Coffee is Hot at the 2007 National Restaurant Show
Posted by TheShot on 12 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: Quality Issues, Restaurant Coffee
Last month I scoffed at a National Restaurant Association survey showing that espresso was “hot” among restaurant trends. In order for an item to be “hot”, isn’t it a pre-requisite that restaurants should at least be half-way competent at it?
In today’s news, the “NRA” announced a presentation at the annual hotel-motel restaurant convention this May that promises to help attendees “discover how to ride the espresso lane to bigger profits”: Drinks Media Wire – Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers Proves Coffee is Hot at the 2007 National Restaurant Show. Apparently the restaurant business model here is to first make tons of money on espresso. And then maybe try to figure out what it takes to make a decent espresso. (Cafemakers is one among hundreds of coffee consultancies out there — with no clients in the S.F. area, btw.)
Oh, I’ve ridden that espresso lane alright. You pay a Golden Gate Bridge-sized toll for the privilege of crashing and burning down a muffler-ejecting strip of potholes: stale, pre-ground beans; overextracted “Mt.-Etna-in-torrential-downpour” flavor; clueless restaurant owners who cannot be bothered with machine maintenance and employee training…
It is worth noting that the top-rated restaurant espresso on CoffeeRatings.com is from A-16 with a respectable 13th place showing. So I suppose it is possible. But only if the restaurant cares about more than just the profit margins — which will only be fleeting.
3 Comments »
I realize this article was written a few months before we had the opportunity to exchange messages personally. I understand your frustration regarding the state of coffee in the restaurant industry – my talk at the upcoming restaurant show seeks to address precisely these issues. Keep in mind, the restaurant industry has come from the mindset that coffee can be purchased from the same source as their janitorial supplies – we’re taking small steps toward improving the quality of what is available here in American restaurants.
As for not having any clients in the SF Bay area; well, we are not always able to disclose the companies that we work for. However, by now you’re familiar with our work at Velo Rouge and we will be announcing others later this year. Be careful not to lump the services that we provide in with all of those other wannabes that will read you a “how to setup a coffee bar” book for $1,000. Effective retail consultants abstract upon their knowledge and experience to develop unique approaches for their clients – I suppose that’s why we command the highest rates in our industry and subsequent bring the greatest return on investment to our clients (now mostly institutional investors, growing chains and government entities).
By the way, the NRA came up with the title; they wanted to pull in as many operators as possible to see this content, recognizing the same concerns that we share regarding the state of coffee.
I almost forgot, there was a preview of the content that I’ll cover in the session written up in HOTELS Magazine. You can my portion in the Breakfast of Champions down near the bottom of the page and see the online sidebar here. Nope – I have no idea of what’s with all of the extra hyphens.
Thanks for the replies (and believe me: they desperately need consultants like yourself!). Great point about many restaurants getting their coffee from the same vendor they use for their janitorial supplies.
And I’m not surprised with the NRA coming up with all the verbiage. They are often caught up with what it takes to make a living — whether that be pushing new, profitable fads like bottled water or burrata cheese.
A few restaurants do seem to find value in the quality aspects of making a good espresso — and leaving customers with a lasting and decent final impression of their meals. But far too many treat it exclusively as a revenue line for a captive audience. I am still dumbfounded at how many upper-eschelon eateries charging $120 for a prix fixe tasting menu talk in very elite terms about their coffee — and yet obviously know, and do, very little out of the norm.