By Marcus
Marshall, HVMG Vice President, Restaurants & Bars
Like many restaurateurs, the last year has given HVMG the
opportunity to evaluate our offerings and innovate quickly in order to
keep creating experiences that guests love while also delivering owner
returns. Some changes -- like removing
half of the furniture in the dining room or selling inventory grocery-style --
may fade away, but there are "temporary" transformations that we know will
stick around long after our disposable face masks do.
HVMG's recipe for innovation includes one part technology, one part local marketing, and one part creative concepting.
High-Touch to High-Tech
Restaurants are by their very nature high-touch
businesses, so the need to create a frictionless dining experience felt
at odds with the hospitality our teams are used to serving up. In our effort to place health and safety
at the center of our operations, we experimented with a variety of
high-tech solutions that helped supplement HVMG's high-touch hospitality.
Frequent updates to websites, social profiles, and internal communications to keep guests and associates informed of operational changes
Online menus to allow guests to make selections without touching or sharing physical menus
Local delivery enabled by mobile apps
Integrated order and payment systems that allow for improved speed of service and more efficient staff scheduling
A Lot More Local
The pandemic magnified our immediate communities
as we spent more time than ever at home and were confined to neighborhood
strolls for entertainment. Many diners
heeded the call to support their local eateries, often repeating "We want
them to be open when this is all over, so we better get some takeout now." This focus on the hyper-local economy
was underscored as we experimented with virtual kitchens in some of our
locations.
For example, our Marin Comfort Kitchen sourced
artisan breads and farmstead cheeses from the surrounding area, put them
together into comforting grilled cheese sandwiches and healthy salads. They spread the word by investing in local
marketing that supplemented the marketing offered by delivery services. The combination of local ingredients, local
delivery, and local marketing allowed us to create a successful, profitable
concept with minimal investment in overheads.
Place-Driven Plates
Our creative restaurant and bar concepts have always
favored filling culinary gaps in the local market's dining scene. As we move forward, we are doubling down on
creating a sense of place. Our newest
creations are painstakingly designed to foster a sense of community and
authentic human connection. We are
making restaurants that guests are excited to return to.
For example, at our soon-to-open boutique hotel -- The
Curator in burgeoning Old Fourth Ward Atlanta -- we are curating chef-driven
dining experiences with a calendar of pop-up events that will feature the
rich diversity of Atlanta's culinary scene.
At Fiddletree, the three-meal restaurant at the forthcoming Elwood Hotel
in Lexington, Kentucky, we are designing the menu to acknowledge the
surrounding medical community by preparing healthy food with mindful awareness,
conscious cuisine that tastes as good as it makes you feel. The menu will highlight farms, breweries, and
distilleries in high-quality, casual preparations suited to our approachable
atmosphere.
Our Next Normal
We believe that the industry's "next normal"
will combine the best elements of our past successes with the innovations
we've devised and tested over the last year.
Thoughtfully deployed technology, true engagement with the local
communities, and novel concepts that guests and locals are excited to return to
are HVMG's secret ingredients for Excellent guest experiences and owner
returns.
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