F & B
GHOST KITCHENS GET REAL
“ Every hotelier is trying to make in-room dining an experience ,” says Robert Arigo , vice president of operations for New York-based M & R Hotel Management . “ If you can ’ t deliver it and successfully satisfy the guest , then you need to find a quantified alternative . More and more in-room dining has morphed into gourmet , to-go delivery , and they ’ re doing that already , but the question is , are they doing it profitably ?”
One alternative : Ghost kitchens , a trend that has accelerated amid the pandemic . Sometimes called cloud kitchens , hotels utilize them primarily for in-room dining , but also for catering and events . Sometimes they even provide to-go options for front desks or retail spaces .
Hotels are using ghost kitchens to increase efficiency , maintain dining standards — and make that critical profit . “ Ghost kitchens are definitely re-inventing the future of food and beverage , as well as delivery and delivery logistics ,” says Tim Gjonbalic , founder and CEO of New York-based Butler Hospitality , a ghost kitchen service that works with M & R . “ If you look at hotels , the flow of ordering hasn ’ t changed since Waldorf introduced room service .”
Longtime hotelier Sam Nazarian , founder of SBE Entertainment Group , is also president and CEO of C3 ( Creating Culinary Communities ). He just signed a deal with Ben Weprin ’ s Graduate Hotels to debut the Graduate Food Hall , a delivery-focused , hybrid digital kitchen concept , which will open in six Graduate properties by mid-2021 . “ The hotels we partner with make money serving the 30-minute community around them , and now they don ’ t have to put a full team in there just for the minimum revenue of inroom dining and breakfasts or catering ,” Nazarian says .
OPTIMIZING THE SPACE Many hotels , even before the pandemic , weren ’ t optimizing their kitchen space , but the F & B infrastructure remained . “ With our kitchens ’ team and technology package we have been able to bring back in-room dining and banquets and catering ,” Nazarian says .
Butler Hospitality operates its ghost kitchens only out of hotel kitchen spaces , solely for those hotels and neighboring hotels . C3 operates some ghost kitchens out of hotels , but also offers national brands like Umami Burger , Krispy Rice and Sa ’ Moto , for hotel guests and the community .
But there ’ s no delivery service . “ Having delivery guys in your lobby is a concern from a security perspective , and the hotels also make no revenue off of that ,” Nazarian says .
“ We ’ re an integration at a deeper brand level ,” Gjobalic says . “ It ’ s a partnership .” A ghost kitchen operator provides dining options and may also bring in the technology to fit into the hotel ’ s brand and operations . “ If you ( partner with a ghost kitchen ), you ’ ll notice some differences to the in-room dining , but it will also feel and look very similar ,” Gjonbalic says . “ At Butler , we are separately branded within the hotels , and we communicate directly with the guests , even more
C3 operates some ghost kitchens out of hotels , but also offers national brands like Krispy Rice for hotel guests and locals . efficiently than being physically in the building so that ’ s not a sticking point .”
“ Whatever property management system they ’ re on or ordering system , we can complement that and layer on that ,” Nazarian says . “ We also can bring in six , seven eight or more brands that hotels can generate revenue from . We think this is even going to be more relevant post-COVID .”
Gjonbalic says that because Butler is open in different cities and can track dining preferences depending on where the customer is traveling . “ I can ’ t tell you how many executives have said , ‘ Our guests don ’ t want this ,’ but I can actually tell them what people want .”
One hotel exec noticed all of the beverage revenue that was being generated through in-room dining , and as a result , got a liquor license to open a wine bar . “ Now , they keep that sale completely ,” Gjonbalic says .
Ghost kitchen management companies also stay on top of current dining trends , and because it ’ s not operating a dining space , they can change or add concepts and menu items more easily than traditional hotel restaurants .
“ I see a lot of hotels building with a ghost kitchen concept in mind ,” Nazarian says .
26 hotelsmag . com January / February 2021