Al Hinman was officially installed as the President of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association at the organization's Inaugural Ball on Saturday night.
Hinman moved back to Kansas City from Morristown, New Jersey, in 1998, with his wife Tracy. Nine years later, the pair purchased two Le Peep restaurants -- one in Overland Park and other in Lenexa.
He has been on the Board of Directors at the GKCRA since 1999 -- active at both the state and local level.
Fat City caught up with Hinman at his Overland Park restaurant to find out what's next for him and the restaurant association.
It's Restaurant Week, what's been the response so far?
I'm excited by how many restaurants are participating. Jason [Past President Jason Pryor] has a done a great job getting the word out and we're hopeful this will bring people out in the cold. It's also an opportunity to give back through Harvester's and that's just as important.
It would seem like now is a difficult time to be in the restaurant industry -- how has the current economy impacted your membership?
I think Kansas City has felt what most other cities are experiencing -- hotels and specialty restaurants have been especially feeling it, because the number of business travelers is down. I think more restaurants are working on reserves and ultimately the stronger will prevail and the weaker will fail. The more we reinvent ourselves, the better off we'll be.
How can restaurants adapt to bring in more customers?
People have less disposable income, so that means restaurants need to be more creative. I see Celina Tio on her phone Twittering and Hereford House putting together a dinner-for-two combo. We have to bring value to the menu, whether that is in shrinking portions or making the menu more affordable. At Le Peep, we're trying to find items that are $6.99 or $5.99, but still have quality ingredients, even as my expenses increase.
What do you think customers are looking for when they go out to eat?
Customers are shopping for value. We are seeing coupons like crazy. There's been a huge spike in redemption rates, so I think that's a clear trend.
Outside of the economy, what are some of the other issues you're looking to address?
The mission of our association is to educate and promote the restaurant
industry and for some of us that means going out and representing
politically. I was just in Topeka to talk to legislators about sweet
beverage taxes and how raising taxes on soft drinks could hurt
restaurants on the border area.
We also talked about menu
labeling. I don't get a lot of communication that people want it and
since most individual operators don't have dieticians on staff, that
could represent a big expense and difficulty in figuring out the exact
calories of every menu item.
Image courtesy of Matt Kocourek
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