Espresso delivery

f you go to a restaurant that sells poor coffee, when you leave it ruins everything thats gone before it, says Rebecca Mascarenhas, the owner of Sonnys Kitchen in Barnes, south-west London. While not a revelatory statement, its a point that not all restaurateurs have grasped, she adds. The quality of coffee in restaurants on the whole in the UK is still very poor. There is a very small echelon of restaurants that care enough about it, but most see it as a profit centre that they just want to milk. Despite the UK being in the midst of a coffee

With consumers looking for greater choice when they dine out, a more extensive and consistent coffee offer could give restaurants that vital USP

Words Stefan Chomka Photographs Rob Lawson

boom that started with the emergence of brands such as Starbucks and has continued with the rise of independent coffee houses, many of which have taken coffee making to a higher level, it is still not that uncommon to be served a distinctly average or worse cup of coffee in a restaurant. And, unlike other beverages, such as tea, spirits and even water, the range of styles of coffee many restaurants stock

is still extremely limited. This is at odds with the experience a customer gets when perusing the supermarket coffee aisle, for example, which is replete with different blends of varying strengths and origins. The question remains, therefore: what can restaurateurs do to reflect the growing interest in coffee and widen their selection without causing too much strain on their front-of-house staff and impacting on their profits? That was the issue posed at a roundtable of front of house operators and buyers last month, organised by Restaurant in partnership with Nespresso.

Delegates

Thomas Agius Ferrante Manager, The Caramel Room, The Berkeley, London

Rebecca Mascarenhas Owner, Sonnys Kitchen, London

Peter Egli General manager, Whatley Manor, Wiltshire

Susan Webb Co-owner, Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, North Wales

Paulo de Tarso Senior maitre d, Bar Boulud, London

Jen Meisman Group purchasing co-ordinator, D&D London

Michael Westenbrink General manager, Brigade, London

Shauna Caithness Operations management team, The Gilbert Scott, London

Ian McDonald B2B commercial manager UK and Ireland, Nespresso

Stefan Chomka Deputy editor, Restaurant magazine

Phil Howard Chef-patron, The Square, London (not seated)

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Roundtable event

Nespresso coffee was matched to the dessert

The Squares coffeefriendly pav of bitter chocolate

Blend of skills: roundtable participants discuss the optimisation of coffee

During the discussion guests indulged in a top-class meal at The Square in Londons Mayfair. The dessert, a pav of bitter chocolate with burnt orange, was matched with Nespressos sHawaii Kona Special Reserve by chef-patron Phil Howard as well as its Ristretto blend, which proved particular food for thought.

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Why its important to serve good coffee

Paulo de Tarso: Michelin-starred chefs focus so much on the food that they sometimes forget that people go away with memories of the coffee. When you leave a restaurant, however good it was, if youve had a bad espresso youre going to remember it. People would talk about a restaurant to my grandfather and he would go there and order a coffee. He would also taste the bread. If the coffee and the bread was good hed dine there thats how he could judge a good restaurant. Shauna Caithness: I stayed in The Connaught recently and when you walked into the bedroom the first thing you saw was the espresso machine and a beautiful box of all the different coffees you could have, and that was the excitement. It was like a dream. It makes a difference. Rebecca Mascarenhas: We concentrate so hard on the food and wine and we say to our staff what do we think our USP is? Is it good food and good wine? Show me a restaurant that thinks they serve crap food and crap wine. Its in the details and coffee is the detail.

Better education about coffee

Susan Webb: We do wine dinners all the time and thats very successful for us. The next one were going to do is with Reidel glasses what different shapes of glasses you need for different types of

wine so why dont we do the same for coffee? We could have a matching food-and-coffee dinner which could cause excitement and make people understand more about coffee. Even if its just matching coffees with desserts, it would work. RM: Tea has been very successful at educating people about its different types. We all know if youre going to have white tea youre going to pay for it because its expensive. Im not a big tea-drinker and [yet] I know that. Why not the same for coffee? PT: People are in the market for 6, 12 even 18 glasses of wine, but they want to learn about and understand it, and its up to us to teach them. The same can be done for coffee. Bar Boulud does a lot of covers, it would be nice to have the time to explain a little bit more about coffee and break down the different styles. Thomas Agius Ferrante: People know about wine and their basic knowledge of tea has gone up, but coffee has stayed the same. I couldnt talk to you about coffee as I could about tea or wine, but maybe I need to. Ian McDonald: Where people have a wide knowledge of the range of coffees they are far more likely to be interested in one or two of them. If you talk about different types of coffee with people this interest grows.

machine at home but when I made coffee [recently] the first was great, the second one was slightly burnt and the third wasnt really coming out any more. Then you kind of lose the fascination for this kind of great-looking machine because at the end of the day you want the quality in the cup. Thats the same in our business as well consistency of quality is key. RM: Consistency is the main thing. Consistency in my restaurant is not 100%. I had a burnt coffee yesterday. Its tough. TF: From a consistency point of view, of the hot drinks we make, coffee is the hardest to get right every time. The idea of having a consistent method of serving perfect coffee in a high-volume, high-end business is fantastic. Im lucky that we have trained Italian baristas, but they are not always there. Sometimes I make the coffee and its terrible and the poor guest has a different experience. Phil Howard: Consistency is one of the big words in the restaurant industry. Our food is aimed at the top of the market, but ultimately were nothing if were not consistent. One of the benefits of the capsule is the fact that it is just so consistent. I was completely unconvinced in the early days, but weve bought into it completely.

The challenges facing coffee sales

RM: Our sales of coffee, especially at dinner, have

A growing need for consistency

Peter Egli: The good thing about a [capsule machine] is that after 10 or 20 coffees its still the same. I love espresso and I have a proper Italian

dropped dramatically. Now thats maybe because we dont offer a good enough service and people just say no automatically, but I think its also to do with people thinking am I going to be up all night? I dont want to drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon for this reason. Michael Westenbrink: Weve seen an incredible increase in sales of decaf coffee as well as herb and green teas and fresh mint teas. Caffeine is an issue
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Roundtable event

for some people in the evening. TF: There is still a lack of understanding about coffee compared with wine or tea. Ive never had someone ask for a specific type of coffee or ask about what beans we use or our roast. RM: [Serving consistent coffee] means not just an investment in the coffee but an investment in the hardware. For me to sell a range of capsule coffees I have to change my hardware, and thats a consideration for any business. From a practical point of view capsule coffee is very simple but what of the financial implications? Maybe 5p or 10p on a cup is the deal-breaker. Our chefs look upon it as helping their GP. They get the revenue from the coffee and then suddenly you have to say to them that coffee costs are going up.

Phil Howard values capsule coffee as highly consistent

Considering the future of coffee in restaurants

What we can learn from the coffee houses

PT: Places like Starbucks and Caff Nero have

taken the time to make a coffee specifically for you, whether you want it skinny or tall or with double shots. Its not the best coffee, but the reason you go there is because they make it the way you want. TF: Every day I pick up a Caff Nero, even though I have a coffee machine at work seven minutes up the road. I get my coffee from the same guy and he knows I have my latte with one sugar poured inside as the coffees coming down because it gets in there better. I get upset if hes not there. These places serve you a coffee exactly how you like it. RM: My secretary goes to Starbucks every day to buy her coffee. We have better coffee at our restaurant, yet she chooses to spend 5 a week there. What the hell is going on?

Peter Egli with Shauna Caithness

The viability of a coffee menu

SW: I think it would be good to have a coffee menu.

choice of one red, white and ros wine by the glass; now, not that many years on, we sell 16 wines by the glass. Now if I go to a restaurant and they only have a red and white I think whats the matter with you? Why do you only have one coffee? Somebody will break ranks and well all rush like lemmings to have more coffee on our menus. TF: Dont give the guest a coffee menu, theyve already seen a food menu and a wine list. Let the waiter suggest one or two coffees instead.

on the part of the producers to say which coffees are high or low in caffeine. If someone were to say to me this actually doesnt have a lot of caffeine, I think it would make a huge difference in sales.

The future for coffee in restaurants

RM: What prompted restaurants to move away

Thats something were working on having a coffee menu right next door to the desserts so that people can see it and ask questions. Its a way forward for us. We have started to include coffee in our overall price rather than it being separate so people will start to have it because theyve paid for it. It keeps everything moving. MW: It depends where you are in the market and what product you offer. My customers wouldnt necessarily expect to have cappuccino on the menu and then choose from three different types of beans, but maybe for someone who has the level of Michelin fine dining that would work very well. IMD: Within a business you cant necessarily have 16 blends of coffee, but there is a market for serving more than one. PE: We offer Nespresso in our boardroom. Its quite interesting to see that when you introduce it to the host of a conference and say here is a selection of different coffees you can enjoy, they are all very keen to try them. To offer different types of coffee can add to a guests experience and we will certainly consider looking into that more. TF: Our guests would like a broader range of coffee and they would enjoy it. Luxury service is experiential. Coffee is one of the ways we can do this because it hasnt been done before. Weve done it with wine, with food weve gone seasonal with tea and even water. Everything except coffee. RM Choice has grown right across the restaurant world. It wasnt that long ago that you had the
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The importance of training

TF: The question is: does every guest want to have

to go through a coffee menu? Its down to staff training shall we bother this guest with a coffee menu or not? As a waiter, you have to make that decision. After a meal I really dont want to think about what coffee to have. You need staff who are trained to say: Heres a selection of coffee, heres why they are good. PE: I agree you are probably bored with looking at lists but, if the staff member recommends one or two choices, you might want to experience it. If you are a new guest and have two or three different coffees to choose from, youll say that didnt happen to me in any other restaurant before. PT: Its about training. I have two classes a day these classes focus on the products for an hour-and-a-half. My staff need to know who makes the artwork, what the tables are made of, who made the carpet, who designed the restaurant, so knowledge is essential. If you are proud of the coffee you make and you have the time to describe a product, you can sell it. Jen Meisman: We have the same for tea. We have staff training and they are told about the different tea varieties and they go to the table and explain to the customers this is our tea menu and what tea would you like? We dont have that with coffee because we only have one to offer. RM: I think the caffeine is a big thing education

from just serving one or two wines by the glass to more? The technology of keeping the wine must have improved, and the same must happen for serving coffee. Technology is going hand-in-hand with the growth in choice. MW: We must be at the forefront of giving choice where the market is wanting to have that choice. What we possibly would do at Brigade is call it an upgrade you have your house coffee as you have your house wine and then you can upgrade to a better type of coffee. I can see that working. SW: People have been very accepting of the fact that we do offer something different with our coffee. Its a really positive move. Big thanks to Phil Howard and his team at The Square for hosting a delicious dinner and letting us quiz him about coffee.

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