In a booming economy, an operator might say the location of his restaurant was the reason for the business’s success. But nowadays, when times are tough, most agree it’s more about making the concept flexible enough to change with the times and consumers’ smaller-sized pocketbooks.
Such is the case at Tutto Italia Ristorante, the fine-dining Italian restaurant run by Nick Valenti and Joachim Splichal’s Patina Restaurant Group at Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla.
Specifically commissioned in 2007 by Disney and created by Valenti and his corporate chef, Victor Broceaux, as Epcot’s answer to authentic Italian cuisine, Tutto Italia has captured the public’s attention by virtue of its willingness to offer a variety of price points for all of its guests to enjoy. When dining at the 100-seat restaurant, guests can order anything from a sandwich to a salad to a multicourse meal with wine.
And that’s the one thing Valenti says he insisted on when initially planning the restaurant. He was determined to reinvent the menu to feature lighter, more contemporary fare at various price points. One could order items from the mozzarella bar for $7 each, or tuck into fish or chicken dishes, salads, and a variety of pastas. Entrées are priced between $15 and $30 at lunch and between $21 and $36 at dinner.
“I would call it fine dining—it is white tablecloth—but moderately priced,” Valenti says. “However, we’ve given our customers a lot of flexibility in what they’d like to choose. They can come in and have a dish of pasta and a glass of wine or a three-course meal.”
Even though people reportedly are traveling less, and Disney has admitted it is feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, Valenti says Tutto Italia’s “volumes have been good” and that the variety of its price points is a big reason for the restaurant’s success.
“It’s an issue for all of us, what’s going on in this economic environment,” he says. “There’s no question people are being more thoughtful when making arrangements to dine out, and when they do dine we’ve noticed they spend a little less. So we make sure they have options to do that and still have a great experience.”
Valenti maintains that traffic at Epcot is still doing well despite the downturn, which is good news for Tutto Italia.
“Orlando is a market unto itself,” he says. “Generally speaking, business has been soft around the country, and the restaurant industry has been affected by the downturn. But business at Epcot has been good.”
BONUS POINT “Restaurants that try to capture attention by offering choice is never a bad thing. The customer will always reward them if they enjoy the experience. It is very wise to look at the offering selection and try to mitigate cost because, again, you are giving the customer choice.”—Dale Haynes on-site service consultant Denver
Joe Polidora, senior vice president of operations for Patina Group, says Tutto Italia’s location inside Epcot’s Italy Pavilion has been another driving force in the concept’s success.
“Where we are, in Epcot, there are many different countries [represented] and some have attractions and some don’t,” he says. “In the Italy Pavilion, the food is the attraction; you go there for the food.”— [email protected]
