The Dispatch wrote Owners pressed to offer more
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
BY BILL CHRONISTER
Just as tight credit and higher fuel costs hurt consumers, they’re also forcing restaurateurs to think about new ways to get us into their chairs. As they consider raising prices, they’re also trying to satisfy “millennials,” who want what’s newest and hippest, and baby boomers, who seek familiarity and comfort.
David Cooke, principal at Design Collective Inc., expects “the restaurants like Basi Italia and Mezzo that are able to adjust to seasonal foods and changes in tastes” to do well. “Others, like Latitude 41, can’t be branded so easily” and therefore can adapt more quickly.
He also sees more room for nontraditional restaurants such as Tyfoon in the Arena District and India Oven on Main Street Downtown because they are unusual.
At opposite ends of the food chain, Chef Richard Rosendale, of Rosendales Restaurant in the Short North, and Chik-Fil-A franchisee Tom Minturn in Hilliard see freshness and quality as key to consumers.
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