CONTENTS
1. The concept: 2
2. Restaurant Layout, decorations, seating plan: 2
3. The Menu: 3
4. Staffing Structure: 3
5. Staff Training and Standard of Service Agreement: 3
6. Staff Dress Code: 4
7. Standard Operating Procedures: 4
8. Standard Recipes: 4
9. Food Costing and Purchasing: 4
10. Food Wastage Guidelines: 4
11. Kitchen Requirements and Work Flow: 4
12. Food Safety Codes of Practice/ HACCP: 4
13. Appendix: 8
14. List of References: 18

1. The concept:
According to Kyriakidis (2010), the way to think forward and guarantee success of any offer is to distinguish from others and base these offer on what customers want and need.
Mintel (2012a) suggest s that the Pizza/Pasta restaurant market has been growing and continues to grow to reach £1,650 Million in 2013 (see Appendix 1). It confirms that four in five customers prefer to visit a restaurant to consume their Italian meal rather than ordering it to eat at home (see Appendix 1), consume it as a treat for their other halves or families and expect a high quality meal experience mainly from the service and the food. Another report (Mintel 2007) also agrees on all the above factors with emphasis on the fact that consumers demand premium products when it comes to Italian Food. The report also affirms that Pizza takes the lead in the Italian Food market with 33% consumption followed by Pasta at 13% (see Appendix 2).
Given the above, it was accomplished that Italian Food is a leading sector within the UK food market. Taking the fact that people who visit Italian restaurants are there to treat someone special and comparing it with concept date (Valentine’s Day), an Italian restaurant that caters for couples was the concept. The idea is to take into account the set of research to develop a traditional fine dining experience for couples. Comparing and defining different dining experience Barrows & Powers 2008 state that:
“Fine dining offers the experience of luxury and enhances the importance of special occasions” (P66)
The definition fits in perfectly with the purpose of the concept, the theme and the target market.
2. Restaurant Layout, decorations, seating plan:
Since the restaurant’s theme is based around Valentine’s Day, the aim is to create a quality high standard dining experience. The restaurant layout, decoration and seating plan as well as other factors (see Appendix 3) will play a big role in terms of creating that experience. A recent publication (Katsigris & Thomas 2009) explains that a successful concept is one that covers a mixture of variables that are better than what competition offers. It talks about the importance of restaurants layout and design in terms of reflecting a certain image and a set of standards. Taking that point into account, primary research had to be carried out by visiting some local Italian restaurants to establish what competition offers. Ask Italian, Zizzi and Carlouccio’s the top Italian restaurants in Sheffield (Tripadvisor 2012) offer a very simple décor using mainly glasses of wine and a theme colour that matches with their brands’ image and logos. The layout on the table was very simple and implies a very casual service style.
Trattoria Valentina have a very strong romantic theme with the focus on creating a fine dining experience and therefore the table will be set in a formal way (see Appendix 4). The tables will be covered with cloth coloured White & Green (Reflecting the Italian flag) with rose’s petals to breaks the colours and make them stand out. The menu will be in the tables rolled with a ribbon duplicating a romantic letter to deliver the fact that the concept is there to deliver this romantic massage by its food, quality service and unique experience. There will be life music on the day and customers can request songs to be played as treat for their partners. Going back to the fact that this concept is traditional Italian, pictures of romantic places in