CASE STUDY: Ophelia's on the BayHistory of Ophelia's

Ophelia's on the Bay is a fine-dining waterfront restaurant in Sarasota, Florida, founded by Stan Ferro, Jane Ferro, and Charles Kelly in May of 1988. Before purchasing Ophelia's, the Ferros were living in Massachusetts, where they owned a seasonal restaurant. The economy in Massachusetts wasn't great, and the Ferros were looking to move somewhere with more opportunity and the potential to start a new restaurant venture. The building was discovered by Stan Ferro's great aunt, Ophelia, who was living in Sarasota. The restaurant happened to be for sale, and she told the Ferros to come down and take a look at it. Although the restaurant was a bit outdated and needed some structural work, the property and location offered great potential.

More than "Floribbean"

The fare at Ophelia's can be described as American Continental fusion cuisine with emphasis placed on both fresh Florida and exotic ingredients that are meant to broaden the guest's palate. Recently, the food at Ophelia's was coined as "Floribbean" cuisine; however, they offer a broad spectrum of international styles of cuisine, including Asian, French, and Mediterranean, as well as the diversification of their products, which encompasses much more than what the term "Floribbean" entails. While some of the menu's fresh local seafood items include Key West shrimp, local grouper, and local snapper, there are also intercontinental items such as Loch Duart Scottish salmon, eggplant crepes, Hawaiian big eye tuna, and filet mignon of Japanese Kobe beef.

Guests and Competitors

Ophelia's has always appealed to people who appreciate the finer things in life. Ophelia's caters to an older and more sophisticated clientele that can appreciate some of the upscale and exotic foods that are offered. However, even with these acquired delicacies, Ophelia's has always remained competitively priced. Over the years, Ophelia's has received some criticism for its higher than average prices, but the fact remains that you have to pay more for the quality of products used to prepare the food that they want to serve, of which there is an active demand in Sarasota.

Some of Ophelia's biggest competitors belong to the same group as they do, known as "The Sarasota Originals," which includes the more prominent, upscale, and veteran restaurants throughout Sarasota. This group of restaurants has supported each other over the years, and while some of these restaurants serve as major competitors, the Ferros believe that they have a competitive advantage in being the only fine-dining waterfront restaurant in Sarasota. Ophelia's offers approximately 100-seats of dockside dining, featuring a gorgeous waterfront view of little Sarasota Bay, which faces the bird and mangrove sanctuary. The dockside space allows the restaurant to hold many weddings and private event functions.

Secrets to Success

At Ophelia's, success is achieved by anticipating the guests' needs, and then going above and beyond to provide extraordinary service to fulfill their needs. On many occasions, employees at Ophelia's have recommended local activities and events, printed out directions, contacted cab services, and even made reservations over the phone for guests. Ophelia's bases a lot of its business on the vendor relations with local business, especially lodging establishments. As word-of-mouth is a big source of its business, it is important to keep potential customers informed. Finally, Ophelia's continues to stay active in the community by participating in fundraising and charity events with various organizations, which keeps its name in the minds of consumers and also allows them to give back to the community that has helped progress their continued success.

Challenges of Transforming

Ophelia's may be one of the more veteran restaurants in Sarasota, but it has faced its fair share of challenges over the years. One of the biggest challenges has been adjusting to the times and maintaining a sense of flexibility. For Ophelia's, adjusting to the times means adapting to more sustainable products, being more environmentally conscience, and opening up the variety of foods they offer, by substituting high-priced items, with similar but more reasonably priced items. It requires going outside the box to find alternatives that work without compromising your quality or your identity.

405Into the Future

Stan and Jane's daughter, Kristina Grainger, is currently the general manager of Ophelia's. Kristina has worked to bring a younger clientele base back through the doors, while continuing to cater to the current customer base as well. Kristina believes it is important to continuously give new life to the business, because the past generations are going to move on, and you want to appeal to the next generation as much as the last, in order to remain successful. In addition, Kristina seeks to recapture some of the notoriety Ophelia's enjoyed in the past, such as Wine Spectator and Zagat awards, as well as AAA diamond ratings, which started to slip away with the struggling economy. Kristina believes that it is important to seek to achieve goals that can help the restaurant elevate what it has to offer, and continuously move toward being the best at what it does.

Based on case study answer the following

1. What kind of orientation training will you give new employees?
2. Does it follow that your chef, who is highly experienced and skilled, will be effective in passing along knowledge and skills? If he or she is not motivated to do so, what can you do?
3. What will be your policy in handling guest complaints about the food (the steak is too tough, my soup is cold)?
4. What are some advantages of learner-controlled instruction? What is the big disadvantage?