A menu is the single document that controls your food cost, your labor, your kitchen layout and what your guests remember. In a high-volume luxury operation it also has to work at 7:15 on a Saturday night with every seat full. Chef Bryan Dillon builds menus that guests love and that your kitchen can execute the same way every time.
The problem
Most menus grow by addition. A chef adds a special that sells, an owner adds a favorite, a vendor offers a deal on a new product, and nothing comes off. Over time the menu carries too many items, too many unique ingredients and too many prep steps. Food cost creeps up, waste grows, and tickets slow down at the worst possible moment.
In casino resorts the problem multiplies. One property can run a steakhouse, a café, a buffet, banquets, a pool bar and room service, each with its own menu and its own inventory. Without a plan across outlets, the same ingredient gets bought five ways and costed five ways.
What Bryan does
- Recipe costing. Every item gets a written recipe, a portion standard and a plate cost based on what you actually pay.
- Item mix analysis. Each item is judged on how well it sells and how much it contributes, so you know what to promote, reprice, rework or remove.
- Pricing. Prices that reflect your market position and protect margin, not just a markup on cost.
- Cross-utilization. Ingredients that work across several dishes and outlets, which cuts inventory, prep and waste.
- Standardized recipes. Recipes and plating guides that let any trained cook produce the same dish on any shift or at any location.
- Menu design. Layout that guides the guest’s eye to the items you want to sell. Bryan’s rule: no dead space on a menu.
Experience behind the work
Bryan learned menus at the Ritz-Carlton Boston in 1979, where the classical menu changed every day on a nine-week cycle. Cooks had to know every garnish and method by name. That discipline still shapes how he writes a recipe.
As Corporate Executive Chef for the Bertolini’s division of Morton’s Restaurant Group, he developed standardized menus and recipes that could be executed consistently across multiple locations, and he oversaw the opening of six new restaurants in three years. At the Bertolini’s in the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, the gelato, sorbet and espresso counter alone earned enough to pay the restaurant’s rent. That is what the right item, in the right place, can do.
At Station Casinos he opened three new restaurants as part of Texas Station’s $74 million expansion. At Red Rock Resort he oversaw 17 food operations and 22 kitchens. At Morongo Casino Resort & Spa he ran a food and beverage operation generating $30 million a year.
How it fits the Dillon Luxury Process
- Discovery and market analysis. Sales mix, plate costs, invoices and a review of competitors’ menus.
- Brand identity and positioning. Confirm what the menu has to say about your concept and your guest.
- Strategic planning. A target food cost, a target item count and a plan for each item.
- Implementation. New recipes tested and costed in your kitchen with your team.
- Staff excellence and certification. Cooks trained on the new recipes and servers trained on how to sell them.
- Optimization and growth. Review the sales mix after launch and adjust.
Who this is for
- Casino resorts planning menus across several outlets
- Hotels opening or repositioning a signature restaurant
- Multi-unit groups that need the same dish to taste the same everywhere
- Independent restaurants where food cost has drifted up
Next step
Send your current menu and recent sales mix, and Bryan will tell you where he sees the fastest gains. Schedule a consultation, or see all consulting services.