Jungle fever
Lush green foliage, jungle animals and cascading waterfalls are what you would expect to find in the tropics, but the Rainforest Café brings it all right into the heart of London.
Glendola Leisure, part of the Foundation Group, has teamed up with Rainforest Café, which has six outlets in the USA, to develop five cafés in the UK and Ireland over the next 10 years.
"We may accelerate this, depending on how it goes," says Peter Salussolia, chairman and managing director of the Foundation Group.
The joint venture is an 80:20 financial split, whereby Glendola pays the lion's share of the capital cost, plus a royalty fee, to Rainforest, but also draws a management fee.
The first British Rainforest Café has cost a substantial £5.5m to develop, but that's reflected in the attention to detail in the project. Although customers at the café will see green foliage, banyan trees and animated creatures, they will have no concept of the work that has gone into creating the effect.
For example, there is not just one layer of greenery, but several carefully-woven layers that have been intertwined with brightly-coloured tropical flowers.
Five different sound systems operate independently to ensure the animals howl and roar, thunderstorms rage and music plays in the background.
Since January, throughout its six-month development, ties between the US group and the Foundation Group have been close. Rainforest's senior vice-president for marketing and development, Steven Schussler, has visited the site at least three times and has been in the country to oversee preparations for opening.
In addition, 24 trainers from the USA have been here for the past fortnight to spread the jungle fever to UK staff.
Executive chef Michael Hicks spent seven weeks in Florida, working on the menu with Rainforest Café's executive chef in America, so that dishes would look and taste the same. The only difference is that portions are smaller for the British market.
Starters on the menu include Mojo Bones - roasted ribs with barbecue sauce, served over crispy onions, priced £4.75 - or, for two or more, Rainforest Pitta Quesadillas - sautéd peppers, caramelised onions, grilled chicken and melted cheese on grilled pitta, served with salsa, sour cream and guacamole, priced £6.45.
There are about 14 main courses on the menu, not including salads, sandwiches, pasta and burgers. Main course prices range from £7.55 for vegetable lasagne to £13.25 for the Treetop Tenderloin. Schussler's personal favourite is Rasta Pasta, with grilled chicken, walnut pesto, broccoli, red peppers, spinach and herbs tossed in a garlic cream sauce, priced £7.45.
The Rainforest concept was born in Schussler's Minneapolis home 17 years ago, when he converted it into a tropical rainforest to attract investors to the idea. It has taken since then, not to mention £500,000 of personal funds, to get anyone to take an interest.
He now feels the concept will last for 100 years, entertaining and educating several generations. Entertainment and education are two elements of the company's "five E" philosophy, which also includes employees, environment and earning a return on investment.
Customers enter the restaurant through the Rainforest shop. There, they are greeted by curator Cathy Sustak accompanied by several live parrots. Sustak looks after the parrots and salt-water fish and gives information on parrots, their environment and the conservation of endangered species. She will also be giving talks at schools as part of Rainforest Café's outreach education programme.
A further source of information is Tracy, the Talking Tree, which delivers lessons on the environment.
But, as well as the parrots and the talking tree, the shop is also home to about 3,000 products to tempt customers before they venture downstairs to the 340-seat restaurant.
In the USA each retail area contributes about 50% of the entire outlet's revenue, but the London site's shop is expected to add between 27% and 30% to turnover.
Once customers have taken in the Rainforest shop, they are equipped with a passport for the adventure ahead and are given a time to return for their meal, because the café doesn't take bookings. While they wait, they can have a drink at the bar, look around or leave and come back later.
At the appointed time, customers are taken to sit among dense foliage, animated wild animals, the odd tropical rainstorm and even shooting stars - after all, the café is designed to appeal to all senses.
It is expected that, to start with, 80% of the café's customers will be visitors to the capital, including British people, and 20% will be local trade. "We're trying to work hard on the local market," says Michael Cockman, group marketing director at the Foundation Group. "We need to do more to attract them because it's a relatively new concept."
To this end, Glendola is carrying out a week-long advertising campaign on London's Capital Radio and has established 900 brochure sites all over the capital.
With the London café open, the Foundation Group is already negotiating a second site outside the capital. It is looking for sites of about 15,000sq ft in large cities, such as Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester, as well as in new and existing shopping centres.
Whichever city they choose and whatever the weather outside, the Rainforest Café offers environmental escapism. Schussler should know all about that - after all, he started the concept in Minneapolis, where temperatures can drop to -30¼C.
