Column G&G

The roaring twenties

Is the hospitality industry going to see a return to the heady days of the roaring twenties from a century ago? Valda Goodfellows says there is plenty of optimism as the world starts to recover from covid.

Well, the UK hasn’t quite banished covid but there is defi nitely an air of optimism in the world of Hospitality; which just goes to show how quickly the mood can turn from despair to an almost palpable sense of victory. All thanks to our incredibly successful vaccination programme.

Yes, there are still massive challenges ahead; some of which are quickly becoming urgent, such as the migration of staff away from Hospitality and into other less arduous and anti-social forms of work. But, businesses will overcome such challenges, as they have done many times.

What is clear from the heady expectations of diners, is that they are desperate to feel the joy of just sitting in a buzzy atmosphere; the sound of clinking glasses, clattering cutlery and chattering people eating, drinking and creating better memories.

This spring feels like a re-birth of hospitality. Open the doors, bring the people in and let them taste freedom. That’s how it feels and the expectation is that this is the start of the new Roaring Twenties. The average spend of diners, even in the early days of outdoor dining in May, has sky-rocketed. All that pent-up inability to spend on entertainment, fi nally spilled over onto our freezing cold terraces, beer gardens and outdoor dining pods. Shivering drinkers and diners muffl ed in heavy coats, woollen hats and fake-furlined boots, gladly parted with their cash as the icy rain pelted off the canvas awnings and patio-heaters spluttered against the howling wind.

Just think what it’ll be like when the sun shines!!

Just about every hotel, B & B and camp site in popular tourist resort from Lands End to John O’Groats has been inundated with bookings for the summer. Cruise liners are

About G & G

Founded by Paul and Valda Goodfellow, G & G Goodfellows is a highly creative design & Distribution Company with an amazing showroom in Little Portland Street. Off ering a truly hands-on service, Goodfellows passion is to bring new and exciting, bespoke food presentation concepts to the UK’s culinary scene. As well as off ering a wide variety of the world’s best branded tableware, kitchen equipment, clothing and machines, Goodfellows also collaborates closely with UK craft producers for totally unique products. It works with all sizes of restaurant and catering projects, happy to supply anything from an individual plate to a full restaurant concept.

set to sail around the UK just to help create a holiday experience, swapping the Med for the Medway, New Zealand for Newcastle-uponTyne and Dubrovnik for Dublin; it doesn’t matter a jot to those who crave the excitement of fi nding their sea-legs, putting on their glad-rags and dancing the evening away after a sumptuous dinner. Hospitality is going to be bigger business this summer in UK than probably ever before. That’s if the travel restrictions continue to limit foreign travel and foreign countries continue to prevent us Brits from visiting (apologies to those who continue to bear the horrors of covid). You can’t

really begrudge us feeling a little bit giddy, can you? After all, not only have we had to cope with covid, we have also been battling Brexit

(and many of us still are, in terms of wading through the mountains of extra administration and crossborder complications).

We thought there might be a tentative and slightly scared approach to opening up hospitality, even down to the choice of tableware. We expected a massive demand for covered trays and pots with lids, to prevent any form of potential contamination. Nope, that didn’t happen. Our chefs and restaurateurs just want to make people feel happy, appreciated, excited and joyful with their food, service and presentation flair.

There has been a swift return to belief in their food; in what their restaurant aims to say about their style of hospitality; and more interestingly, a willingness to trade up and improve the quality of their presentation. Yes, we always have to be competitive in offering great value-for-money but it is a welcome surprise that even in the casual dining market, there is a realisation that concepts failed not solely due to covid but because they forgot to offer diners an experience that matched the price-tag they were charged, or their expectations. This included serving food without much love, care, imagination or taste. Who wants to eat their food with cutlery that feels like it is was bought for a glum city-centre school by some junior government clerk in a dimly lit office, who managed to save a penny on 5,000 knives and forks. You put it in your mouth for goodness sake! Glassware that you wouldn’t

use at home, doesn’t belong on a restaurant table either; and where do I start with plates? Some operators thought it was ok to use tableware for the sole attribute that it would bounce on concrete.

Gladly, this attitude has changed somewhat because no one can afford to take their customers for granted. While we totally respect the need for durability, especially in high volume restaurants, that doesn’t mean there needs to be a trade-off against style. With manufacturers like Bonna, who have continued to innovate even through covid; they prove you can have durability, innovation and amazing valuefor-money. Their designs are at the cutting edge of new trends, so much so, that it is hard to tell them apart from much more expensive brands. We can effortlessly build concepts around their ranges, for any dining style.

We are seeing a greater demand for coordinating product selections (not necessarily matching) into defined concepts. Take the new ‘Japandi’ trend for a Scandi-inspired minimalist style with a Japanese twist. We are seeing our sales of Figgjo porcelain mixed with pale wooden sharing boards and feature items from expert Japanese ceramicists for cool impact.

A real surprise in terms of defying the covid-conscious gloom, is that sharing food is still very much on the menu. We wrongly deduced that no-one would want to share a tantalising taste platter with the rest of the table; but that’s exactly what everyone wants to do. Not being able to share for so long has obviously made us all desperate to share and I for one, am so glad I was wrong about that. The sales of Costa Nova’s fabulous Notos range are in our top 10; mixed with their uber-cool Riviera Hydrangea Leaves, we can create pure Instagram gold and the look just makes you smile. Pass the Padron Peppers this way please! While an up-and-coming scene-stealing brands F2D & Chic are quietly establishing themselves as favourites in the style stakes for their Nova & Claro ranges, mixing great colours with lustrous metallic finishes.

Chefs will always choose signature items for their most special dishes, so there is no let-up in demand for our two incredibly creative stoneware brands Studio Mattes and Montgolfier.

There is however, an increasing demand for brighter and lighter tones, as if even the plates have been called into action to help lift the mood and spread the joy.

Speaking of joy, I can’t forget about drinking. Yes, we have all been guilty of maybe over-indulging in our home bars through lockdown but it’s not the same is it? No, we want to be in swanky bars drinking decadent cocktails in cut crystal. We want to wear our best sunglasses on a hotel terrace with our friends and sip the blush of a crisp Rosé from a big glass. And I want my Champagne nestled in a silver icebucket at a 5* Hotel, and poured carefully into an exquisitely fine but sensuous glass. Generosity in style and size is definitely what is emerging in glassware, with rounded shapes, large capacities and texture.

We feel, and very much hope, that this is just the start of a post-covid bounce-back; where consumers will spend, spend, spend; but with hospitality getting the message that the spend will only continue as long as expectation matches actual experience. Our chefs have proved they have the talent. Our operators are among the best there is (even if a few have had to be reminded to respect the consumer) and now they are really appreciating how much tableware is such an important part of the story.

So, banish the blues, kick off your shoes and get ready to party with us in the new Roaring Twenties.

Our chefs and restaurateurs just want to make people feel happy, appreciated, excited and joyful with their food, service and presentation flair