Answer

Executive summary

Upscale segment of restaurant industry makes up a sizeable of total global restaurant sales. After suffering a downturn following the recent global recess, this segment has witnessed noticeable growth in recent years. This growth is mirrored in restaurants efforts to provide a dining space for the whole experience.

Ochre Restaurant & Catering is a leading Australian restaurant in this segment as revealed through such features as menu and awards as well as achievements. This shows that this organization has learnt to deal with shifts in economical factors, client preferences, as well as strong competition, which have provided solid foundation for overall success.

Introduction

Ochre restaurant and catering is amongst the most renowned restaurants and catering firms in Cairns in Queensland, Australia. It has won numerous awards as well as achievements over the years since it opened its doors in 1994 as Red Ochre Grill (Ochre Restaurant and Catering web). The owner, C. Squire, is among the most talented as well as experienced chefs around. He spent his early years of his illustrious career travelling from Australia to London sampling some of the best cuisines. This experience is mirrored in the eclectic as well as fascinating dishes offered at the restaurant. Some of the most famous items on the menu include grilled kangaroo with Quandong chilli glaze, salt, pepper prawn and crocodile, and the unmatched wattleseed pavlova and the Australian antipasto plate, which is renowned as the ideal start for giving visitors an insight into Australian cuisine (Ochre Restaurant and Catering 2000, p 129). 

The restaurant specializes in the modern, native Australian cuisine and through Squire’s vision, it has created an irresistible menu offering dishes from across Australia and globally. The dishes are guaranteed to provide diners with a rare authentic taste of cuisine (Atkinson et al 2009, p 51). As well as running one of the best and loved restaurants in Cairns, the founder also played a key role in the establishment of Australian Tropical Foods, which is renowned for promoting the regional food industry and after a decade or so it has culminated in the creation of Taste Paradise. This is North Queensland’s own exhilarating food brand that seeks to showcase the best of the area’s abundant bounty including inspiring recipes from Squire himself. (Ochre Restaurant and Catering web) The menu at Ochre restaurant is a great read for any visitor and promises to deliver on taste as well as value for money. In sum, Ochre restaurant remains the most decorated throughout Cairns region and its menu has been described as worth moving to Cairns for.

Discussion and analysis

The type of cuisine on offer includes indigenous Australian as well as fusion. In fact, the menu boasts that the modern, indigenous Australian cuisine on offer is Squire’s invention. This signifies that visitors to the restaurant can expect to receive specially made cuisine that probably meets various tastes. Squire’s passion for indigenous ingredients implies that the cuisine on offer strives to maintain authentic Australian cuisine characteristics, but the fact that tourists are also targeted means that unauthentic taste is also on offer. Indeed, the menu lists the cuisine as modern and made of indigenous ingredients while attempting to showcase the best of tropical north Queensland. This includes macadamias grown on regional tablelands, locally raised crocodile, as well as cheese from the areas’ leading dairies (Ochre Restaurant and Catering 2000, p 129). Other ingredients making the cuisine indigenous include lemon myrtle, fresh finger limes, and lemon aspen that draw attention to the unique flavor of the cuisine.

The type of food service used involves fine dining as well as catering. In fact, one of the most recent achievements the restaurant has earned involves 2016’s Dimmi Best for fine dining (Ochrerestaurant 2016). This served as a recognition for the exceptional dining experience that the restaurant has become associated with. In fact, the fine dining experience is described similar to a virtual tour via the culinary delights that Australia has to offer and exclusive use is available to diners. This includes stock of an eclectic variety limited as well as new style wines and beer, which mean that the potential for serious dining experience is unlimited. What is more, the restaurant produces in-house produces branded Tropic Spirit and includes sauces that guarantee diners high quality food (Santich 2012, p 117). The restaurant strives to provide what can be referred to as a holistic dining experience including dishes as well as stylistic surrounding including natural timbre features and vintage walls. Catering is also offered and services from this restaurant are highly held within conference, wedding, tourism, and hospitality industry in the local Australian market.

The market targeted is wide-ranging and includes locals, children, tourists, as well as family. In fact, the menu items are rather diverse ranging from exotic foods through indigenous cuisine and wine, which indicates that the restaurant is dedicated to catering for virtually all market segments. As an example, the restaurant’s menu includes wines evidently targeted to local and tourist adult population. The list is wide-ranging and has such categories as sparkling wines, sauvignon blanc and blends, red blends and varietals and others. On the other hand, the part of the menu targeting children has such items as a bowl of home-made ice cream, fried chicken with salad and chips, as well as kangaroo with salad and chips.

Nonetheless, the menu items indicate that the market targeted is diverse and it seems that the restaurant is determined to offer variety to each of them and thus bring about satisfaction among clients. Indeed, the menu seems fully to reflect actual practice, but caution ought to be taken given that the menu heavily relies on local ingredients and some of them are seasonal. The implication is that the menu might not always reflect actual practice due to unavoidable circumstances. It must be noted that the restaurant is sustainable conscious, which implies that it is committed to engaging in green business. Altogether, this could mean the restaurant’s menu does not always reflect the actual practice.

Conclusions

It is crucial for organizations to be true to in practice to what their menu document purports. More so, menu documents serve the crucial purpose of sales and communication and it is often used by clients to make decisions regarding products as well as services on offer. Literature has speculated that the manner in which a restaurant is perceived in the market is tied to not only food available, but also its menu (Dahmer and Kahl 2008, p 33). Indeed, the menu by far and large defines the organization’s image in client’s eyes. This includes the fact that it serves to elevate or lower guests’ expectation, which shows that what is contained in the document ought to be true in practice. Seemingly, simple mistakes on the menu list including unavailable items are likely to portray the restaurant as devaluing honesty, which ultimately may make the organization to be viewed as cynical. Without a doubt, such an image has far-reaching implications on restaurant’s finances as well as its position in the market. Ozdeimer and Caliskan (2013, p 4-5) claim that menus in restaurant and hospitality environments involve consideration of external factors including clients as well as competitors that have the potential to generate uncertainty. In essence, marketing theory indentifies the significance of satisfying the needs as well as expectations of client. This includes developing as well as improving products and services to perfectly fit the needs as well as expectations. It follows that that the menu ought to be true in practice to keep client expectation intact and thus the image and business position in a market.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the restaurant update its menu to reflect that some items rely on the availability of local ingredients. Indeed, this would help the business to keep its reputation intact given that clients will visit the premise with the expectation that what they order is always available. More so, the business could do with notifying existing and potential clients that during specific time of the year some orders may not be available. Modern clients often visit business websites and use the information provided to build trust as well as perception of the organization. It becomes imperative that the business constantly update the information on its web page to avoid pitfalls that come with menu half- truths including broken trust as well as poor business image and decreased earnings. In sum, the restaurant is a premier in the local industry and its menu shows that it strives to keep its promises.