Walking into Palais Croisette, the German bakery cum restaurant on the second floor of a building in Mahabalipuram, it almost seems as if it is a separate unit and not a part of the larger establishment, Hotel Ramakrishna. While I had only bargained for the marketing and business workings of the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to get information on a 2 in one business model. In fact, this establishment is multifaceted. Lets start with...what I started with.
Palais Croisette is a full fledged multi cuisine restaurant, which focusses mostly on continental food. They also have Chinese, North Indian and basic South Indian cuisine on their menu. Before we get into the nitty gritty, I must say that the restaurant as well as the hotel is under going some renovation and will begin operations in full swing in July. On speaking to the General Manager and Head Chef, I learned that their target segment is foreigners, who mostly visit Mahabalipuram from countries like France, Israel, Spain, Germany, Belgium and even the United States during the peak season months of October to March. My first question once I heard this, was how they made profit for the rest of the year. The manager promptly replied that this is the very reason for the afore mentioned renovation and that they have also started catering to customers from Chennai now. Though from this year onwards. their restaurant will be running all year around, the German bakery has only been available during peak season. However, the renovation will change all that.
On asking about their competitors in the area, they mentioned that restaurants like Moonrakers, Le Yogi, La Pizza de Mama, etc. which are on the same road, provide some stiff competition. Another surprising thing is that they do not actively advertise. They depend on word of mouth advertisement and on online recommendation forums like Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor,etc. Many a time, critics from these forums come and dine there without revealing themselves and go back and post their views on their websites. Also, the trend with the foreigners is that they go to a new restaurant each day or even for each meal and then decide which is the best. Again, their best bet as far as advertising is the online forums where even these foreign customers put up their views. Also, many magazines like Times of India, etc. approach them and do a story on them which is included in the magazines.
During the peak season, the hotel, which has 32 comfortable rooms, is flooded with about 80% foreigners. This is even higher during the dance festival in Mahabalipuram in December and January.The establishment has been open for about 5 years and has a monthly gross earning of about Rs. 2 Lakh from the restaurant and bakery alone. Around 35-40% of this is spent on supplies and overheads like salary. Interestingly, the entire building is owned by the owner of the restaurant and hotel and therefore, no rent needs to be paid.
The most popular items here are the pasta, grilled food and brown bread from the bakery which sells like hot cakes. I wanted to know how they differentiate themselves from their competition which offers similar food on the same street. The manager, with a very proud look in his eyes told me that there are many factors. First, all their food is made absolutely fresh and nothing is pre-prepared. Even though this delays the order time to about 45 minutes, the customer is assured that the food is fresh. Also, only the freshest ingredients are used. The basic ingredients can be bought in Mahabalipuram itself, but the owner lives in Chennai and makes a trip down, more than once a week to bring in the exotic ingredients himself. Also, they have a terrace garden and a do-it-yourself barbecue on the weekend.
They will be having a live breakfast counter come July and will also be introducing some spicy mexican cuisine. Be sure to try some!
Palais Croisette is a full fledged multi cuisine restaurant, which focusses mostly on continental food. They also have Chinese, North Indian and basic South Indian cuisine on their menu. Before we get into the nitty gritty, I must say that the restaurant as well as the hotel is under going some renovation and will begin operations in full swing in July. On speaking to the General Manager and Head Chef, I learned that their target segment is foreigners, who mostly visit Mahabalipuram from countries like France, Israel, Spain, Germany, Belgium and even the United States during the peak season months of October to March. My first question once I heard this, was how they made profit for the rest of the year. The manager promptly replied that this is the very reason for the afore mentioned renovation and that they have also started catering to customers from Chennai now. Though from this year onwards. their restaurant will be running all year around, the German bakery has only been available during peak season. However, the renovation will change all that.
On asking about their competitors in the area, they mentioned that restaurants like Moonrakers, Le Yogi, La Pizza de Mama, etc. which are on the same road, provide some stiff competition. Another surprising thing is that they do not actively advertise. They depend on word of mouth advertisement and on online recommendation forums like Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor,etc. Many a time, critics from these forums come and dine there without revealing themselves and go back and post their views on their websites. Also, the trend with the foreigners is that they go to a new restaurant each day or even for each meal and then decide which is the best. Again, their best bet as far as advertising is the online forums where even these foreign customers put up their views. Also, many magazines like Times of India, etc. approach them and do a story on them which is included in the magazines.
During the peak season, the hotel, which has 32 comfortable rooms, is flooded with about 80% foreigners. This is even higher during the dance festival in Mahabalipuram in December and January.The establishment has been open for about 5 years and has a monthly gross earning of about Rs. 2 Lakh from the restaurant and bakery alone. Around 35-40% of this is spent on supplies and overheads like salary. Interestingly, the entire building is owned by the owner of the restaurant and hotel and therefore, no rent needs to be paid.
The most popular items here are the pasta, grilled food and brown bread from the bakery which sells like hot cakes. I wanted to know how they differentiate themselves from their competition which offers similar food on the same street. The manager, with a very proud look in his eyes told me that there are many factors. First, all their food is made absolutely fresh and nothing is pre-prepared. Even though this delays the order time to about 45 minutes, the customer is assured that the food is fresh. Also, only the freshest ingredients are used. The basic ingredients can be bought in Mahabalipuram itself, but the owner lives in Chennai and makes a trip down, more than once a week to bring in the exotic ingredients himself. Also, they have a terrace garden and a do-it-yourself barbecue on the weekend.
They will be having a live breakfast counter come July and will also be introducing some spicy mexican cuisine. Be sure to try some!
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