Sit Back and Unwind This Summer at Maison Flo

原创 Joey Knotts theBeijinger

advertisement

Stepping into Maison Flo, Beijing's 20-year-strong French fine-dining restaurant, you'd be forgiven for believing you've been whisked away to Paris thanks to its opulent chandeliers, plush leather seating, and crisp white tableclothes. However, the lavish setting doesn't stop there, especially in summer, when couples flock to the space to say "I do" on Flo's spacious courtyard terrace.

A lovely spot for dining outdoors, day or night

Unfortunately, while Maison Flo has managed to stay open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, practically all weddings planned over summer have been canceled or postponed. That has meant the need for the team to find an alternative way to take advantage of the terrace space.

Barbecue and Champagne: that's the life

One solution has been their Friday Jazz and Oyster nights, with buy-one-get-one deals on Fine de Claire French oysters (RMB 52) and Aperol spritzes, mojitos, margaritas, and cosmopolitans (RMB 55-58). Alternatively, there's an exclusive Friday-night terrace menu of beef and foie gras skewers (RMB 72) and grilled beef short ribs with honey sauce (RMB 169) straight off the grill, made more savory thanks to the soundtrack of sultry jazz duo Susan Wong and Pierre Pradat live on stage.

The weekly live performance by Wong and Pradat completes the terrace ambiance

But deals like that were just part of the equation. According to brand and project manager Marine Anglesio, COVID-19 presented many struggles, but it also provided an opportunity for Maison Flo's parent company Groupe Flo, which encompasses six Beijing venues in all, to finally focus on improvements that had long been in the works. In part, this was streamlined by Flo's strategy to train all of their managers in the ways of each brand, meaning that each manager can contribute to the brainstorming process.

advertisement

"We knew we had to figure something out to stay competitive," says Anglesio. "And we were finally able to go back and revisit ideas that we didn’t have time to fully flesh out before – in fact, we had to."

Pâté en croûte (RMB 98) with foie gras, chorizo, and three types of ham

Maison Flo also jumped on the chance to reinvigorate their menu, and the slowdown of business gave them the time to get the job done. Not only was the team able to update half of the menu, but they also resolved going forward to do so four times annually rather than the biannual update to which they had become accustomed. This will allow improved use of seasonal ingredients and will hopefully entice customers to keep coming back.

Delivery was another necessity to work out. For mall-based Flo venues like Asian medley house Miam Miam and rustic French eatery Cocottine, the task was simple enough, but Groupe Flo went one step further, creating an entire range of self-prep meal kits under their Spoon brand. While the recipes and high-quality ingredients drew directly from the Maison Flo menu, the delivery aspect required each dish to be packaged in a way that made them easy to serve without sacrificing freshness. For example, their oysters are delivered in well-packed ice, and come with instructions for storage should the customer not want to eat them right away.

Flo's Spoon self-prep kits allow diners to whip up their dishes at home

The preparation put into these new ranges will hopefully keep the team in good stead no matter what happens. “Now, if we find ourselves in a similar situation again, we will be ready,” Anglesio says.

But that's not to say that Groupe Flo is done there. Now that the foundation for delivery is in place, Anglesio hints that the next steps will be to develop their platforms outside of the capital as well as across venues. Soon it may be that diners will be able to enjoy Spoon meal kits across China as well as order dishes from multiple Groupe Flo venues simultaneously.