Design And Facilities
Evaluation of Aphrodite Greek
Restaurant in Greater London
2010-01-01
REPORT
Table of Contents
1. Table of Contents
2. Introduction.
3. Evaluation of Facilities in Aphrodite Restaurant,
London and Systems
Supporting These Facilities.
4.
Research on the Monitoring and Documentation
of CCTV
and Security
Systems.
5.
Re-evaluation of the Aphrodite Restaurant Concept
Board
with Solutions and Time-frame.
6. Conclusion and Recommendations.
2. Introduction
The Aphrodite Greek Restaurant has only
recently opened in London, in place of the erstwhile French Restaurant, Le
Pont de la Tour. Located in the famous Butlers Wharf Building on the
South Bank of the Thames River, it overlooks one of England’s historical
landmarks, the renowned “Tower Bridge” (www.towerbridge.org.uk). Featuring a wide variety of succulent Greek
food and drink, the moderately-priced restaurant comes
recommended as a gourmet’s delight, particularly for those who relish Greek
food.
3. Evaluation of Facilities in Aphrodite Restaurant
and Systems Supporting these Facilities
Facilities:
Entrance
to the Aphrodite Restaurant is through a pair of eye-catching Corinthian
columns. A deferential Maitre d’ guides the customer to a table or the Bar,
either directly or through the adjacent cloakroom. The front half of the
cloakroom is divided into two by a lit-up wall, which has the figurines of the
twelve Greek Gods in bas relief, six on each face. Entrance from there into the
restaurant is through a red-curtained doorway or into the bar through a blue-curtained
doorway.
Food is served both indoors and on the
terrace, weather permitting. The terrace features Doric columns and a fountain
around a statue of Aphrodite, “the Greek goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal
Youth” (www.greek-gods.info),
epitomising the Restaurant complex. The new tables and chairs have an elegant
marble look about them. Crisp Greek linen is used, with embossed Grecian urns
as a motif.
The walls feature discreet Hellenic
art. The non-slip floor is dark brown wood that pales inwards into
cream-coloured marble. The Centre-piece
is a Harp which provides mellifluous live music, reminiscent of the Seas around Greece.
“’T is believ’d that this harp which I
wake now for thee
Was a siren of old who sung under the sea.” (Thomas Moore, 1810)
The comprehensive Menu Card is
elegantly designed with bold lettering; items and prices can be read easily. A
separate barrel-shaped card provides the equally comprehensive Wine List. Lighting
is automatically controlled to maintain a fixed luminosity.
The main entrance to the bar is
through two Ionic columns. Seating arrangement is good, both in the room and at
the counter. The adjacent Lounge has plush seating, using Comfit sofa sets.
Available wall space in both the bar and the lounge is decorated with quotations
of famous Greek philosophers, like ‘Socrates, Plato and Diogenes,’ among others
(www.livius.org). The piece-de-resistance
of the bar is its aquarium. Set into four see-through recesses in the walls,
the large water-bodies display half-body sized “Greek Gods and Goddesses of the
Seas, Poseidon, Neptune (www.greek-gods.info),
Phorcys and Amphitrite” (www.theoi.com).
The bar stocks many types of the
traditional Greek drink, Ouzo, which has the strong aroma of aniseed. Though
colourless, Ouzo turns milky white when ice or water is added. It can be served
as an apêritif or with a meal, but it is “best had along with snacks known as
mezedes” (Barret, n.d.).
Systems Supporting These Facilities:
The rear half of the restaurant houses
the offices, the pantry, kitchen, refuse, wash and staff rooms and the CCTV
control room. The pantry stores crockery and cutlery, kitchen utensils and all
back-up kitchen and cookware. Upgraded ovens save a lot of energy, in keeping
with current trend of global warming issues. The pot and dishwasher are in the electronically controlled steam washroom
and use minimal energy. Glasses are stored on carousels, for easy access. Staff
rooms are cosy and soundproofed, with separate male and female staff sections. Waste
bins in the bar, washroom and kitchen are adequate. A special waste disposal
team, equipped with gas masks, takes all waste to the refuse room which has
different coloured bins for different recycling procedures. The bar is
electronically monitored for alcohol consumption through the bills and integrates
an efficient supply chain. A cellar is being built and will also serve as a
wine shop later.
Staff Training:
A large number of staff of the previous restaurant had to be re-trained
along with Greek
employees inducted from Greece. The
procedure followed is listed below:
·
Daily training
during the transition period, with Sundays off.
·
Importance of
personal hygiene and own health.
·
Introduction to
Greek culture and language; removal of any French accent.
·
Knowledge of Greek
cuisine, menus and process of service.
·
Knowledge of Greek
liquor and cocktails.
·
Practical tests every
Saturday for all staff, with repeat training in observed weak areas.
·
Security training, Fire safety training
and evacuation procedure.
·
Recognition of and procedure to defuse
potential affrays.
·
Activation of
Control Room alarms with prior intimation to other parties involved.
Research on the Monitoring and
Documentation of CCTV and Security Systems
CCTV stands for Closed Circuit
Television. Video surveillance cameras are popular and easily accessible to
every kind of establishment. With terrorism and violent hijacking becoming more
and more common, CCTV is now a must-have:
· CCTV
Monitoring Systems today provide a “new world of remote surveillance and
security solutions that protect people and property, reduce crime and improve
crime detection” (www.video-surveillance-guide.com).
· With
computers and easy communication, “remote access control and critical asset
remote monitoring services are possible.” (www.hitechcctvmonitoring.com).
· Surveillance
video cameras give “added safety and security” (ibid).
Types
of cameras available:
A
huge variety of video surveillance cameras are available in the market. Study
and analysis of specific requirements and a survey provided the best options
available. (Honovich,
2008)
These included “covert or disguised surveillance cameras, wireless, wired and night vision or
poorly lit zones security
cameras” (www.video-surveillance-guide.com).
Since the CCTV was meant for a restaurant, specifications
were simple. The camera needed to be of the “covert type” (www.cctvcore.co.uk). The primary aim is to ensure that:
1 -The clientele is screened to keep undesirable
elements away.
2 -Customers at the bar, lounge and dining areas
are not misbehaving.
3 -There is no pilferage of any sort within the
premises.
4 -Restaurant owners can monitor numerous sites
from anywhere in the world with digital equipment and an Internet connection.
Restaurants have invested in high-speed
telecom lines to permit payment with credit/ debit cards. These lines can also
be used for remote video surveillance. Cameras can observe food-handling
techniques and employee skills to see if special training is needed and to identify and
correct
inefficiencies in store and kitchen layouts, while protecting owners from
fraudulent accident claims . Two
Sony CD6IR-2 cameras were purchased to match the Sony video recorder selected. Video
Recording Management System:
“Of the many types of video recording
systems available, the most versatile is the Hybrid Digital Video Recorder
(HDVR). The most advanced HDVR available
in the market, the Sony SVR-2000, provides up to thirty hours of video
recording” (www.epinions.com), and has been purchased and set up in the Control
Room, which has a push-button alarm to a private security agency in the same
building, as well as telephonic and radio contact with the nearest Police
Station for immediate assistance if required. Recorded videotapes are stored
for one week before re-use.
Re-evaluation of the Aphrodite Restaurant
Concept Board
Based on the feedback received and
personal observation, certain drawbacks have emerged that needed rectification,
as listed below:
A.
Waiters/waitresses are not fully conversant with the Greek language.
1. Most Greek
barmen do not know how to mix certain British cocktails.
2. The
credit/debit card swiping machine should be portable, as some customers
are wary of their
card details being pilfered.
3. There is no sink in the bar.
4. An attendant should be present in the cloak
room.
5. Table layout in the dining room needs review.
6. The
restaurant has no website.
Solutions
and Time-frame:
·
Items 1 and 2 were seen as teething problems.
It was decided to step up the intensity of training sessions.
·
Items 3 and 5 have been resolved
satisfactorily.
· Government rules specify that a hand sink
must be available in a commercial bar (Johnson,
2007). This mandate has been met.·
Studies show that fifty percent of customers
come to restaurants as pairs, thirty percent alone while twenty percent usually
come in groups (McRea, 2009). A relook and discussion has been planned for
Saturday.
The website will be up and working by next
Monday.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
The start-up of the Greek Restaurant,
Aphrodite, has gone off well and its progress is most satisfying. The interior
is almost exactly as envisioned and costs have been kept within the budget. The
CCTV has worked perfectly. There are a few teething problems, but these are to
be expected of any new enterprise.
It is recommended that renewed effort be
put in on the training aspect, to get employees up to par. It is also
recommended that a monthly brainstorming session be considered for discussion
at the next meeting. A discussion on table layout has already been scheduled
and the layout on the terrace may be reviewed simultaneously. The website will
need publicity and it is recommended that all means of enhancing website
publicity be explored urgently.
