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October/November 202 2 VII MAGAZINE Even American restaurant chains, who know a thing or two about marketing and neuromarketing, have jumped on the odoriferous bandwagon: Scott Popovic of Angus Beef burned bay leaves with relaxing properties, Vita Urbana offered bowls of coriander over which diners had to pour boiling water to release the aroma. Subway or Cinnabon more simply directed ovens towards customers to entice them to eat bread and pastries. The smell of the restaurant, in short, becomes an ingredient in itself that contributes to the experience. Willingly, as in the case of Achaz, or unintentionally, if not managed. And that can be painful. ________________________________ BOX The benefits of odour management Source: madmobile.com - Average receipt increases - Loyalise, inspire to return - Attracts customers from outside - Cancels unpleasant odours - Invites you to stay longer (and consume more) - Stimulates positive emotions (and memories) __________________________________ BOX Scent of a restaurant In a multi-starred Italian restaurant, says Giovanni Ballarini in georgofili.it, the success of a game dish is also due to the fact that the game bones are processed in a low-temperature extractor to obtain an aroma that the waiter sprays on the back of his hands when serving the dish, and the aroma is diffused throughout the room when the game arrives on the customers’ table. We can imagine why the palatial restaurateur wanted to remain anonymous. Objectively, it reeks of misleading the customer. More overtly, it has become a widespread technique to sprinkle a particular flavouring at the last moment on a dish or a cocktail, to give the idea of an ingredient that is not there, or perhaps it is because there is an aroma that does the same for our receptors. __________________________________ Lo chef Grant Achatz del ristorante Alinea di Chicago