It's All About Fine Dining Concept

Fine dining restaurants are full service restaurants with specific dedicated meal courses. Décor of such restaurants feature higher quality materials with an eye towards the "atmosphere" desired by the restaurateur. The wait staff is usually highly trained and often wears more formal attire. Fine-dining restaurants are almost always small businesses and are generally either single-location operations or have just a few locations. Food portions are smaller but more visually appealing. Fine dining restaurants have certain rules of dining which must be followed by visitors.

There are three main areas of focus with a fine dining restaurant: the menu, service and atmosphere.
1. Fine Dining Menu
Many people choose fine dining restaurants for a special occasion, so the food must not disappoint- in either selection or quality. You don’t need to feature a huge menu, but it should be interesting, offering unique items that patrons wouldn’t find at any other restaurant. Many fine dining restaurants offer prix fixe menus or limited menus that change on a daily or weekly basis. A great benefit of a smaller, rotating menu allows you to buy seasonal items when they are at their peak of freshness. Your chef can also exercise his or her creativity when designing dishes.
Fine dining wine and liquor selections should be on the high end. No Allen’s Coffee Brandy or Bud Light needed. Instead, you should carry top shelf liquors and a wide selection of cognacs, brandies and other after-dinner drinks. Your wine list should compliment your menu. Each wine should be paired with individual dishes.
2. Fine Dining Customer Service
Customer service in a fine dining restaurant is much more attentative than in casual dining establishments. Fine dining service goes far beyond taking an order and delivering food. Many fine dining services include:

• Escorting patrons to the table, holding the chair for women 

• Escorting patrons to the restrooms

• Crumbing the table in between courses

• Replacing linen napkins if a patron leaves the table 

• Explaining menu items without notes 

• Serving food directly on the plate at the table

All of the details that are expected of a fine dining server require that your staff be rigorously trained. They should be able to answer any and all questions customers may have about a menu or item or wine. They should also be ready to make menu recommendations, if asked. No detail is ever too small to pay attention to in fine dining.
3. Fine Dining Atmosphere Fine dining used to be synonymous with snooty French waiters and restaurants with names like “Le Fancy-Smancy” (or something of that ilk). Today fine dining can be in any type of setting and feature a wide variety of cuisine, from ethnic to organic, local fare. Standards you should always include in fine dining are fine china, glassware and flatware (absolutely no paper, plastic, or Styrofoam). While tablecloth are hard to escape in fine dining, the rest of the atmosphere is up to you. You can take the traditional route, with silver candelabras and rose centerpieces, or go for hip and trendy with a bold color scheme and modern furnishings. Music playing subtly in the background should reflect your theme, such as classical for a traditional fine dining restaurant or jazz tunes for something modern. Lighting should also be subtle, leaning toward dim (romantic).
Fine dining requires a lot of attention to detail, but it can pay off in the end when you have reservations months in advance, waiting to eat at your restaurant.