Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/5037
34 / the tasting panel / december 2009 N athan Tanner, VP of Restaurants for Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, knows a thing or two about the restaurant industry. Having worked for the Hilton Hotel Corporation as the Senior Di- rector of Restaurant Development and also as their General Manager of Training for over six years, Tan- ner has a few ideas of where the restaurant industry is headed in 2010. As the driving force behind the food and beverage department for Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants (www. larkspurhotels.com), which operates 23 properties and six destination restaurants throughout California and the Pacific Northwest, there are a few things that excite Tanner about the current state of the industry, and a few things that do not. "The restaurant industry in 2010 is finally returning back to the guest," says Tanner. "In recent years the focus has been primarily on chefs, celebrity status and on getting your next cooking show. It's time that res- taurateurs return their focus to the guest and the actual person who is coming into the restaurant to dine." Tanner has narrowed down his ideas into a short list of "outs" and "ins" for 2010. OUT for 2010 • Chefs who care more about their next cook- book, their next reality TV show, their next kitchen, their next job and their PR than they do about the guests dining in their restaurants • F ood critics. Today, everyone is a critic; just look at Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Tripadvisor, etc. The days of the single food critic making or breaking a restaurant are over. They can give establishments lifts or dips, but they no longer control a restau- rant's destiny. • T asting menus, dégustation menus, prix-fixe menus. There's room in the country for about a dozen of these. (Thankfully, for me, French Laun- dry, Plumed Horse, and Manresa are nearby!) • P ublic relations agencies for restaurants. With the emphasis being local and the use of Facebook, Twitter, enhanced websites, mobile websites, Yelp, Open Table, etc., restaurant owners now have the opportunity to tell their story in their own words. Great PR agencies will need to start showing their new value in this changing world. IN for 2010 • Downsizing. Chefs and owners who previously had three restaurants that all did okay will downsize to one to focus on one that can do extremely well. • Pushback. Owners and operators need to push back more on social media and use it to their advantage. For the past year, we have been on the receiving end of comments, and it is time to return the serve. • S implicity. Simplify everything. Simple wine lists; if you had 100 wines on the list, go down to 50. Simple menus; all terminology needs to be able to be understood by everyone, not just the food elite. • O wners. Owners will be working the floor. It's long overdue that ownership of restaurants get back to the front of the house; now, with the slowing of the economy, it's a necessity. F&B Report Hot or Not? Nathan Tanner, photographed at Kuleto's in San Francisco. Nathan Tanner, VP of Restaurants for Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, predicts What's Hot, What's Not PHOTO: RYAN LELY for 2010