実践ビジネス英語 ディクテーション (5/31, 6/1)

NHKラジオ「実践ビジネス英語」”Talk the Talk”のディクテーションです。

Lesson 4のテーマは、‘Helping Start a New Restaurant’（レストランを開店する）でした。Vignetteでは、アメリカで外食による支出が相対的に増えている一方、客足の減少傾向が続いていること、新規開店が多いために供給過剰状態であることなど、業界の厳しい現状が紹介され、新しいトレンドや採算が見込める業態についても話題になりました。

“Talk the Talk”では、レストランの経営者が利益を最大化する方法についても話されています。

★英文の終わりに語注をつけました。要らないかも・・・。

Helping Start a New Restaurant

（S: 杉田敏先生　H: Heather Howardさん）

S: In our current vignette, Nancy Alvarez talks about helping some friends open a buffet restaurant featuring Mexican-Latin home cooking.

It sounds like she’s helping them do elaborate planning in the very competitive sector.

Many restaurants fail during their first year.

H: That’s got to be one of the riskiest businesses in the world.

My only experience working in the retail food business was all the way back in high school when I worked at that ice cream/hot dog parlor.

There were so many different elements you had to be on top of just as an employee, let alone a manager.

Following all the regulations, I had to study for a food handler’s license; I remember taking a qualification test.

Making sure that the store was clean and the food was presented in a sanitary and visually appealing way.

Dealing with crazy customers and lazy staff.

It felt like there was never a dull moment.

I like the sound of the restaurant Alvarez is working on now.

I love Mexican food and I live buffets.

S: I was intrigued by the concept of all-you-can-eat restaurants, which are popular in the States.

There’s plenty of food available at one fixed price.

I wondered how these restaurants can make money, even with high agricultural productivity.

In doing research for the vignette, I came across some hints.

In buffet restaurants, you can vastly reduce your waitstaff and cut down on overhead because customers serve themselves.

Many buffets also prepare their food in bulk, so they can operate with a smaller back-of-house team.

H: Ah, that makes sense.

Are there any other ways they maximize profits?

S: Yes, restaurants are encouraged to use larger serving spoons for cost-efficient and filling dishes like rice and vegetables.

And they use smaller pans in the steam table.

That way, they’re putting less food out at one time and they can also minimize waste, which helps reduce food costs.

Plus, customers are provided with relatively smaller plates, bowls and silverware.

Smaller dinnerware means they’ll eat more slowly, so they’ll get full faster.

Oh, and if you ever wondered why there’s a carving station and a chef for roast beef, ham or turkey, that way restaurant operators can control the portions and ensure that customers don’t take too much of the more expensive items.

Very clever!

H: Indeed, very crafty.

They’re limiting how much people eat of those foods, but not making them feel deprived.

Quite the opposite, in fact―I’d say having the chef there makes the customers feel like they’re being pampered.

Which always goes over well, in any kind of business.

S: The vignette says more money is being spent at restaurants and bars lately.

Do you eat out much these days, Heather?

H: For dinner, much more than I did just a few years ago.

It was a happy, happy day when my daughter finally became able to eat at a few restaurants.

Although, the number and variety is still highly limited; she’s pretty picky in what she’ll eat.

So we tend to rotate with her among three main restaurants.

Fancy restaurants are still our rare treat and we never take her there.

If I go to one of those, it’s because I’m dining out with friends or work associates and my husband’s home with our daughter, or I’m home with her and he’ out.

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Words and Expressions

Elaborate: 入念に、綿密に

in bulk: 大量に

back-of-house team: 厨房のスタッフ

crafty: 巧妙な

feel deprived: 物足りなく感じる

be pampered: ちやほやされる、十分に満足させられる

お疲れさまでした。お読みくださり、ありがとうございます♪