Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2024

Above, Right: Many high-profile chefs have shifted their business strategies in recent years to create QSR brands for the airport, offering their premium, high-quality food in a casual and affordable setting. Pictured are Tico by Michael Schlow at BOS; Folse Market from John Folse at MSY; Northern Soul from Justin Sutherland at MSP.

smaller footprints - and typically less expensive associated labor and buildout costs - for North American airports. Modica points out that while every concept has its benefits and challenges, fast casual and quick-service concepts tend to be more operationally simple to run. “In these more casual settings, they can be self sufficient stores. You can usually do storage and prep on-site, whereas if you want a full service restaurant, unless you have enough square footage, you’re typically going to need commissary space and prep space, which the airports are now charging for,” he says. “It just causes a whole different dynamic and there’s a different cost factor to consider.” With Puck leading the way, more and more high-profile chefs are taking similar note and introducing QSR and fast casual concepts of their own to the airport space. “Early ventures by celebrity chefs in airport QSR spaces, like Wolfgang Puck Express, proved successful, and this demonstrated the viability of the model and encouraged other chefs to join the trend,” notes Liz Grzechowiak, senior director of brands and concept development for Delaware North . “We’re seeing a really big push with the Food Network chefs of the world - especially post-pandemic, they’re increasingly interested in QSR concepts. Chefs who previously would have only wanted to be associated with best-in-class, high-end, full-service concepts are now very interested in a premium offering at the QSR level with a tightly controlled menu.”

Echoing this, Brian Lynch, senior manager of brands and concept development for Delaware North, says that the last few years have made many chefs rethink their traditional ways of doing business. “As chefs have seen others deliver culinary experiences outside of the traditional fine dining setting, it has encouraged them to come up with new and creative ways to express themselves and attract a broader or new audience.” Celebrity “It” Factor It’s no secret that airports have been putting a greater emphasis on local concepts from regional chefs in recent years, but Modica warns that with some airports this trend can go too far. “There have been local chefs that may have been the hottest thing in the market at the time that the RFP was locked in, but then by the time the concept actually

opens, which can take a year and a half or two years, that chef and brand may no longer be relevant in that market,” he explains. “And if the brand is there for a seven-year agreement, there are many cases where in the life of the agreement, the brand has even shuttered on the street. That’s very different than with a celebrity chef with international appeal.” Delaware North partners with several high-profile chefs for QSR and fast casual concepts in airports across the country, including Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (ATL), with Wolfgang Puck Fresh Express; Austin International Airport (AUS), with Salt Lick from Scott Roberts and Peached Tortilla from Eric Silverstein; Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), with Wolfgang Puck Pizza and Tico by Michael Schlow; Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), with Wolfgang Puck Pizza and Wolfgang

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AX NEWS JUNE 2024