Revenue Management

🍴 NIJŪ, a Japanese restaurant in Mayfair, London, celebrates its first anniversary on April 26 with a special menu by Executive Chef Chris Golding and Culinary Director Endo Kazutoshi. Known for seasonality and craftsmanship, NIJŪ offers modern Japanese cuisine, Katei Ryōri style dishes, and premier Wagyu and Kobe beef cooked on a Konro grill. A six-course menu, including sushi, sashimi, and matcha white chocolate fondant, is priced at £110 per head, plus £70 for wine pairings.

📖 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, joined in 1999. Host of "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. Wrote "Kitchen Dish" column for The New York Sun (2005-2008). Lived in Thailand (circa 1994-1999), writing for Manager magazine and Asia Times. Graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University (1990), Phi Beta Kappa member, studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Worked for ABC News during Tiananmen Square protests (1989). Won 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier (2014), author in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Lives in Brooklyn, NY.

💸 Independent hotels and boutique properties often miss revenue opportunities, such as underpricing rooms by $20 during events or failing to upsell. These oversights can lead to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in annual losses. RevOptimum specializes in revenue performance optimization, helping hotels reclaim lost income through strategies like daily pricing optimization, OTA strategy management, and intelligent forecasting. They work with PMS systems like Cloudbeds and Mews to maximize hotel performance.

🍴 L’Abeille, a fine-dining French restaurant in NYC's Tribeca, opened in March 2022 by Rahul Saito and his husband, offering $245 10-course or $185 6-course tasting menus. Additionally, L’Abeille à Côté serves Japanese-influenced French cuisine with items like $28 oysters, $18 edamame hummus, and $36 Bear in a Blanket beef curry. Kuma Hospitality, Saito's company, will close Sushi Ichimura in summer 2023, a restaurant highlighting Chef Eiji Ichimura's skills, opened in June 2023.

🍳 Somebody People, a Denver restaurant, emphasizes sustainability with a no single-use plastics policy and menus showcasing farm sources. Executive chef Justin Freeman crafts new menus weekly from surplus ingredients to minimize waste. The Sunday supper initiative features inventive dishes like pizza from leftover pasta sauce and ice cream from used coffee grounds, aiming to eventually achieve zero food waste. Onion soup made from normally discarded onion skins is a highlight in waste reduction.

🍴 Hibachi restaurants offer a grilled dining experience in front of customers. Originally a "fire bowl" in Japan, hibachi now refers to a grilling method and Japanese condiments. In the U.S., 1% of menus feature hibachi, 80% of the population is familiar with it, and 60% have tried it. Expansion includes home grills and meal kits for an authentic Japanese taste. A Reno, Nev., restaurant uses hibachi cooking on its menu.

🍽 Brian Murphy opened Big Apple Bodega in Denver, offering zero-proof drinks and chopped cheese sandwiches. Celebrating 13 years of sobriety, Murphy's choice not to serve alcohol aligns with his personal journey. The restaurant charges $6 for beer and about $8 for a mocktail. Big Apple Bodega began as a food truck four years ago and transitioned to a brick-and-mortar establishment on May 30 last year. Menu items include The Sinatra for $10, and the eatery also offers a brunch menu on weekends with items like $6 breakfast sandwiches and $12 breakfast burritos.

🏡 Luxury travelers prioritize relevance and ease over excess, with 57% of avid cruisers interested in specialty dining and 44% in exclusive onboard spaces (Plusgrade Cruise Study, 2024). Personalization is key, with hotels offering curated experiences like room selection and early check-in. Privacy is essential, with offerings such as top-floor suites and VIP spa reservations driving revenue. Anticipatory service, such as automatic suite upgrades and confirmed late checkouts, improve satisfaction. Loyalty programs influence 68% of luxury travelers' hotel choices (McKinsey & Company, 2024), emphasizing recognition over rewards. Tailored experiences foster long-term relationships and revenue growth.

💸 Hospitality franchisees face challenges with rising wages, inflation, and consumer confidence. An International Franchise Association (IFA) survey found 37% of franchisors see labor costs and recruiting quality employees as significant hurdles. Furthermore, 70% reported franchisees have open positions. ADP Research indicates that median base wages for sit-down restaurant employees reached $24 an hour as of September 2024, a 28% rise from pre-pandemic levels. Job-stayers in leisure and hospitality have seen higher pay growth than new hires since December 2022. Inflation concerns increased among respondents to 12% in 2024, up from 9% the prior year.

🏨 In a bonus episode, Steven Marais, Vice President of Rooms at Noble House Hotels & Resorts, discusses how the company enhanced hotel operations, staffing, and financial performance with Actabl's product suite. This collaboration was highlighted on April 3, 2025.