Taking a high-flying approach to find dinning: Restaurateurs book passage for upscale operations at airports in New York, San Francisco

Nation's Restaurant News, June 19, 2000 by Paul King

Restaurateurs in New York and San Francisco are attempting something simultaneously that few of their peers have tried in more than 30 years -- to bring fine dining back to airport terminals.

At LaGuardia Airport celebrated Boston-based chef-owner Todd English will open a Figs restaurant in the Central Terminal Building's atrium. He also will open a Figs Caf[acute{e}] on Concourse D of the terminal.

At San Francisco International Airport, restaurateur George Chen plans to open a concept called Water Bar and Restaurant Qi in a new international terminal. His development is one of 16 eateries planned for the $2.4 billion terminal, which is set to open in September.

Chen has several Asian restaurants in the Bay Area, including Betelnut, Shanghai 1930 and Dragonfly.

English and Chen are taking slightly different approaches to their restaurants, but both believe that what they are doing is unique in the industry.

"I go through a lot of airports, and there is nothing like what we're trying to do," English says. "We're doing just a little bit more upscale approach to healthy dining. Most of the time in airports you tend to eat of lot of junk, stuff you wouldn't eat on a normal basis. We want to offer passengers more healthful alternatives."

English says his menu also has been designed with time-crunched passengers in mind.

"We will feature a lot of items that can be prepared quickly, such as soups, sandwiches, salads, pizzas," he explains. "We will offer people things you can take on the plane, like premade panini sandwiches that we can just heat on the grill and serve."

Aimed at custom[acute{e}]rs who have enough time to relax before their flight, Figs will offer "a pretty hip look, as if the restaurant were in Manhattan. It will be warm and inviting, more like a lounge, with a bar," English says.

By contrast, Water Bar and Restaurant Qi specifically is targeting passengers who have the tune to enjoy a fine dining experience, according to restaurant designer Eric Engstrom.

"We really wanted to offer passengers a place where they could relax and not feel like they were in an airport, a quiet oasis from the airport hurly-burly," Engstrom says. "The design's color scheme is in warm beiges, soft greens and blues, and terra cotta."

The menu will be Asian with French influences, he adds.

"George Chen wants the restaurant to be a gateway to Asia rather than an Asian statement," Engstrom explains. "He wants to blend the simplicity of Asian food with elegant dining in the European tradition."

In another nod to customer service, Restaurant Qi will have a concierge who will keep passengers updated on the status of their flights.

The openings of Figs and Restaurant Qi may appear to signal a return to the 1950s and 1960s, when several airports across the country featured "destination" restaurants, places where people would come to dine just for the experience. However, that is really not the goal of either the airport authorities or the concessionaires that manage or lease restaurant space to operators.

"Back a few years ago, when people were excited about air travel, coming to the airport was quite an experience," says Stan Novak, vice president of development for airports at HMSHost Corp., Bethesda, Md. "However, flying is not as glamorous as it once was, and over time airport operators have tended to get away from this type of restaurant."

Charles Moran, president of CA One Services Inc., agrees.

"Destination restaurants are not viewed as a big growth area. For one thing, going to the airport is now viewed as a tense experience. Security issues are one drawback. Another is that it's just not easy to get to the airport anymore. Parking is a problem."

Nonetheless, Moran's company, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based subsidiary of Delaware North Cos., manages a very successful destination restaurant, Encounter, at Los Angeles International Airport. However, the circular, glass walled Encounter, in the airport's cross-arched Theme Building landmark structure, is an anomaly, he admits.

"Clearly, Encounter is unique. Seventy percent of our business there is local traffic," Moran explains. "But there are reasons for that. Even though the restaurant is in an airport, it's not in a secure area. We valet-park your car, so parking is not a problem."

However, that doesn't mean that restaurants in general, whether they are fine-dining or casual, have no significant place in airports. Quite the contrary, they are there because passengers clearly want them, Novak says.

"What we are seeing is a change in the behavior of the people who are traveling," he explains. "Because of issues such as parking and security, people are traveling to the airport earlier than they used to. What they are finding is that there are many more choices besides fast food at the terminal, and they are more likely to take the time to eat before their flights."

HMSHost does not offer much in the way of fine dining at its airport units, but it does feature several casual-theme restaurants.

"We have 14 Chili's restaurants in airports right now, and they are some of the highest-grossing units in the chain," Novak says. "We also have T.G.I. Friday's, Max & Erma's and Dick Clark's American Bandstand, to name a few."