Revenue Management

🍴 Six locally owned restaurants were awarded the James Beard Foundation's 2025 America's Classics Award: Lem’s Bar-B-Q in Chicago, The Pioneer Saloon in Ketchum, Idaho, Sullivan’s Castle Island in Boston, Lucky Wishbone in Anchorage, Alaska, Dooky Chase in New Orleans, and Gaido’s in Galveston, Texas. Since 1998, over 100 U.S. restaurants have been honored. The awards ceremony will take place on June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Restaurants are nominated by the public and awards voters from October through November.

🔥 Texas barbecue's popularity has led to craft joints earning Michelin recognition. Kafi BBQ in Irving, less than three months old, offers a halal, wagyu beef-centered menu, drawing on founder Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi's six years of experience after purchasing a Traeger smoker. KG BBQ in Austin, started by Kareem El-Ghayesh who left finance in Cairo for Texas in 2016, blends North African and Middle Eastern flavors with Texan tradition, earning a James Beard semifinalist nod and Bib Gourmand in Michelin Guide's recent Texas expansion. Texas Monthly’s top-ranked Goldee’s in Fort Worth serves smoked Lao sausage, while Fort Worth's Sabar and Arlington's Smoke’N Ash BBQ blend Pakistani and Ethiopian influences, respectively. Blood Bros. in Houston and other statewide restaurants incorporate Asian, Cajun, and Mexican flavors. These pitmasters view barbecue as a cultural bridge, with plans to create community hubs celebrating food, art, and culture.

🏖 Spring Break season starts in March and ends mid-April in Washington, D.C., with Florida being the top U.S. destination, featuring Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Tampa. Europe dominates international travel with eight out of the top 10 cities, led by Rome, London, and Paris. Roundtrip flights are $820 for the U.S. (up 7%) and $1,440 internationally (up 2%). U.S. hotel stays average $660 (up 8%), while international stays are $740 (down 4%). Car rentals average $645 domestically and $615 internationally (down 5%). Cruising has hit a record with 19 million U.S. travelers and costs up by 27% domestically and 3% internationally. Top cruise ports are Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, and Miami.

🏨 In January 2025, upscale hotel segments witnessed RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) grow by over 4%, despite a minor decline in overall occupancy rate by 0.4 points to 53%. This was predominantly due to a nearly 5% rise in the average daily rate (ADR), facilitating the sector's resilience amid broader social, political, and economic challenges.

🧃 Ghee, a staple in Indian cuisine known for its high smoke point and nutty flavor, has seen a 71% increase on U.S. restaurant menus over four years, particularly at independent and midscale eateries, yet appears on less than 1% of menus. With 33% of Americans aware of ghee and 18% having tried it, this clarified butter is celebrated for its versatility and connection to Ayurvedic traditions.

🏨 U.S. hotel industry saw a year-over-year increase in occupancy by 1.2% reaching 60%, ADR by 2.2% at $164.79, and RevPAR by 3.4% to $98.83 for the week of February 9-15, 2025. Chicago experienced the most significant occupancy rise of 14.4%, achieving 55.0%. New Orleans, hosting Super Bowl LIX, saw ADR soar by 42.8% to $314.37 and RevPAR by 33.5% to $222.66, despite a 6.5% drop in occupancy to 70.8%. In contrast, Las Vegas faced a decline with occupancy falling 7.1% to 76.4%, ADR dropping 30.6% to $202.10, and RevPAR plummeting 35.5% to $154.44.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, covers food and beverage trends. He hosts the podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" and wrote for "The New York Sun" from 2005-2008. Thorn joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999, Restaurant Hospitality in 2016, and lived in Thailand for about five years writing for "Manager" magazine and "Asia Times." A Tufts University graduate (magna cum laude, 1990) and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu and was in Beijing for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award, was IFEC president in 2005, and contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd edition, 2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014, he's from Denver and resides in Brooklyn.

🍸 The early 2000s cocktail renaissance continues, with bartenders using savory ingredients like cilantro in drinks. Empirical Spirits in Brooklyn, N.Y., launched a cilantro spirit last fall with 38% alcohol volume, made from French wheat, cilantro stems and leaves, lime, and tomatillo. Lolita in New York City offers the No Güey using Empirical’s cilantro spirit and sotol. Dear Strangers, which opened in November in Greenwich Village, features cilantro in the Star Treatment cocktail. The trend extends to international locations like NoMad London with their best-selling Sergeant Pepper cocktail and Licorería Limantour in Mexico City with an Al Pastor Margarita. Despite cilantro's divisive taste, its use in cocktails is growing.

🏨 Hidden costs can undermine hotel profits; this article suggests implementing expert cost-saving strategies to streamline operations, reduce expenses, and increase revenue. No specific numbers or statistical data provided. Published on February 17, 2025, by Akanksha Mohapatra, the article emphasizes the importance of smart strategies to avoid hidden costs in hotels.