Speaker Simon Dunn - Catering

Simon said that his story was in hospitality where he spent 20 years in hotels and then 20 years as consultant. His first job was at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate as a waiter. This was in the mid to late 1970’s where a lot of service was done at the table such as doing flambé chateaubriand beef which was good customer experience. Serving at table was easier then as you only had vegetarian as a separate offering whereas now you have to be watching out for up to 14 allergies. It has got so bad now that In France they make you sign a disclaimer before serving you food.

In the 1980’s he went to work in Dubai on a student visa at the Hyatt Regency. Here room service was men only. Dubai then was not like it is now as it has expanded into a serious tourist destination.

Following this he went to Subang Jaya in Malayasia which is near Kuala Lumpur. Here he was cooking in an open-air kitchen. The meal that the local Chinese population liked was high tea which was always very busy. The restaurant was situated near a lagoon and had doors that opened automatically. One day rats got in through these doors and Simon’s memory is of the chef chasing them around the dining area with a meat clever.

Following his stint in Malaysia he returned to the UK to take on the role of general manager at the Gomersal Park Hotel. Following this he moved to the Norfolk Gardens in Bradford.

One tip that Simon gave was that any good hotelier will give you a free upgrade if the hotel is not full – just ask they can only say no. Today most hotels are booked online where the hotel has to pay a fee of 15% to 18% to the booking site. So, it’s worthwhile calling the hotel after getting best rate online and ask them to beat the rate.

He said that he first met Aslam at a conference and he wanted advice on how to grow the Aagrah, so Simon left the Norfolk Gardens and set up a business as a consultant. Besides the Aagrah where he initially spent two days a week he worked for the Wetherby Whaler and Maxis Chinese restaurants. He also wrote articles for magazines and did cooking demonstrations. He was also involved in designing Bradford food market in 2000/2001.

In 1997 he bought 2 buildings in Little Germany in Bradford where in 2002 he opened Yo Yo Cafe Bar. In 2006 he wanted something bigger so opened a 130-seater restaurant in Shipley also called Yo Yo's. In order to do this he had to mortgage everything but thankfully at the start it was successful. However, it tailed off and in 2018 he exercised a break clause in the lease to shut the restaurant down. The pandemic in 2020 led to shutting the café in Little Germany as this serviced the offices in that area and with everyone working from home there were no customers.

One reminiscence that he had was having dinner with Aslam at the Lansbury Hotel in London which was a 7-course meal of nouvelle cuisine. Aslam had to stop on way home because he was hungry.

Another tip he gave was that companies such as Just Eat and Deliveroo charge restaurants 15 to 30% so it’s best to drive to the restaurant and get the meal yourself even if you are taking it home.

These days the increased cost of food, drink and staff costs mean higher menu costs leading to lower footfall, which means restaurants are struggling to make money. Buffets will do better in future, but fine dining is withering away. Take-away food will be even bigger business because both partners tend to be working leaving them time poor for cooking.