INSIGHTS ON RESTAURANT & HOTEL OPERATIONS

A concept is not a cuisine or a theme. It's a constraint set specific enough that two chefs would reject the same dish for the same reason.

Restaurant positioning is not the story told about the place. It is the set of operating choices that decide what the kitchen can deliver, at what cost, to whom. Where it breaks, and how to reset it.

Branding work can't fix a concept that isn't distinct. A one-question test to find out which one your restaurant is actually missing.

Regulars are the best thing that can happen to your cash flow — and a poor source of data on pricing and positioning. Why those need different inputs.

Why the menu — not the room, not the website — is the document doing the most work to set a guest's price expectations, and how to audit yours in ten minutes.

Reviews aren't just reputation management. Read in aggregate, they're the cheapest, most honest positioning research an independent restaurant will ever have.