Under One Roof

Prior to the pandemic, food hall models had elevated hotel F&B to communal new heights. In a market starved of contact, will social distance drive a continued surge or call for the precaution of increased isolation?

Words: Kristofer Thomas

Following 18 months of turbulence across all levels of the F&B industry, the light at the end of the tunnel is gradually getting brighter – or at least clearer – for some. The UK has seen its restaurants, bars and pubs reopen, with views now set on ending all lockdown restrictions. Likewise across Europe, where lockdown regulations are gradually being eased as digital health certificates, pilot tourism schemes and the loosening of visitor limits have resulted in countries including Italy, France and

Ireland all setting tentative dates for on-site

F&B functions to resume.

For many guests, the end of lockdown and the reopening of restaurants will mark the longest period they have spent removed from the social sphere. In their absence, the disruption of the pandemic has forced restaurants to adapt to new methods of service including curb-side pickups, home-assembled meal-kits and increasing the amount of delivery options.

Most of these innovations, however, seem to bank on the guest experience becoming an increasingly isolated and divided affair, even once the pandemic draws to a close. But where there will undoubtedly be some adjustment required in returning to public spaces, will guests really be seeking a means to remain so secluded? Whilst the prospect of bustling restaurants, hotels and bars may seem alien following an extended period of closure, we nonetheless remain the highly social creatures that entered the pandemic, and by the time public interaction becomes commonplace again, we will have been denied this element for the best part of two years.

As such, there might well be a rise in demand for experiences that satiate this and a wave of new venues placing public togetherness, shared spaces and communal sensibilities at the forefront of their offer. Indeed, it is unlikely that, for the extroverted amongst us, the existing restaurant model will prove an insufficiently social celebration for this comeback – one of being able to meet, drink and eat with friends and total strangers alike once again. Unlike the jarring technological and operational adaptations the pandemic has demanded from many F&B venues, however, the solution to this issue may not require such great change.

Eaton Hong Kong’s hawkerstyle market is populated by a mixture of vendors representing flavours from both east and west “Food halls are an exciting alternative to visiting a traditional restaurant or bar and offer flexibility and choice for both the operator and the customer; they have become a one-stop food and beverage destination and a lifestyle choice.”

CHRIS MCGOFF

Prior to the pandemic, the market had already begun to move towards a greater level of communal dining with pockets of the hotel sector adopting food hall models as opposed to the traditional offer, or even a combination in some instances. The progressive Eaton Hong Kong – styled as a hotel as much as it is a cultural complex – rode this wave with its food hall concept, a hawker-style market spanning several levels and populated by a diverse mixture of vendors representing flavours from both east and west. Playing riffs on the traditional elements of Kowloon’s F&B scene, stalls range from Chinese herbal soups to sustainable cocktails, with the hall itself populated by a mix of locals and guests alike, be that young professionals with laptops or veteran foodies seeking new outlets.

Elsewhere, a number of brands have also recognised the value of choice within a hospitality market where customers are seeking to shake things up and go different each meal. Not least in Las Vegas, where the massive influx of guests requires an equally significant number of dining options. Park MGM was a recent high-profile addition with its incorporation of a street-facing Eataly outlet; the 40,000ft2 space housing a 360-degree Italian experience complete with pasta, pizza, coffee counters, fresh market stalls, gift shops and its own chefs table. Likewise, the forthcoming Resorts World Las Vegas, which has announced plans for the launch of Famous Foods – a 24,000ft2 Singapore-style hawker market off the casino floor with stalls featuring Ah Chun Shandong Dumpling, Ten Suns Braised Beef, Tiger Sugar bubble tea and Geylang Claypot Rice. Elsewhere, Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana recently announced the launch of its Market Food Hall, an update and replacement of the existing buffet restaurant, set to house a New Orleansstyle French option alongside Mexican, Italian, Spanish and Asian fare, as well as a bar serving traditional Dominican cocktails.

Whilst undoubtedly an asset in a market that increasingly values personalised experiences and an abundance of choice, not every hotel has the kind of space required to accommodate more than one or two F&B spaces, let alone upwards of ten. As such, there may also be a rise in partnerships from projects looking to keep up with the crowd. The newly launched Bottleworks Hotel – the boutique accommodation element at the heart of the repurposed Coca Cola bottling complex in Indianapolis – has opted for this approach, with the wider development it forms a part of setting The Garage food hall directly across from the hotel’s front door.

As opposed to cramming the hall – which features a mix of venues from traditional British fish and chips to Asian Poke Guru to oysters to a cocktail bar, pizzeria, coffee counter and ice cream joint – both venues are given room to breathe whilst still retaining guests. This is perhaps one of the major benefits the model offers; namely its ability to head off the need to ever leave the property in order to find a whole host of local produce. In this sense, tandem district projects like The Garage and Bottleworks hotel could be viewed as the industry’s logical adaptation to guests utilising services like Deliveroo to order in from offsite.

No more obvious is this strategy than in the recent partnership between Graduate Hotels and C3 to launch the Graduate Food Hall initiative – a digital alternative that offers guests a variety of different F&B options all within the purview of the brand experience, corking the proverbial hole in the bucket that had seen hotels lose ground and revenue alike to competitors, as restaurant-quality cuisine became increasingly easy to order direct to a hotel’s door. Whilst initially slated as a digitalonly option operating from dark kitchens, the college campus and student focused brand has hinted at physical locations to come – perhaps the clearest evidence that this is a model with eyes on the future.

“We see the potential in existing spaces and infrastructure, repurposing them so that up to ten of our brands can successfully operate out of a single kitchen space,” says Sam Nazarian, founder and CEO of C3. “As demand for delivery remains high, hotel kitchens can now provide multiple culinary options to on-site guests and the surrounding communities they’re located in through pick-up and delivery. A bonus – C3 cross-trains its employees so they can work across any of the company’s digital brands, meaning a single hotel F&B team can cook across 6-10 concepts at a time.”

Lastly, whilst it might not boast the bright lights of Las Vegas or the beaches and palm trees of a casino resort, Market 41 in Manchester suburb Urmston nonetheless represents an important evolution of the food hall model. Whilst many venues under this umbrella often function as components within hotels, and supporting F&B elements for wider projects, the McGoff Group-developed project is instead set to be the headline act, with the food hall

“As demand for delivery remains high, hotel kitchens can now provide multiple culinary options to on-site guests and the surrounding communities they’re located in.”

SAM NAZARIAN

The Graduate Food Hall initiative – a partnership between Graduate Hotels and C3 – offers guests a variety of different F&B options all within the purview of the brand experience

playing as anchor to office space and 31 keys of hotel style pods, effectively flipping the script, and seeking to be a destination in its own right. If successful, Market 41 could pre-empt a wave of food halls that sit as the heart and soul of F&B-focused hospitality experiences. “Food halls are an exciting alternative to visiting a traditional restaurant or bar and offer flexibility and choice for both the operator and the customer; they have become a one-stop food and beverage destination and a lifestyle choice for those looking for something a bit different from the mass market brands on the high street,” explains Chris McGoff, Director at McGoff Group. “We are confident that Market 41 will not only serve the travelling business market, where flexibility is key, but also that it will attract a new audience of discerning weekend breakers and food tourists who will welcome the opportunity to explore the wider local area while staying at a vibrant food and beverageled destination that offers totally Covid-safe contactless overnight accommodation and superb choice of places to eat and drink.”

It is, however, the model’s degree of Covidsafeness that will decide its fate, or at least its popularity in the short term. Whilst precautions at Market 41 include the touch-free nature of the modular hotel room and open-air elements to adhere to outdoor dining regulations, other venues that perhaps find themselves less flexibly constructed may take longer to reassure understandably anxious guests that large-scale gatherings in bustling, multi-storey, enclosed public spaces are not a thing of the past.

In this sense, it is perhaps one of the first great litmus tests of post-pandemic hospitality; will diners inherent thirst for social experiences drive the market into new territory and forms, or will it be forced into a retreat, and the safety of comfortable familiarity in an attempt to recoup the losses incurred? The light at the tunnel may be getting brighter, but what lies on the other side of the tunnel is still largely unknown.

a perfect mise en place the perfect glass, St James

NYEWOOD, ROGATE, PETERSFIELD, HAMPSHIRE, GU31 5HZ, UK Tel: 01730 821811 Email: office@johnjenkins.co.uk NEW YORK SHOWROOM, 41 MADISON AVENUE, 9TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10010 Tel: 1-800-818-8484 www.johnjenkins.co.uk www.williamyeowardcrystal.com