One of the top hotels Los Angeles is revamping its wine list and the major supplier in the country offered a large incentive for taking over its suggestions of wines by the glass. The food & beverage (F&B) management team were debating and found that even though there were quite a few good references on the list, it were all wines that could be found all over the region.
Adapting the suggestions from the supplier would enable the operation to create more value for its stakeholders and possibly supply the funds to enhance the product itself.
The same F&B team had discussed recently that all the menus across the city are basically the same. One doesn’t have to look at what’s on the list, and in a culture where the middle class eats out 5 times per week (if not more) that is quite shocking.
Would this send the hotel down the same route, and if so is that something desirable for an upscale operation? The same situation has already occurred in the broadcasting industry, especially the So-Californian radio stations. The successful stations play the same songs, over and over again. It has become so annoying to the general public that even national comedians joke about it on TV. Yet it does not change and their ratings are through the roof. Why? Perhaps because there are no other options or perhaps because it is truly what the majority of consumers want.
Is this the road for the restaurant industry now? Simple dishes, well known inexpensive wines and mediocre service are the new ingredients to success?
Should a restaurateur take the risk and try something completely different, focusing on quality of the products, wines and ensuring that there is diversity it can be very successful. There are still a few restaurants in Los Angeles that do so, such as Terroni’s on Beverly Blvd, where no replacements are allowed and not a single wine on the list is known to the average guest. However the sommelier asks what you like, what you are having and finds a wonderful match to a dish the chef has decided is perfect for you.
This brings us back to the original dilemma… what will the F&B management team choose? Diversity, quality or incentive… Let us know what you think what they should choose and why that would be the best decision…
