Monday 30 July 2012

Black Water


Blackwater seems to be one of the latest water trends. We have been informed the Fulvic and Humic compounds are extracted from 80 million year old humifled matter mined in the North American Rockies.

According to Harvey Nichols Website, ‘the natural benefits fulvic and humic compounds provide, [are] believed by some to be: a more alkaline body, increased energy, blood oxygenation, detoxify pollutants”.





















One for your restaurant, bar, cafe or visitor catering?

Friday 27 July 2012

Short Menus


Short Menus

We’ve been supporting the short menu approach for years and always admire the confidence of those restaurants and eateries that have the confidence to sell only a couple of dishes and in some cases, only one. It’s often a little easier to do if you are a ‘food truck’ or part of a collective mix of catering offers. However, a number of restaurants and cafes are now taking the same approach – one or two great dishes only.

Richard Godwin of the Evening Standard gives us his take on it.

First published - Evening Standard Wednesday 18th July 2012 

While this approach may need a little more consideration when considering visitor catering for theatres, museums, historic buildings and the like, less is often more...



Wednesday 25 July 2012

Self Serve Pubs

The Robot Pub Company, with their showcase site, The Thirsty Bear allows customers to pour their own pints from tableside taps, text for waiter service and use the iPads provided to order food. Customers exchange credit cards for electronic tabs at the bar and then swipe them to pour beer or order food. According to Phil Neale, the co-founder, revenue at The Thirsty Bear has jumped 78% since installing the iPads.

The pub also doubles as a showcase for the Robot Pub Group and we understand they are in talks with other pub companies, cinemas, cafes and restaurants to licence its technology.


Catering Advice



www.montfortconsultants.com - Catering Consultancy - Providing Innovative Catering Advice

Monday 23 July 2012

Builders Afternoon Tea

We love Selfridges take on afternoon tea for builders – ‘A Builders Tea Party’ – one of their latest window displays.

The best part is that whatever your catering tastes, Selfridges are always at the forefront of retail catering. At the present time they also have their Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party. See below for further details.


















Read our previous articles:

www.montfortconsultants.com - Catering Consultants - improving existing catering and developing new catering operations 

Friday 20 July 2012

Art & Food – This is Not A Take Away


“TINATA - This is Not a Take Away is a curatorial project that will showcase artists and non-artists who are interested in a particular approach towards how food is sourced, prepared, served and eaten”.

For more information thisisnotatakeaway.com

Catering Consultants






See also:
Cinema Catering - Part I 
Cinema Catering - Part II 
Food+Cinema+Art
The Experimental Food Society Spectacular 
All Aboard The Big Red

www.montfortconsultants.com – Catering Consultants – Developing Cafes, Restaurants & Bars within Art Centres, Museums, Theatres, Historic Buildings & Leisure Attractions.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Italian Food Train


Think of train catering and what comes to mind?

Il Treno dei Sapori (Train of Taste) is a very different on-board catering experience. In fact the experience is centred on the food, with tourists enjoying typical dishes, produce and wines from each region it passes through. The combination of great regional food with incredible scenery is even further enhanced with external cameras relaying live footage of the external scenery onto large internal screens.

While you travel you can combine sight, sound, taste, smell and touch senses, incorporating the landscape with its fantastic produce.

If you wish to enjoy this gastronomic excursion you need to take Italy’s Brescia-Edolo railways along Lake Iseo and through to Vallecamonica and Edolo.


www.montfortconsultants.com - Innovative Catering Advice

Monday 16 July 2012

Restaurant Promotion via Street Food, Vans and Containers

It seems that everyone is doing it – street food or ‘pop-ups’ that is – and now it’s not limited to the independents that we have previously featured. A growing number of well established restaurant chains are now also using carts, van and pop-up formats to support their fixed site restaurants.

Byron Hamburgers, and specifically their Vans, are popping up at street food events and festivals around the country over the coming months.

Wahaca have taken a significant presence on the Southbank with their container restaurant – built from 8 recycled shipping containers. The approach certainly reinforces Wahaca’s brand as ‘Mexican market eating’. It will run for eighteen months and the company see it as a great way of experimenting with new food and design.

Even if you are an established high street restaurant, alternative temporary locations are a great way to sell more of your product while also promoting and ‘stretching’ your brand.

For further details see:



www.montfortconsultants.com - providing food and beverage advice to theatres, museums, leisure attractions, historic buildings...


Friday 13 July 2012

Tea Consumption on the Decrease & Increase

Confused? According to figures from Mintel and the Food & Agriculture Organisation, tea consumption in the UK is both declining and increasing depending on which type of tea you are talking about. English Breakfast still accounts for the largest share of the bagged tea market, at 70%. However, sales of these tea bags dropped by 1.5% between 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, in the last two years sales of green tea have gone up to 83%, herbal and fruit teas 12%, while decaffeinated tea has risen by 12%.

On top of this, afternoon tea has seen a serious resurgence across all age groups. Coffee is ever popular and independent coffee shops, along with the big chains are still popping up everywhere. However, if you are not providing speciality teas in your café, restaurant, visitor catering facility, university and employee catering facilities then both your bottom line and your customers are likely to be missing out. If you also want to provide good value, make it leaf tea – there are now so many ways of serving this in a quality yet convenient way!

Read our previous articles:



www.montfortconsultants.com Catering Consultants

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Farm

We like Farm, not just because it serves great food in a good environment, but because there is real substance behind the brand.

Based on Cowcross Street, Farringdon and Throgmorten Street, Bank, Farm provides tasty food and drinks across the day. Food is ethically sourced and they work with smaller producers.

Core to their values of helping others, they have also created the Farm Foundation, working with CHICKS to provide week-long respite breaks for disadvantaged children.

As sectors of the public are revisiting how they live their lives along with lifestyle choices and priorities, how is your café, coffee shop, restaurant or visitor attraction genuinely appealing and supporting this?

www.montfortconsultants.com - Supporting New Catering Operations & Developing Existing Operations.


Monday 9 July 2012

Quality Festival Food


Bestival, and its smaller more family orientated sister Camp Bestival, is a quality music festival with a difference. Founded by Rob Da Bank (of Radio 1 fame) it features besides a great line-up, alternative quality camping options including tipis and Yurts as well as a dance tent with Lindy Hop and Viennese Waltz lessons. However, best of all – great, alternative festival food and event catering, including even an underground restaurant by prolific blogger Kerstin Rodgers.

quality event catering
Underground Restaurant at Bestival 
Also, new in 2012 is the Young British Foodies Tent, featuring some of the “best chefs, street food vendors, bakers, distillers and mixologists, coffee roasters and baristas” this country has to offer.


Friday 6 July 2012

Innovative Bar Promotions

‘Cocktail discounts based on stock market drops’ - Bull & Bear Steakhouse at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York. 

This type of promotion has been around for many years in different guises. None the less, it does draw attention to potential new customers while reengaging with existing. However, read on to see the other very good reason for doing it.

innovative marketing
Bull and Bear Waldorf Astoria
It works like this - a discount of $1 on cocktails for every 1% that the stock market dropped that day, up to a maximum value of $5. However, the clever part is that customers are required to prove they ‘like’ the Bull & Bear Steakhouse on Facebook or follow the brand on Twitter in order to redeem the discount. As such the Bull and Bear Steakhouse is both building a great customer database as well as creating a direct marketing channel to their customers.

Marketing for restaurants has moved on but that doesn’t mean you can’t combine an old idea with new technology.

If you want to stay ahead of the game in marketing your café, restaurant, bar or visitor catering, contact www.montfortconsultants.com - Catering Advice & Consultancy

Wednesday 4 July 2012

The Rise of English Sparkling Wine

visitor catering
http://www.englishwineweek.co.uk/
Fit for the Queen, English sparkling wine recently beat well-known French competitors at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, and was served on the Queen’s barge during the Jubilee Thames flotilla.

On a slightly less grand scale it took centre stage in a recent episode of BBC’s The Apprentice.


Read further from wine writer Jane Hyde for D&D London.


If you run a restaurant, café or events business you really should include an English sparkling wine section. 


Contact Montfort Consultants to discuss development of your visitor catering.

Monday 2 July 2012

Increasing Restaurant Seat Utilisation


seat utilisationDo you know the average or typical party size of your customers? If the majority are parties of 2’s or 3’s and most of your tables have 4 seats you may find that you are not fully satisfying the peak demands. Through research at our catering consultancy, Montfort Catering Consultants, we have found that in certain environments a lone customer often does not want to sit with 3 other strangers on a table of 4 and like wise, if 2 people have to split up it can impact on their experience and enjoyment. As such, many customers will often leave when seating is unavailable or gives an impression of being to capacity.

One way of addressing this is with refectory style catering, which due to their size and layout are suitable for different party sizes – thus increasing your restaurant seating capacity, as well as the revenue potential of your restaurant, café etc. And if customers wish to be sociable and interact with their neighbours they can do. If however, they want a level privacy this arrangement is often much better than joining a larger party on a smaller table.