S H O W T I M E : W i n n i n g C h e f s , M i x o l o g i s t s & B a r i s ta s at F o o d & B e v L i v e
Dublin
Rising
FEBRUARY 2012
Changes in the Capital
Seafood Special
The Great Fish Debate
BaxterStorey’s Mike Malloy ✛ IASI AWARDS ✛ Ballyfin’s Fred Cordonnier
New
inside... FEBRUARY 2012 Volume 45, Number 02
Your sauces, your way Just add water, fresh ingredients and your inspiration
24 12 06 40 36 04 EDITOR’S VIEW Joint Labour Committees
18
06 NEWS
Calories on Menus
12 COVER STORY Changes in the Capital
18 IN CONVERSATION with BaxterStorey’s Mike Malloy
22 SHOWTIME
Smoking Solutions
24 FOOD SPOTLIGHT
40 WHISKEY
31 SEASONS
42 AWARDS
32 HOW TO...
43 FRANCHISE
36 KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
45 MOVERS & SHAKERS
Springtime Delights
Cut Kitchen Waste Costs
Ballyfin’s Fred Cordonnier
34 TRENDS Growing Your Own
Create More story at
www.knorrcreatemore.ie
38 INGREDIENTS
Results from Food & Bev Live The Great Fish Debate
Follow the
37 Q+A
The Law on Eggs
No.23 at The Merrion
Accommodation Managers Honoured New Business Opportunities Jobs Market Heats Up
46 FIVE MINUTES
with Trinity Capital’s Denise Campbell
EDITOR Sarah Grennan DESIGNER Jeannie Swan CONTRIBUTORS Marilyn Bright, Ruth Hegarty PRODUCTION Jim Heron CIRCULATION Josie Keane ADMIN Marian Donohoe MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon Grennan CHAIRMAN Frank Grennan Printing SPS, Wicklow HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW is published by JEMMA PUBLICATIONS Broom House, 65 Mulgrave Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, t: 01 214 7920, f: 01 214 7950, e: sales@jemma.ie, w: www.hotelandcateringreview.ie, www.jemma.ie © No part of Hotel & Catering Review may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of Jemma Publications. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Hotel & Catering Review or Jemma Publications. ISSN: 0332-4400 SUBSCRIBE For annual subscription rates visit our website www.hotelandcateringreview.ie COVER IMAGE: Tourism Ireland
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ JANUARY 2012
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EDITOR’S VIEW: JOINT LABOUR COMMITTEES
Hotel & Catering Review
Rage Against
the Machine M
y husband came home from a business trip abroad recently, chuckling about an article he had read by Thomas L Friedman in the global edition of The New York Times. The jist of it was that ‘average is over’ – it’s no good just trundling along anymore, in today’s vastly pressured and rapidly changing marketplace you have to stand out in your field if you are to have any hope of holding on to your job. Friedman quoted a joke about modern textile mills. The average mill has just two employees today – a man and his canine sidekick. ‘The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.’ What really tickled husband’s fancy, however, was the featured gizmo from US firm ‘E La Carte’. Dubbed the ‘Presto’, it is a form of ‘souped up iPad’, which allows diners to order and pay via the device at the table, bypassing the need for human contact with waiters. Customers can choose from the
menu, ask for special requirements such as their dressing on the side, receive notification of when their food will be delivered, split the bill with others in their company, and have the receipt emailed to them, all the while playing games on the console if their companions didn’t provide enough entertainment. So far, so ghastly I say. But husband, who has accompanied me on enough Gold Medal Awards visits to see Irish service at its very best, and very worst, thought it was a splendid idea altogether. (Although, perhaps I should clarify that I had just hit him over dinner with aspirations to redecorate, so a machine enabling him to tune me out probably appealed...) Joking aside, it got me thinking. With ever more advances in technology and with the continued globalisation of industry, will machines continue to replace man, even in a business as reliant on the human touch like hospitality? Hard-pressed caterers working
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on ever tighter margins might see the benefit. Factoring in that each console costs $100 (c.e76) a month, if an average restaurant is serving eight hours a day, seven days a week, then it works out about 42c (32c) per hour, per table, ‘making it cheaper than even the very cheapest waiter’, said its inventors. Like I said, ghastly. But while E La Carte’s Presto may find a place in themed-diners and fast food joints, far removed from the world of ‘A La Carte’, there is a point to make about the rising cost of employing staff. If pay rates keep rising hospitality operators might even consider calling in the machines. Either way, they’ll certainly stop creating new employment and with more than 440,000 on the live register that is a very perilous position indeed. We can talk about euro crises and twotiered economies until we’re blue in the face, but unless we get people back working, we have no hope of emerging from this recession. You don’t need a fancy degree in economics to know that to generate employment you need to generate trade, to generate trade in a recession you need to keep prices competitive, to keep prices competitive you need to keep costs down. You do not introduce measures to increase them. Here at Hotel & Catering Review, we’re not big believers in targeting the marginalised in society. We certainly do not feel comfortable cutting the wages of those on the bottom rung of the employment ladder, while senior civil servants head off into the sunset, backpacks bulging with lucrative pensions. We strongly believe in the necessity of a minimum wage that is FAIR FOR ALL. But, we must admit, we are still baffled at why the minimum wage in the services sector should be higher than any other industry. Surely the national minimum wage should be exactly that: National. When I was a mere whippersnapper working an entry-level weekend retail job while in college, it amused me no end that my hourly rate at the time was higher than what my sister – a marketing graduate with a seven year head start on me in the working world – and my brother, a soon to be qualified accountant, were bringing home.
3
Must Reads
news ezine service
Years later, now that I look back from the other end of the spectrum, I have to admit that I don’t quite get the joke.
12
I
f you haven’t been paying close attention, you may have missed the signs that the JLC debate is rearing its Dublin Rising head again, and it’s not looking pretty. Changing structures Jobs & Enterprise Minister Richard and rising tides in Bruton – no doubt conscious in his brief the capital that to create jobs he needs to support enterprise – has endeavoured to overhaul the pay system following last year’s ruling on the unconstitutionality of the old Joint Labour Committee system. But he has been ploughing a lonely furrow and has Government colleagues with strong Seafood & Eat It? links to the union movement to contend Ruth Hegarty’s insightful with. analysis of Ireland’s For employers in hospitality, this spells relationship with fish trouble, and word on the street is that a water-tight new system will include much of the measures business owners found so vexatious in the past – such as burdensome Sunday pay rates and an industry specific minimum wage higher than the national rate. And of course, this will apply to every hotel and catering Talking Terroir business – including the hotel trade in Fred Cordonnier on the Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Cork which importance of listening avoided JLC rates in the past, as well as to the seasons all caterers – whether serving food for eating in or taking out. Hospitality lobbyists appeared before the Oireachtas on St Valentine’s Day to plead their case but privately, they are not confident. Should the opposition be too strong to fight then we will, in all likelihood, have more burdensome pay scales to deal with in 2013. As one lobbyist told us, ‘this is very grave indeed as it will act as a barrier to employment at entry level while also pushing up wage rates further up the ladder. Quite simply, employers will stop taking new people on.’ Expect plenty more on this issue in the coming months as the legislation on reforms in the JLC/REA system makes its way through the houses of the Oireachtas. Let’s hope the powers that be recognise the need to support enterprise as much as employees and create a system that is fair for all, for the sake of all. Our recovery depends on it. Already retailers like Argos are replacing staff at the tills with new ATM-like ordering and pay systems, while one senior industry chef recently noted that investing in e1,000 Thermomix was cheaper than hiring a commis. Is this a sign of things to come? u
22 36
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NEWS
RAI Objects to Calorie Counts The Restaurants Association has strongly criticised moves by Minister for Health James Reilly to introduce legislation requiring caterers to include calories on menus. ‘This is going to cost the industry more than e100m. There are 22,000 food operations in the country and we estimate it will cost each restaurant e5,000 to put calories on the menus by the time restaurateurs have brought in a dietician to evaluate the calorie content and test all the dishes, reprint the menus, train staff and so on,’ said RAI CEO Adrian Cummins. Minister Reilly caught restaurateurs by surprise this month when he announced plans to oblige restaurateurs to include the calorie count of each dish on their menus. The Minister wrote to quick service operators and large scale caterers last year with a view to publishing calories, however, restaurateurs believed it would not apply to smaller businesses. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has launched a national consultation on the issue and invited interested parties to submit their views in an online survey. To take part in the survey, visit fsai.ie. The website also includes advice regarding putting calories on menus. ‘In Ireland, two out of every three men and over half of all women are either overweight or obese. Of great concern too is that we are seeing year-on-year growth in the number of our children and teenagers who are overweight. Heart disease, cancer, stroke and type two diabetes are all conditions aggravated by obesity, particularly when it occurs at younger ages. We need this type of initiative to help people help themselves to avoid such conditions,’ commented Minister Reilly. ‘Information about the amount of calories you will consume in the foods and drinks you are choosing is fundamental to enabling people make healthier choices. Displaying calories on menus has been shown to be effective in other countries in this regard. We want to emulate that success here and I have already had a very positive response from fast food outlets and cafĂŠs and would strongly encourage the wider foodservice sector in Ireland to embrace this initiative.’
Bite Size CASTLEWOOD HOUSE in Dingle has been elevated to world-class status by users of Tripadvisor. The Kerry guesthouse was named the world’s sixth best hotel, Europe’s second best and Ireland’s best hotel in the Tripadvisor Awards. Loch Lein Country House, also in Kerry, was named Ireland’s second best hotel, while Strandhill Lodge & Suites in Sligo took third place. THE HAMPTON HOTEL in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 was also celebrating following the announcement of the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards. The hotel was named Trendiest Hotel in Ireland, third trendiest hotel in Europe and seventh trendiest in the world. DISCOVERIRELAND.IE was named Site of the Year 2011 by Kentico Software, the web content management system provider. The website, which was redesigned last year, was chosen for the global award from 200 entries. AER ARANN’S regional flight schedule for Aer Lingus this summer will include two new routes, from Bournmouth to Dublin and Rennes to Shannon. The airline is also increasing the frequency of flights on nine routes, including services to Dublin from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Blackpool; to Shannon from Edinburgh and to Cork from Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham.
TMDP Graduate of the Year, Matti Reuter, is pictured receiving his award from Sean O’Malley, manager of education operations with Fåilte Ireland. It was Sean’s last official event for the tourism authority. He retired from Fåilte Ireland this February.
Matti Tops TMDP
Matti Reuter, who trained at the Clarion Hotel Sligo, was named Graduate of the Year 2011 at the graduation of FĂĄilte Ireland’s Trainee Management Development Programme (TMDP). Matti, a native of Germany, was one of 18 managers who graduated from the three year programme in January. The programme, which was previously delivered at Galway-Mayo IT, moves to IT Tralee this spring. ‘The programme has now been completely reviewed and validated as a three-year Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hotel Management and will be delivered in the Institute of Technology Tralee in partnership with approved hotels and the Irish Hotel Federation,’ explained Sean O’Malley, manager of education operations at FĂĄilte Ireland. ‘Tralee Institute of Technology is currently taking applications for the new degree level TMDP and hotels are encouraged to nominate trainee managers for the programme.’
Tourism Ireland Eyes Brazil & Russia Tourism Ireland has embarked on a new strategy to attract more bigspending visitors from Brazil and Russia. Both markets offer lucrative potential, with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reporting that spending by Brazilian and Russian tourists globally grew by 32% and 21% respectively last year. ‘This new focus on Brazil and Russia reflects the Government’s commitment to develop these rapidly-growing, emerging markets,’ noted Tourism Minister, Leo Varadkar. ‘India, China and Russia all benefit from the Government’s visa waiver scheme, while Brazilian tourists don’t need visas to visit Ireland at all. I would encourage the tourism industry to respond to this strategy, by finding new ways to engage visitors from these countries with attractive and good value tourism products.’ Tourism Ireland has pledged to target potential holidaymakers in Brazil and Russia by working closely with airlines and tour operators to increase exposure and demand for holidays to Ireland. ‘The majority of our overseas visitors come from the core markets of Great Britain, North America and Mainland Europe, and while this will continue, it is important that we expand our focus beyond these markets and look to the long-term opportunities presented by the BRIC countries,’ revealed Tourism Ireland CEO, Niall Gibbons. ‘Nurturing these markets and adapting to the diverse needs of their travellers is essential. Since the visa waiver scheme was introduced here by the Government last year, there has been a noted increase in demand from tour operators for visas for Ireland and a number of tour operators in China, India and the GCC are programming Ireland for the first time in 2012, on the back of the new arrangements. We believe the BRIC economies will play an increasing role in the future of the travel and tourism industry generally and will play a greater part in helping us to grow tourism from overseas in 2012 and beyond.’
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NEWS
NEWS
Dalata Rebrands D4 Hotels
Grand Canal Sold as Dublin Property Market Starts to Move Following news last month that Russian billionaire Yelana Baturina has snapped up Dublin’s trendy Morrison Hotel, formerly part of Hugh O’Regan’s hospitality stable, a second hotel in the capital has been taken off the market. After months of bidding and speculation, the unfinished Grand Canal Square Hotel, next door to the landmark Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin, has been sold for a reputed e30m. The hotel, which was developed by builder Terry Devey as a five star hotel to be run by Galway developer Gerry Barrett (The G and The D), was bought from lenders Bank of Scotland (Ireland) by Brehon Capital Partners, a new Dublin-based real estate private equity firm headed by Kevin McGillycuddy . Brehon has bought the property in a joint venture with a syndicate of international investors led by Swiss company, Midwest Holding AG. The new 180-room hotel is now due to open in Grand Canal Square in December 2012. While the building of the structure is complete, the hotel still requires fit-out, which has been estimated to cost a further e10m. The hotel is the third Dublin property to sell in recent months following the sale of the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge which was bought by UK property investors, the Livingstone brothers.
Double Win for Jurys Inn
Jurys Inns Group was voted Best Irish Hotel Chain at the 2012 Irish Travel Industry Awards and the Best Small or Independent Hotel Brand in the 2012 Business Travel Awards recently. Pictured at the Business Travel Awards were (l-r) comedian and host Chris Addison, Jurys Inn CEO, John Brennan and London City Airport CCO, Matthew Hall (category sponsor).
Bubbles at The Merchant The team at Belfast’s five star Merchant Hotel have continued to invest in the property. Following an extensive refurbishment in 2010 the hotel has recently revamped its bar, introducing the new £50,000 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Lounge. Pictured toasting its launch were Michael Browne, marketing manager of Dillon Bass and Paula Stephens, sales manager of The Merchant.
Bite Size
Dalata Management Services is to reposition D4 Hotels as four star properties and rebrand them the Berkeley Court Hotel and the Ballsbridge Hotel after the group was appointed to run the former JurysDoyle site in Ballsbridge. It is a homecoming for Dalata CEO Pat McCann, the former CEO of JurysDoyle Group, who made a return to the landmark complex in Dublin 4 after lenders, led by Ulster Bank, assumed control of the hotels from property developer Sean Dunne. The company has pledged to invest in the upgrade of the properties. ‘They are going to need a lot of work,’ said Mr McCann. While the ground floor of the former Jurys Hotel was extensively remodelled after being damaged by flooding last October, the bedrooms will now also be upgraded. In good news for hoteliers in the vicinity and farther afield, Pat McCann has also pledged to raise room rates from their ‘unsustainably low’ level under Sean Dunne’s reign. Dalata’s appointment to manage the 585-bedroom hotel complex brings the group’s total room count to over 4,000 – more than 2,000 guestrooms higher than Ireland’s second largest hotel operator, Rezidor.
Win a Trip to Thailand
Have you got what it takes to spice things up in the kitchen? Unilever Food Solutions is offering a trip to Thailand to the winner of its Knorr Blue Dragon Oriental Pastes competition. All you have to do to be in with a chance to win the seven-day trip for two to Phuket is create your own masterpiece using one of the Knorr Blue Dragon Oriental Pastes or Knorr Blue Dragon Create More Concentrated Sauces. Entries will be judged by Mark McCarthy, Unilever Food Solutions business development chef; Kevin Hui, proprietor of China Sichuan and food blogger, Ken McGuire. A selection of the best recipes will also feature in the Knorr Blue Dragon Recipe Book 2012. To enter, visit knorrbluedragon.ie. Entries close on 13 April.
Heineken Gets the Story
Monaghan singer-songwriter Ryan Sheridan is pictured in Dublin’s Odeon bar prior to the launch of Long Story, the third and final instalment in Heineken’s Seize the Moment ad campaign. The ad, which was created by Irish agency Rothco, features Sheridan’s song, The Dreamer.
Hoteliers Launch Guide The Irish Hotels Federation has launched the 25th edition of the Irelandhotels.com Guide. More than 200,000 copies of the guide, which features hundreds of hotels and guesthouses across Ireland, will be distributed in 23 countries. As well as the printed guide and Irelandhotels.com website, the IHF has developed the Irelandhotels.com mobile app which is available for download on iPhone, Android and Nokia smartphones. Pictured at the launch of the guide in the Guinness Storehouse were Paul Gallagher, IHF president, Ciaran Budds, national sales manager, on trade with guide sponsor, Diageo, and Tim Fenn, CEO, IHF.
WEST CORK TOURISM CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY has been unable to secure the required investment to save the SwanseaCork ferry. The service has been terminated with the loss of 78 jobs. It was estimated to deliver e30m in tourism spend for the Munster economy each year. THE PUB has been heralded as Ireland’s top visitor attraction by authors of the Lonely Planet guide. ‘This is to the credit of publicans around the country who continue to provide a valuable first rate service, giving tourists a place to eat, drink and in many cases to experience Irish music and entertainment,’ said Vintners Federation of Ireland CEO, Padraig Cribben. BALLYFIN DEMESNE, the über-luxurious new five star Laois hideaway has joined the Blue Book family. The country house estate has also been accepted to Relais & Chateaux. (Read our Kitchen Confidential chat with chef de cuisine, Fred Cordonnier, on page 36). TOURISM IRELAND scored a hat-trick at the Direct Marketing Awards in London. Its social media campaign, ‘Nick and Sam’s Ireland Road Trip’, scored a gold in the travel and holidays category; bronze in best use of social media and bronze for best integrated campaign. THE CCD is to welcome more than 750 international delegates to Dublin this October for the International Conference, which is being hosted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. SHEEN FALLS LODGE was announced Best Irish Hotel in the 2011 Travel Media Awards.
Mark McCarthy, Unilever Food Solutions celebrates the Year of the Dragon at the launch the Knorr Blue Dragon Oriental Pastes competition.
Minister for Agriculture, Marine & Food, Simon Coveney TD with Maria Maher, Cooleeney Farmhouse Cheese (left) and Maria Bourke, The Jelly Bean Factory (right) at Marketplace International in the CCD.
Bord Bia Goes to Market
Optimism soared at the Convention Centre Dublin on 7 February when 177 food and drink companies from across Ireland gathered at Bord Bia’s biennial showcase, Marketplace International. The producers promoted their wares to over 520 buyers who hailed from 28 countries around the world and held a collective buying power of more than e18bn. More than 4,500 pre-scheduled meetings were held on the day.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
Parknasilla Hotels in Receivership
The 550-room Burlington Hotel in Dublin 4, one of Ireland’s largest hotels, and the Parknasilla Hotel in Kerry and Cork International Hotel have been placed in receivership by Lloyds Bank. Paul McCann of Grant Thornton has taken control of the hotels which are owned by developer Bernard McNamara and have debts of over e200m. The hotels, which are currently managed by Tifco, are to continue as going concerns, with the group’s 250 employees to retain their jobs, maintained Mr McCann.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
COMPANY PROFILE
NEWS
Time for Bed
Food Exports Hit Record High Proof, if you needed it, that Ireland now has a two-tiered economy, Bord Bia has announced that food and drink exports grew by 12% – or e1bn – last year to reach an all-time high of e8.85m. During the first nine months of 2011, food and drink exports increased at three times the rate of total merchandise exports and accounted for a 25% rise in total export revenue. The value of exports to the UK market increased by 6% and accounted for 41%, or e3.66bn, of total Irish food and drink exports. The value of exports to other European markets increased by 16% or e400m in 2011 to reach e3bn, with all major markets recording strong export growth led by the Netherlands, Germany and France. As a result, the share of exports going to the region increased to 34%. ‘This is an excellent achievement and the industry is to be commended for its strong export performance, which affirms its positioning at the heart of the Irish economy. Global market conditions, reflected in strong commodity prices, remain favourable and exporters are voicing continued optimism about their business prospects for the year ahead,’ said Michael Carey, chairman of Bord Bia.
If you opened the doors to your hotel or you last refurbished your guestrooms at the height of the boom, the time has now come to replace your beds, advises the team at KING KOIL SLEEP PRODUCTS.
Chefs to Showcase Skills at IFEX
IFEX is scheduled to return to the King’s Hall in Belfast on 24-26 April, where it will feature ChefsSkills 2012 at the Salon Culinaire. Over 220 competitors are expected to take part in 25 competitions over the three days, battling it out in six state-of-the-art kitchens provided by Stephen’s Catering. ChefSkills 2012 categories include: Junior Duck, Student Culinarian of The Year, Junior Poultry, IFEX Chef of the Year, La Parade des Chefs and Junior Chef of the Year. Entries for the competitions are now open and forms can be obtained at easyfairs.com/IFEX.
10 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
(l-r) Sean Owens, IFEX ChefSkills 2012, salon director; Helen Bready, territory customer support and stakeholder manager for Northern Ireland, City & Guilds; and Brendan Baxter, IFEX 2010 gold medal winner gear up for this year’s IFEX.
King Koil’s flagship Club Pocket Pillow-Top Bed
A
s the centrepiece of the guestroom – and the place where your guests spend more time than anywhere else in your hotel – the bed comes under a lot of pressure. From giddy children to boisterous stags and hens, not to mention happy honeymooners, the bed has a lot to contend with. More than simply places of rest, beds serve as everything from couches to impromptu trampolines, and they must cater for guests of all shapes and sizes, proving that they are susceptible to more wear and tear than any other piece of equipment in your hotel. While hotel beds are built to be hard-wearing to cope with heavy usage, their optimum lifecycle is generally seven to eight years. This means that if you launched your hotel during the heady days of the boom, or you last invested in new beds at the peak of the Tiger years, then the time has come to consider purchasing replacements. Kaymed, the Irish manufacturer of the popular King Koil hotel bed brand with a rich legacy in domestic and contract bed manufacturing, has noticed a
sharp increase in the number of orders from Irish hoteliers in recent months. ‘During the early years of the downturn hotels avoided investing in new beds, but now that we are a couple of years down the line they know they can’t hold off any longer,’ notes CEO, David Moffitt. For some, the bed is an afterthought, but canny hoteliers know the importance of getting this most fundamental piece of furniture right. Sourcing the best bed to suit your requirements is singularly the most important purchasing decision you will make. Strike the right balance between comfort and support and your guests will rave about you, get it wrong and they will vote with their feet and never return. What’s worse, they will tell all their friends why.
W
ith the lion’s share of the four and five star hotel market, and with 30 years’ experience crafting King Koil beds for the hotel sector in Ireland, the Irish manufacturer of this recognised international brand knows what makes a truly great bed. As an innovator with experience in the healthcare and domestic sectors, as well as the hotel market, Kaymed has its finger on the pulse of the latest technology, from visco-elastic memory foam to the latest innovations in three dimensional gels. The firm is the only company in Ireland to manufacture every component which goes into its beds. This means that the management team can 100% stand over the quality of the products manufactured by their 230 staff at the firm’s plants in Bluebell Industrial Estate in
The King Koil Contract Pillow-Top Bed. The distinctive King Koil logo is woven into the fabric. (‘Zip and link’ option shown.)
Dublin and Kilcullen in Co Kildare. While predominantly recognised for the range of high-end bed products it provides to the luxury segment of the market, Kaymed’s King Koil Sleep Products division produces a range of beds to suit every need in the hospitality industry – from budget hostels through to lavish five star hideaways. The comprehensive range includes: • The new King Koil Club Two bed, featuring open-coil springing with quality layers of upholstery and a hard-wearing contract mattress. It is ideally suited for operators in the budget sector, including hostels and student accommodation. • The King Koil Club Four, featuring a heavy-duty, 13 gauge open-coil springing with posturised centre section for additional posture support. It includes flex-edge supports around the border to eliminate edge sag and breakdown. The Club Four is endorsed by the US International Chiropractors Association (ICA) and is renowned for its firm, even comfort support and long-term durability. • The new King Koil Club Contract Pillow-Top, which features all the benefits of the heavy-duty, open coil springing system combined with the luxury of a King Koil pillow-top. Its super-soft support foam and soft polyester cushioning are all made in house. ‘This model offers a very cost-effective alternative to the renowned pocket pillow-top construction,’ says the manufacturer. • And last, but certainly not least, the King Koil Club Pocket Pillow-Top, which is the flagship of the King Koil range. The bed of choice for five star hotels and those who want the ultimate in sleeping luxury, it features luxurious pocketed springing in the mattress combined with the finest layers of upholstery and topped with a high-loft, luxury pillow-top. The stretch-knit fabric on the mattress features the iconic King Koil logo. Whatever your requirements, King Koil Sleep Products has a bed to suit you and you can be safe in the knowledge that you are purchasing a quality product which is made in Ireland and is fully FR compliant in accordance with flame-retardancy legislation. To find out more about how you can treat your guests to a great night’s sleep on King Koil beds talk to Christine Martin, who has taken over the reigns at King Koil from previous well-known names, Catherine Healy and Margaret Collins. You can reach Christine at m: 086 259 6526, t: 045 481 332 or e: cmartin@kaymed.ie. u
Meet the King Koil team at Showtel in Irish Hotels Federation Conference in Kilkenny on 5-6 March.
COVER STORY
NEWS
Much Ado About
Dublin
Changes are afoot in the capital. After four years of hard slog through the depths of the downturn, the city began showing tentative signs of a turnaround in 2011. Now, with optimism on the rise and with the sudden disbandment of Dublin Tourism in December, tourism interests in the city and the wider business community are seeking ways to reposition the capital as a desirable destination for holidaymakers, business tourists and foreign direct investment. SARAH GRENNAN reports.
R
eading the press release from the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, you would be forgiven for believing that the dissolution of Dublin Tourism in December was part of the Government’s campaign to ‘quash the quangos’ and streamline the public sector. While quango-crunching is indeed an item to be actioned on the coalition’s agenda, it is not the real reason for the agency’s seemingly sudden culling. The end was nigh for Dublin Tourism long before the current regime came into power, its viability threatened by financial instability. Laying it on the line for tourism operators in the county at Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin Roadshow in January, the authority’s CEO, Shaun Quinn, explained the reason for Dublin Tourism’s assimilation into the national tourism agency. Despite funding every year of e21m, Dublin Tourism was
losing money. A study by accountants Grant Thornton found that the funding model was flawed, the cost of running it as a separate entity was too much to manage. High overheads and administration costs meant that only a third – e7m – of its annual budget was going into marketing the city abroad. Some 60% of the war-chest was being spent on running tourism information offices and Dublin Tourism’s head office. By merging Dublin Tourism with Fáilte Ireland greater economies of scale could be achieved. Like most sudden changes, the disbanding of Dublin Tourism by the board on 16 December with just 24 hours, notice brought some confusion and apprehension in the trade. Many operators privately told Hotel & Catering Review that they thought Dublin Tourism was ‘doing a good job’ and that as a standalone destination Dublin required a standalone marketing agency; others
12 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
felt the city needed to be marketed ‘more aggressively’, and that greater innovation and a fresh approach was required. Confusion equally surrounds the different brands in Dublin and the various agencies from the various sectors that work separately rather than in tandem. ‘For instance, how many different TIOs (tourist information offices) are there in Dublin now? You have Dublin Tourism running some, Dublin City BID (Business Improvement District) running others, while private tourism businesses are running their own – and they all have separate branding,’ exclaimed one tourism stakeholder. Others were gravely concerned that Dublin was losing share in the city break market, slipping backwards in recent years, while cities like Edinburgh and Vienna powered ahead. Dublin reached the height of vogue in the 1990s, when the shortbreak market grew to 800,000 visits a year.
Today, the number of overseas weekenders visiting the capital has slipped to around the half-million mark – the bulk of the fall off perhaps a symptom of a wider problem with the GB market. Hoteliers, meanwhile, had further issues to contend with. A Dublin City Business Association report, Rejuvenating Dublin’s Tourism Product, advocated the abolition of the e3 air travel tax. Smart thinking, you might say, but not for the hotel sector. The report’s authors, J Jerome Casey and Felim O’Rourke, recommended instead that the travel tax be replaced with a e2 a night hotel bedroom tax. ‘Before doing that, a maximum bedroom charge should be introduced and displayed on the back of the bedroom door,’ they said, perhaps unaware that is not the maximum charge that is the problem in the hotel sector at the moment, it is the minimum. And of course, hoteliers are already advertising their rates on the back of bedroom doors. The report, which was published in September, also advocated charging entry fees to tourist attractions. Interestingly, the authors made no claim for the burden of funding to be shared with other enterprises that benefit from tourism, such as retailers, restaurants, pubs, transport operators or tour companies. It is little wonder therefore why, on reading the report, a number of hoteliers got decidedly hot under the collar. Outgoing Irish Hotels Federation president, Paul Gallagher, took a calm approach to the topic when discussing it with Hotel & Catering Review, but he made it clear that a night tax would be a disaster for the hotel sector. Acknowledging that Dublin needed more funding to support the tourism industry in the city, he argued ‘a bed tax isn’t the model to do it. Whatever we do, it has to be equitable for all. Dublin achieves e1.6bn from tourism revenue every year. Everyone who benefits from it should chip in to support it.’ Quite so, Paul. The good news for hoteliers is that there appears to be little appetite in the national tourism development authority for a bed tax either. While refusing to comment publicly, it is understood that the powers that be in Amiens
Capital View
Tourism in the City • Dublin accounts for 76% of all tourism arrivals, 60% of whom spend at least one night in the capital. • 72% of overseas leisure business comes into Dublin and 84% of international corporate business. • Nearly a quarter (24%) of the national accommodation stock is located within Dublin. These accommodation providers capture 38% of overseas bednights. • The average occupancy rate in Dublin hotels last year was 69%, up from 62% in 2008 and edging closer to 2006’s performance of 72%. In the guesthouse sector occupancy rates were lower at 61% last year, while B&Bs recorded an average occupancy of 46%, hostels 60% and self-catering 76%. • Visitors’ top reason for travelling to Dublin is the destination’s city and culture (26%), followed by beautiful scenery (19%) and visiting family and friends (11%). Just 3% told Fáilte Ireland that they visited on foot of a recommendation. • The city and county holds 13 of the country’s top 20 visitor attractions.
Street have zero interest in adding to the cost of Ireland’s tourism offering at a time when the much-needed return to price competitiveness is finally showing signs of paying off. Nonetheless, with the review of Dublin Tourism clearly illustrating that the current model does not work, some form of scheme is required to secure adequate funding for developing and marketing the capital’s tourism product. Fáilte Ireland has been injecting funding into the county’s tourism authority for a number of years, but with further tight budgets due from the Department of Finance in the future, it is clear that industry, and the county’s four local authorities, will have to look for additional
Dublin Tourism
* Source: Fáilte Ireland
methods of funding down the line. This may pose some difficulty, and not just because of the challenging times that are in it. Intriguingly, insiders reveal that despite the scale of the industry which benefits from tourism within the four Dublin boroughs, traditionally it has not been easy to raise financial support within the capital. As one observer who wished to remain nameless noted ‘if you go down to Westport you can raise e100,000 to market the town overnight, in Dublin, you would be lucky to get e10,000’. The problem – just like the varied tourism information offices – is the different sectors, agencies and bodies that work on their own, rather than together, to put Dublin’s best face forward. The disbanding of Dublin Tourism offers a ripe opportunity to change all that, however. With a blank sheet of paper now before them, the various entities – including the Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South County Dublin Councils, plus Dublin City BID, the hotel sector, restaurant sector, Chamber of Commerce, publicans, retailers and others, now have potential to start afresh and build a new brand and image for the capital. Conscious of the challenge, Ann Riordan, the former chair of Tourism Ireland and a board member of Dublin Tourism, called a meeting of more than 100 interested parties in the capital in January to decide a forward strategy for the county. The result 8
COVER STORY
Dublin Rising? Events to Shape the Year Ahead
With the capital showing tentative signs of a recovery in 2011, business is expected to receive a further boost this year with the staging of a number of major festivals, conferences and events. was to engage the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation to commission a study of tourism in Dublin. ‘Everyone at the meeting was of the view that Dublin is a special place and it should have a separate brand to the rest of the country,’ explained ITIC chief, Eamonn McKeon. ‘The city has been losing market share for the last few years. It had been doing well in GB but that market has slowed now, and Dublin never fully achieved its potential in other European markets. The consensus is that Dublin should be marketed abroad over and above what Tourism Ireland is doing.’ The ITIC report will investigate who should fund tourism in the capital, and for what purpose, said Eamonn. ‘What do we want to do with Dublin?’ he asked. ‘We have the ambition to be in the top five city break destinations in the next five, six or seven years but how do we achieve that, and what do we need to do to sustain it? Will we need more hotels? How will we fund the marketing?’ There is a lot that can be learned from our competitors in the market. Successful city destinations like Vienna and Barcelona have generated much of their funding through sales of branded merchandise for instance and they have been steadily climbing the league table of Europe’s most attractive city destinations. ‘We have huge potential here to do something similar,’ notes the ITIC CEO. ‘For example, with companies like Google and Facebook basing their European headquarters here, we can build a brand of Dublin as the most “IT” city in the world. We need to build our brand and then we need to build equity in that brand.’ And we don’t need to look as far as our peers on the Continent to see examples of cooperative tourism at its best. Hoteliers, restaurateurs and other industry practitioners have all heaped praise on and expressed utter envy of Galway, which benefits from a garland of festivals and events to help lure domestic and international holidaymakers to the City of the Tribes. ‘Why can’t we do the same in Dublin?’, Hotel & Catering Review heard numerous times over the course of researching this article. The ITIC report is currently being commissioned, with a publication due later in the year, but as Eamonn McKeon himself notes ‘there is no point in us producing a report to keep everyone happy, we have to
Bavaria City Racing 3 June
Dublin Funding Statement* Source
Amount
Use
Amount
Tourism Ireland
E7m
Overseas Marketing
E7.75m
Industry
E5m Business & Events
E5.3m
Tourist Information
E2m
Business Supports
E1m
Capital Investment
E5m
Fáilte Ireland – Current
E8.85m
Fáilte Ireland – Capital
E5m
TOTAL
E21.05m
E21.05m
* Excludes tourism education and home holidays
produce something that will show a clear strategy for the future’. The goal, he says, is to position Dublin fourth in the league of Europe’s top city destinations, behind the Big Three of London, Paris and Rome. Where are we now? ‘It’s hard to tell,’ acknowledges Eamonn, ‘there is no uniformity in the way the various cities collate their tourism data so our best guess is that we’re currently at number 11 or 12 at the moment, but we might even be nine or possibly 13.’ What is clear, however, is that there is a long way to go before we reach that magic number four mark, which would position us behind the holy trinity of London, Paris and Rome. At the height of our popularity – when Temple Bar first took off and we became known, heaven help us, as the party capital of Europe – we still only hovered around number eight on the table of most visited city destinations.
W
hile the industry engages in navel gazing, in Fáilte Ireland the team are getting on with it. There have been no cutbacks in staff at Dublin Tourism following the move into the national mothership, and it is understood that the tourism authority is currently in
14 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
the process of establishing a Visit Dublin division in Amiens Street. It makes good sense to capitalise on the success of the Visit Dublin brand as the visitdublin.com website has delivered significant traffic to the city over the years. Likewise, the good work of the Dublin Convention Bureau is set to continue as Dublin reaffirms its position as a highly attractive destination for conference and events business. It is the success of this segment of the market which contributed most handsomely to the city last year, as Dublin showed signs of turning the tide of the decline which had ravaged the tourism sector in the early years of the downturn. Occupancy rose in the capital in 2011, giving hoteliers some small bit of encouragement to reevaluate their rates, while the increased numbers of tourists visiting the capital would surely have seemed like manna from heaven for the embattled restaurateurs, publicans and retailers. With confidence on the rise in the city, there is hope that it will spread further out to the rest of the country. And with a number of big events to look forward to in the capital in 2012 (see overleaf), we can only dream that we are finally witnessing the start of a new beginning in Dublin and beyond the Pale. u
More than 100,000 spectators are expected to descend on the streets of Dublin for the racing showcase which will include demonstrations from Formula 1 cars and drivers, plus Formula 2, superbikes, supercars, touring cars, rally cars, drifters and more.
50th International Eucharistic Congress 10-17 June
It’s been 80 years since the Eucharistic Congress last came to Dublin and this year it is returning for its 50th anniversary. In 1932, when it coincided with the 1500th anniversary of St Patrick’s arrival on these shores, the Congress attracted a whopping 600,000 pilgrims to the Phoenix Park for the final mass. This year, the quadrennial Congress will culminate with closing ceremonies in the 80,000-seater Croke Park, and organisers expect 25,000 pilgrims to participate daily in the week-long programme, the vast majority of which are to be held at the RDS. Some 12,000 overseas visitors are expected to travel to Ireland for the event.
Tall Ships Festival 23-26 August
Up to one million (yes, one million!) spectators are expected to descend on Dublin to watch the Tall Ships complete the final leg of their 2012 race in August. Approximately 100 ships are expected to arrive in Dublin Port for the final stopover, with a four-day festival of music, food, fashion, street theatre and water-based activities planned to celebrate.
Notre Dame vs Navy 1 September
You have to hand it to the Americans – they certainly know how to put on a great sports show, as anyone who watched the recent Super Bowl spectacle can tell you. This year, we are going to have a chance to show them how it’s done here, when the famous annual Notre Dame vs Navy football clash
comes to Dublin for the Emerald Isle Classic at Aviva Stadium. The game is expected to generate such a high level of business for Dublin that the GAA have agreed to move the All Ireland Hurling Final from its traditional date on the first Sunday of September. The reckoning is that there’s not enough hotel capacity in the capital (who’d have thought that a year or two ago?) to facilitate spectators at both games on the one weekend, and with many Dublin hotels already full to the brim with bookings from US supporters, they’re probably right. Last time the match was played here – in 1996 – 10,000 spectators arrived from the US. Can we top that this year?
Dublin Festival Season September-October
Galway’s run of summer festivals and events may make Dubliners – like others in the country – green with envy, but Fáilte Ireland is putting a significant push behind the city’s festivals, bringing them together under one banner. Dublin Festival Season kicks off with Absolut Fringe (8-23 September) and continues with Arthur’s Day (20 Sept), Dublin Culture Night (21 Sept), Dublin Theatre Festival (27 Sept-14 Oct) and Open House Dublin (5-7 Oct). Other events in the capital include the Mountains to Sea DLR Book Festival, Oktoberfest, Dublin Fashion Festival, Hard Working Class Heroes, Dublin Puppet Festival and Darklight Festival. ‘The creation of the Dublin Festival Season brand gives us a new clear and focussed message for our domestic and overseas campaigns including Tourism Ireland promotions in the UK, Netherlands, France and Germany,’ says Fáilte Ireland. The move to bring the series of Dublin festivals under one banner was influenced by the success of Edinburgh’s festival season which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Scottish capital every year and contributes over £123m to the Scottish economy (Edinburgh Festival Impact Study, May 2011). Can its success be replicated – or even bettered – in Dublin?
NYE Dublin
30 December-1 January New York has Times Square, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Sydney has the Harbour Bridge, London has the Eye and Dublin has...um...? Conscious that New Year’s Eve in the capital is something of a damp squib, Fáilte Ireland launched the first Annual New Year’s Eve Festival – NYE Dublin – last year in collaboration with Dublin City Council and Dublin City Business Improvement District. The goal is to turn Dublin into a major destination for domestic and international revellers every New Year, and mirror successes of major NYE party hubs. The inaugural threeday festival – which featured a concert in College Green with the Coronas, Bressie, Paul Brady, Riverdance and others, plus a New Year’s Day ‘Big Brunch’ céili and vintage-style tea dance – was attended by 18,800 people, 50% of whom were visitors to Dublin (41% international visitors). The festival recorded a 92% satisfaction rating, and generated media coverage with an advertising value equivalent to E547,313 for the capital. The website, nyedublin.ie, recorded close to 50,000 unique visitors with 4,000 signing up as Facebook fans.
International Conferences
God bless the CCD, we say. It may have taken a long time to get here, and there may be plenty of gripes about how much it cost, but in terms of what it can deliver for Irish tourism, the impact of the CCD cannot be overstated. The Dublin Convention Bureau – formerly of Dublin Tourism, and now residing in Fáilte Ireland – together with Fáilte Ireland’s own business tourism unit have put significant muscle into targeting lucrative business tourism to the capital, and the arrival of the CCD, plus centres like Citywest, has added to their arsenal of attractions. While it’s still early days in the lifecycle of the CCD, the hard work is showing signs of paying off, with a number of big-ticket international conferences booked into the city this year. These include, but of course are not limited to, the following 10 conferences on the next page which are expected to deliver a combined 25,300 delegates and generate e34.4m for the economy. 8
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 15
COVER STORY DATE
EVENT
DELEGATES
LOCATION
May
4th Northern European Conference on Travel Medicine
1,000
Citywest
May
World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy
1,500
CCD
May
Europrevent (European Society of Cardiology)
1,300
CCD
June
35th European Cystic Fibrosis Conference
2,000
CCD
June
14th International Conference on Emergency Medicine
2,000
CCD
June
International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders
3,500
CCD
July
Euroscience Open Forum
5,000
CCD
Sept
24th Annual European Association for International Education Conference
4,000
CCD
Sept
World Molecular Imaging Conference
2,000
CCD
Oct
International Bar Association
4,000
CCD
Dublin Hotels
Investors from the East
McNamara’s Parknasilla Hotels (The Burlington, Parknasilla, Cork International Airport Hotel and the derelict site of the former Ormond Hotel in Dublin) suggests that the bank may be gearing up for a sale. The group continues to be operated by Tifco, the Clontarf Castle/Crowne Plaza Hotels owner which was appointed to run the properties in 2010. The real prize is the 500+ bedroomed Burlington Hotel which remains one of the busiest banqueting operations in the city. Industry chatter suggests the lenders have turned down E40m offers for the property and are holding out for a E50m payday. While still a lot of money, it is significantly less than the E288m spent by Bernard McNamara in his ill-fated property gamble at the height of the Celtic Tiger. Who knows, maybe the Doyle clan will reclaim it – in which case they really will be laughing all the way to the bank. The Doyles may have had more than a passing interest in seeing their former CEO, Pat McCann, move back to his old stomping ground of D4 Hotels this year also. McCann’s Dalata Management Services vehicle was appointed in January to manage the three hotels in the stable after lenders ejected Sean Dunne from the site. It is a homecoming for the former JurysDoyle chief who oversaw the sale of the three hotels to Sean Dunne in 2005 in a frenzied deal which saw bankers rush to provide the Carlow developer with E400m to buy the Jurys and Berkeley Court sites. Just like with McNamara, the property gamble failed, and Dunne was unable to secure permission to build enough residential and commercial units on the site to justify the sale price. At the start of the collapse it became the epicentre for the rate war, with rooms in the D4 properties selling for less than the cost of turning a room. McCann has pledged to raise rates to a ‘sustainable level’ in a move which will come as a relief to others in the industry. What will happen to D4 Hotels – which are in the process of being rebranded as the Berkeley Court and Ballsbridge Hotels and being repositioned as four star – remains to be seen, but with activity in the Dublin hotel property market hotting up we can assume that this site too is ripe for the picking. Although, this time round we imagine it will go for a lot less.
Dine in Dublin New Kids on the Block While movement on the property market was paralysed in the formative years of the downturn, now that prices are edging closer to rock bottom, trade in the capital’s bricks and mortar is picking up. A number of big properties on the market have been snatched up in recent months, indicating that the venture capitalists and international investors believe the time is now ripe to nab a bargain in Dublin. The first – the landmark Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge – was pocketed by investors from the UK. The Livingstone brothers, Ian and Richard, own one of the largest privately held property investment companies in Europe and bagged the Four Seasons last summer for a reputed E15m – a mere snip of its build cost. Moving further east, one of Russia’s wealthiest women, the billionaire Yelena Baturina, has snapped up The Morrison Hotel on the Quays, which was placed on the market by NAMA last year following
the collapse of Hugh O’Regan’s hospitality empire. The wife of the former mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, has paid in the region of E22.5m for the trendy four star hotel. A Swiss family with Israeli connections are behind the vehicle which bought the unfinished Grand Canal Square Hotel (not to be confused with Cara Hotels’ Grand Canal Hotel) next door to the striking Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin 4 in December. The property, which was originally developed by builder Terry Devey as a five star hotel for fellow developer Gerry Barrett (The G, The D, Ashford Castle), had been planned as a Park Hyatt hotel before work on the site drew to a halt at the onset of the recession. Lloyds sold the site to Brehon Capital Partners, a new Dublin-based private equity firm headed by Kevin McGillycuddy. The investors are rumoured to have paid E30m for the 180-bed hotel and the
16 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
adjoining 80 apartments. It’s quite a deal, as Lloyds was originally hoping to keep the lucrative apartments separate. However, at least an additional E10m is required to get the hotel ready for opening. While the structure is in place, fit out is needed. Following several years hanging in the balance, the hotel is now due to launch this December, which will provide a handsome boost to traders in the striking Grand Canal Square, although it will provide new competition for the popular Maldron Hotel Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Meanwhile, in a much quieter deal, investors from the Far East are believed to be among a number of international bidders for the former Holiday Inn Hotel, a stone’s throw from Grand Canal Square on Pearse Street in the city, which is currently under negotiation with CBRE. Elsewhere, the decision by Lloyds to go down the costly receivership route and officially seize control of Bernard
Is the launch of a new high-end fine dining restaurant in the capital the sign that things are on the up and consumer sentiment is rising, or is it a risky manoeuvre? Chef and restaurateur, Eamonn O’Reilly, admits that opening a top-flight, bijou restaurant on the site of his Bleu restaurant is a gamble indeed in these straightened times, but he’s hoping that it is a gamble that will pay off. He has lured celebrated chef, Mickael Viljanen, away from the tranquillity of Ballyvaughan in Co Clare, where he ran the kitchen at 2010 Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Award for Excellence winner Gregan’s Castle, to the hustle and bustle of Dublin where Viljanen will head the team on Dawson Street. The new restaurant, The Glasshouse, is due to open in March and will have just 40 covers, serving lunch and dinner six days a week. ‘Maybe I’m mad going in the other direction when everyone else is opening mid-market and casual dining operations, but we’re going to give it a go,’ says Eamonn. Eamonn, who runs the neighbouring fine dining One Pico restaurant, as well as the midmarket Box Tree restaurant and casual dining Wild Boar gastropub in Stepaside, is one of a raft of established restaurant players who are opening up new ventures in Dublin this year. Kemp sisters Domini and Peaches are in the process of putting finishing touches to their new Itsa Bagel outlet in busy Ranelagh, while a further addition is in the pipeline.
Itsa4, the Sandymount eatery, is to be rebranded and repositioned as an Itsa Bagel. Man of the moment Joe Macken has been gaining widespread attention, as much for his innovative new pop-up restaurants, as his canny way of marketing Crackbirds, Skinflint, and his original baby, Jo’burger, in the Twitterverse. His latest venture, Bear, which is backed by rugby star, Jamie Heaslip, will promote lesser-used cuts of meat and is proof – if you still needed it – that Macken is a major trendsetter in the Irish dining scene. One trendsetter who has hit a few bumps on the road in recent times has also been poppingup around town. Jay Bourke, who brought Dublin some of its trendiest eateries in the past – including Café Bar Deli, Eden, Odessa, Bobo’s burger bar, the Market Bar et al – is behind Pyg, a pop-up restaurant on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre’s Pygmalion Café. Meanwhile, restaurateur Ian Keegan has named his new endeavour after his first-born, Isabel. Isabel’s Restaurant & Wine Bar opened on the corner of Fitzwilliam Street and Lower Baggot Street this month, in the basement formerly occupied by Derry and Sallyanne Clarke’s L’Ecrivain. The 40-seater restaurant opens for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a concise ‘European inspired’ menu focussing on fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. Executive head chef Niall O’Sullivan heads the kitchen team. u
Opposite page: The distinctive checkered Grand Canal Square Hotel building Above, from top: The Morrison Hotel and the new Isabel’s restaurant Right: Mickael Viljanen
IN CONVERSATION ‘I want to exit 2012 with a turnover of e25m and 600 employees. BaxterStorey Ireland has a capacity to go to a turnover of e40m-e45m. I feel we can double where we are over the next three to four years.’
Keeping it
Local
While sage old practices like local sourcing and seasonal cooking are enjoying renewed popularity in the catering industry, they are the principles on which BaxterStorey was founded and have helped the company pick up a raft of new contracts since it launched in Ireland five years ago. Mike Malloy, managing director of BaxterStorey Ireland, tells SARAH GRENNAN about the company’s growth strategy.
T
here’s more to Mike Malloy than just good hair, I note as we chat over coffee in RTE’s staff restaurant in Donnybrook. While most visitors to the broadcaster’s base would sneak a few glances to see if Miriam was holding court in the
corner or Ryan was gossiping at the hot food counter, I am just as content to listen to Mike wax lyrical about the magnificent produce on offer in Ireland and the vital importance of promoting the story of our indigenous food.
18 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
In fairness, he’s preaching to the converted. But it’s also true to say, he talks a good game. BaxterStorey, you may remember, arrived in Ireland five years ago with lofty ambitions of taking the contract catering market by storm. The tiger was nearing its dying days
– although not all of us had quite cottoned on to that yet – and trends such as ‘guiltfree luxury’ and ‘ethical eating’ had yet to enter the zeitgeist. We were still in the age of conspicuous consumption and only the most virtuous and ardent of food lovers were harping on about local sourcing. Committed caterers saw the need to work with the seasons, but many consumers were yet to tune into the importance of supporting indigenous local businesses. It was against this backdrop that UK firm BaxterStorey breezed in with talk of honouring food, of showcasing its integrity, of passionate chefs, and of muscling into the market after bagging a series of AIB contracts. And then everything went quiet on the PR front. After the initial ‘cooey, we’re here!’ publicity, the heads went down and the noses went to the proverbial grindstone. Since then, Tom Barrett, BaxterStorey’s first man in Dublin, has moved on (he’s now busy prepping the firm’s operation for the media village at the Olympics) and Mike Malloy has joined, taking the helm in 2008. He’s a figure well-known to the contract catering sector here, having spent many years with Eurest (now Compass) as sales director, operations director and latterly as managing director. Those initial quiet days of the company’s start-up were to prove that the BaxterStorey model worked in Ireland, says Mike. Conceived in the UK in 2003 and born after a long gestation period in the closing days of 2004, BaxterStory is the child of a marriage between Wilson Storey Halliday and BaxterSmith, two of Britain’s largest independent contract caterers. Back then the two companies had a combined turnover of approximately £100m. Seven years on, BaxterStorey’s turnover has risen to £250m and it has moved into Europe with a presence in Belgium, France and Norway. Its success, the company’s website suggests, is down to its commitment to quality and its passion for its business. ‘We firmly believe that the values that made us the best small company will be the same ones that make us grow and blossom… caring passionately about our food, our people and our clients,’ it boasts.
W
hile BaxterStorey is now the largest privately owned catering company in the UK, it’s still in its infancy in Ireland, going from a standing start with seven AIB sites in 2007 to just a handful more contracts 18 months later. Today, the company now has 45 sites in the Republic of Ireland and 16 in the North, a huge chunk of which were picked up in that busy first
year of Mike’s tenure. ‘When I started I had a three-year plan. The first year, in 2009, was for headlong growth, we grabbed as much critical mass as we could to have volume. At the end of year one, 75% of our business was less than a year old. It would be physically impossible for that to happen again. Year two was about consolidating and making the business profitable. We made a small profit and that psychologically had a great effect. Our objective in 2011 was to mature the business with a sustainable growth projection,’ Mike explains. While most Irish businesses were trying to cut overheads in recent years, BaxterStorey has been doing the opposite. ‘Throughout the three years we have been growing the overhead two sizes too big. What this means is that the business will grow into the support structure.’ BaxterStorey clearly has big ambitions then. ‘We have no ambitions to be the biggest in the market, but we do want to be the best. For us it’s about quality not quantity,’ maintains Mike. That said, he is targeting significant growth. With 470 staff across the 43 sites, BaxterStorey has a turnover of e20m. ‘I want to exit 2012 with a turnover of e25m and 600 employees. BaxterStorey Ireland has a capacity to go to a turnover of e40m-e45m. I feel we can double where we are over the next three to four years.’ While it’s a challenging time for industry, it’s a good time to be looking for new business in the catering sector with vast swathes of contracts going up for tender since those tentative early days of the downturn. After cutting his teeth over many years in the business, Mike Malloy knows only too well the highs and lows of contract gains and losses. ‘When you lose a contract it’s like a death in the family,’ he reflects. ‘The important thing is not just to win new business but to retain it. Your business is at risk when you’re over-budget and you’re not doing a good job, but if you get one of those two right then the clients will work with you.’ Like most caterers in his field, Mike sees the dual economy in action. ‘We have clients in sectors that are doing really well. Financial services and pharma are flying for instance.’ But no matter whether struggling with the domestic economy or thriving in the export market, all are focused on the same thing: the bottom line. ‘There was a time not that long ago when clients weren’t that focused on their cost base. Now they are and we can add value. We are competitive and we do what we say we are going to do.’ What BaxterStorey says it is going to do
is produce the best food for its clients. ‘We are who we are. We are a company that is motivated by fresh, local, seasonal produce. We want the best ingredients and our people go out of their way to find them. We want to support local businesses and producers. And of course, food tastes better when it’s local. We try to keep it simple,’ Mike explains. But with local sourcing the buzz du jour, isn’t everyone at it? ‘It does seem that there’s more attention on it now but I’m not convinced that everything you see is true,’ he muses. ‘I have seen some farmers’ photos in Belfast and later the same photo to illustrate a farmer in Cork. With us we know exactly where our food has come from. I know the producer who grows it. I can stand over it.’ The clients who are veering towards BaxterStorey appreciate the ethos, says Mike. ‘Clients who are interested and engaged tend to gravitate to us. If they want cheap then they go elsewhere. We can add value to a business but we won’t engage in a race to the bottom on price.’ With new clients such as Paddy Power, Statestreet and Eirgrid coming on board, Mike Malloy is confident for the future. He is confident for his suppliers also. ‘If we grow, they will grow with us.’ As the old adage goes, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’. u
PROMOTION
Placing Ireland Centre Stage
Hostelworld.com Conference
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD; Mari Hurley, CFO of Hostelworld.com; and Feargal Mooney, CEO of Hostelworld.com, pictured in advance of the 2012 Hostelworld Conference, which took place in The Convention Centre Dublin recently. Tourism Ireland kicked off a co-operative campaign with Hostelworld in February, to grow business from GB to Hostelworld’s budget accommodation around the island of Ireland.
Tourism Ireland is gearing up for a busy year ahead with a raft of initiatives to promote tourism in 2012. Minister Meets New Board Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar TD met with the newly appointed board members of Tourism Ireland at their first board meeting in Dublin recently. They discussed the forthcoming tourism season and the extensive promotional programme which Tourism Ireland is rolling out across the globe for 2012. Newly appointed board members of Tourism Ireland at their first board meeting, with (front) Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar T.D.; Brian Ambrose, chairman of Tourism Ireland; and Jim Flannery, vice chairman of Tourism Ireland
Americans Learn of ‘Savage Craic’ Millions of potential holidaymakers all over the US have been reading about the west of Ireland, on the travel pages of the hugely popular Huffington Post news website, which attracts an average audience of 34 million readers each day. Richard Bangs – an Emmy awardwinning videographer and travel correspondent for the Huffington Post – visited the west of Ireland late last year. The resulting series of features, entitled The Savage Craic of Western Ireland, has now been posted to the Huffington Post site and includes extensive video footage and photos captured in counties Mayo, Galway, Clare and Limerick – highlighting the huge diversity, culture, unique experiences and world-class cuisine of a holiday in this part of Ireland. As well as featuring on the popular
news site, the Savage Craic series will also be distributed across a variety of other online platforms in the US this spring, including various popular travel websites. Joe Byrne, Tourism Ireland’s executive vice president United States and Canada, said: ‘We were delighted to bring Richard Bangs to the West of Ireland. The exposure for the series he has produced through the Huffington Post alone, with more than 34 million visitors each day, is fantastic. It is an excellent way to reach a wide audience of potential holidaymakers right across the US, raising the profile of the West of Ireland and the huge variety of things to see and do, Emmy award-winning videographer and travel correspondent, Richard Bangs, reports from the Cliffs of Moher and encouraging more Americans to vacation in the West of Ireland in 2012.’
Golf to the ‘Fore’ in Florida Twenty-four golf and tourism operators from around the island of Ireland travelled to Orlando recently, to join Tourism Ireland at the 2012 PGA Golf Merchandise Show. One of the biggest golf exhibitions in the US, this year’s PGA Show attracted over 40,000 golf professionals and enthusiasts, as well as around 1,000 influential golf media. Following the ‘Home of Champions’ campaign in 2011, Tourism Ireland will undertake another busy promotional programme throughout 2012, to boost the number of golf visitors from the US. Events like the Irish Open in Portrush will be used as a ‘hook’ to draw attention to our worldclass golf. Tourism Ireland is urging American golf fans to come and attend the Irish Open – and to extend their visit and try out some of our fantastic courses for themselves.
Cormac MacMullan, Ardglass Golf Club, Co Down; Martin McTernan, Co Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point; Joe Byrne, Tourism Ireland; Justin Farrell, North and West Coast Links; Kirsty Worthington, Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Co Antrim; Mark Murphy, winner of the Golf Channel’s Big Break Ireland; Connor Mallon, Narin & Portnoo Golf Club, Co Donegal; John Casey, Rosapenna Golf Links, Co Donegal; Lynn McCool, Lough Erne Resort, Co Fermanagh; and Mark Steen, Castlerock Golf Club, at the PGA Golf Merchandise Show in Orlando.
Irish Tourism Blitz on Germany A major tourism blitz to win more business from Germany, the world’s largest outbound travel market, took place recently. Thirty-five Irish tourism companies joined Tourism Ireland for a three-city travel mission – which included Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, each of which has direct air access to Ireland. One-to-one meetings, presentations and networking sessions took place, involving nearly 250 top travel agents and tour operators. Given that travel agents and tour operators continue to be the main booking channel for German holidaymakers, a key element of Tourism Ireland’s strategy is to work with the travel trade – both online and offline – in Germany.
Year of Dragon – Irish Style
At a special Chinese New Year dinner, organised by Tourism Ireland at the Merry Ploughboy pub in Rathfarmham, were Chinese visitors with Shane Clarke, Tourism Ireland (second from left); Sinéad Ahern, Lady Mayoress of Dublin; Cllr Andrew Montague, Lord Mayor of Dublin; and Cllr Pamela Kearne, Mayor of South Dublin County.
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Some 150 Chinese tourists – from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – rang in the ‘Year of the Dragon’ Irish-style, during a recent visit. They travelled to the Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway to celebrate the Chinese New Year here. They spent a few days in Britain and were able to include Ireland in their itinerary by taking advantage of the visa waiver scheme introduced by the Government last year. The scheme encourages visitors from emerging markets, like China, to visit Ireland when they are visiting the UK, without the hassle or cost of applying for a separate visa. Nine leading Chinese tour operators recently announced they will include Ireland in their 2012 programmes for the first time ever – thanks to the visa waiver scheme, as well as improved access from China including the recently launched Emirates service via Dubai.
Above: Kristina Gauges, Tourism Ireland; Christoph Müller, Aer Lingus (and Tourism Ireland board member); Finola O’Mahony, Tourism Ireland; and Kevin Keogh, Dertour (leading German tour operator). Left: Christian Ruebel, Tourism Ireland; Eva Deerie, Fáilte Ireland West; Florian Gränzdörffer, Deutsche Lufthansa; Donal Healy, Ireland West Airport Knock; and Darren Madden, Clew Bay Hotel. The new Lufthansa flights (from Düsseldorf ) and Ryanair flights (from Frankfurth) to Knock will expand travel options for German holidaymakers who wish to visit Mayo and the West of Ireland this year.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 21
Live Action for
Food & Bev O
1. 2. 3.
10. 5.
ver 850 visitors descended on Dublin’s Citywest Convention Centre on 1 February for the inaugural Food & Bev Live, sponsored by Bunzl McLaughlin. Bringing hospitality exhibitors together with the country’s leading chefs, baristas and mixologists, the event showcased the top talent in the trade. A total of 220 competitors battled it out at Citywest in the hope to be crowned national champions and represent Ireland on the international stage. Winning the Irish Barista Championship for a third time, Colin Harmon of 3FE will now go on to compete at the World Barista Championships in Vienna. Senior All-Ireland Chefs of the Year Alin Garvil of Google Ireland and Mark McFadden of the Abbey Tavern, will head to London to compete at Hotelympia. Cocktail Champion Chris Crowley has earned the right to represent his country at the World Cocktail Championship in Korea. ‘Our vision for the inaugural Food & Bev
Live was to create a platform to support the finals of five National Foodservice Skills Competitions and in doing this call on the support of key industry brand. We are delighted with the result and congratulate the worthy winners and wish them well as they travel to represent Ireland in their world skills finals,’ said Garret Buckley, managing director of EventHaus, organiser of Food & Bev Live. Sean Martin, sales director with event sponsor Bunzl McLaughlin added, ‘Supporting this showcase of foodservice talent is a pleasure for Bunzl McLaughlin however we are equally delighted with the industry response to our first event which has acted as both a hub and a stimulus for our industry to meet and move forward together in these challenging times.’ The trade exhibition featured more than 65 foodservice suppliers along with the Specialist Coffee Roasters Village, Chefs Choice @ Food & Bev Live and a Catering Management Association of Ireland conference, followed by the Champion of Champions dinner.
The Right Mix THE COCKTAILS OF CHAMPIONS
6.
4. 1. Joe Erraught, DIT; Johnny Carroll, GMIT and John Clancy, Panel of Chefs of Ireland 2. Patrick Clement, Pallas Foods and Liam Mongey, Catering Equipment Association at the CEA stand. 3. Garret Buckley, managing director of EventHaus, organiser of Food & Bev Live 4. Hugh Jordan was one of 65 suppliers who exhibited at the show 5 John Clancy, Brendan O’Neill and John Kelly, Panel of Chefs of Ireland judges 6. Winning mixologists Ariel Sanecki, Chris Crowley, Deirdre Byrne and Lukasz Wojick are pictured with Ron Busman, vice-president of the International Bartenders Association (centre, back). 7. Malcolm Carrick, Keelings and Laura Gonearove 8. Catering supplier, Bunzl, supported the inaugural Food + Bev Live with sponsorship and a stand at the show. 9. Latte Art Champion Ruslan Mocharskyy, The Art of Coffee and Barista Champion, Colin Harmon, 3FE 10. Keith O’Sullivan makes a coffee for a visitor to the Marco stand.
8.
7.
The Champions Chef Competitions Senior All Ireland Chefs of The Year Alin Garvil, executive chef, Google Ireland and Mark McFadden, commis chef, Abbey Tavern, Howth Junior Hans Bueshkens Ryan McGivern and Simon Lehanne, DIT Cathal Brugha Street Gastro Pub Chef of the Year Chad Byrne, Hilton Dublin
Pre-Dinner Cocktail & Overall Winner
Fancy Cocktail Champion
National Barista Championship
Ardmore, Co Waterford
Douglas, Co Cork
Sunrise in San Tropez
Irish Barista Champion Colin Harmon, 3FE Coffee
Mixologist Chris Crowley, East Village,
9.
EVENTS
Monks Martini #2
4cl Bombay Sapphire Gin 0.5cl Green Chartreuse 1.5cl GiFFards Honey Syrup 1.5cl fresh fine strained lime juice 3 Dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Garnish and decoration: apple fan with orange and cherry
Mixologist Ariel Sanecki, Cliff House Hotel,
4cl Bombay Sapphire Gin 3cl Elderflower Liqueur 6cl cranberry juice 6cl orange juice 0.5cl GiFFard Grenadine Syrup 2cl sparkling bitter lemon
Irish Latte Art Champion Ruslan Mocharskyy, The Art of Coffee
Garnish and decoration: A parrot-shaped
National Cocktail Champion Chris Crowley, East Village Bar, Restaurant & Hotel, Douglas, Co Cork
pineapple
After-Dinner Cocktail Champion
Long Drink Cocktail Winner
Westin Dublin
Restaurant, Monkstown, Co Dublin
Mixologist Deirdre Byrne, Mint Bar, Spiced Creole Martini
3cl Hennessy VS 1.5cl Southern Comfort 1.5cl Vanilla Schnapps Liqueur 4 Cardamom pods 3 dashes Creole Bitters
Garnish and decoration: sliced apple and kumquat
Mixologist Lukasz Wojcik, FXB Bar & My Dream
4cl Hennessy Cognac VS 2cl elderflower liqueur Sprig of fresh rosemary 2 Dashes of Tabasco 1cl fresh lime juice 10cl apple juice
Garnish and decoration: Pineapple leaves, radish, orange skin, edible flower
National Cocktail Competition
Fancy Cocktail Winner Ariel Sanecki, Cliff House Hotel After-Dinner Cocktail Winner Deirdre Byrne, Mint Bar, Westin Hotel Long Drink Cocktail Winner Lukas Wojcik, FXB Bar & Restaurant
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Wild fish are not an endless, uniform predictable resource and cannot be treated as any other manufactured, or even farmed, food commodity. It is all about flexibility and variety. Almost all fish dishes should be included as daily changing specials, and not on a fixed unchanging menu.
The Great Fish Debate
Image: BIM
The Irish relationship with seafood is a complex one and, despite our island status, it remains increasingly difficult to source quality fish from Irish shores to serve on Irish menus. It is a question which requires buy in from fishermen, suppliers, chefs and consumers if it is to be answered, writes RUTH HEGARTY. She investigates this most intricate issue.
‘B
eef or Salmon?’, this is the cliché reflecting the limited main course choice typically offered at weddings and functions, so ubiquitous it inspired the name of a national hunt racehorse. The typical fish choices available on Irish restaurant menus may be inclined to leave someone who is angling for a bit of surf rather than turf almost as jaded as the frequent wedding attendee. The fact is Irish people are not big fish eaters and we tend not to be adventurous in our fish choices, so understandably, restaurants tend to stick to
the ‘safe bets’. The Irish relationship with fish and shellfish is certainly a paradoxical one. Our island is surrounded by seas, and covered in lakes and rivers, offering a massive variety of fresh seafood and fish which would be the envy of many fish-loving cultures. Yet we are far from being fish lovers and the vast majority of Irish people will take meat over fish, given the choice. Many associate the negative Irish attitude towards fish with its penitential connotations – having to ‘sacrifice’ meat on a Friday and being forced
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to eat fish, often the exact same fish week in week out. But why did it come to be thought of as a ‘second class’ protein in the first place? Perhaps because it was plentiful and ‘free’, as opposed to meat which may only have been available to wealthy landowners, or those with enough money to purchase it. It would be typical of us Irish not to put any great value on something that is ours for the taking. Nowadays many people eat fish for the health benefits, again out of a sense of obligation, more of a duty than a pleasure.
And, of course, now the conscientious diner also has a minefield of sustainability and environmental concerns to consider before tucking into a nice piece of fish. But if today’s Irish attitude to fish is somewhat indifferent, what is clear is that it is a modern development. Archaeological digs prove that our Stone Age ancestors happily feasted on a great variety of shellfish and the earliest Irish settlers developed ways of smoke preserving salmon. We still have a great fondness for salmon, of course, particularly the smoked variety. This species seems to be accepted even by many non-fish eaters and accounts for well over 40% of the Irish retail fish market (BIM Report – Retail Performance August 2011). Restaurants reflect this too, with salmon being by far the most ubiquitous on menus. Taking a random sample of online menus for 20 restaurants around the country, 15 of them feature salmon. Unsurprisingly, after salmon, the most common fish species occurring on menus are monkfish, cod and sea bass. There is a similar lack of variety in shellfish, with crab and prawns (of various kinds) each appearing 11 times out of 20, scallops occurring on most ‘high end’ menus, and
mussels listed on over a third of all menus. This is a small sample of course, but reflects the typical experience of restaurant dining in Ireland. Other varieties of fish do appear here and there: turbot, hake, tuna and John Dory being some of the more common ones, and indeed the odd restaurant offers ‘Fish of the Day’, but a very small number of species account for the bulk of both foodservice and retail markets which in no way reflects the huge variety of fish being landed around the Irish coast. The beef and salmon at your typical wedding are farmed of course and herein lies the essential difference. Most chefs would rather use wild fish on their menus, but by ordering the same fish species day in day out we are assuming a control over something that we have little control of and treating wild fish from unpredictable oceans the same as any other domesticated food commodity. We are putting unreasonable demands on stocks of a certain species and on the fishing people who go in search of them. By constantly looking for the same types of fish, we push up the price of those species and encourage huge amounts of imports – suppliers will of course get the
customer what they want, even if it has to be raised in an inland pond in Bangladesh and flown into Cork airport. We are therefore forcing our fishing industry to compete with cheap imports (often produced in questionable, even shocking, conditions), therefore making its future less viable. According to the Marine Institute’s website the main fish species caught in the seas around Ireland are mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting, herring, cod, whiting, haddock, saithe, hake, megrim, anglerfish, plaice, sole and nephrops (prawns). Of course, while catches are influenced by seasonality, weather, and tides as well as the type of fishing boat/ equipment being used, fishermen will target certain fish if the demand and price justify it and will avoid catching fish that have no market. Some will simply be caught because they are plentiful or because they are a natural by-catch of a targeted species. Many of the fish being landed are targeted because they do well on the export market (according to BIM, fish exports are worth approximately e375m a year, while the domestic market is worth e340m). But the fact is many of these species are unknown
Changing Our Approach to Fish Think Seasonality Fish are seasonal and should be thought of as such. Even becoming more flexible and letting your menu be influenced by what is available, you will become more ‘seasonal’ in your fish choices. Very few species should be included on menus year round. While certain species shoal together near the coast for spawning, making them easy to catch, over-fishing during these periods will affect their regeneration. After spawning the quality of some fish changes, as the fat stores in the flesh have been spent during the spawning process. Think Variety Unless we want to continue importing large quantities, using fish from questionable farmed sources, putting pressure on fish stocks, and paying way above the odds for fish, we seriously need to consider varying our selection of fish. Chefs have a role in
educating consumers and if they see new species appearing on restaurant menus, this will soon filter down to the retail market. Carefully Consider Acquaculture Farmed fish has developed a bad name and for good reason. Many fish farming methods have a hugely detrimental impact on the environment and produce fish loaded with chemical residues and antibiotics. In Ireland, however, we now have some excellent organic and sustainable acquaculture options covering a wide variety of species from salmon, trout and turbot to mussels, oysters and even sea urchins. If we want to be responsible about protecting wild stocks we must consider these options, but do so with care – if you are putting farmed fish on your menu, make informed choices; many fish farming industries around the world are having a devastating
impact on nature, health and local fishing communities, as well as our own fishing industry which is trying to compete with cheap farmed imports. Forget your preconceptions about ‘Fresh’ and ‘Frozen’ When is ‘fresh’ really fresh? If you are sourcing your fish at the pier from a small inshore fishing boat you can probably say your fish is fresh. Other than that, despite our prejudices towards frozen fish it may often be the ‘freshest’ fish you can get. Large boats stay at sea for long periods and fish may have been landed for several days before it reaches your kitchen. But many boats, especially prawn fishing boats, are now equipped to blast freeze and ‘glaze’ (a process whereby the frozen fish are sprayed with almost freezing water forming a protective coating around each individual fish) their catch within hours of taking it on board so
that it can reach the customer in a pristine, albeit frozen, state. Seek Out and Demand Quality – and be willing to pay for it By demanding and paying for quality, chefs can send the message to fishermen and suppliers that it is worthwhile to handle fish properly and to get it to market as quickly as possible. Knowing how to recognise freshness and good handling is important, as it is the best way of knowing that your fish has been locally sourced and properly looked after. Be Responsible – inform yourself and ask questions Know your fish species, know where they are coming from, know how they are being caught or produced. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and do some research. Demand information from your suppliers. Get on Google. There’s no excuse for ignorance.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 25
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Mackerel with gooseberry compote Image: Michael O’Meara, Oscar’s Restaurant, Galway
or very rare on Irish restaurant menus and shop shelves, so while we have a healthy amount of exports we are also importing huge volumes to fuel our appetite for a very limited range of species. But, as with the ‘Beef and Salmon’ at weddings, chefs can hardly be blamed for sticking to the old familiars. As it is, fish accounts for a minority of orders in restaurants and chefs no doubt fear that orders would drop further if unusual species were offered. ‘Fish makes up only about 20% of our main course orders,’ says Ross Lewis, of Chapter One Restaurant, ‘so unless you are a busy fish restaurant, like 8 Martin Shanahan’s Fishy Fishy in Kinsale,
you are unlikely to be sourcing any great quantity of fish.’ This lack of volume gives restaurants less buying power and less influence over the market and the price. Whatever the reasons for our ambiguous past relationship with fish, the main influence for our low fish consumption today is more than likely its price. At retail level fish comes out as the second most expensive protein source, pricier than beef, pork and poultry, and chefs also struggle with the cost of buying fish. On the supply side the tendency is to offer chefs what they think they are looking for, and not to offer alternatives. If a particular fish that is ordered is not available
on the day, it simply does not come. Most chefs would be open to suggestions if they were offered something fresh and of quality instead. Many chefs, particularly in coastal areas, have of course built up direct relationships with fishermen. In many ways this is the ideal; the fisherman simply calls up the chef and tells him what he is about to land, the chef chooses what he wants and gets spanking fresh fish to his door. The kitchen, however, must have the skilled staff, time and space required to deal with whole fresh fish. They must also have the flexibility to take in whatever fish are available and fish which, since they are ungraded, will naturally vary in size. Also, under EU rules which were brought into effect in Ireland in 2007, you are required to be registered as a buyer with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food if you wish to buy ‘first sale fish’. Yet, a more direct relationship between chefs and fishermen themselves and the willingness to be more flexible and dynamic on both ends, certainly could mean fresher, better quality and less expensive fish for restaurant menus. Since most fishermen simply drop their fish off at the co-op and wait to be paid, most of them are not overly concerned about the quality of the fish they land. Handling is a big issue, and loss of skills and knowledge over recent years as many traditional fishermen left the water and were replaced by less skilled crews, has meant that quality has suffered. BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mhara – The Seafood Development Board)
The Impact of Policy & Regulation There are many parallels between fishermen and farmers. Like farmers, fishermen are busy doing what they do – in this case, catching the fish. Few of them have any connection with the market; no communication with the end user, no distribution, no marketing platform. Like farmers they have become price takers, with little or no influence over the price they receive for their fish. Most fish landed around the Irish coast is brought to the local fisherman’s co-op for auction. Some, from large trawlers, is directly exported. Fishermen, like mainstream farmers, get paid only a fraction of what is paid by the end user. Since the 1960s the activities of farmers have been influenced, regulated and subsidised by the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Likewise, the fishing industry is controlled by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the main function of which was to set down quotas for the amount of each particular species which
was allowed to be caught by each member state’s fishing fleet (Total Allowable Catch). You may not be aware that the CFP is currently being reformed – this is because there are a couple of major differences between the farmers and the fishermen. First, in the EU farming is vastly more valuable for an economic standpoint than the fishing industry and the scale of the CAP reflects this, accounting (up to recently) for almost half of the EU budget, almost e50bn per year. The CFP, which includes a small amount of market supports and interventions, accounts for less than 1%. Naturally, therefore, it gets less press. Secondly, farmers are heard louder than fisherman. Here in Ireland farmers have a highly effective lobbying arm in the IFA. This is replicated throughout the EU, giving them a powerful voice in Brussels. But fishermen, perhaps by the very nature of their livelihood, are more isolated and less united.
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While the CFP sets Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for certain species, this was designed more as a way of divvying up European fishing rights than as a conservation method. In fact, the EU quota system has sometimes been blamed for the deteriorating state of fish stocks in European waters (though most scientists agree they were in a very bad state before the CFP came into effect). What is clear, however, is that the CFP in its current form is severely flawed. The current system means that huge amounts of fish are being wasted; fishermen are forbidden from landing fish that are over-quota, but regulations cannot prevent fish from entering their nets. These unintentionally caught fish are mostly thrown overboard but, since they are already dead, the impact on stocks is the same. The main objective of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s high profile Fish Fight is to tackle this issue of discards, and to have it addressed in the current reform of the CFP.
Interestingly the website for the campaign does not present any specific solutions to the problem, instead it directs the reader to a plethora of other NGO websites who are campaigning on the issue, illustrating perhaps how complicated the whole thing is. The CFP also sets minimum sizes for each species. The issue of smaller fish being accidentally caught has been addressed somewhat by the introduction of nets with wider mesh, but minimum sizes vary greatly across different species, so even this is not straight forward. Since many smaller fish or unwanted species end up as feed for fish farms, this industry also ultimately impacts on wild fish stocks. Inshore fishing activities – fishing carried out within 10 miles of the Irish coast – are not regulated by the CFP and therefore not subject to TACs. There are, however, various conservation and monitoring programmes which aim to regulate inshore fish stocks.
Euro-toques chefs cook and taste prawns at the BIM test kitchen for the prawn study
Education & Development – A Season of Seafood
Chefs have a role in educating consumers and if they see new species appearing on restaurant menus, this will soon filter down to the retail market. has done a great deal of work on compiling species-specific handling guidelines and providing training for crews, but as with farmers, until fishermen see a price differential for attention to quality, they will concentrate on volume instead. And, while they remain disconnected from the market, they are unlikely to be aware of the demands of customers. Also, due to the length of time some boats stay at sea and the number of intermediaries between the boat and the kitchen ‘fresh’ fish is not quite as fresh as one might expect either. The number of ‘middle men’ in the system naturally adds to the final price. As with farmers, fishermen themselves get a fraction of what the end user pays for fish. Costs of transport, processing and marketing need to be taken into account, of course, but could we be getting better fish at better prices? And could good fisherman be making a better living? Can we, as chefs, do more to support our domestic fishing industry and make it viable into the future? Notwithstanding the complications that regulation, and indeed politics, throw into the mix there is a lot that chefs can do. First and foremost we need to change our attitude towards how we source fish. Wild fish are not an endless, uniform predictable
resource and cannot be treated as any other manufactured, or even farmed, food commodity. It is all about flexibility and variety. Almost all fish dishes should be included as daily changing specials, and not on a fixed unchanging menu. Fish should not be on a standing order or selected from a catalogue of choices. The fish featured on menus should be based on what is available that week or that day. Those on the supply side need to be proactive and responsive. It is all about opening up the lines of communication. Suppliers need to keep in constant contact with chefs to let them know what is being landed, what is fresh and in season. Chefs need to let the fishing industry know what they expect in terms of quality, handling and freshness, and what level of processing they require. Players on both sides need to educate and inform each other; suppliers need to understand the demands of chefs, chefs need to understand the vagaries of fishing. Whatever intermediaries are in between, there needs to be a more direct communication between chefs and fishermen and they need to influence each other’s activities. While fish stocks are certainly in dangerous decline, when it comes to variety of species, there truly are ‘plenty more fish in the sea’, so we all need is to use a little more imagination. 8
Fish and fishing are the area of focus for Euro-toques Ireland in spring 2012 and various events and activities will be aimed at providing chefs with the knowledge they need to source fish better and opening up the lines of communication between chefs and the fishing industry. These activities will be delivered in partnership with BIM and will include: Euro-Toques/La Rousse Foods Chef Development Programme – a series of workshops on fish species, fish sourcing and fish cookery will be held in catering colleges around the country between 28 February and 15 March, featuring technical expertise from BIM and cookery demos with Euro-toques chefs. These workshops are open to industry chefs. A number of focused industry workshops are also planned in La Rousse Foods. Euro-toques Regional Lunches – Understanding the Seafood Industry – this spring’s regional lunches will provide a platform for industry chefs and fishermen and seafood suppliers to meet directly and gain a greater understanding of how each industry works and their demands. Lunches will take place in March and April. Euro-toques/BIM Prawn Study Report – a full report on the prawn study carried out by Euro-toques chefs in conjunction with BIM will be available to download from the Euro-toques website, containing details of taste tests, recipes and costings, and feedback from the chefs. For dates, venues and details of all events, please go to euro-toques.ie.
RUTH HEGARTY is secretary general of Euro-toques Ireland, the Irish branch of the European Community of Chefs & Cooks. Founded by some of the region’s top chefs in 1986, Euro-toques aims to protect culinary heritage by promoting artisan production and local sourcing, defending food quality, and educating future generations. 8 ruth@euro-toques.ie
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 27
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
NEWS Mackerel
Megrim
Portrait of a Species
If we want to continue eating wild fish and keep our fishing industry viable, we simply must be more flexible and willing to use a greater variety of fish. Here are some species that are plentiful in Irish waters and being landed in great quantities, some rarely, if ever, seen on Irish menus.
Megrim
(Lepidorhombus Whiffiagonis)
A flat fish, very plentiful in Irish waters. The French call it ‘cardine’, the Spanish ‘gallos’, but its common English names, ‘megrim’ or the even more unfortunate ‘whiff ’, do it no favours in the PR stakes. Clever chefs in the UK are already using it and referring to it on menus as ‘megrim sole’ or ‘Cornish sole’. It does share some similar characteristics of sole and can be used in a similar way. In a recipe on BBC Food, British chef James Martin uses megrim in a classic Sole Meuniere recipe, while Tom Aikens
prepares it as ‘Whole Roasted Megrim Sole with Parsley Caper Butter’. Referring to it as ‘sole’ has the advantage of making it sound somewhat familiar and safe to the cautious consumer, thus encouraging them to try fish which is more plentiful and cheaper than better known varieties. Megrim is delicate with a mild flavour and has a central spine, without small pin bones, so it seems ideal for the Irish market, where people tend to have a fear of bones. Why we do not eat this fish, which accounts for a great deal of what is caught off our coast by Irish fishermen, is a mystery. But like too many things we have on our doorstep, it is
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greatly valued by our European neighbours. Megrim is actually the fourth most valuable catch for Irish boats and earns the same price as monkfish. Perhaps we could call it ‘Atlantic Sole’ and start putting in on our menus?
Ling (Molva Molva)
Ling is another excellent fish commonly found in Irish waters whose lack of popularity is not easily explained. Also referred to as cobia or lemon fish, or ling cod, it has a firm white flesh and makes an
excellent alternative to fish like cod and haddock. It works well in sauced dishes and chowders and stands up to a variety of cooking methods – grilling, frying and baking. In the past, ‘salt ling’ (similar to the famous ‘bacalao’ or salt cod of Southern Europe) was the traditional Christmas Eve fish of fishing households in the South West of Ireland and can be found for sale in the English Market in Cork. While ling does appear in some fishmongers, it is rarely seen on restaurant menus. The use of the name ‘ling cod’ again makes it seem more familiar and ‘safe’ to the consumer, but ‘ling’ has quite an Asiansounding ring to it and it risks carrying with it some of the negative associations of farmed imports from the East. Another fish which simply requires a little bit of public relations work, it would be important to highlight its wild Irish origins to consumers.
Dublin Bay Prawns (Nephrops Norvegicus)
Everyone is familiar with Dublin Bay prawns, which are referred to by several names: langoustines, Norway lobster, or simply prawns. But despite being one of the most valuable and plentiful species landed around the Irish coast, it does not feature on many restaurant menus. While prawns are very popular on restaurant menus, most of these are imported varieties, often farmed warmwater prawns, usually referred to on menus as tiger prawns and originating in South and South-East Asia or Central America. If
you have these on your menu and are not aware of how they are produced, a simple internet search is in order – hopefully you will be quickly convinced as to why you should remove them. In 2011 Euro-toques Ireland carried out a ‘Prawn Study’ with BIM and chefs agreed unanimously, after taste and cooking tests, that Dublin Bay prawns were far superior in every sense to any of the imported varieties. They are, of course, more expensive but that did not even turn out to be our biggest problem. Due to the fact that Dublin Bay prawns are highly valued on European markets, the vast bulk of prawns caught by the Irish fleet are never even landed on Irish soil, instead they are graded and packed on the boats and shipped directly to France and Spain where they command a high price. Prices tend to vary and fluctuate and, as with any other species, there can be times when they are unavailable due to tides and weather. Nevertheless, prawns are in season year round and are being landed in great quantities, but because they are not being demanded to any great degree by the Irish market, the supply lines and the communication are not really there. Most prawns are graded at sea (with 0-5 being the biggest prawns – max. five prawns per kg – down to the 40-45 grade). You can expect to pay less if you are willing to take the smaller grades and, of course, they will cost a lot less per kilo if bought with head on (although on the Irish market they are sold mainly as tails). While they do take a fair bit of preparation, if demand was sufficient a processor would surely consider selling them as shelled tails, making them a viable
Dublin Bay Prawns
and far better quality local alternative to the ubiquitous ‘tiger prawn’.
Others to Consider Mackerel
Mackerel is proof that a bit of a push from chefs can quickly turn around a fish’s public image. It has become somewhat fashionable in recent years and is now an increasingly popular choice at fish counters. But considering it has some of the healthiest stocks of any species in Irish waters, it is still under-utilised. It stands up better than most fish to a variety of interesting food pairings and as an oily fish is one of the healthiest options around. Mackerel is seasonal and should be featured on menus mainly during the mackerel runs of the spring and summer months when waters warm up. Albacore Tuna
This is where seasonality and flexibility really come in. Albacore tuna is an excellent quality fish and stocks are in a much healthier state than some of its tuna cousins, but it only passes by Irish shores for a few weeks each year. The albacore tuna season was much anticipated last summer, but when they arrived they only stayed around for a couple of weeks and then quickly disappeared again. So be ready – and get it while you can. Some processors are looking at freezing and smoking it to preserve it in season, but they need to know that there is demand. When it does come around, demand and pay for quality – handling has been a big issue with this fish, fishermen need to know that if they handle it properly next time round, they will earn a good price. u
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 29
PROMOTION SEASONS
Spring in the Air
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Pictured receiving the Seafood Restaurant of the Year Award from BIM’s business development and innovation manager, Donal Buckley, are proprietors, Kate Quinlan and Andrew Cooke and chef Eddie Gannon of QC’s in Cahirciveen.
Serious About Seafood Hospitality establishments who are serious about seafood have had their commitment to quality and service rewarded by BIM.
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romoting quality seafood in your restaurant is no easy task. You have to source your ingredients sustainably and in season, you need to juggle the cost of fresh fish and provide it at a price point that will suit your customers, you have to promote the benefits of seafood to diners, and you need to encourage them to try new dishes and alternative species. BIM – the seafood development agency – can help you in your quest. Its long-established Seafood Circle initiative helps promote the benefits of eating seafood to consumers, while also highlighting quality seafood providers in both the foodservice and retail sectors. Growing in popularity, the Circle now boasts 219 members across Ireland, including 2012’s Seafood Restaurant of the Year, QC’s in Cahirciveen, and Mary Ann’s in Skibbereen where Seafood Chef of the Year, Patricia O’Mahony, plies her trade. Members of the Seafood Circle are an elite collection of quality seafood providers who are heralded as standardbearers by BIM. ‘The Seafood Circle is brilliant,’ enthuses Kate Quinlan of QC’s. ‘The marketing of it is fantastic and BIM really does provide you with good exposure. We always hand the member booklet to customers with the bill and the tourists love it. For a body like the sea fisheries board to recognise members is great as BIM really stands for quality. When people see the Seafood
Circle plaque on the door, they know the fish served inside will be good.’ Kate, a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management with many years of experience in the hotel sector, is no stranger to the seafood business. Her family are fish processors in Cahirciveen, so when it comes to serving seafood, she knows what she’s talking about. For Kate, the most important ingredient in successful seafood service is quality. ‘Our ethos is quality, quality, quality. I will not sacrifice it. If you go off and buy South African hake for the sake of saving €2 in the process, it is a false economy. You will have to disguise it with sauces, which will cost you more in the long-run, whereas the quality of fresh Irish hake speaks for itself. If you are dealing with premium quality seafood you have to do little to get it right.’ Conscious of pressures on consumer spend, QC’s – which Kate runs with her husband Andrew Cooke – offers a range of dishes at different price points. ‘The majority of our main course dishes are in the €16-€22 range, but we also offer premium dishes such as turbot or wild sole at a higher price of about €30 and we have a good market for it. People are still willing to pay for top quality,’ she says, in proof that seafood makes good financial sense. For a full list of Seafood Circle members and winners see seafoodcircle.ie. u
Seafood Circle 2012 Winners A total of 219 seafood providers have achieved membership of the BIM Seafood Circle, including 110 hospitality operators. Among them are the five 2012 award winners:
Seafood Restaurant of the Year QC’s, Cahirciveen, Co Kerry Seafood Chef of the Year Patricia O’Mahony, Mary Ann’s Bar & Restaurant, Castletownsend, Co Cork Best Customer Service Castle Murray House Hotel, Dunkineely, Co Donegal
he schizophrenic weather may be confusing Mother Nature (daisies in January – who’d have thought it?) but as international rugby season starts and the evenings show a promising stretch, the great news is that spring has finally sprung. February and into March marks the end of root veg season, as game also wraps up for another year. It’s still early days in the new season, with salads and herbs not showing promise for a few weeks yet, but stalwart year round performers, like the mushrooms and lovage used in this recipe from Knockranny House Hotel’s Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year, are in supply. We had the good fortune to sample this dish during the Young Chef competition and it did a great job of showcasing the Dublin Bay Prawn which is in plentiful supply and promoted in Ruth Hegarty’s seafood report this month. Team the prawns with Achill Island turbot which is sustainably farmed in Mayo and available year-round for a dish with the ‘wow factor’. Kamil Dubanik’s Roast Troncon of Achill Island Turbot, Dublin Bay Prawn Tortellini, Jerusalem Artichoke, Mushroom, Cheek, Liver, Dublin Bay Prawn, Lovage Langoustine Tortellini
Stuffing 4 Langoustines (shelled & diced) 2g basil 1 tomato petal (shinned & diced) Salt, pepper Pasta 125g 00 flour 2 egg yolks 1 whole egg 10ml olive oil
Sift the flour and salt into the Thermomix. Add two egg yolks, one whole egg, pinch of salt and half tbsp of olive oil. Blitz altogether. Remove the dough from the Thermomix and knead well with both hands until firm, smooth and silky. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge. Leave to rest for 30-45
minutes. In a bowl, mix the langoustine with the shredded basil and tomato. Season to taste. Roll out the pasta with a pasta machine, cut the pasta into discs. Place some of the mix in the centre of the pasta disc, egg wash the pasta and fold it over. Bring the two corners together and pinch together. Blanch in boiling salted water for one minute and refresh in ice water. Keep covered in fridge until ready to use. Jerusalem Artichoke Purée
200g Jerusalem artichokes (peeled and finely chopped) 15g butter 10ml water 20ml fresh cream Salt to taste 1tsp oil
Heat the oil in the saucepan. Put artichokes in the hot pan and sweat them down for two to three minutes. Add the butter and water. Cover the artichokes with a cartouche and cook until soft. Once soft, add the cream and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and blitz well with a hand gun. Season with salt. Pass the purée through a fine sieve. Set aside for assembly. Pickled Mushrooms Pickling Liquid 25ml water 25g sugar 50ml rice vinegar Pinch fennel seeds 1 spring tarragon
Toast the fennel seeds in a hot pan. Add water, sugar and rice vinegar and bring it to the boil. Remove from the heat. Chill the liquid slightly and add the tarragon, leave to infuse for an hour. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside. Mushrooms
30g mushrooms 100ml pickling liquid
Place mushrooms in the vacpack bag and pour in the pickling liquid. Close the bag in the vacpack machine. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the liquid and set aside for assembly.
Lovage Powder
1 bunch lovage 80ml rapeseed oil 25g tapioca maltodextrin
Dry out lovage in a dehydrator. Blitz to a powder in a food processor. Reserve two spoons of blitzed dried lovage. Place the rest in Thermomix, add the oil. Put the lovage oil in a pot and warm at 60°C for an hour. Strain the oil through a cloth. Place in food processor with tapioca maltodextrin and on a medium speed pour in flavoured oil. Set powder aside for assembly. Langoustine Cream
25g butter 15g carrot (finely chopped) 15g onion (finely chopped) 15g fennel (chopped) 5g fennel seeds 5g coriander seeds 1 spring thyme 100g prawn shells 15ml brandy 15g tomato purée 250ml fish stock 50ml fresh cream
Melt the half of butter in a deep pan, add fennel, onion, carrot, thyme and cook to a light brown colour. Place prawn shells on gastronome tray and roast in preheated oven to 175o-180oC for 30-45 minutes. Mix them with vegetables and add brandy and flambé. Next add tomato puree. Cook it out for few minutes. Add white wine and fish stock. Bring stock to the boil, skim, season lightly and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Blitz everything together with a handgun and pass stock through a fine sieve. Reduce by half. Add cream, bring to a boil and simmer for a while. Set aside. Serve with Achill Island Turbot. u
Newcomer of the Year Crazy Crab, Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford Most Informative Menu Out of the Blue, Waterside, Dingle, Co Kerry HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 31
ADVICE
How to...
Save Money in the Kitchen Waste management is never a sexy topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your attention. By managing your food waste in the kitchen you can significantly reduce costs and boost your gross profit margin, and that is an appealing thought.
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he recent furore over the appointment of new waste collectors in Dublin city may have vexed denizens, prompting them to ‘talk to Joe’ in their droves, but for caterers and hoteliers waste has long been a cause of headaches that no amount of venting on air can soothe. From the grease trap debate in Dublin to the soaring costs of sending waste to landfill countrywide, racking up rubbish means that you’re throwing more and more cash in the bin. Combined, Irish restaurants are estimated to pay e125m a year in food waste charges. This, according to Unilever Food Solutions, is down to the 63,670 tonnes of food waste which is binned by the industry annually. To put it in perspective, that means that Irish chefs chuck out the equivalent of 7,959 double decker buses or enough food to cover the pitch in Croker eight times over each year. Aside from the ethical implications (imagine what your mammy would say about all the starving babies in the world if she saw you throwing out that much tucker)
food waste has a big impact on your GPM. A survey conducted by Unilever among Restaurants Association of Ireland members revealed that the average Irish restaurant wastes 85kg of food a week and 4.5 tonnes a year. With each kilo going to waste estimated to cost e2 when purchasing, transport, storage, prep, cooking and disposal costs are totted up, this is the equivalent of e8,840 chucked down the swanny.
Waste Not, Want Not
Unwanted food returned on customers’ plates was identified by Unilever Food Solutions Ireland as the biggest culprit when it comes to food waste, with 65% of restaurateurs citing it as a contributory factor. While food left on the plate could denote a bigger problem with quality, 34% of diners polled by the company said they left food on the plate because the portion size was too large, compared to 27% who didn’t clear their plates because they were unhappy with the dish.
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Other waste culprits include preparation, where 53% of restaurateurs admitted that food was wasted; bones and fat trimmings (40%); food that was prepared but not served (27%); and food that had gone out of date (15%). So how can caterers generate less waste and in turn, cut back on their waste disposal costs?
U
nilever Food Solutions has created a clever guide to help kitchen staff wise up on food waste. The first step, it ventures, is to conduct a waste audit to measure your current waste levels and identify your food waste hotspots. Is most of your waste down to over-purchasing, store room spoilage, large portions or overproduction in mise en place? Once you have a good measure of where and how much food you waste, ideally by an audit conducted over at least three days which will indicate food usage during peak and quiet times, you can start forecasting more effectively. While Unilever readily
admits that no one can predict the future, by taking into account seasonality, local events, and restaurant history, you can fairly accurately forecast customer demand and tailor your purchasing, stock and mise en place requirements to suit. Menu planning plays a strategic role in eliminating food waste. The more ingredients you have in your kitchen and storerooms, the greater the risk of items going out of date. Unilever advocates moving towards a leaner menu with profitable dishes that are in high demand. Strip out slow moving dishes from your menu that take up valuable ingredients and labour time. Use perishable ingredients for diverse menu items and where possible use core ingredients throughout the menu, which will help reduce the likelihood of food going out of date. By implementing a proper stock management system, through stock rotation and ordering minimum stock, you can significantly cut back on the amount of waste you generate. Be disciplined when ordering. If possible, invest in a software programme which can help you analyse historical and forecasted usage for each item, plus seasonal trends, market demand and so on. If costly software is not within your means, an Excel sheet will be just as handy. Unilever Food Solutions offers the following purchasing tips: 1. Don’t over-order 2. Cook seasonally – ingredients which have far to travel have a higher risk of spoilage 3. Only buy in bulk if it suits demand and if items are non-perishable – it’s a false economy if you have to throw food out 4. Agree a set standard with your supplier 5. Ensure there is only one person placing orders to avoid doubling up 6. Build relationships with your suppliers so that they will alert you to good deals 7. Where a comparable quality can be achieved, consider frozen, dried, bottled or tinned goods to help reduce the amount of potentially perishable goods in storage. By cutting back on the amount of ingredients in storage, you can avoid tying up much needed capital in unnecessary stock. Even better, you can reduce the chance of that capital going to waste if stock is spoiled. Unilever’s waste toolkit advocates the use of the Fifo and Lifo system (first in, first out; last in, last out). Try vacuum packing products – it extends shelf-life and reduces odour, minimising the risk of spoiling other produce. While dry stock is not perishable, it should be kept at room temperature and stored six inches from the ground and away from the walls. Split your storage into three zones based on the ABC strategy. It works on the theory that caterers have three different types of products in their kitchens: (A) products that have a high turnover but relatively little pick locations; (C) products that will be stored a lot longer than products in group (A), they have a low turnover and take up more space; and finally (B) products in between. Design
Rustic Stone chef and Masterchef presenter, Dylan McGrath, held a masterclass for Unilever Food Solutions guests recently, highlighting how to maximise profitability in the kitchen by using trimmings in innovative new dishes.
your storage room and fridge so that zone (A) is closest to the door, followed by (B) and lastly (C). It doesn’t just help avoid spoilage, by using this model you can save up to 60% of your time, says Unilever.
Counting More than the Cost of Disposal
It’s not just the waste collection bill you have to think of when looking at your waste costs. By overproducing in the kitchen, you have to factor in your labour and energy charges also. Effective planning and promotion will help reduce the chance of waste. Encourage front of house staff to creatively sell prepped items that would otherwise go out of date and use the specials board to get dishes moving. Cook smaller batches of pre-prepared food. Don’t overdo the mise en place, even if you have the time – getting ahead can cost you more in the end. Tailor your mise en place to suit bookings, the weather, holidays etc. Be creative with your trimmings, don’t just throw them in the bin. Dishes such as paella, potato salad and haggis were all created as a way of utilising by-products. Introduce recipe cards to help maintain uniform standards in food production. As well as cooking methods, include information on quantities, the cost of ingredients, plate portioning and so on. That extra bit of garnish can go to waste and eat into your profit margin. Your recipe should always be calculated on the basis of your selling point. Unilever Food Solutions reveals that it is common for chefs to over-serve by more than 40%. By being too generous with your portions you can significantly add to your waste bill. A survey by the Sustainable Restaurant Association in the UK found that 30% of food waste comes back on customers’ plates. Whatever the cost of disposal, imagine the
cost of purchasing. Take an example of a product that costs e20 per kilo, such as a filet of lamb. By regularly serving a filet that weighs 230g instead of 200g the kitchen is over-portioning by 30g, which adds an extra 60c to the cost of the dish. If you sell an average of 25 servings per day, this tots up to e5,500 per annum. Monitor the waste returning to the kitchen and ask waiting staff to enquire why customers didn’t clear their plates. If it’s the portion size which is to blame then you can quickly adjust your methods. If it’s a quality issue, well then you want to know about that sooner rather than later also. Set standard quantities per dish and use spoons/ladles etc with fixed volume for portioning. Communicate with your team about the impact over-portioning has on the business and the environment. Offer smaller portions for children. Consider introducing initiatives such as second helpings of side dishes – starting with an adequate-sized portion and refilling if required, instead of overdoing it in the first place. Interestingly, Unilever Food Solutions research found that 52% of consumers would like the option to leave certain items off their order – such as garnish or a side portion of veg – even if it didn’t mean a reduction in price. Additionally, 80% of diners would like to see the option of smaller portions on menus to help curb over-eating and food waste. The recommendations contained in the Unilever report are not rocket-science. They are common sense solutions which can be easily adapted by every kitchen brigade. Many of you will be implementing these strategies already, but those who aren’t can avail of the Work Smart, Wise Up on Waste toolkit from Unilever. See unileverfoodsolutions.ie. u
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 33
TRENDS
Reap What You Sow
Trends for sustainable hospitality and local sourcing are prompting many caterers to grow their own veg, whether on the sprawling estates of country houses, or the rooftops of boutique city centre hotels. Green-fingered gardener MARILYN BRIGHT finds out more.
Pretty as a Picture
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ocal and homegrown are the buzz words du jour in today’s restaurants and switched-on chefs are eyeing up any available outdoor spaces that might accommodate a row of chives or a patch of mint. Lucky country houses are taking advantage of already existing walled gardens and farm fields while city brasseries are planting up window boxes of thyme and decorative tubs of cutting herbs. Ballymaloe House pioneered the way decades ago with the working farm supplying Myrtle Allen’s prodigious tables. The addition of the cookery school has seen the development of Ireland’s most photographed potager complete with foraging
chickens and ducks. Castle Durrow’s restored walled gardens now provide organic produce for their restaurant as well as their busy café on Abbeyleix’s main street, while Longueville’s surrounding farm, walled gardens and orchards supply the O’Callaghan kitchens and go into artisan products as diverse as chutneys, preserves and their own apple brandy. Tourism chiefs are highlighting these green trends as part of the international move to environmentally responsible leisure or ‘guilt-free’ luxury, with menus addressing animal welfare, sustainability and reduced food miles.
Sprouting Seeds & Microgreens
Cutting edge trends include vertical farms on tall city buildings, rooftop beehives and a London restaurant that boasts of sourcing all of its produce within the ring of the M25. City solutions for greening the menu require a bit of ingenuity. A now celebrated chef who shall be nameless supplied his first restaurant with fresh herbs by ‘borrowing’ a neglected corner of the nearby cemetery. ‘It was ferociously fertile,’ he recalls, ‘and we could nip down in the evening and cut what we needed through the railings.’ With two city centre restaurants, Eamonn O’Reilly ventured out to the foothills
Cresses, purple radish sprouts, spicy brassicas and mustards and crimson amaranth can be grown inside year round and are ready to eat in two to 15 days. Fill seed trays with vermiculite and sprinkle on seeds; mist spray or water carefully and place on a warm windowsill. Seed compost or garden soil are not recommended due to possible contamination. Ensure seeds are kept moist as seedlings emerge.
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Maximise the decorative qualities of the edible garden by investigating the ever-growing range of varieties being developed by seed companies and plantsmen. Good options might include: Climbing/Runner Beans – with miniature sweet pea flowers in colours ranging from white and pink to red, purple and bi-coloured, for growing up trellises or obelisks. Keep picking the beans to ensure continuous flowering. Pods can be purple, gold, scarlet or speckled as well as green. Swiss Chard (leaf beat) – nearly evergreen, available now with rainbow colour stems of ruby, violet, gold, orange and pink; for picking in autumn/winter. Courgettes – bush or climbing forms with glossy green or gold fruits and big yellow flowers that can be stuffed for stunning presentations. Cavallo Nero – Tuscan black kale with handsome crinkly leaves like bunches of Prince of Wales feathers; winter hardy. Tomatoes – available now in miniature varieties specially bred for containers and hanging baskets, from currant sized fruits to golf balls: scarlet, gold and tiger striped. Suitable for sunny patios and sheltered areas. Salad Leaves – Huge choice of pale and dark colour tinged leaves ranging from cut-and-come-again lettuces to rocket, land cress, frisée, mizuna to grow as baby leaves or larger. Sow in two-week succession for continuous supply, some suitable for autumn/winter sowing.
TRENDS of Stepaside to open The Box Tree restaurant and Wild Boar gastropub. Acquiring a nearby plot and polytunnel has meant that all four premises will eventually be supplied with fresh homegrown produce. So far it’s been a bit of trial and error, Eamonn says, but they’ve brought a garden specialist on board now and are making a list for the coming season. ‘We also put out the word to local gardeners and they’re bringing in homegrown produce which we barter for bottles of wine or credit for meals. Their names go on the menu and locals are delighted to see items like Mrs O’Connell’s lovage soup or Joe Murphy’s rhubarb tart on the board.’ At Brooks Hotel in Dublin, chef Patrick McLarnon had a stab at city rooftop gardening but access through a bedroom window proved tricky and he’s now maximising grow space in the yard enclosed by city centre buildings. Grow bags and wine boxes hold successional plantings of salad leaves, herbs and five
varieties of mint. Vine tomatoes will be given maximum light in wall-hung baskets as the season progresses and sprouting seeds are grown in the kitchen year round for salads and garnishes. Just above Liscannor harbour in Clare, Denis Vaughan has made maximum use of the plot surrounding Vaughan’s Anchor Inn. Just now seed trays are being planted up in the protective polytunnel so plants get a head start before planting outdoors later in the spring. ‘We’re self-sufficient now in most veg,’ Denis says. ‘We have runner beans, peas, courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot, cabbage – but we buy in things you’d need a farm for like potatoes and carrots. Our outdoor strawberries supply us for three to four weeks; I pickle gherkins from the tunnel to go in our homemade tartar sauce, but tomatoes need so much tending they’re just not cost effective.’ Denis uses permeable membrane on the plot to keep down weeds and maintenance. ‘We’re lucky to have the space,’
he points out, ‘but if you were doing it to make money, you wouldn’t do it. The advantage is getting a nicer product and a lot of satisfaction. It’s great to step out the back door of the kitchen and cut fresh herbs or pick raspberries to use that evening.’ Culinary herbs top the preferred list for on-the-premises growing. Practical and pretty, most herbs are amenable to growing in pots, window boxes, raised beds or among flowers in a decorative border. Get a head start by buying wellgrown plants of shrubby herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme as well as greenhouse reared starts of softer herbs like basil, parsley and chives. For beginner growers it’s best to get advice from a garden centre or other professional as to suitable plants, containers, compost and aids like the moisture retaining granules that can cut down on frequent watering. They’ll also guide you on which plants can be grown successfully from seed, conditions required and aftercare. u
Surf 8 Before You Sow
The Irish Seed Savers Association in Co Clare is dedicated to locating, researching and preserving traditional varieties of fruit, vegetables and grains. Seeds and plants of old Irish varieties are available; as well as workshops on organic gardening, advice and starter packs for various situations. -endsTo find out more, visit irishseedsavers.ie.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 35
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
The Law of
On Terroir
Firma
Q&A
Eggs
Ballyfin Demesne chef de cuisine, FRED CORDONNIER, tells us what makes him tick. Ballyfin’s food style is... ‘from nature to plate, food from the terroir’. We base the food on the terroir – the ensemble of natural influences that give a food a sense of place. In Ireland we are surrounded by lush ancient woodland, bountiful lakes and shorelines and thriving farmlands, all heaving with some amazing ingredients which are unique to the country. At Ballyfin Demesne we hope to reveal and utilise our terroir. We will, quite simply, obey the seasons and let nature decide our menu.
Getting to grips with the myriad of food rules and regulations can be confusing for many operators, particularly if they have received conflicting advice from environmental health officers and food safety professionals. Euro-toques Ireland asked the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) for definitive answers to caterers’ frequently asked questions. Here at Hotel & Catering Review we thought the responses were pretty helpful so we have decided to share them with you in a new series over the next number of issues. The first topic under the spotlight is eggs.
My most popular dish is... my version of the traditional Crubbeen. It always surprises guests with great success!
A: There is no specific legal restriction covering what
I am always working on new dishes... trying to introduce products from the garden or the estate and typical produce from the Irish terroir such as organic oat flakes, garden herbs, West Cork prawns, toasted barley, veal sweetbread, buttermilk and so on. I don’t have a favourite dish to cook... A dish is like a butterfly, a dish is ephemeral. As produce changes throughout the season I get bored of the dish. I like to change the dishes and menu all the time. My favourite supplier is... Robert, our head gardener. I am very lucky to have my own ‘supplier’. Robert grows most of the vegetables and herbs that we use and looks after our chickens. Otherwise I like to work with Rocky and Ian from Redmond Fine Foods. They are very proactive with a lot of Irish artisan suppliers and also focus on the Irish terroir. I couldn’t live without... the thermo circulator. We have a small crew here so there are a few gadgets that we couldn’t do without but the thermo circulator is my favourite. I am very lucky, I have everything I need here but... if I had the space I would have a wood burning bread oven. You can’t beat the taste of bread baked in those ovens. A rotisserie for spit roasts would be great also. Maybe next year... I have over 300 books about food and wine... I don’t have a favourite but La
Q:
Can I use my own fresh free range eggs or local farm eggs in my cooking and for breakfast?
Phisiologie du Gout by Jean Anthelme BrillatSavarin is a good read.
had the pleasure to work under him for 10 years.
The quality of Irish food is... very good eight times out of 10 but prices are very high and people are going for the non-Irish produce. Why is free range poultry from France cheaper than free range poultry from Ireland? That includes transport!
I have worked with many chefs... Mr Cheftel was my chef when I was an apprentice and he taught me all the basics, which helped me along the way. Then I had the privilege to learn from the great chefs Raymond Blanc, Bruno Loubet, Anton Mosimann and Guillaume Lebrun. They all taught me different styles of cooking and different physiology and influenced my style.
The Government needs to... restructure their views on food. Everything here is based on mass production for export. If I were in power I would... cut the VAT for restaurants to 5%. In the kitchen my leadership style is... strong but fair. My ambition is... to put Ballyfin Demesne on the map as a food destination. If I weren’t a chef... I would probably be a baker as I love making and baking breads.
The most memorable meal I have ever had... was the tasting menu at Pierre Gagnaire restaurant in Paris a few years ago. My guilty pleasure is... a weekend away in Paris, staying in the Plaza Athénée, enjoying a three Michelin star meal and going to a rugby match, where France beat Ireland of course, and celebrating with champagne. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t relax, but I do love going to rugby internationals.
My favourite restaurant in Ireland is... Patrick Guilbaud. Not because I have worked there, but because every meal I have had there has always been good – the food, the service, the welcome, the whole package.
My Death Row meal would be... A magnum of 1970 Chateau Petrus, cote de boeuf, pomme frite, salade de truffles béarnaise, a large cheese trolley and bread baked in a wood burning oven, Hennessy Paradis and a Cuban cigar.
The chef I admire the most is... Guillaume Lebrun in Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. He is the best chef Ireland has ever had and I
My dream dinner guest is... my wife as she enjoys good food and good wine and she is lovely company. u
36 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
type of eggs can be used in catering. If you are using your own eggs from your own farm, the flock (regardless of the size) must be registered under animal health regulations with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine. FSAI recommends that the flock is periodically tested for Salmonella. In this way you can demonstrate to your EHO that you have considered the risk and are verifying controls by flock testing. Testing certificates should suffice as documentary evidence of these controls. You may also use local farm eggs that are stamped and graded in compliance with the egg marketing legislation. The stamp is sufficient to demonstrate the safety of the egg as these flocks have to be tested for Salmonella under the control of the Department of Agriculture. However, you should not use unstamped/ungraded eggs from any source other than your own farm. Unstamped eggs can only legally be sold when produced by a flock that consists of less than 50 hens, above this number of birds, the eggs must be stamped and graded before sale. Unstamped/ungraded eggs from these small food businesses can only be sold directly by the producer to the consumer at local markets or from the farm gate or by door to door sales. They cannot be sold in any way to a catering or retail business. A responsible food business should never use illegal sources of food because legal requirements are implemented to facilitate food safety. If you are using unstamped eggs from farms other than your own, your supplier may be committing an offence. In circumstances where such eggs are used in ready to eat dishes that are not cooked then your EHO may require you to implement appropriate controls and/or change your supply of eggs.
Q:
Do I need to use pasteurized egg to make mayonnaise or other egg based sauces eg. hollandaise or béarnaise? Can I make homemade ice cream with fresh free range eggs?
A: There is no specific legal restriction covering
what type of eggs can be used in catering. Caterers should be aware that sometimes hen eggs and, more commonly, duck eggs, can contain Salmonella. Therefore, ready to eat foods, made with raw egg, that do not receive a cooking step to kill Salmonella are a potential risk to the consumer. For example, home-made mayonnaise, certain raw egg sauces that are minimally cooked and certain raw eggbased desserts like home made ice-cream and tiramisu, represent a potential risk to the consumer if Salmonella is present in the eggs used during their preparation. Your EHO will not usually require you to demonstrate that you are controlling the risk of Salmonella in eggs used for ready to eat uncooked dishes if you follow FSAI recommendations. The FSAI recommends that: • Pasteurised egg is the safest form of egg to use in ready to eat dishes. • Bord Bia quality assured eggs are the next safest source. • Stamped and graded eggs not in the Bord Bia quality assurance scheme can also be used but the controls on such eggs may not be as strict as those used in the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme. However, all stamped hens eggs are sourced from flocks that are subject to statutory controls for Salmonella. FSAI does not recommend: • The use of unstamped hen eggs as these are not controlled under the national Salmonella testing scheme. • The use of duck eggs in ready-to-eat foods that are not cooked, irrespective of source. These eggs are commonly contaminated with Salmonella. If you do not follow the FSAI recommendations your EHO will require you to demonstrate that you are controlling the risk of Salmonella in eggs. u
Got Something On Your Mind?
If you have any specific queries that you would like clarification on, email us in confidence to hcrsolutions@ jemma.ie. Answers will appear in a future issue of Hotel & Catering Review. Please note, queries don’t have to be food-related. We will investigate questions regarding employment, liquor licensing, health and safety and other regulations also.
8 For more information about food safety rules and regulations, visit fsai.ie.
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 37
Image: Bord Bia
NEWS INGREDIENTS
DRINK
Cooley Launches Bid to Reclaim Poitín as National Drink Cooley, the Irish distillery recently acquired by US drinks giant, Beam, has launched a new range of poitín products. Noting that over the years poitín had been demonised because it was an illegal product which lacked consistency, quality and credibility, Cooley chairman, Jack Teeling explained: ‘We have produced a quality poitín product using ancient techniques in our award-winning distillery allowing consumers of today try this ancient spirit with confidence as they are getting a high quality product.’ Cooley’s first poitín release is triple distilled in small copper pot stills from an Irish pot still recipe of malted and unmalted barley. Bottled straight from the still with no maturation, the spirit is bottled at 65% ABV. ‘Poitín is basically un-aged Irish whiskey spirit and we hope to revive the poitín as a national product. Brazil has cachaca, Greece has ouzo, Bulgaria has rakia and the Czechs have successfully revived absinthe after it was effectively outlawed for over 30 years. We want to bring poitín out from the shadows and let Irish people have a national white spirit they can be proud of,’ said Jack.
The Big Smoke
Longueville House Cider Launched
Smoking is back with a bang on Irish menus. MARILYN BRIGHT gets some lessons from the experts.
T
oday’s killer high heels remind us that fashion tends to repeat every generation or so – but in a slightly different way. It’s the same with menus, too, and the smoked specialities appearing on today’s trendy tables are harkening back to flavours that are millenia old, developed over campfires and open hearths that persisted into the 20th century. Long valued as a method of preserving fresh food, smoking is often used in conjunction with pickling, brining and airdrying as in the timeless favourites of ham, bacon and smoked salmon. Modern chefs are playing with countless variations on the theme, smoking everything from vegetables to salt, chilli peppers and cheese with fumes as varied as smouldering fruit woods, vine clippings and seaweed. The concept of smoking ties into today’s emphasis on making the best of local seafood in season and the cachet attached to everything homemade, from jams and chutneys to scones and breads. At Longueville House, William O’Callaghan combines all these elements to use the produce of the surrounding garden, orchards and fields as well as the bordering Blackwater river. Salmon is smoked for the house and resident anglers can have their catch vacuum-packed to take away. The magnificent glazed ham that is the centrepiece of Longueville’s breakfast table comes from pigs that graze on acorns and beech mast in the woods around the walled garden. ‘We brine the hams for two to three weeks, then smoke them for two to three days. They’re finished for the table with a glaze of mustard and apple syrup from the orchard.’ William’s smoker is a converted filing cabinet, in regular use for specialities like lightly smoked fresh pork and chicken or quail and game birds wrapped in vine leaves. They also smoke chilli peppers from the greenhouse to go into stews and their own sausages. A smoke box can be as simple as a biscuit tin with a rack inside, but William cautions that temperature control is vital
so that heat is kept at a low but constant level. ‘Best to use a thermostat,’ he says, ‘and you may need to keep damping down the embers.’ Cold smoking for larger cuts of meat takes place over a period of days and temperature must be kept at 32°C. Above this point the fat starts to melt and keeping properties are compromised. Hot smoking at higher temperatures is used for flavouring and cooking at the same time, usually on smaller items that are for immediate use rather than preserving. Most smoked salmon, for instance, is cold smoked; hot smoked salmon is generally labelled ‘barbecued salmon’ and has a flaky cooked texture with a short shelf life. Built-in thermostats are a feature of most commercial smokers which are available in a wide range of sizes. Flavour in smoked food is determined by the aromatics of the wood or fuel used. Beech sawdust is commonly used as a base, with flavour heightened by additions of oak, hickory or fruit woods which could be too strong on their own. Green branches of bay, rosemary or other herbs produce quantities of scented smoke to add special notes. The skill of the chef comes into play in choosing which aromas best complement the food being processed, and the degree of smoking that enhances rather than overpowers the end product. A light hint of smoke may add a pleasant note to a mild cheese, while a robustly smoked sausage is perfect for adding depth to a rustic cassoulet. At Dublin’s Brooks Hotel, head chef Patrick McLarnon’s peat smoked lamb has been on the menu for the past 15 years. Rump or loin of lamb is marinated for one to two days in Greek yoghurt with rosemary, garlic, lemon and mint before being sealed on a hot pan and seasoned. Doing this before placing in the smoke box helps the flavours to be absorbed better, he says. The finished dish is presented with a smouldering sprig of rosemary wafting incense-like fragrance over the table. Tea-smoked duck is a signature dish at the award-winning China Sichuan restaurant.
38 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
Proprietor Kevin Hui is very particular in choosing the type of ducks that have just the right proportions of fat and lean meat to ensure a succulent end product. The entire process takes one and a half days, with the whole ducks bathed first in a soy and sichuan pepper marinade, then hung to dry. Smoking is done in a tightly sealed wok using a jasmine tea blend and a little camphor wood. ‘The smoking takes two to three hours over a very low heat to keep the flavours delicate and not too heavy,’ Kevin says. ‘We tried using a commercial smoker, but found the traditional wok worked better.’ The smoked duck is steamed and fried before serving as a main course with plum sauce, or in spring rolls as a starter. Kevin plans to expand the tea smoke menu this year and is developing recipes using Irish chicken and seafood. James McGeough in Oughterard is master of all things smoked, cured and air-dried, developing a countrywide (and beyond) market for products like smoked and airdried Connemara lamb, hams, sausages and smoked paté. The single smokery set up as an adjunct to McGeough’s family butcher shop is no longer adequate to supply demand for the award-winning products and two new smoke units will be up and running soon. Trained in Germany as a master butcher, James uses only traditional methods and best quality locally sourced meats. ‘Everyone wants natural smoke now – the painted on stuff and artificial flavourings and colourings just aren’t good enough and people know the difference.’ As part of McGeough’s expansion, James is organising a space where he will undertake meat skills classes this year. ‘I’ve done a couple of training sessions on special request, and since then we’ve had a lot of interest, both from home cooks and professionals. They’ll be one-day, live-in courses with B&B facilities and students will actually be working with the meat.’ What better way is there to brush up on your smoking skills? u
Longueville House in Cork is continuing its brewing tradition with the launch of a new craft Irish cider. Created with pressed juice from Dabinett and Michelin cider apples in the estate’s 20-acre orchard, the cider is naturally fermented over time, resulting in a rich amber colour, which is filtered, lightly carbonated and pasteurised. With an ABV of 5%, the cider contains no colourings, additives or preservatives and is available in 500ml bottles.
Corona Light Comes to Ireland
Ireland has become the first market outside Mexico and the US to welcome Corona Light, the low calorie version of the famous Mexican brew. The light beer market equates to approximately 50 million bottles per annum and Michael Barry of Corona distributor, Barry & Fitzwilliam is targeting a 10% share of that market in year one. Corona Light has 99 calories – 30% less than regular bottled beer, zero grams of fat and only five grams of carbohydrates.
Italian Job for Classic Drinks Italy’s largest liqueur brand – Luxardo – has appointed Classic Drinks as its Irish agent. The brand, which was established in 1821 and is still 100% controlled by the founding family, is a leader in the liqueurs industry. It produces a range of classic Italian liqueurs from its base in Torreglia, near Venice, including sambuca, flavoured sambucas, amaretto, grappa and limoncello. Among Luxardo’s popular brands is the Maraschino Cherry liqueur with its straw-coated bottle. It was a key ingredient in the original Martini cocktail, devised in California after the Gold Rush in 1860. For more information, see classicdrinks.ie.
Wine Times
SANTA ANA VIOGNIER RESERVE
Bodegas Santa Ana was founded in 1891 by Luis Tirasso, an Italian immigrant and one of the pioneers in the development of grape-growing and winemaking in Argentina. The company is a leader in the Argentine grapegrowing and winemaking industry. Their philosophy is to offer wines of the highest quality from the vineyard to the bottle, each step of this process is meticulously carried out chief winemaker Opi Sadler.
Peaches
Honeysuckle
Honey
Kiwi
Unit 5 OC Commercial Park, Little Island, Cork, Ireland T: 021 451 0066 F: 021 435 5504 W: www.classicdrinks.ie E: info@classicdrinks.ie
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 39
40 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
AWARDS
Cleaning Up in
Sligo
Leading members of Ireland’s accommodation services community gathered in Sligo this January for the Irish Accommodation Services Institute’s Annual Conference and Awards.
I
rish accommodation managers and staff are at the heart of the Irish hotel industry – so concluded Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring, after spending an evening in the company of the Irish Accommodation Services Institute managers in January. The Minister was on-hand to present accommodation managers with their coveted trophies at the Annual Accommodation Awards, which are organised each year by the Irish Accommodation Services Institute. Held at the IASI’s annual conference in the Sligo Park Hotel, the Awards were presented to operations which excel in the fine art of accommodation services, with seven winners hailing from the hotel, healthcare and education sectors honoured on the night. As well as recognising the country’s top accommodation teams, the Irish Accommodation Services Institute also presented the special President’s Award to Micheline Corr, director of The Firm hospitality recruitment agency, in recognition of her services to the IASI over the years. The Awards are a chance to honour personnel who are largely the unsung heroes of the hotel industry, noted IASI president, Ines Guerra, who serves as executive accommodation manager at Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport. ‘I always tell my staff they are the most important department in the hotel. To overlook the importance of housekeeping is a huge mistake since the rooms department generates the most profit for a hotel and the cleanliness and condition of bedrooms are the most important factors in customer satisfaction ratings,’ said Ines. She urged hoteliers to show restraint when making cuts in the accommodation department. ‘It is very difficult in these days to maintain standards in any property when the managers and directors keep making cuts, cuts and more cuts. Unfortunately, the majority of the cuts are in the accommodation department. As an accommodation manager, I would like to ask them “how many pints or how much food do you have to sell to make the same profit that you make for each room sold?” These facts have not gone unnoticed by budget and economy hotel brands. It is encouraging that in this sector a few head housekeepers have successfully made the transition to general managers.’ The Irish Accommodation Services Institute is offering a range of support services for accommodation managers, including workshops, seminars and networking events. ‘I would like to ask general managers to encourage the team in their accommodation departments to participate – they will always learn from them,’ concluded Ines. u
FRANCHISING
The Best of Times In the Worst of Times
These may be testing times for all businesses, yet paradoxically, the downturn has made it easier for new businesses to launch, with lower rents and cheaper start-up costs. But opening a new endeavour in the midst of the worst recession to rock the State requires finance – which is not that easy to come by these days – and a lot of nerve. It is a time when the franchise model holds its greatest appeal, with big brands offering greater security to you and your lenders.
T
Above: Winners of this year’s Irish Accommodation Services Institute Awards are pictured with IASI president, Ines Guerra, and the Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring (front row, centre). Right: Micheline Corr, director of The Firm was the recipient of The President’s Award at the annual conference of the Irish Accommodation Services Institute in recognition of her contribution to the industry. She is pictured (centre) with the Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring and Ines Guerra, president of the IASI. Below: Members of the Irish Accommodation Services Institute Council pictured at the AGM in the Sligo Park Hotel in January.
8 To find out more about IASI visit iasi.ie. 42 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
he Beatles said it best when they hummed they’d ‘get by with a little help from their friends’ and who didn’t wish they had someone to turn to when the brute force of the recession lashed these shores? The shock impact of the downturn – our lowest ever, coming hot on the heels of our biggest high – caught the majority of us unaware, leaving us scrambling to find our balance and eager for ideas to help us ride the storm. It was a time when franchises proved their greatest worth, offering a wealth of support to franchisees which benefited from the experience gleaned by the brands that had been there, done it all before, learnt the valuable lessons, and bought the proverbial tee-shirt. Not all of Ireland’s major franchises came through unscathed of course, but the major brands held firm, helping their franchisees batten down the hatches, and today O’Connell Streets across the land remain a melting pot for established big name international and emerging homegrown brands. Franchising in the hospitality industry has never been more fashionable. A survey by the Irish Franchise Association in 2011 found that food, drink and catering remain the most popular franchise options in Ireland, with a litany of brands across the market. But with so many options, how can you decide what’s right for you? The first thing to note, before you even begin to eye up prospective matches, is that franchising isn’t for everyone. If you like to do your own thing and showcase your own creative flair then you might be better off going it alone. Franchising may offer you the comfort of a tried and tested brand and help you loosen the purse-strings of financial institutions but, if the relationship between you and the master franchisor doesn’t work out, then
disentangling yourself can transpire to be an expensive exercise. Are you happy to follow a set formula? Do you enjoy working within established guidelines? You should embark on a little soulsearching before you leap into bed with a partner. If the franchise model seems right for you, then draw up a list of franchises that most appeal to you in the Irish market and fully research their performance. When you commence the dating ritual with franchise suitors, seek to speak to existing franchisees and ask what works best with the brand and what they could do better. Find out how many franchisees have more than one outlet – this indicates how much faith they have in the brand. Get your accountants to go over the finance model with a fine tooth comb – this is no time for flying by the seat of your pants. If you are about to stump up big cash for a franchise agreement then you want to know that the model delivers. What kind of gross profit margin can you expect? What are the hidden charges? Check out the senior management team. You are investing in their brand so you need to have confidence in their ability to deliver on a macro level. What does the franchisor offer other than the brand? Do they help with the set up? Do they provide regular training? What mentoring and other support can you expect? What marketing do they offer to help deliver customers to your door? How does the purchasing work? When considering franchise options you must remember that you are embarking on a marriage – and like all partnerships the relationship requires work from both sides. While you are eyeing up franchisors, remember that they are giving you the once over too and they want to know you will represent their brand to the best of your ability also. 8
HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011 43
MOVERS & SHAKERS
FRANCHISE In this instance, it makes sense to try before you buy. It is always a good idea to ask if you can work in an existing outlet for at least one day to see if you like it before signing on the dotted line. The franchises that work best are the ones where the franchisee is hands-on and, as in all business, the successful operators in today’s challenging market are the ones that have rolled their sleeves up to work at the coalface. Before you jump into a new business partnership, you need to know it’s right for you. The franchisor will want to know this also. It is of no benefit to either side if the venture is short-lived. If you are having difficulty identifying your perfect match then it is a good idea to look for advice from an independent source. There are a number of franchise consultants in the market here and in the UK who
can offer advice and help you select the best brand to suit your budget, location and needs. Make sure they disclose any vested interests and again, check out their previous clients to ensure they deliver what they promise. It is also worth going to shows like the Irish Franchise Association Expo (RDS, 27-28 April: franchiseexpo2012.com) where you can get a good indication of the variety of franchise options available and meet the different teams. Once you have found your perfect match, you need to pay close attention to the legal agreement. Franchisors have been around the block a long time and have drawn up watertight agreements to protect their interests. But is the pre-nup right for you? Engage a franchise lawyer to review the agreement to make sure your best interests are protected. The franchise agreement is one of the most
Subway Expands
With 101 stores in the Republic and 82 in North, Subway, the submarine sandwich bar chain, has seen both sides of the recession – with businesses in the South hit by the banking crisis while the North has struggled with cutbacks in the public service. But despite the challenging times, Subway development agent, Neil Black, notes that business is on the up. ‘We see that consumer confidence is starting to come back. Things have been difficult for everyone on the high street but we’re at the right end of retail, we’re not a luxury purchase, so we’ve been well placed to weather the storm,’ he explains. The good news for prospective franchisees is that, as well as an improvement in market conditions, the downturn has meant that it’s more affordable than ever to start up a new business. ‘We see that landlords are being a lot more reasonable about rents,’ says Neil. It
important documents that you will ever sign, so it is important that you get expert advice. Cutting corners here may end up costing you a lot more in terms of money, pain and heartache in the future. And above all, remember to test the model. Does the brand suit the location? Are there enough offices in the area to suit a sandwich bar? Is there enough footfall to suit a burger joint? Don’t just rely on the master franchisor to do all the research. You are the one who is taking the risk opening in a downturn, you are the one who is selling the idea to the bank and taking on the debt, and more importantly, you are the one who is going to be pouring blood, sweat and tears into the business, so you need to make sure you’re confident in its success before you start. u
is important to strike the right balance, he adds. ‘You don’t want to be punitive towards landlords but at the same time they need to step up to the mark and realise that business levels are not what they were, so it is not sustainable for businesses to pay such high rents anymore.’ Subway is on the expansion trail, with the group recently announcing plans to launch 600 new stores in Ireland and the UK over the next few years, and the brand is actively looking for new franchisees. ‘We’re looking for people who want to be their own boss. It is a good time to open up a new business, as there are cheaper rents and start up costs. We have a low entry cost and we work hard to keep both entry and operating costs low. With over 45 years experience we’ve been through recessions before so we know what it takes to operate in the current environment,’ explains Neil. For more information visit subway.ie/business.
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or call 0800 085 5058 (UK) 1-800-413-076 (Eire)
44 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
PAUL BRODERICK
SINEAD CASSIDY
On the Up
After a quiet few years in recruitment, things are hotting up on the jobs market. Caterers are still reporting a dearth of good chefs to fill voids at every level, while senior managers are in demand. Among the high profile announcements recently is the appointment of ADRIAN CREAN as McDonald Ireland’s first ever Irish MD. Adrian succeeds JOHN ATHERTON who has moved to the role of managing director of McDonald’s in Sweden and vice-president of the restaurant chain’s operation in the Nordic region. Adrian has worked with McDonald’s since 1997, first as finance lead supporting restaurant operations and latterly as finance director. He has also held responsibility for IT, restaurant development, supply chain and business insights with the company and is a board member of the McDonald’s worldwide insurance captive managed in Dublin… Another finance director on the up is PAT KING, The Doyle Collection’s chief financial officer who has been elevated to the role of CEO. Pat, who joined JurysDoyle in 1990, was appointed CFO of the group in 2006 and played a key role in the firm’s reorganisation and relaunch as The Doyle Collection. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a former president of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers… In Jurys Inns, SAM SHEPARD has been appointed group HR manager. She moves to the hotel sector from the retail trade, where most recently she held the role of head of HR for retail at Tesco Ireland… Down in The Kingdom, SEAN O’DRISCOLL has moved from his role in the four star Brehon Hotel in Killarney to the neighbouring five star Muckross Park Hotel where he is manning the ship for owners Bill Cullen and Jackie Lavin... Also in Kerry, DONAGH DAVERN has been appointed regional general manager of The Gleneagle Group. The former Kingsley Hotel GM will be responsible for a number of properties within the group including The Brehon… Elsewhere, SHAY LIVINGSTON has headed to Carlton Hotel Galway City, where he was appointed general manager. He moves to the City of the Tribes from the Rebel County where he served for a number of years as GM of the Rochestown Park Hotel... Former Shannon Oaks Hotel general manager, KARL REINHARDT, has been appointed general manager of the Lough Rea Hotel & Spa in Galway, moving from the Portumna property following the tragic fire which decimated the hotel late last year... Over in the Marble City, PAUL BRODERICK has been named as GM of the Pembroke Hotel. A native of Kilkenny, he has worked in a number of four and five star hotels in Scotland and Ireland… In news that sent Twitter aflutter, one of the country’s most noteworthy chefs, MICKAEL VILJANEN, is on the move, packing up at Gregan’s Castle and swapping life in idyllic Ballyvaughan for the hustle and bustle of city centre Dublin. He is to join EAMONN O’REILLY in a new high-end, fine dining venture, The Greenhouse, on the site of Eamonn’s Bleu restaurant on Dawson Street in the capital... In Harvey’s Point, DEIRDRE McGLONE and MARC GYSLING have appointed NOEL CUNNINGHAM as customer relations manager at the Donegal hotel. A native of Killybegs, Noel is the showbiz presenter on TV3’s Ireland AM and also contributes to RTE Radio One’s Mooney Show... OLIVIA O’DONNELL has joined the team at Masterchefs Hospitality as sales and marketing manager. She brings 15 years’ experience with her to the role, honed over time at Kilshane House, The Absolute Hotel, Radisson Blu Galway and Cork and the JurysDoyle Hotel Group... SINEAD CASSIDY has moved to Galway’s G Hotel from the neighbouring Salthill Hotel where she was sales and marketing manager. At the Philip Treacy-designed hotel she will head up the sales and PR function… Another Sinead with a new role is SINEAD HENEGHAN. She has been appointed as conference sales account manager with the Croke Park Conference Centre. Sinead previously worked as corporate sales executive at The Shelbourne. Also new to Croke Park is LEAH KEARNS who has been appointed sales coordinator. Leah moves to the stadium from the Convention Centre Dublin where she was service desk manager... On the associations’ front, MICHAEL VAUGHAN of Vaughan Lodge in Clare is poised to become the next president of the Irish Hotels Federation. He will succeed Buswells’ GM PAUL GALLAGHER whose term of office will conclude at the IHF annual conference in Hotel Kilkenny this March... Former Donegal county manager, MICHAEL McLOONE, has been appointed to the board of directors of B&B Ireland. Michael retired as county manager last year. He previously served as CEO of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and spent 25 years with the North Western Health Board... AOIFE DELANEY, director of global sales with Ovation Global DMC, has been elected to the Site International Board of Directors for a three year term... And last but not least, former National Hygiene Partnership chairman, JOHN D CARROLL, was recently honoured by the Irish Council for Social Housing when it presented him with its Board Member Award in recognition of 25 years serving as chairman of HAIL (Housing Association for Integrated Living). u
Above: Donagh Davern is welcomed to The Gleneagle team by managing director, Patrick O’Donoghue. Below: New Muckross Park GM, Sean O’Driscoll, pictured centre with owners Bill Cullen and Jackie Lavin. Bottom: Sodexo Ireland chef and business manager, KelleyAnn Gallinagh serves Garth Brooks, and his wife Trish Yearwood while volunteering in Haiti recently. KelleyAnn, who is a big fan of the country singer, travelled to the earthquake ravaged island with the Haven Partnership where she helped cater for hundreds of Irish volunteers.
FIVE MINUTES WITH...
Denyse Campbell
GM after the nd. l a it p a C y it with the Trin by Fáilte Irela We catch up as awarded four stars w Dublin hotel Congratulations on reaching four star status.
Thanks. It’s great news. We spent a year working towards it so we were delighted to receive it in November.
Definitely. We have seen a big improvement in the number of hits on the site already. To get visibility you really need to go to four star. When people are looking at visiting a new city they tend to search for four and five star hotels only. The standard of three star hotels in Ireland is excellent and they are vastly superior to those in the UK and on the Continent, but still, people prefer to go for four star hotels where you get that little bit extra.
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Has it made any impact on rates?
Yes, we’re already seeing an improvement and it enables us to be a bit more rate aggressive. December was a very good month for us and January was a bumper month – up nearly 30% on last year. February is looking very, very strong too. There is definitely a bit of a lift out there.
Did you shout about your success?
What are your plans for 2012?
This year we really want to see an increase in our rate. We don’t have to worry about occupancy – we were at 78% last year – so now we’re
46 HOTEL & CATERING REVIEW ❖ FEBRUARY 2011
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT GUIDE
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Was it worth the effort?
Actually, the bulk of our business is international. We get quite a lot from Scandinavia – we have great links with FIT there – which is great as they’re good spenders. We have a strong Italian base and like everyone we’re trying to tap into the German market, but it’s a challenge for us. We’re really trying to grow our domestic business also, we’ve opened ourselves more to it. Last year domestic leisure accounted for about 30% of our business, this year it’s about 40%.
THE 3RD ANNUAL
FINaNCe ✛ PurChasING ✛ TreNDs ✛ eveNTs ✛ PaCKaGes
Our facilities were always four star. We have a very eclectic lobby and ground floor and a diverse collection of rooms which were already four star standard. We did a slight refurb – we extensively refurbished when we last extended in 2009 – but the main work we did was in service and F&B. We improved the F&B offering, we put a better structure in the kitchen, we extended our room service menu and we improved our service throughout the hotel.
Are your guests mainly domestic?
2012 EDITION
Clever Ideas & Simple Strategies for Growing Business in 2012
What was involved?
We did a big PPC (pay per click) campaign and spent a lot on social media which gave us a good bit of exposure. January is a great time to get the word out there. The ground floor business has improved. The local lunch trade has increased and in the evenings people are coming into the Café Cairo and staying for a few drinks. It’s a little alternative, with a laid back and relaxed vibe, and people really like it.
STAY INFORMED!
trying to hold out on the rate. It’s all about driving the business through your own website. The OTAs (online travel agents) are great for getting you out there but you have to make sure they don’t take everything off you. When you see your commission invoice every month it’s shocking.
Are you confident that there will be a turnaround in the hotel industry this year?
We have definitely seen an improvement. There are a lot of good things happening in Dublin at the moment, and the CCD has a lot of events booked for this year. I feel we’re going to see an uplift in rate also which is good. The challenge is to work on Brand Dublin. I would hope that everybody gets involved and is proactive in trying to bring as much business to Dublin as possible. The Dublin Convention Bureau does a great job and Dublin Tourism did a great job also. I hope this will continue now under Fáilte Ireland. If you look at how proactive Galway is, one festival leads into another. Why can’t we do that in Dublin? u
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