CHENNAI Soon restaurants belonging to the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) are all set to be branded commonly.
“They don’t have a name now. As part of our efforts to revamp the food and beverages business, we are looking for a name for our restaurants,” M. Mathiventhan, Minister for Tourism, told The Hindu.The restaurants are being renovated with new furniture and better lighting to improve the ambience. “We are looking at our menus too. Some items that are popular among customers are being included and some old ones being dropped,” he said.Mr. Mathiventhan said a specialist manager in food and beverages had been appointed to train staff, including the chefs.TTDC Managing Director Sandeep Nanduri said the organisation, which was in its 51st year, was taking a re-look at it’s food and beverages business. “One of the main things is to train the manpower and bring our people up to industry standards. The F and B manager will provide them continuous training,” he said. The Corporation has tied up with online food aggregators and has conducted a trial run for supply of food through online mode. “We did this at the drive-in restaurant. We now plan to start this service from outlets in places Madurai and Coimbatore too,” he said.R. Rangachari, a long-time industry insider, said that the F and B business was the backbone of all hotels. “Stays will be only for a few days. But people like to eat out more than they stay. It brings in steady income,” he said.An industry watcher said that change of attitude of TTDC staff was the first step. “They should always understand that guests and the organisation too should benefit from their service, not just themselves. Most of TTDC properties are situated in beautiful locations, unless the staff too buck up, it won’t benefit the organisation. Restaurants and hotels run by governments of Goa, Kerala and Odisha are good. If we try, we too can make it work,” she said.