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AROUNDTHEWORLD Foster Partners / Magnus Maarbjerg www.fokstrot.dk / Marshall Blecher, www.marshallblecher.com / Qiddiya Investment Company / SB Architects / Vero Visuals, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsHere’s a selectionof some of theleading constructionprojects beingplanned and builtacross the globeCopenhagen Islands,Copenhagen, DenmarkArchitect Marshall Blecher, Magnus MaarbjergBuilder FokstrotOpens 2020A project involving hand-crafted islands on the Danishcapital Copenhagen’s waterfront is set to create acompletely new genre of public parks. The architectsare calling it a ‘parkipelago’ and say the islands will bemoved seasonally between underutilized and newlydeveloped parts of the harbor, creating a catalyst forlife and activity. Each island will serve as a platformfor different activities – forming swim zones, floatingsaunas, floating gardens, floating mussel farms anda floating sail-in café. The first prototype island waslaunched in 2018 and it will be followed by three moreislands to be launched in 2020, with plans for more inthe coming years.Waldorf Astoria, Cancun, MexicoArchitect SB ArchitectsBuilder TBCOpens 2021The Waldorf Astoria Cancun will feature 150 guest rooms and suites, with waterfront or mangrove-facing terraces and private balconies.The property will also house the signature Waldorf Astoria spa, integrating Mexican healing traditions with native ingredients, in additionto state-of-the-art fitness facilities, two plunge pools, a signature restaurant, an all-day brasserie and a beachside lounge and poolside bar.Guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy locally sourced Yucatecan cuisine at additional dining experiences throughout the property.10

Valley, Amsterdam, NetherlandsArchitect MVRDVBuilder TBCOpens 2021Made up of four intersecting structures – a base forcommercial and office spaces and three towers or ‘peaks’of varying heights – Valley is part of Amsterdam’s ambitionto transform its business center into a more liveable urbanquarter. A landscaped center, or ‘valley’, which is accessibleto the public, surrounds the central tower on the fourth andfifth levels, while a sky bar spans the top two floors of thetallest tower, offering panoramic views of the city. There isalso a restaurant on the second floor and other F&B outletson the first. The abundance of outdoor spaces and communalgreen areas promotes health and well-being as well ascontributing to the building’s green ambitions.New Slussen Masterplan, Stockholm,SwedenArchitect Foster PartnersBuilder TBCOpens 2025The construction of the New Slussen is one of the largest urbantransformation projects in Sweden. A new civic quarter for all, it will providestate-of-the-art transport links alongside prominent new public buildings. Acentral feature of New Slussen is the ‘Water Plaza’, a pedestrianized publicspace arranged around the new navigation lock and realigned quayside,enlivened by new restaurants, cafes and cultural amenities.Qiddiya, Saudi ArabiaArchitect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)Builder TBCOpens 2023 (first phase)In 2019, Saudi Arabia unveiled the master plan of its Qiddiyaentertainment city project, which is set to become a “Capital ofEntertainment, Sports and the Arts”. Located 45km (28 miles)from the capital Riyadh, it will include training academies, desertand asphalt tracks for motorsports enthusiasts, water and snowactivities and a range of retail, residential and community services.The Resort Core of Qiddiya is a 150,000 sq m (180,000 sq yd) retail,dining and entertainment ‘spine’ complete with a portfolio of hotelofferings. Adjacent to it will sit a major outdoor entertainment venuecapable of hosting events for 4,000 to 40,000 visitors in a park-likesetting, along with an ice pavilion and a skate park.For more go to fcsi.org11

THE INTELLIGENCE News, insight, opinion and reviews12

COCKTAILS TO-GONew liquor laws liftindustry spiritsCocktails to-go is oneby-product of theCovid-19 pandemic thatis set to stay, as AmeliaLevin reportsSeveral states and municipalitieshave made changes to theirliquor laws, helping restaurantsboost their revenue through servingto-go cocktails amid a pandemicthat has closed dining rooms anddrastically reduced overall sales.Some have even described theseas the biggest changes to alcohollaws since Prohibition was repealednearly 90 years ago.At the time of gong to press,more than 30 states in additionto the District of Columbia, weretemporarily allowing restaurantsand bars to sell cocktails to-go. Iowabecame the first state to make to-gococktails permanent, when GovernorKim Reynolds signed a bill – just intime for the Fourth of July – allowingbars to sell cocktails and alcohol fortakeout and delivery. Other states,including Texas, Florida and Ohio,are considering similar moves.“Making cocktails to-gopermanent provides a much-neededsource of stability and revenuefor local bars, restaurants, anddistilleries as they begin torecover,” said Dale Szyndrowski,vice president of state governmentrelations at the Distilled SpiritsCouncil of the United States.In Chicago, several restaurantsare leveraging online ordering andreservation platforms, such as Toastand Tock, to allow customers toorder cocktails to-go to pair withtheir meals to-go. For example,Funkenhausen is using Tock to sellbottled cocktails such as the WunderPunsch (cherry, vodka, lime andbitters) and Bourbon Peach SunTea (sweet tea, bourbon, peach andlemon), along with boozy freezerpops. El Che Meat & Provisions(part of El Che Steakhouse & Bar)offers small juice bottles filled withcocktails like La Mano de Maradona(vodka, blue curacao, lemon, soda)and white wine Sangria via Toast forpickup from its new to-go window.The city began allowingrestaurants to offer this service inmid-June after business ownerspleaded with local government,stressing that cocktails to-go aremore profitable than cocktail kits,which don’t include the alcohol.Some restaurants are slightlyskirting the law by selling margaritasand sangria in plastic cups thatpatrons can sip while waiting fora table or walking around. To-gococktails are only available forpick-up; third-party companiesare prohibited from delivering thedrinks to homes.Set for the futureState restaurant associations,in addition to conglomerates ofrestaurant and bar owners, lobbiedfor these changes. The MichiganRestaurant & Lodging Associationwas behind the passage of HB 5811 inthat state, with president and CEOJustin Winslow saying in publishedreports: “We’re not going back to anera where dine-in is as predominanta percent of sales as it was; if you’regoing to get tacos, why not get amixed margarita to go with it?”In June, the Texas RestaurantAssociation submitted a proposalto the Governor’s office to allowcustomers to pick up alcoholic drinksvia drive-thru or curbside pickup.With more permanent changes likethese on the horizon, consultantsshould consider how that mightfactor into their packagingrecommendations and specifications.Plastic and even glass bottles, as wellas labeling might be a new part of therestaurant and bar repertoire.13

THE INTELLIGENCEIN MY VIEWExpanding horizonsFCSI Associate Joey Navarro is principal of WhitestoneFood Service Design in Georgia, US. He talks about hiscareer in foodservice and the importance of collaborationIspecialize in food service design for schools, arenas, stadiums, hotels,restaurant chains, mom-and-pop restaurants. I work from receiving toserving and everything in between. Many times, I design the dining areasas well. I spend an extra amount of time with specifications of equipment asper the needs of the client, both functional and budgetary. I do a full layout,schedule, electrical, plumbing, elevations, fabrication, hoods and walk-indrawings. I want the client to be in complete control of their project so I write avery tight spec, keeping change orders to a minimum.It is fantastic to collaborate with others in the foodservice sector, to learnnew things and expand horizons. The most exhilarating part is when someoneputs their trust in you to make a seemingly impossible task work.When I was a child, I wanted to be a baseball player.“The mostexhilaratingpart is whensomeone putstheir trust inyou to makea seeminglyimpossibletask work”I started as a butcher’s helper when I was 13 years old. From there, I workedin fast food, fast casual, a country club, a catering company, as a volunteerhelping the needy and in a number of other food facilities. One day I walked intoAtlanta Fixture for a client and found out the contract sales division was hiring.At the age of 27, I found myself designing and quoting full foodservice projects.Working for an equipment dealer, my interaction with FCSI was strictlythird party. Once I opened my own consulting firm, I spoke to severalconsultants and reps and they all thought joining was a great idea.Our biggest challenge right now is Covid-19. I view our industry as a bow withan arrow on the string. It is pulled back as far as it can go and once somethingpushes the trigger, ‘boom’, our industry will take off at breakneck speed.My grandfather instilled in me a sense of business and ethics.Another person who influenced me would be Paul Klein, my oldboss from Atlanta Fixture. He was a warm person who caredabout his employees, but a formidable man of business.I relax by going on vacation with my family. I also loveto weightlift and box.14DAN MURRELLOne thing I have learned about being a consultant is to listen. I learnmore from chefs than anyone else. They may do the same type of work asany other chef, but go about it entirely differently. Things like this youtuck away to use with another client/chef down the road.

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THE INTELLIGENCEKITCHEN CONFIDENTIALThe Secret Chef struggles to put theCovid-19 pandemic into perspectiveMORE TIME TO THINKThere are times when I envy thosewho bow their heads toward Rome.There must be something freeingabout confession although I find theconcept a little hard to swallow. I’m fromnorthern European, Lutheran stockand, while I’ve discarded the religiousaspects, the work ethic and vague guiltassociated with fun and enjoymentremain. I think that’s why writing thiscolumn is so liberating: I spend a fewhours pretending to be someone I can’tbe during my daily life and have fourjoyous catharses a year to enable me toease the weight on my shoulders.Here is this quarter’s confession:this piece is already a week late forsubmission. As someone who hasspent many years abiding by severaldozen deadlines throughout the courseof every service, tardiness pains me.It niggles away and frustrates me,especially when I know it is my fault.In the kitchen the chain of commandallows for the apportion of blame.With words instead of dishes,screens instead of plates there is onlyone person at fault and that is theperson sitting at the keyboard.I generally get a little editorialdirection when writing: loose themes onwhich to base my words. Can you writesomething on food waste? We need afew hundred words on no-shows. Doyou fancy submitting your thoughts ontipping? And, generally, I spend a coupleFor more go to fcsi.orgof weeks thinking about the themeand then coalesce the thoughts intosomething cogent.This time, unsurprisingly, it was abiggie: “Focus, in some way, on postpandemic restaurant life, please.”Easy. A veritable buffet of subjects togorge on and yet here we are, seven daysthe wrong side of deadline and still notHere’s the scoop: thepandemic isn’t over. Thereis no clarity of hindsighton which to base mythinking because thereis no hindsight. Theworld spluttered, thencoughed and then stoppedturning entirelyfinished, and I’ve beentrying to figure out why.And now I know. Here’sthe scoop: the pandemic isn’tover. There is no clarity ofhindsight on which to basemy thinking because thereis no hindsight. The worldspluttered, then coughed andthen stopped turning entirely.Every single restaurant on the planetclosed their doors – and many of themremain closed, countless of thosewill never serve another customer.Thousands have taken baby stepstowards re-opening with masked serversand temperature checks and plasticscreens and have since been orderedto shutter once more. The immediatepresent is one in which indoor dining isa fading memory and a distant hope –how can I do justice to that ridiculous,previously unthinkable notion?I can’t. That’s my second confession: Ifeel inadequate. Pretty much all the timeat the moment. Although I could re-open,my restaurant remains a takeout – theprospect of a second wave of infectionsas summer rolls into the cooler daysand nights of fall is, asfar as I’m concerned,an inevitability.Without a vaccine,other services will begiven priority overhospitality, quiterightly. Our kids neededucating more thanwe need to cook a tastingmenu. At some point it willbe possible to look back at allthis and consider what thefuture looks like. But thattime isn’t now because,for the moment, we are stillright where we are.17

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THE INTELLIGENCEDAN MURRELLTALKBACK Three foodservice professionals give their views on one questionRussell Stilwell FCSIAgustin Ferrando BalbiEneko AtxaFoodservice consultant, Maryland, USChef, Hong KongChef, Bilbao, SpainWith negative events, there is almostalways a silver lining. In this case, my hopeis the death of the salad bar and its badcousin the hot-food bar. Having multiplepeople serving themselves from the samedish with the same utensils has neverbeen appealing. The saddest thing to meis the loss of so many great restaurants.The permanent closing of restaurants, likeBlackbird in Chicago and so many others,is a deep wound to our culinary culture. Noone could have been prepared for this typeof global pandemic. No one could imaginethe shutdown of the world economy.What we have seen coming out of thisperiod is the humanity, resilience, andcreativity of so many chefs, restaurantand food operators, manufacturers, andAmerican workers. It is amazing to see thecommunity feeding their workers and thejobless, reinventing their businesses, andstanding together through Covid-19, thecollapsed economy, riots. We are still here– ready to re-open, to serve, to feed.The main lesson is: be prepared, it willhappen again. Add that carry-out/pick-upstation, ghost kitchen, meal delivery, patio– whatever will give you a backup revenuestream. Keep positive and adapt quickly.Build a rainy-day fund, the governmentmay not always be prepared to print moneyand give it away. Be grateful if you stillhave a business, and show your staff yourappreciation for the hard work they do.We were two weeks into opening ourrestaurant Andō when the third wave ofinfections hit Hong Kong, and increasinglysevere restrictions started kicking in.First, banning dine-in service from 6pmto 4.59am so we had to close after only 15days. That said, the team is in high spirits,we’re taking the time to develop newrecipes and have also launched our homedining experience for delivery/take-away,At Home with Andō.The biggest impact is the full closureor the limits on restaurant capacity.Limiting seats means limiting revenueand that affects the chain further down.A restaurant is not only about the food,others are involved – workers, suppliers,producers and distributors – affecting onelink in the chain affects all the others.I have found the situation challenging,but we need to look forward, using thistime to regroup and think how to improvethe whole experience for our guests.We will come out of this learning toadapt. This is also a time for reflection,it has allowed us to pay close attentionto every single detail of the operation.Sometimes money can hide problems butnow we are forced to look at the wholeoperation and tweak things to make surewe can survive this period. Most of us havebuilt in measures such as take away menusand other different alternatives to theusual restaurant life.My restaurant, Azurmendi, was shut fornearly four months – we closed the doorson 12 March and reopened on 1 July.I decided that my other restaurantswill remain closed for now; it seems theprudent course of action to go slow and seehow things develop as we hopefully returnto a semblance of normality.The response to our reopening hasbeen fantastic, better than anythingwe imagined. We are taking all theprecautions, including sanitation anddistancing, to keep everybody safe. Rightnow the most important ingredient isnot on the plate, it is the safety of ourcustomers.The impact on hospitality is alreadyhuge. We are lucky at our level of diningbecause we have a certain visibility, butall the smaller restaurants who don’t havethis facility will struggle. Many have closedalready and many more will follow.I think society

FOODSERVICE CONSULTANT FOODSERVICE CONSULTANTS SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL AMERICAS EDITION Q3 2020 FCSI.ORG Postcards from the edge Operator tales from the front line of foodservice Hidden talent? Why Covid also spread a new set of staff challenges Ghetto blast Firing up social conversations with Ghetto Gastro