Hospitality Operations: Alfredo Restaurant Analysis and Menu Planning

This report provides a detailed analysis of various aspects of restaurant operations, focusing on a hypothetical Italian cuisine restaurant named Alfredo. The report begins by examining different food production systems, including cook chill, cook freeze, sous-vide, assembly kitchen, conventional, and centralized systems, evaluating their suitability for the restaurant's needs. It then explores diverse food and beverage service methods, such as table service, gueridon service, buffet service, cafeteria service, take away, and room service, considering factors like cost, staff requirements, and return on investment. Furthermore, the report delves into menu engineering, applying the matrix to increase profitability by optimizing dish popularity and profit margins. Finally, the report addresses sustainable menu planning considerations, emphasizing factors beyond food, such as nutrition, food habits, and accurate representation of food preparation and quality, to ensure the restaurant's success and customer satisfaction.

HOSPITALITY
OPERATION 1
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Analyse different types of Food production systems. ............................................................3
2. Different types of Food and Beverage Service methods in restaurants..................................5
3. Analyse Menu Engineering matrix to increase profits............................................................6
4. Analyse sustainable menu planning consideration ................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
The food industries includes processing, converting, preparation, presentation, preserving
and packaging of food and other stuffs related to food. The food is the basic need of the people
and it is an important industry for every nation. It is contributing to the society and has economic
power in the hospitality industry (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2019). It satisfies the needs of the
people by providing and distributing quality foods. Alfredo is an Italian cuisine restaurant which
is opening in three months and the decisions are to be made related to the activities of pre-
opening and opening of the restaurant. The report includes analysing different types of food
production systems, beverages and food servicing methods, preparing menu engineering matrix
to increase profitability and sustainable planning of menu.
MAIN BODY
1. Analyse different types of Food production systems.
Food production includes converting the raw material to ready made food which is made
to consume. It is starting with cleaning, segregating, presenting and sorting of food.
Cook chill- It is a type of a preservation technique where food is food cooked at <100°C
and it will be chilled and stored under a condition where it will be monitored and the temperature
is 0-3°C. They have an extended shelf life where they will be kept at 4-7°C. The food should
have a guarantee so they use high quality raw material. The temperature of the food in Alfredo
restaurant should be check and the food should be delivered with temperature control.
Refrigerated food should be below 5°C, frozen foods should be below -18°C dry foods should be
10-21°C.
Cook freeze- The cook freeze food is maintained like cook chill food where the dish is
either super chilled or frozen chilled where it is put from -30°C-2°C. It is for more distant
market, where food is produced in bulk, they have greater shelf life, the raw materials are of
good quality (Ling, Liu and Wu, 2017). The environment for the cold storage food should be
clean and have a air circulation. The temperature should be check when stored and the packaging
should be sealed in an clean container. Stock rotation should be checked.
Sous-vide- It is a French word which means vacuum. The food is cooked in low
temperature for long time. The food is put in plastic pouches or in glass jars and they are put in
water for more than 7 hours which will keep them fresh. The food is cooked in the cooking tank
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where it takes hours to cook as it is a slow cook process. It will improve the taste and texture of
the food and it is the best method of cooking chicken. The food should be checked by the
manufacturing date and the when can it be used (Pirani and Arafat, 2016). The frozen foods
should be solid and completely frozen and packaging should not be torn. It should be labelled
correctly and check for infestation. The delivery should be made where vans have storage
facility.
Assembly Kitchen- It is food service provided by the restaurants where the time taken
for preparation is minimal and it reduces the cost of serving food. It minimizes the cost of labour
serving food. The food is prepared and served to the guests in less than 10 min and they will be
easy to made food and requires less time to cook. They are presented well to customers which
makes it attractive to eat. Alfredo has to check for the stock rotation and they should be stored in
clean environment. The packaging should be proper and they should not be stored on the ground
as it damages the food and increases wastage.
Conventional- It includes preservation of food, involves methods like canning,
refrigeration, irradiation and other methods like drying, soaking, salting, fermentation, etc. The
food should be solid frozen which no damage in the packaging and they should be stored in the
containers where the temperature is checked.
Centralized- The food is prepared in bulk by the skilled people in the kitchen and them
in it served in parts to the guests. They food need to be made according to the dishes.
2. Different types of Food and Beverage Service methods in restaurants.
Food and Beverage service methods for Alfredo can be of different type which includes
the factors like the type of method with is suitable for the restaurant, the return on investment,
cost of the meal and the staff.
Table service- It is a method used in American service, pre-plated service, English
service, etc. which includes serving the food on table. It includes a process where the guests are
seated on the table which is according to the number of members and they will order form the
menu. The waiter or the manager of the Alfredo restaurant will greet the guests and welcomes
them by addressing sir or madam. The special attention is given to the children. The skilled
waiters are required and the service is personalized. The food is placed on the table and served
by the waiters to the guest which is divided equally.
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Gueridon service- It is a methods where half cooked food is taken in a Gueridon trolley
to the service area. The trolley may have a stove to keep it hot and serve according to the
requirement of the guests. They food is placed in a movable trolley. It is used in high class
restaurants which is for high society people and have a la carte menu. It is expensive so the staff
should have the service skills and the restaurants have space to move the trolley. Alfredo
restaurants should be large or the seating should be less so that they can have the service (Franco
and et.al., 2020).
Buffet service- It is a self servicing method where the number of food options are served
on the table and the guests have to take it according to their taste. It generally as a fixed rate and
they will get everything from refreshments to deserts which they can take as many times as they
want (Melissen and Sauer, 2018). It is used by restaurants to feed the large number of guests
with less staff. They can take the food to their seats and have it or they have to stand and eat
when the guests are large. Alfredo can have buffet service for special occasions.
Cafeteria service- This is a service where the menu is fixed and have less options. The
prices can be less in cafes as they have minimum space with basic facilities. They have to save
the space so the seating are arranged according to the requirement to manage space. They have a
counter where the deserts are placed and there is little table service. The guests will have ready
made food and the beverages can be filled from self dispensers. It is a good service option for
Alfredo as cafeterias serve Italian food.
Take away- The take away is either from counter, delivery, website, telephone or drive
through. The service of the restaurant should be fast to provide efficiency. Alfredo restaurant can
have take away along with their restaurants to increase profits (Lipton and et.al, 2015). The
payments are make in advanced, through online payments or in cash when they receive it. The
use of technology is important in the service.
Room service- The food is served to the guests in the room and they will have fixed
menu for it. The room service menu should be according to the requirements of guests and want
to provide good experience to customers. Alfredo can use room service to give the guests options
to stay.
3. Analyse Menu Engineering matrix to increase profits
Menu Engineering is used by the restaurants to reduce the cost of operations which is not
used by maximum restaurants which can save 30% of the cost and increase profits (Huang and
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et.al., 2017). The restaurants need to analyse menu and reduce the operational cost to increase
efficiency. It is an art to maintain and positioned to reduce food and labour costs. The decisions
should be made to improve the performance of menu.
Menu Engineering Matrix
The matrix is based on the popularity and profitability which includes:
 Star- High profits, high popularity dish which the guests love and helps the restaurant to
increase profits.
 Plow horse- Less profits and high popularity dish which the guests love but to increase
sales the restaurants sell it on no profits no loss.
 Dog- Low profits, low popularity dish which is not getting sales and it involves cost to
produce it.
 Puzzle- High profits, low popularity dish which will give profits to the restaurants when
ordered.
Dump the dog
The dishes which are not ordered and increasing the costs for the restaurants should be
dumped. It can be the signature dish or liked by the owner but it is not giving sales. Alfredo
should identify the dishes as they are taking the space. They can have the dish which is liked by
guests as it will increase popularity and profits (Lelieveld, Holah and Gabric, 2016).
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Illustration 1: Menu Management, How to control restaurant cost
dish by dish, 2020.
Text 1: Source: Menu Management, How to control restaurant

Increase dishes to the Plow horse
The Plow horse dishes for Alfredo restaurant can be star when the cost is reduced and
profits are increased. The guests are attracted for the dishes but to increase profits they can be
modified to different sizes. For example when the dish is no profit no loss in full plate at a price
so they can be served at half plate. The dishes which are costly when cooked in small quantity
should make the strategies to sell in large quantities.
Look for redundancies
The dishes should be reduced to increase the efficiency of space in menu. For example
grilled sandwich, cottage cheese grilled, chicken grilled, Mayo cheese grilled sandwich, etc.
They can be used as grilled sandwich in menu and the ad on can include cheese, Mayo, veg and
non-veg.
Increase prices for star
The dishes are loved by the guests so the restaurants can increase the prices (Ekezie, Sun,
and Cheng, 2017). They are the best selling dishes of the restaurant and the guests do not want to
have alternates for them. They are not affected by the prices of the dishes and increase in price
will still attract the guests.
Arrange the menu
The size of the menu has an impact on the guests and the dishes they consider. The menu
is the face of the restaurant and it should be made with efforts. The dishes of Alfredo restaurant
should be arranged to increase their chances of order and when there are many dishes the dishes
that do not get ordered increases. It should be managed to reduce the inventory cost. The
strategies should be made where star dished should be in different type and the categories are
arranged not in the order of expensive to economical but on the basis of popularity.
4. Analyse sustainable menu planning consideration
The menu is the most important factor for the success of the restaurant. The decisions of
the guests to a large extent is on menu of the restaurant.
The factors for sustainable menu planning
Think beyond food- It includes the factor to be determined like colour, texture,flavour,
size and the quality of the dishes. The restaurant manager has to analyse the cost, production and
other management when they are planning it. The planning is based on the nutrition value, food
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habits, etc. The menu should be true and have accuracy in terms of quantity, quality, price, food
preparation, etc. The food is the image of the restaurant and lying is not acceptable.
Alfredo restaurant should determine that they do not say false things to increase profits
(Kosseva and Webb, 2020). They should be simple and attracted which have the dishes which
are understood by the guest. They should not be long which will distract the guests and will not
go for more options.
Localise the supply chain- The supply chain should be nearest so that there is no delay
in order. The dishes which can be available to the guest should be provided because the role of
supply chain is important to serve the guests.
Update the menu seasonally- The menu should be updated seasonally and should have
the special dish or a category of dishes which should be good in taste and have the factor of
seasonality. It can be themed based like in summers they can have a different menu which have
dishes and drinks of mango.
Buy in bulk- There are dishes which is popular for the restaurants and they have demand
for it always so the restaurants should have the bulk stock of it so that they are available to guests
and they do not get delayed. These dishes help in selling other dishes.
Shrink the menu- The menu should be shrinked and the dishes which they can serve
easily should be put. They should have popular dishes which are important to increase profits of
the restaurants.
Alfredo restaurants should have the menu on their website, on social media and the food
applications. The dishes should be placed in the menu where the customers are attracted the
most, displaying prices to provide convenience to the guests and the dishes should be in different
categories. They should identify the menu which will fit in to them like different menu for
breakfast, lunch and dinner and the dishes to include in the categories, deciding the number of
options to select, the best dish on the menu, complementary and discounts. The menu should
have starters and desserts. The strategy should be made as the expensive dishes will increase
profits and they should be managed to reduce costs.
The menu planning is effective when the restaurants use menu engineering matrix and
focus on reducing the cost by increasing the demand of the guests for the dishes which are
popular and increases profits for the restaurant.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that the restaurants has to decide on various things
when they are planning to open. The most important is the food production systems, food and
beverages services, menu planning as they help them in achieving success. The dishes are
identified according the needs of customers and they should make the strategies to achieve
through planning. The food industry has become an important part of the business and the
processes have changed with the innovation in the operations. They should take measure to
improve the process of food to reduce wastage and it will make the process fast. They have to
respond to the demand of the society and have high profit and high growth. The food industry
contributes to the availability of food and focuses on availability and the quality of food.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Boella, M.J. and Goss-Turner, S., 2019. Human resource management in the hospitality
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Ling, Q., Liu, F. and Wu, X., 2017. Servant versus authentic leadership: Assessing effectiveness
in China’s hospitality industry. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. 58(1). pp.53-68.
Franco, S. and et.al., 2020. Are you good enough? CSR, quality management and corporate
financial performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality
Management. 88. p.102395.
Melissen, F. and Sauer, L., 2018. Improving sustainability in the hospitality industry. Routledge.
Lipton, J.I. and et.al, 2015. Additive manufacturing for the food industry. Trends in food science
& technology. 43(1). pp.114-123.
Huang, H.W. And et.al., 2017. Current status and future trends of high-pressure processing in
food industry. Food control. 72. pp.1-8.
Lelieveld, H.L., Holah, J. and Gabric, D. eds., 2016. Handbook of hygiene control in the food
industry. Woodhead Publishing.
Ekezie, F.G.C., Sun, D.W. and Cheng, J.H., 2017. A review on recent advances in cold plasma
technology for the food industry: Current applications and future trends. Trends in Food
Science & Technology. 69. pp.46-58.
Yamjala, K., Nainar, M.S. and Ramisetti, N.R., 2016. Methods for the analysis of azo dyes
employed in food industry–a review. Food chemistry. 192. pp.813-824.
Kosseva, M.R. and Webb, C. eds., 2020. Food industry wastes: assessment and recuperation of
commodities. Academic Press.
Online
Menu Management: How to Control Restaurant Costs Dish by Dish. 2020 [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.rewardsnetwork.com/blog/menu-control-restaurant-costs/>
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