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New diners, new opportunities: how restaurants turn first-timers into VIPs

In 2019 a whopping 70% of OpenTable reservations came from diners booking a restaurant for the first time. Given that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, we reached out to restaurant owners and managers to learn more about their approach to serving new guests. While it starts with the reservation, that’s really just the beginning. The way the restaurant uses information, trains staff, shares data with servers, records preferences and experiences, and ultimately serves diners are all crucial to turning first-timers into regulars and VIPs.

New or Not?

While you may be able to tell if a diner is new to a restaurant from a reservation, it’s also possible that you won’t know. One person may be reserving for a group, so even if the person reserving isn’t new to a restaurant, someone else in the party could be.

Of course, the easiest way to find out if they are new to the restaurant is to ask. But should you ask?

At Saffron Nola, a James Beard-nominated Indian restaurant with Cajun influences in New Orleans, general manager Taylor Adams says yes.

“We like to ask guests whether it is their first time with us,” he explains. “If we don’t recognize the patron as a regular, we look at a guest’s booking history with the restaurant. Of course, they may have visited before under a different account or with friends, but there is a distinct chance that an account booked via OpenTable with no previous record is a new guest, and many also choose to note that it is their first time under booking notes.”

Likewise, at Ocean Prime restaurants, Director of Training Tricia Finke shares that servers are given a preview of what is printed from OpenTable when guests are seated. Managers also encourage service staff to ask if guests have dined with at the restaurant before.

“When making reservations, we train our guest services team to make sure we are getting our guest’s name, accurate phone number, and email address so we are able to identify if they have dined with us before,” she says.

Jerry Tabije, the general manager at Trailblazer Tavern in San Francisco, says he spends much of his day identifying first-time diners and VIPs. Being able to see who’s been and how often they’ve been in is a big advantage.

Nearby at Perbacco, owner Umberto Gibin says that while it isn’t a general practice for servers to ask if diners are new, some servers do. It also depends somewhat on when they are dining. “At lunch we have a lot of repeat guests; at dinner we have travelers and locals. With everyone, we listen to what they say.”

Service & Training

It comes as no surprise that it’s important to treat all guests well, regardless of whether it’s their first visit to the restaurant or not. But should they be treated differently if they are new?

According to Finke, no. “We treat new guests and returning guests very similarly because we believe every guest is a VIP. We train our associates to get to know our guests by genuinely interacting and understanding their wants and needs. It starts with their water preference, to the way they enjoy their steak and continues until we learn their favorite after dinner drink or dessert.”

At Saffron, Adams says they train staff to read guests’ energy and gauge whether or not a guest would like pointers to navigating the unique menu and experience. “In our pre-shift meetings, we discuss specific guests for the night, emphasizing any notes regarding dietary restrictions, preferences, or special occasions,” he says.

A high-touch experience is something Gibin strives for, too. He adds, “If the server sees the guest is hesitant or doesn’t understand the menu, if they are less sophisticated, a little extra care goes a long way.”

“I talk with my team before shifts to highlight what we can do,” says Tabije. “It doesn’t mean you have give away the house, but people are looking for the experience. Putting them at a table where you know they’ll have a good time, we curate the experience—if they order a couple of appetizers and they are vegetarian, we might send out an amuse to try out that’s also vegetarian.” [Read More…]

How José Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen feeds the hungry, supports communities & changes the world

When disaster strikes, chefs are often on the frontlines of crisis, cooking and serving people in immediate need. Last year, World Central Kitchen, the disaster relief nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés, activated in response to 13 disasters from the US-Mexico border to the beaches of Indonesia. The organization engages local chefs and producers to feed the hungry and provide ongoing support to help communities sustain themselves in the long term.

OpenTable is proud to have presented a “Feeding the World” dinner, hosted by Andrés and showcasing dishes from around the globe, at this month’s South Beach Wine and Food Festival. For every ticket purchased, we will make a $10 donation to World Central Kitchen.

Here, we invite you to get involved, too. Read our Q&A with the World Central Kitchen team to learn how they mobilize resources, nurture communities in need, and create connections and infrastructure for healthy food systems in the years to come. Learn about volunteer opportunities here.

First of all, tell us about the work you’re doing in Australia right now. What’s the most urgent need, and how is the team addressing it?

A WCK team has been on the ground in Australia since about January 4th, working with and within hard-hit communities to assess what people and local businesses really need. In many small communities in Victoria and New South Wales, the town’s economy of small cafes and restaurants, already really dependent on a very short, two-month tourist season, have collapsed. We’ve not only partnered with local restaurants to cook from their kitchens and deliver hot meals to firefighters and community members, but have also piloted a program called Feel Good Feeds that gives neighbors a punch card to use at their favorite local spots, for which World Central Kitchen foots the bill. Here are two stories about our ongoing work in Australia.
– Sam Bloch, Director of Field Operations

What responsibility or opportunity do chefs have to communities in need after a crisis? How would you encourage other chefs to help?

Chefs and the hospitality community usually see feeding and taking care of people as not just their work but as a huge part of their lives and personalities – if their community is in crisis, the first thing they think to do is to start cooking. When World Central Kitchen deploys to help a community in crisis, one of the very first things we do is connect with local chefs to assess need and available resources and make a plan to get people cooking and serving. Chefs have these answers and know their communities and how to marshal resources better than most anyone. World Central Kitchen has built a network of chefs around the world who stand ready to help their communities when needed. We’re also working on developing a curriculum in disaster-relief cooking that will hopefully be part of more and more chefs’ overall training, so every chef will have this very specific base of knowledge and readiness…just in case.
– Tim Kilcoyne, Director of Chef Operations

Food can be a source of both nourishment and comfort in a crisis, as you have said. What kinds of dishes do you try to serve to communities in need, and what are the logistics or challenges of getting fresh, locally sourced foods to those communities?

All the meals we serve will always be fresh and healthy, but we work closely with the local community to make sure we’re cooking food that people love, meals they may not be able to make or buy for themselves during the crisis. A good example of this recently was fire engine, a corned beef dish traditionally eaten on Sundays in The Bahamas. We mobilized our kitchens across all three islands to make it every Sunday! Logistically, we attack the problem of sourcing from the inside out and seek local vendors, grocers, and suppliers to augment and, if possible, take the place of large wholesale vendors so we can adhere to our mission of helping local economies always. If the disaster has done enough damage to close everything down, we will be sure to work with local providers to get them back online and purchase from them when they do.
– Josh Phelps, Relief Operations Manager [Read More…]

This week in restaurant news: America’s Classics, dry January, why small restaurant groups succeed

Every week we’re rounding up some of our favorite articles with trends and tidbits from the world of restaurants. Tell us: what made your reading list this week?

Announcing the 2020 America’s Classics Winners – James Beard Foundation
Ahead of the big show this spring, the James Beard Foundation announced six recipients of their America’s Classics Awards. The restaurants honored include a chicken-dinner behemoth and an ice cream shop, and span from Seattle to Little Rock. Read their stories here.

‘Rage Baking’ Authors Under Fire For Not Crediting African American Baker Behind a Similar Project – The Washington Post
A new cookbook titled Rage Baking sparked debate after an African American artist named Tangerine Jones accused the authors of co-opting the “ragebaking” idea, which first appeared on her website. Here, Tim Carman contextualizes the controversy in the long history of women of color being denied credit for their work.

Heavily Hyped Restaurants Are Closing at an Alarming Rate – Grub Street
Even big names, fancy pedigrees, and successful track records couldn’t save some recent New York restaurants from closing in their first couple of years of operation. What does that say about the value of hype in translating to real, sustainable business?

Does Dry January Dry Up Bar Sales? – Eater
More people are starting the year off alcohol-free, meaning slower sales and fewer tips for servers and bartenders. Find out the real effects of Dry January on a bottom line, and how bars can get creative with thoughtful mocktails.

The secret to San Francisco chefs’ success? Small restaurant groups – San Francisco Chronicle
Small organizations allow independent restaurants to borrow structure and stability from the corporate world without sacrificing the mom-and-pop atmospheres they love. Read on to learn why that’s more important now than ever before.

In demand: Dana Cowin and branding in the digital age

Every era has its hero. Dana Cowin was editor-in-chief of Food & Wine, one of the last bastions of swoon-worthy food magazine heavies, for 21 years. Over those two decades, Cowin and her team were gastronomy mile markers. They thoughtfully crafted the words and images that defined those legendary pages, inspiring a generation of curious eaters.

It’s no surprise that the woman who revolutionized how people read and learn about food and wine is busier than ever.

A Day in the Life

Cowin gets more done in a day than most people cross off in a week, and that’s just how she likes it. She is the chief brand advisor for Dig Food Group, host of the podcast Speaking Broadly, and a coach for others in the industry.

“I will sometimes begin the morning with a coaching client,” says Cowin, who consults with industry professionals eager to figure out how to make meaningful changes, just as she has in her own life. “For me, it was so hard to have the perfect job for so long and such a pain point, because I couldn’t leave until I could visualize what was next and take that leap.”

Cowin relishes devoting time to Dig Food Group, which just opened 232 Bleecker with Chef Suzanne Cupps, the chef of the celebrated Untitled. New Dig projects include openings in Philadelphia and more to come.

“Then, potentially there is lunch and putting in some time working at The Wing, where I pop in, open my laptop, and get a few emails done,” says Cowin, who supports nonprofits like the Food and Finance High School, New York City’s only culinary public high school.

In Cowin’s world, a big chunk of every perfect day would be reaching out to someone for her Speaking Broadly podcast, which airs each Wednesday for listeners on Heritage Radio Network, iTunes, and Stitcher. This spring, Cowin will also launch her own zine of the same name.

“This is one of the most exciting creative projects I’ve ever worked on, filled with people and meetings, and weekends with a week’s worth of email to catch up,” says Cowin. “I’ve been busy going out to new restaurants to see what people are eating and thinking about, so food adventures are always high on my list.”

When Cowin took over running Food & Wine in 1994, she and her team changed the magazine in a way that no one else had done before. It gave readers a different way to look at the world through the lens of food, rather than houses or fashion. Her zine aims to be of this particular moment, when food writing has become very personal.

“I like to help other people shout out broadly, pay it forward to pay it forward, and it goes to the heart of what people consider in their daily lives,” says Cowin.

Branding in the Digital Age: Staying a Step Ahead

The recent H.O.S.T. Summit + Social was founded by industry powerhouse producer Shari Bayer, the brains behind Bayer Public Relations. (The H.O.S.T. acronym stands for hospitality, operations, services, and technology.) Bayer brought her popular All in the Industry podcast to life in the inaugural event last month, when Cowin moderated a panel called “Branding in the Digital Age.”

Since leaving Food & Wine, Cowin has worked with several companies on branding projects, so she understands how the myriad digital tools available today can feel complicated and noisy to chefs and restaurateurs.

“So many chefs I know have become disenchanted with PR, believing they can do that part on their own and develop relationships one-on-one with journalists to pitch their story,” she says. “Plus, they often don’t have the budget for PR. Some of that is pragmatic and some is confidence, owning your own channels.”

To win the digital marketing race, Cowin favors the long game. But that requires vision and dedication.

“Authenticity is the starting point to any brand, because these days everyone can sniff out the inauthentic,” says Cowin. “There is so much in the world that is the same. To me, the difference between authentic and inauthentic is the difference between original personalities, not cobbled together through an algorithm.” [Read More…]

What to do after Valentine’s Day

If you’re a restaurant operator, you likely just had one of your biggest days of the year. Congratulations! Keep the momentum by carrying your Valentine’s Day success forward into the months ahead, leveraging learnings, and encouraging repeat business. First, take stock of how you did, from the hard numbers to guest feedback. Next, follow up with guests to make sure they come back. Here’s how.

Take stock of how you did

First things first: run the numbers. Pull covers and revenue data to measure the impact of the holiday. Look at the mix of party sizes, average turn times, and the pacing of seating. How did your game plan perform? Was the floor efficient? Did you have enough staff? What could have gone better?

Dig into guest and menu data. Review the books to see who dined with you on Valentine’s Day. Make note of first-time guests and repeat ones, locals and out-of-towners in guest notes. Integrate your OpenTable and POS systems to analyze the most popular and profitable menu items (from a regular or set menu) and beverages, such as cocktails or bottles of wine.

Close the loop on marketing campaigns. Restaurants using OpenTable’s marketing tracking feature can measure reservations and revenue back to digital marketing channels and campaigns. If you’re tracking already, see how many guests booked as a result of a Google Ad or email send. You can also track ROI on email campaigns with Venga. Whether you promoted a special Valentines Day menu or targeted your VIP’s to welcome them back, check in to see how many covers and how much revenue was generated directly from your email marketing efforts.(If not, be sure to set up tracking for Mother’s Day!)

Assess staff performance. Hospitality is paramount every day, but guest expectations for service are even higher on Valentine’s Day. Analyze staff performance with Venga’s Server Scorecard, which shows each server’s average feedback rating, server comparison data, and all reviews associated with that server. Identify and reward your top performers on the floor with a bonus or special shout-out, and tailor growth opportunities to each individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

Read the reviews. Pull up all the review sites where you have a presence and start reading. Notice one-off criticisms, but don’t dwell on them. Instead, focus on issues that come up repeatedly, such as wait times, an over-salted dish, or an unenthusiastic server. Venga’s Sentiment Analysis feature aggregates and analyzes reviews from across the web in one place and matches sentiments to food, service, and atmosphere, so restaurants can take action on feedback. Finally, run keyword search for “Valentine’s Day” or a specific menu item to learn about guests’ overall impression. [Read More…]

This week in restaurant news: women food critics, weird Valentine’s Day asks, the future of wine bars

Every week we’re rounding up some of our favorite articles with trends and tidbits from the world of restaurants. Tell us: what made your reading list this week?

A Wine Bar for the People – Eater
Countless Parisian nights unfold at the city’s famous natural wine bars, which haven’t achieved the same hold in U.S. cities. That’s because commercial American rents are too high to allow lingering – which is exactly what makes the French drinking culture so special. As Meghan McCarron argues here, the best hope for a relaxed bar culture stateside might be in smaller cities like Milwaukee or Kansas City, rather than NYC.

We Asked the People Behind Some of DC’s Restaurants and Hotels to Share the Weirdest Valentine’s Day Requests They’ve Received – Washingtonian
A “real” cupid to shoot a romantic partner. Hearts made out of Goldfish crackers. An engagement ring hidden in a raw oyster. Read on for some truly original guest requests on Valentine’s Day – and how restaurants went above and beyond to pull them off.

How Much Should Restaurants Pay Employees? – Toast
To play in today’s competitive hiring market, restaurants have to offer a great culture, career growth opportunities, and of course, attractive compensation. Toast dives into the details of structuring employee pay, from hourly vs. salaried to the minimum-wage laws that affect the bottom line.

“No One Suspected Me”: Women Food Critics Dish on Dining Out for a Living – Salon
Women don’t always enjoy the same level of service that men do – even if those women are professional critics. Writer Cara Strickland shares tales of gendered dining inequality, including one restaurant that offered a male critic an entirely different wine list than a female one, and another who cautioned a female critic about ordering a pork chop that was (he assured her) too large.

The Blockbuster Era Changed Movies Forever. Now It Will Transform Restaurants. – Robb Report
The golden age of television and movie streaming has a dining equivalent, Jeremy Repanich writes: delivery and fast casual. He predicts that restaurants in the future will have to be “big, bold and pegged to recognizable names,” just as today’s films need superheroes and villains to get a green light on production. Read his take and discuss.

7-step guide to choosing the best restaurant point-of-sale system

Choosing the best point of sale for your restaurant is no easy task. Your restaurant’s POS system touches almost every aspect of your business. Your choice needs to be carefully thought out and based on your restaurant’s current needs, while also keeping in mind how you want to scale your business down the line.

Especially if you’re new to the restaurant scene, having a step-by-step guide can help you consider the most important features and elements a POS system can bring to your restaurant. While the items below aren’t an exhaustive list, consider this your must-have starting point for choosing a restaurant POS system ideal for your business needs.

1. Make sure it’s easy to use

Restaurant POS systems are designed to make your staff’s lives easier. However, if your POS system requires 15 manuals and an advanced calculus degree to operate, getting your staff to adapt isn’t going to be easy.

When selecting a POS solution for the needs of your restaurant, consider the following:

How quickly orders come in
The flow of the restaurant floor
How many items are on the menu
Average turnover time

You can add about 1,000 other common variables to this list depending on your restaurant’s workflow. Each restaurant is unique, and a restaurant POS system needs to reflect that. A highly customizable, simply laid out restaurant POS system is key to keeping business moving at the right pace, while also being accessible to new staff members. The easier your system is to learn and use, the faster your new hires can hit the floor running (and selling).

2. Choose a POS system that focuses on data

As simple as the POS system interface should be for operators, the backend needs to offer the depth of detail necessary to gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace. Opting for a POS system that garners customer data, inventory information, and countless other metrics will allow you to adjust ordering, staff appropriately for each shift, and determine the right strategy for optimal success on your busiest nights. Considering all of the information flows through your POS system each day is vital when evaluating POS systems.

What’s more, your POS system should more than just gather data; it should organize data and automate decisions based on it, from automatic ordering of low-stock items to optimized seating arrangements. With information about diner preferences, you can quickly identify their preferences, and from there, launch highly targeted, data-driven marketing campaigns.

3. Pick a system with scalability

To get the most out of your cloud-based POS system and plan for restaurant growth, you want to find one that has the ability to automatically upgrade software, add features and apps, increase data collection, and remain optimized for the lifespan of your equipment. Scalability is something that is often overlooked by newcomers to POS systems, but is something that is indispensable when productivity and profitability increase.

Features you may not currently need might become paramount once you expand your restaurant’s offerings or open a new location. Think about this: A couple of years ago, online ordering was something individual restaurants had to carry out themselves. Today there are a variety of apps that do it for you, but they require a POS system that can integrate with theirs. [Read More…]

Rise Above the Noise: Learn How to Reach More Diners with Our New Guide