Phaidon’s latest cookbook sees 20 leading chefs choose 100 emerging chefs to present a menu.
Today’s Special tasks 20 well-established chefs from across the globe to select five emerging chefs each and is a sort-of sequel to Phaidon’s oddly-titled 2009 tome Coco. Coincidentally or otherwise, some of the chefs that were tipped by leading chefs back then are now doing the tipping themselves, including our own Skye Gyngell.
The 100 chefs selected are impressively diverse, proving that in 2021 one doesn’t have to look hard to find interesting people from a wide range of geographies and backgrounds creating brilliant food. Even more commendably, over a third of the chefs selected are female (taking into account the handful of woman/man chef duos featured in the book). 50% would clearly be better, but given the lack of representation of women in top kitchens it’s a step in the right direction.
Collecting data effectively and using it intelligently can have a transformational effect on hospitality businesses.
A huge advantage to businesses that take a digital approach is the amount of customer data at their disposal that provides them with vital insight into their customers’ purchasing habits and helps them target them more effectively with marketing campaigns.
Prask Sutton, founder and CEO at Wi5 says the huge amount of data collected by mobile payment systems alone is already being used by operators to great effect. “Even something as basic as seeing which popular things are ordered together can help operators increase average transaction values by offering add-ons and creating offers,” she says.
With talk of the easing of lockdown and restaurants set to reopen sometime in the spring, we ve finally dusted down the crystal ball to see what 2021 might bring in terms of restaurant and eating out trends. Part one: lifestyle trends.
Wednesday is the new Friday
Past contenders for the new Friday have been Thursday (why wait for the weekend?) and Sunday (why let the end of the weekend stop the fun?) but hump day has always seemed a rather unlikely contender for this title. But then Covid came along and changed the game. Every day might feel like a wet Sunday at the moment but once offices finally reopen the after work meal and drink ritual will return. However, predictions that people will be in the office for fewer days, most likely at the start of the week, are leading some to predict that the new end of the office working week - aka Wednesday - will see the biggest spike in trade in the week. Michelle McIntosh, founder of the soon-to-launch restauran
Gary Banks and Kate Burns from Reputation on why hospitality businesses should care about what’s being said about them online.
With a reopening date for hospitality now pencilled in, many businesses will be starting to think about marketing. With huge swathes of the industry throwing open their doors concurrently, visibility online will be essential to success. In the latest Hostech podcast, Gary Banks and Kate Burns from reputation management expert Reputation outline how businesses can get noticed online.
“The vast majority of user journeys start on Google so that’s the one to concentrate on, especially if you are limited on resources, which most restaurants are at the moment,” says customer engagement manager Burns. “By understanding what that algorithm looks for you can increase visibility, get more click throughs and – ultimately – win more customers.”
It’s taken a pandemic, but hospitality operators are finally beginning to understand the power of digital and the wealth of data it generates
Sadly, the industry will emerge leaner from the pandemic, but it has forced operators to embrace digital. This new-found understanding of how technology and intelligent use of the data it generates can improve both the customer experience and the bottom line will help many operators survive and hopefully thrive in the coming months and years.
Mobile payments and ordering have helped operators serve customers safely and efficiently. But the technology has also opened the door for a new era of personalisation by way of digital menus. Imagine being able to tailor a menu for a particular time of day or occasion, or even a specific customer.