Project Management Plan for Opening a Restaurant in NYC

Project Outline and Scope

The project discussed in this report tracks the requirements for setting up a new upscale restaurant in New York City, USA. Following the media coverage of "Fifteen" by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the U.S. television network Food Network has decided to sponsor a program operated along similar lines. This report proposes a business plan for the establishment of "Home Grown," timed for the peak holiday season of Christmas 2004.

Food Network is a commercially very successful cable television channel in the U.S. that has become increasingly popular with viewers and has been cited as a major driver of a food revolution in the country. The network is constantly seeking new and innovative programming that can reduce the mystique surrounding high-end cuisine and encourage average viewers to explore the art of fine cooking. The successful U.S. adaptation of Iron Chef — a Japanese cooking competition — in the spring of 2004 spurred executives to seek similar concepts from other countries. Chef Jamie Oliver's "Fifteen" provided the basis for setting up a comparable venture in the U.S.

Food Network executives met with Oliver and agreed to sponsor the new venture under his leadership. The location selected is New York City, and the trainee chefs will be recruited from the city as well. The new restaurant, "Home Grown," will be located in downtown Manhattan, close to Wall Street and the business district. The budget allocated for this project is $10 million, covering initial setup costs and first-year operations. Any profits from the venture will be donated to a center for disadvantaged youth for training and educational needs.

Prior to commencement, the network must ensure that all objectives underlying the complex task of opening a restaurant are adequately investigated. The project combines a television production with a real-life restaurant setup. For the purposes of this report, only the restaurant-establishment component has been investigated and analyzed. It is assumed that the network will provide necessary support without interfering with the head chef's and planners' decision-making.

The main objectives of this project are:

1. Selection of the restaurant location
2. Designing and setting up the facilities
3. Selection of 15 trainees by Mr. Oliver and his assistant chef
4. Training of the selected individuals
5. Menu creation and service execution

It is imperative that the restaurant open on Christmas Eve 2004 and within the allocated budget. The trainees are expected to both perform and learn the art of cooking and kitchen organization.

Although the network is a co-sponsor with Oliver, his New York-based assistant chef will be responsible for the day-to-day training of the interns and for overseeing the progress of the restaurant renovation and interior design. Identifying the needs for each phase of the project and developing an appropriate request for proposal is critical (Gido & Clements, 2003). There are also various challenges with respect to building codes and local area compliance that must be addressed at the outset of the project, during the location renovation and setup (Kerzner, 1979).

Every restaurant project requires people who are wholeheartedly committed to achieving a set of goals — in this case, the opening and successful operation of the restaurant. Of all the assets any employer possesses, the human element provides the greatest variability and therefore demands the most attention (Kerzner, 1982). Communication among the network's managers, the project manager, Mr. Oliver, and the assistant chef is equally vital. Every individual associated with the project, especially the project manager, must understand that the ultimate reason a project is conceived, planned, and executed is to serve the final customer (Martin, 1976; Pruitt, 1999). The ultimate goal of this restaurant is to train the interns and utilize their skills to operate a successful establishment.

Stakeholders Identified for This Project

Studies indicate that many problems experienced in projects are of a management, organizational, or behavioral nature — rarely due to inadequacies in technique or skill (Clifton & Fyffe, 1977). For this project, the major stakeholders are identified as follows.

The television network is the primary sponsor. Being a highly successful food cable network, Food Network seeks with this restaurant to make a philanthropic gesture and strengthen goodwill among its viewers. All profits will be used for training and educating teenagers interested in the culinary field who would not otherwise have access to quality training. The network will generate revenue by producing and televising fifteen episodes of the entire project with commercial sponsors, offsetting the $10 million startup investment. After the second year, the restaurant is expected to be financially self-supporting, though the network will retain involvement in major decisions.

The trainees are an important internal stakeholder group. Modern organizations recognize that employees are, in effect, the internal customers of the organization (Keller, 2002). The trainees will work in the restaurant for two years, after which they will be considered fully trained. Beginning in the second year, a new cohort of 15 trainees will be selected annually for as long as the restaurant remains in business. Mr. Oliver has signed a five-year contract with the network to mentor the trainees; the contract may be renewed, or another chef may be appointed for the subsequent five-year period.

External customers — the dining public — constitute a critical external stakeholder group. The external market is essential to any organization (Kotler, 2000), and the variables influencing external customers can be highly interlinked (Kotelnikov, 2004). The need for customer approval is paramount, and customer preferences often drive the strategic choices made by the organization.

Suppliers and distributors are also important stakeholders. Factors such as logistics, distribution, customs at source and destination locations, religious and political considerations, and food preferences are all significant variables in any successful project (Farrell, 2002). In the food industry specifically, the freshness and availability of ingredients frequently dictate both the menu and the quality of the food served.

Milestones for Home Grown

Pre-Project — Contract: The network must establish a formal contract with Mr. Oliver to initiate the restaurant and define a working partnership and team. This includes signing assistant chefs and establishing team structure. The team must maintain a high degree of interdependency and interaction (French & Bell, 1999). A temporary location is also identified at this stage for training purposes.

First Phase — Trainee and Location Selection: The program must select 15 trainees. Advertisements will be broadcast on public television and radio. The program will prioritize disadvantaged teenagers from low-income neighborhoods who have a desire to enter the culinary field but cannot afford formal training.

Location is critical for any restaurant. New York City is an ideal choice: the city has a population large enough to support the launch of an upscale restaurant, and it offers a sufficient pool of new trainees each year.

Second Phase, Part I — Renovations: After the location is selected, the next stage is restructuring the space to meet the restaurant's needs. Architectural and engineering plans must be drawn up and submitted to the network and Mr. Oliver for approval, then filed with New York City building agencies. Compliance with FDA and EPA guidelines must also be ensured during this stage. Arrangements with distributors for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, and other ingredients must be established at this point to support both the training kitchen and, later, the operational restaurant.

Second Phase, Part II — Training of the Recruits: The 15 selected trainees will be taught the fundamentals of cooking through hands-on instruction in a "real" kitchen operated by Mr. Oliver and the assistant chefs. This kitchen will be at a temporary location until the restaurant is complete. All trainees will receive a stipend during this period; once the restaurant opens, they will be offered a salary commensurate with their experience and performance.

Third Phase — Pre-Occupancy Evaluation and Trainee Relocation to Site: Renovations are completed and the restaurant must pass all required inspections for occupancy and operation. It is anticipated that trainees can relocate to the restaurant by early December, giving them the opportunity to work with the equipment and installations unique to the establishment. Menu planning will be finalized at this stage, along with the hiring of supporting staff — waiters, bus boys, cleaners, and maintenance personnel. A front-of-house manager will ensure that all supporting staff understand their responsibilities. A culture of trust and respect will help maximize the output of every team member, recognizing that team dynamics evolve as the group moves through different stages of its existence (Foster, 2003).

Fourth Phase — Marketing and Advertisement: Publicity for the new establishment is essential, as end consumers are a driving force behind any organization (Rabin, Miller, & Hildreth, 1989). The marketing campaign will begin in late September and intensify through Thanksgiving and up to Christmas.

Fifth Phase — Opening Day: Home Grown opens on Christmas Eve. Food critics and celebrities are invited to review and sample the restaurant's offerings.

Sixth Phase — Review: After the first month of operation, all operations will be reviewed for functional performance and cost-effectiveness. This review will also consider feedback from food critics and identify areas for improvement.

Seventh Phase — Close of Project: After the sixth month of operation, the running of the restaurant will be officially handed over to a dedicated business manager and will cease to be a network-managed project. Lessons learned will be documented and reviewed for future reference.