FSR May 2023

CHEFS & INGREDIENTS NOW SERVING

able and Instagrammable.” “ e customer wants their friends to know they are out at brunch,” he says. “ e greatest metric we have to illustrate our success would be how viral brunch has become, and how guests interact with the brands on digital during this daypart. The camera eats first, and it most certainly does at brunch.” Kona Grill features signature items like the Rocky Mountain Omelet, Spicy Lobster Avocado Toast, and Macadamia Nut French Toast. For STK, there’s Hot Chicken Wa e, Smoked Pork Belly Bene

rolling out a brunch program in 2021. The idea came from a franchisee who opened a unit that fell short of expec tations, so he orchestrated a comeback with a three-hour weekend brunch pro gram. Weekend sales at that store pro ceeded to triple, catching the attention of the company’s leadership. “We picked up the ball and ran with it,” says Stan Dorsey, The Brass Tap’s executive chef. “We tested it, brought it back, took notes, and kept working at it. One thing we had to consider is that not every distribution center has the same

Dorsey says. “But if you have the storage and the equipment, and you can nd the labor, it’s a pretty easy thing to do.” Non-breakfast brands may shy away from brunch for fear of extra costs and added complexity, but Dorsey says it tends to be a low-cost segment. Break fast foods typically carry lower costs, and high-margin alcoholic beverages can increase pro tability by driving up check averages and enhancing the guest experience. “One of the big advantages with brunch is that you get to bring the booze along. Mimosas, screwdrivers, and things like that have great costs,” Dorsey says. “Every dollar that’s spent at brunch is a dollar that we wouldn’t have if our doors were closed, so it’s de nitely a big deal for franchisees.” Fogo de Chão added a brunch pro gram back in 2016 to expand its week end capacity. Seven years later, the pro gram is still going strong, and CEO Barry McGowan has a key piece of advice for non-breakfast brands adding the daypart. “Complexity is the death knell of res taurants. If you’re changing your model and adding all these components you don’t already have, it can be dilutive and you lose your return,” he says. “My feed back is always to stick to your strengths. Make sure you can execute against what your version of brunch is for your brand.” Fogo de Chão’s brunch program fea tures a Market Table with exotic fruits, imported charcuterie, Belgian wa es, made-to-order omelets, and more. Prep cooks are brought out from the back to prepare wa es and omelets on weekends, but most of the program centers around repurposing existing o erings. e pro duce and proteins served at brunch are the same items available at dinner. ey’re just bundled and displayed in a more breakfast-centric format. “We shift SKUs, we merchandise it di erently, and we price it di erently,” McGowan says. “We go through brunch and wait until it’s depleted in the after noon. en, it just starts to turn over into dinner. It’s an easy transition. at’s why it worked so well, and that’s why it keeps building.”

FOGO DE CHÃO’S BRUNCH PROGRAM FOCUSES ON REPURPOSING THE CHAIN’S EXISTING MENU OFFERINGS.

FOGO DE CHÃO

dict, and even a wagyu burger which includes a 7-ounce beef patty, American cheese, bacon, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, onion, and special sauce. “Brunch requires a strong element of balancing comfort food, like eggs, sau sage, and bacon, with more interesting trial items like benedicts with caviar,” Hilario says. “Offering comfort food like our egg white omelet and cinnamon French toast creates a path to experi ment with new things like our smoked pork belly benedict and wagyu burger.” Similar to e ONE Group, an upscale pub concept also began experimenting with implementing brunch offerings during the pandemic. Known for its craft beer and live music, e Brass Tap began

exact products. When you’re scattered all over the country, it’s about nding products that are available everywhere, so you can’t do regional stu . You need to be a little more mainstream.” e Brass Tap landed with a menu that features wa es, biscuits, burritos, and breakfast skillets, and of course, mimo sas and sangria. Dorsey says around 30 of the 50-unit chain’s stores o er brunch. ose that haven’t added the program tend to be older units that don’t have the same equipment package, or smaller stores with limited kitchen capacity. “You’ve also got to have the storage space for new products, because there are a lot of things that you didn’t have before that are only used on the weekend,”

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

MAY 2023