Zoap Reviewers, chosen because they are, like many readers of these pages, members of the public who are dining-out enthusiasts, are looking for all kinds of qualities and attributes when they visit a restaurant.
Report by By Le Connoisseur
At the recent Zoap Reviewer’s Briefing, there was a long discussion about the effective theming of restaurants and how much this can add to the quality of the dining experience offered, and to the overall impression given.
As regular diners-out with a critical eye for detail, the Reviewers are selected as representative of the general dining public. Zim on a Plate’s purpose is to assess restaurants through just such eyes, thereby providing both restaurants and the dining public with really useful information of benefit to both parties in the enjoyable transaction of going out for a great meal.
What they are looking for in a really great restaurant, one that will set it apart from an average or good restaurant, goes beyond excellent food and service — though these are fundamental, of course! They also scrutinise theme, décor and ambience and more, to form a detailed impression of the all-round dining experience as a package. What the reviews have indicated since the competition was launched in this format in 2006, is that there are many entrants who, with a little more imagination and not even a lot of expense, could radically improve this package, and push their rating up from two or three plates to four or five.
There is, after all, a special annual award for “Most Imaginative Dining Experience”! The Reviewers seek out “The Wow Factor” when deciding on who gets an award, and without a coherent theme, a restaurant is unlikely to achieve this “Wow”.
Restaurants entered in the Speciality category may find it easier to theme their establishments as they already have a special focus — such as food from a specific country or region (an Indian or Chinese or Greek restaurant for example) or they may be focused on healthy or vegetarian food, or be a specialist steak-house.
But if anything, the reviewers will examine the theme and décor in a Speciality entrant even more critically, and may find them lacking if they have not carried through their specific focus throughout, on the menu, in the décor, in the background music, and in the overall, “look and feel” of the place.
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But theme and décor are also important in the other entry categories. Without some theme holding everything together, regardless of entry category, Reviewers and the dining public they represent are likely to find a restaurant rather nondescript, lacking in that certain magic that turns a good meal out into an occasion to remember.
Over the years, reviewers have found many excellently coherent themes, carried through into every facet of the dining experience, in all entry categories, which have earned the restaurants concerned lots of extra marks.
As with what is offered on the menu, it all comes down to how imaginatively a restaurateur approaches the theme, then instils tangible elements of this into every aspect of the enjoyable outing and meal offered to clientèle.
From the pictures on the walls, to the possible use of murals, to the colour scheme of furniture, table cloths and other soft furnishings, to the ornaments and visual items of interest on display, all such facets of what is offered diners do count, are important and can make a huge difference to the Zoap rating — and to the likelihood that diners will have a memorable meal out, and return again and again.
Many times, reviewers point out short-comings of a restaurant in this area, but often, by the time a different set of reviewers arrives for the next season, nothing has changed.
It’s not a question of having to spend large amounts of money, it’s all about creativity and imagination. For example — there are hundreds of really good Zimbabwean artists out there who can either paint something suitable for a theme on commission, or have art ready and waiting.
They are looking for custom and are open to negotiation. Similarly, we have so many talented craftspeople, selling very lovely and cleverly contrived sculptures, carvings and so forth, that are pleasing to the eye and often a talking point, many of these utilising recycled materials — scrap metals, wire, drift wood and so on, in the most ingenious ways, to make something both beautiful and useful.
Using locally-crafted products, artefacts and artworks, is likely to endear restaurateurs to their clientèle!
It’s not about how lavish the décor is, or how much money appears to have been spent.
It’s not extravagance which impresses reviewers and judges — it’s imagination, imagination and imagination — to create a theme that is understandable, accessible, attractive, interesting, and enhances the dining experience as a whole, by adding an extra level of interest and showing an extra level of care.
This sort of attention to detail, and creative approach, is what makes a restaurant stand out, and a meal there not just good, but great!
