Hotel Operations

🏨 Dallas leads hotel construction pipelines as of Q2 2024 with 189 projects/22,392 rooms. Atlanta sets records too, with 159 projects/18,522 rooms. New York tops under-construction projects with 46 projects/7,572 rooms. The U.S. has 2,007 renovation and conversion projects, Atlanta leading with 33 projects/4,660 rooms. In Q2, 301 new project announcements were made, totaling 39,793 rooms. The first half of 2024 saw 250 new hotels/29,777 rooms opened in the U.S. LE forecasts 650 new hotels/74,228 rooms by year-end 2024, a 35% increase over 2023. New York City will add 23 new hotels/2,731 rooms by year-end. Dallas is projected to open 34 new hotels/3,644 rooms by year-end 2026.

📝 All employees at Mad University underwent a thorough training program for a new curbside pickup service, requiring completion of videos and quizzes. Trainers and business coaches personally visited each shop to conduct real scenario test runs. During peak times, cashiers, expediters, or managers may run the food out. The innovative service tracks customer arrival, eliminating the need for parking, and has garnered positive reactions for its convenience and surprise element.

🍞 American consumers prefer familiar yet slightly different food when eating out. Restaurants, facing declining traffic, offer items like potatoes for profitability. Major chains such as Arby's, Sonic Drive-In, and Long John Silver's innovate with potatoes; Sonic introduced "Groovy Fries" in May to 3,500 locations. Technomic reports 66% of on-premises orders include potato items, dropping to 50% for delivery. Arby's brought back potato cakes on July 1 after social media mentions surpassed 10,000. Long John Silver's added Crispy Waffle Fries in late July to its 530 locations. Chefs like Maneet Chauhan explore adventurous flavors using fries as a canvas.

🍴 Olly Oakley, Head Chef at The Harcourt Arms and The Plough Inn in Oxfordshire, favors à la carte dining over tasting menus for repeat customer appeal. Starting as a commis chef and waiter at Ascot Racecourse, he admires Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca, Spain. His cooking style is relaxed with a focus on flavor, influenced by English and Spanish barbecues. Oakley values hard, smart work, questioning, and learning in the industry. His essential kitchen item is a coal or wood-fired grill.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News since 1999, also joined Restaurant Hospitality in 2016. Wrote for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008. His podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" features foodservice experts. Won the Jesse H. Neal Award in 2006. Authored entries in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Magna cum laude from Tufts University, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and was in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Lives in Brooklyn, NY. Contact: [email protected], LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter: @foodwriterdiary, Instagram: @foodwriterdiary.

🏛 Four Seasons Resort Nevis is expanding with 58 new luxury homes by 2025, featuring one- to three-bedroom units, designed by 79 Design and Plan Studios, and interiors by Ward & Co. Viceroy at Ombria Algarve opens October 1 in Portugal with 141 rooms and residences on 5.2 hectares. 1 Hotel Central Park was sold to Host Hotels & Resorts for $233.8 million by Starwood Capital Group. InterContinental Bellevue at the Avenue opened, marking the brand's first property in the Pacific Northwest with a $1 billion development, 208 rooms including 18 suites.

🍴 Will Guidara, at age 26, took over Eleven Madison Park and turned it from a two-star brasserie into the world's #1 restaurant according to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. At MURTEC 2024, he discussed "unreasonable hospitality," focusing on automation with a human touch, creating extraordinary dining experiences, and fostering team cooperation for service excellence. He also provided tips on blending authority with innovation in a 3-minute video.

🍴 The National Chef of the Year 2024 finalists include senior chefs from restaurants like Frog by Adam Handling and Northcote. Top 40 chefs crafted an amuse-bouche or pre-dessert themed ‘a taste of summer.’ The finals are on October 8, with chefs refining their original menus. Past winners include Gordon Ramsay. Finalists: Adam Fisher, Cleverson Cordeiro, Craig Edgell, Danny Young, Jethro Lawrence, Lee Tyler, Matt Ramsdale, Nick Edgar, Orry Shand, Paul Gamble, with reserves Murray Cooper and Sergio Cinotti.

🍕 Curry Leaf Cafe, an Indian restaurant in Brighton's The Lanes since 2014, offers Indian street food and craft beer. Founder Euan Sey cites the cost of living crisis and rising business costs for the closure. Sey, a former journalist, launched the restaurant with chef Kanthi Thamma, who left to co-found Palmito. Despite expansion, including pub kitchens and a kiosk, only the original Ship Street location remains. Sey reflects on the brand’s future while thanking the team and local suppliers.

🍝 Corn-flavored desserts in corn cob molds are trending at Ceiba in Conrad Orlando. Tuna tartare with Persian flavors is featured at Joon in Vienna, VA by chefs Najmieh Batmanglij and Chris Morgan. Nick's Quorum Bar in Omaha, NE, serves pan-seared trout with spinach, green apple, and pumpkin seeds, while Verde at Perez Art Museum Miami offers shrimp poached in clarified butter by chef Loris Navone. Le Bilboquet’s Denver celebrates the upcoming Paris Olympics with a French gin cocktail.