The Restaurant Dream?: An Inside Look at Restaurant Development, from Concept to Reality

Lee Simon

Jan 2006 · Atlantic Publishing Company

About this ebook

Some people act on their life-long dreams and decide to open a restaurant. Many of these aspiring restaurateurs are engaging in this activity for the first time, and unfortunately they are at a greater risk for making mistakes that could unnecessarily doom their fledgling business from the start. Many of these mistakes, however, are avoidable.

The shelves are full of books about restaurants. Some offer advice on operations and menu planning. Some contain inspiring photographs of interior and exterior spaces. Others share the details behind one concept or individual's success story. But comprehensive information available on the restaurant development process is limited. The establishment of a new restaurant concept is full of emotion, surprise, frustration, risk, and satisfaction that simply cannot be conveyed in a textbook format.

The Restaurant Dream? is based on a true account of one team's efforts to develop a restaurant concept from the ground up. All aspects of the development process, from the initial idea - through design, construction, opening, and the first months of operations, are covered. It is written in the form of a story, which interweaves educational material with real-life events and the unexpected twists and turns that seemed to exist around almost every corner. From elation to deception and camaraderie to lawsuits, this book shows that the surreal components of opening a restaurant are not uncommon--they are just not frequently shared. The Restaurant Dream? shares strategies, logic, successes, and failures so that the aspiring restaurateur may learn from this effort and improve their own likelihood for success.

Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

About the author

Lee Simon is an award-winning designer, specializing in commercial foodservice and hospitality projects. A graduate of Cornell Universityâe(tm)s School of Hotel Administration, he has taught Hospitality Facilities Planning and Design at the University of Central Floridaâe(tm)s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. He is also the author of a column on hospitality design that has been featured in dozens of publications throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. As a practicing designer, Lee uses his operational experience on a daily basis to assist his clients with the planning of new and renovated foodservice facilities. His past projects, located in the United States and abroad, include all types of foodservice operations.