CALABASAS HILLS CALIF. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Cheesecake Factory officials, who recently revealed plans to launch Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen in Los Angeles later this year, offered few details. But company insiders said Rock Sugar’s menu would feature dishes from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, East India and Indonesia, though not from China or Japan. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
The name “Rock Sugar” refers to a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian cuisines, said Howard Gordon, the Calabasas Hills-based company’s senior vice president for business development and marketing. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
The new concept’s exclusion of Chinese and Japanese dishes is a deliberate move to avoid competition with the P.F. Chang’s China Bistro chain, which recently launched a new brand prototype, called Taneko Japanese Tavern. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Rock Sugar is scheduled to open in an upscale shopping mall in the Century City area of Los Angeles, not far from where the original Cheesecake Factory restaurant opened in Beverly Hills in 1978. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
The new concept will fall into the upscale-casual category, with a full bar in a space of about 7,500 square feet. Gordon said prices might be slightly higher than those of The Cheesecake Factory, whose average ticket is about $17.50 per person. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
While dishes from Southeast Asia may not be common in the mainstream casual-dining realm, Gordon said Rock Sugar “will introduce this type of cuisine in a very user-friendly way.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
For The Cheesecake Factory, the development of a new concept comes at a time when it also is ramping up growth of its secondary brand, Grand Lux Cafe, which has nine units in operation and another four scheduled to open later this year. The company also expects to add another 15 of its namesake restaurants to the current total of 124. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
One Cheesecake Factory Express operates at DisneyQuest in Orlando, Fla., and the company licenses two Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe restaurants. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Still, Gordon said, “it was time to develop a third concept to continue to grow.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Though its annual sales-per-location average of around $10 million still is regarded as the industry’s highest, The Cheesecake Factory saw its first extended downturn last year with three straight quarters of negative same-store sales. However, some analysts are predicting a turnaround in 2007. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
First-quarter results this year were modestly positive, with same-store sales flat for the core brand but up 7 percent for Grand Lux. In April, however, same-store sales were up 1.2 percent for Cheesecake Factory restaurants, despite bad weather in the Midwest and Northeast. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Analysts pointed out that the company was hampered by many of the same factors that have been suppressing sales in the casual-dining segment overall, including higher gas prices and increased costs for labor and commodities. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
While the announcement of a new concept is not expected to have any short-term impact on The Cheesecake Factory’s financial results, analysts have questioned whether management would be able to focus on development of a new concept at a time when the core brand may need the full attention of the company’s executives. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Ashley Woodruff, a senior restaurants analyst for Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. in New York, noted that Cheesecake Factory has been testing Asian-inspired dishes for some time with success. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
However, she noted that both The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Cafe brands have very broad menus. Rock Sugar, with its emphasis on the cuisine of one part of the world, albeit a broad swath of Asia, is likely to be “more narrow in its appeal.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
However, Woodruff said, the company is known for taking its time with new concepts. The first Grand Lux Cafe opened in Las Vegas in 1999, and it developed by opening only one new branch in each of the following years until 2007, when five are expected to open. Only three Cheesecake Factory units were opened in the first decade of that brand’s life. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Analyst Eric Wold of Merriman Curhan Ford has pointed out that the company still has a lot of growth planned for both The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Cafe, and that officials of the company have envisioned it growing to up to 350 units—200 Cheesecake Factory restaurants and 150 Grand Lux Cafes. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Most chains try to stick with “what they know,” he added. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, for example, is known for Chinese food. That company branched out with a fast-casual sister brand Pei Wei Asian Diner, which also had a largely Chinese menu. The new Taneko tavern, though still within the Asian category, features Japanese pub fare. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
“It’s tough to go out of your niche,” Wold said, noting the failure of Paul Lee’s Chinese Kitchen, a now-defunct concept developed by P.F. Chang’s founder Paul Fleming in partnership with Outback Steakhouse parent OSI Restaurants Inc. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Darden Restaurants Inc.’s now-defunct China Coast brand grew to about 50 units before abruptly folding in the mid-1990s, which at the time put the fear of Asian cuisine into the hearts of some other casual-dining operators. Still, there is evidence of change. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Companies like Miami-based Benihana Inc. have grown secondary concepts, such as the seven-unit Haru and 13-unit RA Sushi restaurants. But both offer a relatively familiar, sushi-oriented menu that is not much of a stretch from the company’s flagship teppanyaki concept. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, parent company to T.G.I. Friday’s, has done well by augmenting its core brand with the now 125-unit fast-casual Pick Up Stix. However, Pick Up Stix features a more conventional and familiar mainstream Chinese menu. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Harry Balzer, vice president of consumer market research company The NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., said American diners want more in the way of Asian dishes, but they still want what’s familiar. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
“For some time now, there has been great interest in Asian cuisine,” he said. “But people are looking for the familiar. The driving force in our food lives is to try something that is familiar to us in a new way.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Consultant Randall Hiatt, president of Fessel International based in Costa Mesa, Calif., said: “The No. 1 Asian cuisine is Chinese. Missing out on Chinese is a big area of opportunity [The Cheesecake Factory] may be giving up.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
Diners looking for lesser-known cuisines tend to go to ethnic restaurants that specialize in Thai or Korean food, for example, Hiatt noted. —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.
“For Cheesecake Factory to try to do cross cuisines will make it tougher to get credibility,” he said. “However, Cheesecake has been one of the best in the industry in terms of carrying off a broad variety on their core menu.” —Asian food may be a hot category in casual dining, but industry observers wonder if the nation is ready for a new concept by The Cheesecake Factory Inc. that will focus on the lesser-known cuisines of Southeast Asia.