcig cff ssRM: Our sales of coffee, especially at dinner, have

dropped dramatically. Now thats maybe because

we dont offer a good enough service and people

just say no automatically, but I think its also to do

with people thinking am I going to be up all night?

I dont want to drink a cup of coffee in the

afternoon for this reason.Michael Westenbrink: Weve seen an incredible

increase in sales of decaf coffee as well as herb and

green teas and fresh mint teas. Caffeine is an issue

The Squares cofee-riendly pav obitter chocolate

Nespressocofeewas matchedto the dessert

Blend o skills: roundtableparticipants discuss theoptimisation o cofee


3/380|restaurant|May 2013|www.bighospitality.co.uk

Roundtable event

for some people in the evening.

TF: There is still a lack of understanding about

coffee compared with wine or tea. Ive never had

someone ask for a specific type of coffee or ask

about what beans we use or our roast.

RM: [Serving consistent coffee] means not just an

investment in the coffee but an investment in thehardware. For me to sell a range of capsule coffees

I have to change my hardware, and thats a

consideration for any business. From a practical

point of view capsule coffee is very simple but

what of the financial implications? Maybe 5p or 10p

on a cup is the deal-breaker. Our chefs look upon it

as helping their GP. They get the revenue from the

coffee and then suddenly you have to say to them

that coffee costs are going up.

Wh w c r frm hcff hssPT: Places like Starbucks and Caff Nero have

taken the time to make a coffee specifically for you,

whether you want it skinny or tall or with doubleshots. Its not the best coffee, but the reason you go

there is because they make it the way you want.

TF: Every day I pick up a Caff Nero, even though I

have a coffee machine at work seven minutes up

the road. I get my coffee from the same guy and he

knows I have my latte with one sugar poured inside

as the coffees coming down because it gets in there

better. I get upset if hes not there. These places

serve you a coffee exactly how you like it.

RM: My secretary goes to Starbucks every day to

buy her coffee. We have better coffee at our

restaurant, yet she chooses to spend 5 a week

there. What the hell is going on?

th iiiy f cff mSW: I think it would be good to have a coffee menu.

Thats something were working on having a

coffee menu right next door to the desserts so that

people can see it and ask questions. Its a way

forward for us. We have started to include coffee in

our overall price rather than it being separate so

people will start to have it because theyve paid for

it. It keeps everything moving.

MW: It depends where you are in the market and

what product you offer. My customers wouldnt

necessarily expect to have cappuccino on the

menu and then choose from three different types

of beans, but maybe for someone who has the level

of Michelin fine dining that would work very well.

IMD:Within a business you cant necessarily have

16 blends of coffee, but there is a market for serving

more than one.

PE: We offerNespresso in our boardroom. Its quite

interesting to see that when you introduce it to the

host of a conference and say here is a selection of

different coffees you can enjoy, they are all very

keen to try them. To offer different types of coffee

can add to a guests experience and we will

certainly consider looking into that more.

TF: Our guests would like a broader range of coffee

and they would enjoy it. Luxury service is

experiential. Coffee is one of the ways we can do

this because it hasnt been done before. Weve done

it with wine, with food weve gone seasonal withtea and even water. Everything except coffee.

RM Choice has grown right across the restaurant

world. It wasnt that long ago that you had the

choice of one red, white and ros wine by the glass;

now, not that many years on, we sell 16 wines by

the glass. Now if I go to a restaurant and they only

have a red and white I think whats the matter with

you? Why do you only have one coffee? Somebody

will break ranks and well all rush like lemmings to

have more coffee on our menus.

TF: Dont give the guest a coffee menu, theyve

already seen a food menu and a wine list. Let the

waiter suggest one or two coffees instead.

th imprc f riigTF: The question is: does every guest want to have

to go through a coffee menu? Its down to staff

training shall we bother this guest with a coffee

menu or not? As a waiter, you have to make that

decision. After a meal I really dont want to think

about what coffee to have. You need staff who are

trained to say: Heres a selection of coffee, heres

why they are good.

PE: I agree you are probably bored with looking at

lists but, if the staff member recommends one or

two choices, you might want to experience it. If you

are a new guest and have two or three different

coffees to choose from, youll say that didnt

happen to me in any other restaurant before.

PT: Its about training. I have two classes a day

these classes focus on the products for an

hour-and-a-half. My staff need to know who makes

the artwork, what the tables are made of, who

made the carpet, who designed the restaurant, so

knowledge is essential. If you are proud of the

coffee you make and you have the time to describe

a product, you can sell it.

Jen Meisman:We have the same for tea. We have

staff training and they are told about the different

tea varieties and they go to the table and explain to

the customers this is our tea menu and what teawould you like? We dont have that with coffee

because we only have one to offer.

RM: I think the caffeine is a big thing education

on the part of the producers to say which coffees

are high or low in caffeine. If someone were to say

to me this actually doesnt have a lot of caffeine, I

think it would make a huge difference in sales.

th fr fr cff irsrsRM:What prompted restaurants to move away

from just serving one or two wines by the glass to

more? The technology of keeping the wine must

have improved, and the same must happen for

serving coffee. Technology is going hand-in-hand

with the growth in choice.

MW:We must be at the forefront of giving choice

where the market is wanting to have that choice.

What we possibly would do at Brigade is call it an

upgrade you have your house coffee as you have

your house wine and then you can upgrade to a

better type of coffee. I can see that working.

SW: People have been very accepting of the fact

that we do offer something different with our

coffee. Its a really positive move.

Big thanks to Phil Howard and his team at The

Square for hosting a delicious dinner and letting

us quiz him about coffee.

Nespresso AguilaAguila is a high-volume premium cofee

machine that uses state-o-the-art technology

to perect the barista serve. Features include

our extraction heads, an integrated resh-milk

rother or our milk preparations hot or cold

milk or milk oam and a network connection

via a SIM card that enables online tracking o

maintenance needs. Two eco-modes can cut

energy use by 50% or 95% during quieterperiods. To experience the Aguila, contact

Nespresso on 0808 100 8844.

Phil Howard valuescapsule cofee ashighly consistent

Peter Egli withShauna Caithness

Considering theuture o cofee

in restaurants

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Espresso delivery