February 2024
A global restaurant business should build upon past successes while allowing for market variables
Many restaurants are an extension of their chef’s personality, preferences, and flair.
An international enterprise, however, must balance the public persona and unique tastes of the chef and cuisine with local market nuances and a smart business plan while leveraging lessons learned from other spots across the globe.
Ideally, it’s an iterative process where every new experience builds upon those from the past—both in the kitchen and in the board room.
Then, every time a concept is replicated in a new city, it ideally starts from a new baseline for excellence and profitability.
Specifically for Acurio Restaurantes, which is planning a considerable US expansion in the coming five years, the lessons learned by its founder, Gaston Acurio, over the past 29 years have primed the company to build out Gaston’s dream and vision of globalizing Peruvian cuisine.
At the same time, the lessons learned by Acurio Restaurantes may serve as a blueprint for international-minded restaurateurs worldwide.
Partner Wisely
One of the most critical considerations in developing an international restaurant business is selecting partners who have local knowledge, have experience in providing input if necessary, and deliver in a timely way on any financial promises.
More broadly, open relationships help the project proceed largely as planned.
For example, while developing a Chicago restaurant, Acurio Restaurantes aligned with partners in the real estate industry who provided knowledge that proved critical in helping select the company’s venue.
Alternatively, problematic communications and extended timelines stress the business, especially if delays in financing occur, as development, remodeling, maintenance, and other needed items can be halted. Another complicating factor could be misaligned priorities between the business and its partners.
Ultimately, a partnership should add value, whether it’s the ability to manage some of the details, provide financial support, or any other efforts that will help lead to the success of the business.
A global enterprise doesn’t have time for relationships that are based on select common goals but end up being detrimental to the venture’s broader goals.
Finesse the Brands, not the Vision
Frequently, a chef founder must exchange his or her personal presence atop the menu for a standalone brand that takes on its own marketplace stature and characteristics.
It’s not personal. And it has nothing to do with the style of the cuisine.
It’s just a common market dynamic.
For example, after years of spectacular success in Peru and Latin America, Gaston opened an Astrid & Gaston location in New York, followed by a similarly named spot in Spain.
While the food quality and service at both sites matched the levels of excellence maintained at the legacy site, both locations faltered and had to be closed. Part of the issue was that everyone was expecting Gaston to be the chef and regularly on location.
Having learned that lesson, Acurio Restaurantes now operates a single Astrid & Gaston restaurant—housed in the Casa Moreyra in Lima, where it moved from its original Lima location in 2014.
The passion and spirit nurtured at that flagship location, however, is carried out to the company’s other locations—and brands—around the globe.
Ultimately, Gaston did not walk away from the name. Instead, like many of the most recognized chefs in the world who have more than one restaurant, his flagship remains in the city where he began, and the expansion efforts occur under different names.
Which brands?
Another key lesson.
Some brands evolve as higher end destinations, while others adopt a modified price point—but all maintain a commitment to serve quality food.
For example, Acurio Restaurantes plans to expand its La Mar business to Seattle after finding success in Miami, San Francisco, and Dubai. But its luxury dining experience is not for every city.
More broadly, the company is building on the success posted by Jarana in its initial New Jersey location to expand into five new states. That brand features an average ticket size that is smaller than La Mar’s, but is still focused on high-quality Peruvian food.
Checks and Balances Keep the Vision Alive
When excellence is part of a restaurant company’s DNA, it runs deeper than the end product served to paying customers.
It extends to every phase of the day-to-day operations.
So, if a dish is done beautifully, but it is supposed to be a $25 offering and it costs $22 to produce it, the restaurant must either charge $30 for the dish or cut the costs.
It can be tough to achieve that balance, but that’s where a management team’s experience is so valuable.
Knowing the different ways a dish can be created to fulfill the culinary vision while remaining financially feasible reflects strong operational discipline.
For example, for nearly 20 years, Gaston’s vision that ceviche is loved around the world has driven Acurio Restaurantes.
To make his vision a reality, Gaston is an innovator in the kitchen. He’s constantly traveling, visiting his restaurants, looking at the menus, and pondering effective changes. He does that with the local chefs, helping set the 80% of the menu that is essentially the same across the company and inspiring the other 20% that each location chef gets to control.
Aside from the plated experiences, however, he’s also looking at the cost of the food and ingredients and reporting back to the company’s strong operations professionals—one who oversees Latin America and Peru and the other who’s the COO of Acurio International.
Additionally, the company recently hired a beverage manager to help standardize that part of the menu, a marketing manager, and a quality control manager to further strengthen the business side of the restaurants.
That allows Gaston to confidently say that every La Mar in the world is 80% the same and the other 20% builds off that base of excellence, quality, and taste with local palates.
Meanwhile, the operational, quality, and financial pros continually ensure that such goals in the kitchen may be sustained into the future.
Discovering and Keeping the Passion In-house
While building upon the external lessons, a successful global restaurant venture also recognizes some of its biggest assets are its people.
From the lead chef overseeing the food preparation and presentation to the most junior busser keeping the front of the house spotless, passion for delivering an exceptional experience is a must.
And back in the kitchen, a team of chefs that carries the lead chef’s passion is critical to consistency and quality.
For example, Gaston’s hiring approach for Acurio Restaurantes relies on identifying passionate individuals who love what they’re doing and love cooking the Peruvian way. And for those who excel, growth opportunities are available across the company’s global footprint.
Passion alone doesn’t pay the bills
Meanwhile, the management team understands that passion alone doesn’t pay the bills or fulfill some people’s inner drive.
So, it ensures that the company pay scale ranks in the upper tier of the local averages, reasoning that if they’re satisfied with the compensation, employees will be less likely to depart for another restaurant.
Frequently, however, the bigger risk with deeply passionate individuals is that they’ll leave to start their own restaurant. As such, experience has taught Gaston and his management team that providing opportunities for personal growth are essential to retaining talented employees with promise.
Furthermore, recognizing the enticing pull of independence, Acurio Restaurantes has developed a retention plan that extends the standard path for advancement to provide support for a new restaurant venture.
That’s right, pave the way for the individual’s own restaurant.
By offering support for a new brand to advanced chefs who have their own ideas about running a new concept, Acurio Restaurantes keeps many of its most-talented leaders within the company while seeding ideas for new opportunities.
Building Blocks to Potential Success
Success in the global restaurant industry results from a delicate blend of tastes, locations, and business choices.
Without accounting for all three elements, a venture will be challenged to survive and thrive.
Unlike a single-site restaurant that has little latitude for mistakes and missteps, however, a company with a deep history of opening and running multiple locations will have a series of past experiences that improve the likelihood of achieving success.
As long as the company commits to building upon those lessons and integrating them with an overarching vision and commitment to a high-quality dining experience, fantastic food from the kitchen will likely translate in any language or locale.
