ICE’s Culinary Management Instructors are seasoned industry professionals who are still active in the industry, working on their own projects while teaching classes at ICE. With such a wide range of experience between them, we decided to ask Julia Heyer and Vin McCann to take a closer look at some of the things we keep hearing so much about. Today, they tackle the concept of demand pricing.

Julia Heyer
Bloomberg Media’s Dominic Chu (himself no stranger to restaurants) recently featured Grant Achatz’s new place in Chicago, the quarterly changing Next. It looked at the restaurant’s unique pricing model, which differs from the restaurant industry generally in two ways: (1) a guest pre-pays one set price in full, tax, tip and all included, and (2) the cost of the meal differs at different times. This model takes the concept of good old demand pricing (as experienced in the commodities trading by Achatz’s business partner) and applies it to the restaurant biz.

Basing pricing on demand is a working model when you offer something that the consumer wants. It gets even more effective when you, as the seller, can control supply to ensure the consumer’s willingness to pay premium prices remains strong (DeBeers Diamonds, anyone?). And that is something these guys at Next are smartly doing. Yes, I am sure that changing the restaurant and menu every three months also plays to the wishes, playfulness and curiosity of the chef, but really it is the ultimately savvy way of limiting supply of the experience, constantly reinventing the restaurant and re-stoking the demand for it. Each restaurant is only here for three months — come now before it’s gone! And then, when the next iteration comes to market, people want to come back (ergo drive demand) for that new experience (yup, that new supply). Smartly combined! More…

This week, the National Student Leadership Conference held their first ever Culinary Arts & Careers conference at ICE. For over 20 years, the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) has invited a select group of outstanding high school students to participate in its fast-paced, high-level and interactive summer sessions. NSLC provides students with the opportunity to experience life on a college campus; develop essential leadership skills; and explore a future career through exciting simulations, exclusive site visits and interactive meetings with renowned leaders in their chosen field.

Students came from all over the country to work with ICE’s Chef Instructors and learn the ins and outs of the culinary industry in America’s culinary capital — NYC. The students worked closely with ICE Chef Instructor Chris Gesualdi to develop their skills in the kitchen. Learning how to roast chickens, prepare vegetables and a plethora of other techniques. The students had just one week to learn the fundamentals of life in the kitchen. More…

ICE’s Culinary Management Instructors are seasoned industry professionals who are still active in the industry, working on their own projects while teaching classes at ICE. With such a wide range of experience between them, we decided to ask Julia Heyer and Vin McCann to take a closer look at some of the trends and culinary businesses we keep hearing so much about. This week, they discuss the need for a passion for food in the business.

Vin McCann
This week, I ran across an Associated Press article online that touted the passion that drives the tireless entrepreneurial drive that powers growth in our business. Unfortunately, I found it pretty insipid because it fluffed so many food biz/restaurant start up issues that it was more suited to the entertainment industry than food service. I did like a bit about a woman in Cincinnati whose “passion for food” prompted her to start a catering business but found that “working so many nights and weekends was tough on the family,” so she focused more on “marketing partnerships,” blogging, website interactivity and videos. Ain’t that the rub? A significant portion of the restaurant and food service business is so full of “passion” that nobody really wants to live it; they just want to opine on it. The phenomenon has led to a series of satellite bubbles gravitating around the core activity of making and serving food and beverage for profit.

Julia Heyer
That isn’t a case of passion — it’s a case of “not enough passion.” It’s thinking something sounded like a good idea until one encountered the reality of body-pounding, social life–ending realm of day-to-day restaurant operations. She did not have the “bug” as an old boss of mine called it. That virus, where you love the energy, the life a place takes on, the food and drinks being created, the community, taking care of people, and yes, the PASSION of it all around you. Why else would many professionals — chefs, managers and service pros alike — put up with the long hours at non-hedge-fund-level compensation? They have the passion. They have the drive. They want it. THEY have got the BUG. She did not. And that’s okay (hey, I love working ‘regular’ hours these days too). You don’t have to have the passion for this work. I am just not sure why so many believe they do? More…