F & B
Raking in
ROOFTOP REVENUE
THOUGH SIZE AND SPACE CAN LIMIT , A SMART PROPERTY KNOWS HOW TO MAXIMIZE ITS RESOURCES .
By CHLOE RILEY , ASSOCIATE EDITOR
This musing from F & B consultant Guy Rigby pretty much sums up the catch 22 of rooftop restaurants : “ They ’ re very popular , and if you can get them right , they can be good moneymakers . If you get them wrong , they can be a huge problem ,” says Rigby , president and founder of Toronto-based Octopus .
Indeed , of the handful of global hotel rooftop bar operators HOTELS spoke with , rooftop restaurants were , on average , making up 30 % to 35 % of overall annual F & B sales at the property level .
KNOW YOUR CLIENTELE Bringing in that kind of revenue means differentiating your rooftop and being smart about targeting the right kind of guests , Rigby says .
Take Skye Bar at Hotel Unique in São Paulo , Brazil . The restaurant , run by chef Emmanuel Bassoleil , has 70 seats with another 120 at the bar and overlooks a redlit swimming pool . The menu angles toward an international audience with items like bass with Champagne and caviar and the “ famous ” PF risotto .
“ Since its opening , we thought that Skye would have good acceptance , but since its first day , the movement exceeded our expectations ,” says Wellington Melo , the property ’ s director of operations . “ At the beginning , we intended to serve from 150 to 200 customers per day , but for 16 years , since its inauguration , we have been serving from 500 to 600 customers every night .”
But it isn ’ t all caviar and Champagne . The bar offers a different , more appetizer-focused menu with calzones , pizzas and Japanese offerings . And partially , it ’ s that ability to tap into multifaceted clienteles ( and give them what they need ) that can make or break rooftop F & B .
Look at Chicago ’ s Kimpton Gray — its rooftop restaurant Boleo opened along with the property in 2016 and has a South American and Argentinian culinary
26 hotelsmag . com December 2018