Scandinavian model
The sheer size of Storyteller in Stavanger, Norway, immediately shows the difference between this original and its UK offspring. Here the focus is on volume, volume and volume. The 237-seat restaurant breaks down into waiting stations of 42, 67, 48 and 44 seats. A walk-in party of 20 can easily be accommodated and company parties of 200 people are frequently catered for. The Party Room has 36 seats and there is a special party menu for efficient ordering and speedy service.
A Sulcus Squirrel point of sales system sends orders to the appropriate areas of the restaurant - bar for drinks, kitchen for starters and mains, and the dessert section for afters.
Efficiency is at the heart of this operation. But this does not equal huge profits. Here is where the crucial difference between Norway and the UK becomes apparent. It is, in fact, at the heart of why Mette Larsen and her partner Paul Lavelle left Norway for pastures new.
At Stavanger the restaurant will see 30-40% of turnover disappear in labour costs, 30% in food costs and about 30% in overheads. By any calculation this leaves a slim margin for profit. Larsen estimates that with hard work at keeping all these costs down, the restaurant will have an operating profit of no more than 5%. With a large turnover this 5% is still significant, but it is a constant battle against costs. As Larsen says: "If we had the Norwegian operation in the UK, we'd be rich by now."
In Cheltenham, with the addition of the conservatory, the restaurant will be able to seat 90 and Larsen estimates the restaurant's operating profit will be about 20% of turnover.
Employment costs
Norwegian labour costs are high partly because of a minimum wage of NKr90 (£7) per hour. A waiter with experience might get NKr100 (£7.70), on which the employer must pay a 14.3% national insurance tax (in the UK this is banded from 0-10%) and by law must pay 10.2% holiday money into a fund. For his or her part, the employee will pay an average of 32% in tax.
Food costs are difficult to cut - all wine and spirits must be purchased through the state monopoly at full retail price, and other supplies, such as meat, are regulated by the state. As Storyteller's menu includes many US ingredients, these must be imported, which can also be expensive. VAT in Norway is 23%.
With costs high, volume is important, and so is keeping staff to a minimum. One waiter is assigned to each station with helpers to deliver food and clear tables. Executive manager Rune Salomonsen floats, keeping an eye on an operation that, in his words, is "a factory". Mette Larsen agrees: "In Stavanger we want the machine to run smoothly, here [Cheltenham] we care very much for each individual because they are important."
It is also a reflection of the Norwegian market, the customers do not want a waiter hovering, asking if everything is all right, according to Salomonsen. But the Norwegians do spend time over their food, lingering for two to two-and-a-half hours over a meal. Salomonsen expects the restaurant to turn around three times during a busy Saturday, perhaps not as quickly as a UK volume operation.
Like in the UK, one of Salomonsen's largest problems is obtaining staff. But here it is due to a 2.2% unemployment rate. "Those who aren't working don't want to work," says Salomonsen.
The restaurant opens from 11:30am to 10pm Monday to Wednesday and 11pm Thursday to Saturday. On Sunday it opens at 1pm and closes at 8pm.
Three courses plus a bottle of wine will be about NKr550 (£42.31) per person, says Salomonsen. Average spend is less than this, however. At lunch it is about NKr115 (£8.85) and at dinner it is about NKr325 (£25).
Advance bookings
More than 50% of the customers book in advance, a testament to Storyteller's reputation. On the weekends the first section of the restaurant, which is curtained off, has a pianist and the tables are set for intimate twosomes.
During the weekdays the restaurant clientele is mostly business, with families on the weekends. "It is the same people, different clothes," laughs Salomonsen. Sundays are family days and children are well catered for. In addition to their own menu, children get crayons to colour with and have their own area where they can sit and watch television or videos when adult conversation becomes too boring.
Every year Stavanger has two dips in its otherwise consistent trade: February and September. At these times turnover falls to about NKr900,000 (£69,230) a month, almost half the NKr1.5m (£115,384) turnover of the good months of May and June.
Hot property
School starts at the end of August and, with holidays over, no one has money to spend, says Larsen. In the summer months rain is good news for Storyteller. A south-facing glass front and no air conditioning means the temperature can soar to 35ºC when it is sunny and 30ºC outside. This means the kitchen can be particularly toasty, as sous chef Mexican-born Victor Hugo Marteo attests. "It was 54 degrees in there on the hottest day last year," he says, smiling. Marteo has been at Storyteller for three years, and on a busy Saturday he and the other four chefs there can prepare 1,200 plates of food and an average of 1,750 covers a week. Unlike executive chef David Spencer's cramped quarters in the UK, Marteo and the brigade have an efficient kitchen, well laid out with plenty of prep space.
Marteo has just returned from the UK where he has seen Spencer and the operation in Cheltenham. He enjoys working with Spencer. "It is always interesting to get new ideas. The ideas go back and forth between us and we decide whether they are good, whether they'll work," he says.
Supplies are not difficult to obtain, although the Norwegians are only slowly waking up to the Mexican/Texan style of food. Marteo says tortillas and salsa have begun to appear in supermarkets now, so gradually an awareness is growing about this style of cuisine.
