The first for a restaurant: choosing dishes in advance

“One mussel in curry cream, one entrecôte seignant, croquettes and warm vegetables. A bottle of house white wine and two Dame Blanches for dessert. Ready at 8pm, served at a table by the window.” These are the reservations that Eddie’s Restaurant in Remest receives via a special application. “This system allows us to purchase ingredients in a more targeted way and improve staff planning. We no longer have any no-shows,” says the innovative catering operator.

Eddy Thijsen, operator of Restaurant-Frituur Eddy in Val Mer (Reimst), has been working in this sector for 30 years and is currently facing the crisis first-hand. “Hospitality is a sector where everything has to be faster and more efficient, where decent employees have become rare and where the customer has become increasingly critical. “The latter is right, of course,” sighs Thiessen. “Add to this the rapid developments between suppliers and producers, and the constant interference on the part of Government, you know that we as operators are forced to adjust all sails and get stuck in the volatility that the sector has become. Because standing still is going backwards…

When he complained a while ago to Voeren’s Manoël Haniot — an independent IT expert with many years of experience developing a recognized cash register system for food services — the ball started rolling. “I heard and saw the same problems everywhere, especially the insufficient, unwieldy and often outdated and static approach to dealing with orders, invoices, reservations, inventory management and personnel… Then I thought: This could be much better,” says de Vourinard. . .

While constantly fine-tuning and tweaking, he has developed a comprehensive, easy-to-use reservation and ordering application for the catering operator and its customers. “The result may initially seem unfriendly to customers, but it certainly is not,” says Haniot. “It is a very simple system that saves a lot of time and provides certainty for the customer and operator,” adds Theissen. “After all, younger generations no longer have time and want things to go very quickly. Also the food. I noticed it in the chip shop years ago: customers rarely order at the counter or by phone, but they order online and come to pick up their orders on time.” “We will now also introduce this system in the restaurant.”

How it works? “Customers reserve a table and time online through the app, indicate what they want to eat, how they want it prepared… and pay electronically. Advantage: No more long waits, no full tables, no hassle. Cancellation is still possible if it happens in Right time and for us as operators: clear posting of reservations, no-shows, less stress in the kitchen, less staff spread, satisfied employees, more efficient inventory management, fewer problems…so everyone wins.”

“That was the starting point for me,” Manuel admits. “I wanted to take the work out of the hands of the operators, so to speak. And it was quite successful, as can be seen from the first reactions. the system It is already being used in several establishments, including the WZC Gerkenberg restaurant in Barre.”

Eddy Thijsen is convincing as the wise man from Vorin. “I have complete confidence in this, especially since recent tests have shown that the system works great.” What about older generations and the digital sick? “They will, of course, still be welcome as well. They can continue to reserve their table by phone and look at the menu at their leisure. Only they will sit at the table a little longer,” laughs the restaurant owner.