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A tight labour market, cost of living crisis and staff shortages have left many restaurants with a stark choice: plough more time and expense into papering the cracks or deploy a radical rethink of the modern food offering and how the on-site team delivers it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, many are doing the latter – partnering with providers of ready-to implement menus and virtual food brands– in a bid to control costs, maximise diner spend and better utilise kitchen space.

It can be a compelling recipe – amid a soaring rise in staff vacancies – ranging from 10% for head chefs to 21% for production chefs according to data from UK Hospitality.

Menus are tailored to suit existing ingredients, labour and processes and chime with local demographics, the food arrives partially prepped requiring simple execution and as such, leaner and cheaper kitchen teams.

“It’s given us a consistent offering with stable food costs while reducing the need for as many chefs – saving a round a third in labour costs,” reveals the co-founder of hotel asset management business, London Rock Partners, Clare Anna, who has been working with one such provider, Lean Kitchen Network (LKN) since 2013.

“The food comes into the kitchens pre-prepped to a certain level, but it still requires finishing and some work on site so we’re able to serve dishes that are freshly cooked and plated in-house, while maintaining very good consistency across venues and services.”

With a portfolio including viral virtual burger chain, Twisted London and working with brands such as, Pepsico, Heinz and Doritos, Lean Kitchen Network takes digital, data-driven approach to analysing the best brand concept fit with a particular eatery as well as the insight to target different demographics to broaden the scope.

For its hospitality offering the menus are rooted in simple but crowd-pleasing dishes such as Asian-inspired grills – think sous vide steaks the likes of which have been introduced across London Rock Partner’s 14-strong portfolio of venues.

“Menus have also become more flexible. As well as main dishes, we now offer more small plates and sharing options which has pushed average spend up by around 25%,” adds Clare Anna.

This has also increased the number of covers, as people enjoy these small plates as nibbles with drinks in the bar or early evening, even if they are going out for dinner later.”

Pinch points arise when menus need to accommodate fluctuating demands such as  multiple courses, party nights and banqueting which require large numbers of temporary chefs and added pressure on the kitchen.

A more streamlined, consistent approach to menus and food supply alleviates the burden. With the LKN partnership, core kitchen teams across the portfolio, for example, were able to handle the recent Christmas volume without bringing in additional agency staff. Festive dishes arrive pre-prepped to a high standard, allowing for simple finishing on site, which helps maintain quality while controlling costs. As a result, food and beverage revenues have been stronger, driven by higher margins, fewer labour hours and the ability to serve more covers without compromising the guest experience.