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14 MAY 2016 FOGHORN BUSINESSMATTERS About the Author Bob Shaw is a veteran industry executive having led over 100 vessels responsible for over 10 million passengers a year. He can be reached at shawrwgmail.com. EASY MANEUVERABILITY Give your passengers a smooth ride with reliable John Deere PowerTech propulsion and generator drive engines. With high torque and low-rated rpm they deliver excellent vessel control and quiet operation. For easy navigation on the water Nothing Runs Like A Deere. JohnDeere.commarine 60 to 559 kW 80 to 750 hp magazines list of the Top 25 indepen- dent grossing restaurants in America with a third in the Top 100. This was ex- traordinary as no one in the restaurant scene even knew we existed. New York City then had 14000 restaurants and only three matched our average check of 80person. Such was the magic of being on the water and the premium customers would pay for that. So what to do in the future in this world of celebrity chefs massive com- petition sky-high expectations and an inability to increase prices Concentrate on really defining what your concept is and isnt. Spirit was fun casual and entertaining. Odyssey was GEESE glamorous elegant escape sophisticated and expensive. Tightly define what you do and those hundreds of decisions will naturally flow from that. All around us are wonderful food concepts for inspiration. Customize who you are and what you do to create that unique concept. Our crew can provide so much in- novation within that concept. How can you delight the guest have that unique drink or dish and tie it all together Let their ideas flow under your concept umbrella. Dont be afraid of taking risks. I was exposed to sous vide cooking in France 20 years ago that would blow you away. Yet it was institutionally rejected by our team that couldnt meet the quality and quantity offered by sous vide which is recognized by many top restaurants today. Dont make my mistake be bold. If I were cooking up a concept today Id fight hard to make the average check affordable. Hornblower New Yorks Alive at 5 cocktail cruises off Wall Street are packed. Youll need a tight concept to meet this specification while wowing the customers. Lastly implement my perpetual rallying cry of a Service System. A friendly enthusiastic staff with great service will cover up the inevitable hiccups such as a late drink or that entre which wasnt quite right. Service is the differentiator in a world of so much great food. I know the coming decades will usher in an even more vibrant chapter in the cruising industry for food delivery and excitement. But it will take vision focus and hard work. Lucky for us there is no shortage of that in our community n