Restaurant translates menu into Chinese
With the growing number of Chinese tourists coming to South Australia, there’s one restaurant that’s come up with a novel idea to attract them – it’s translated the menu into Mandarin.
The move by Chianti Italian restaurant in Adelaide’s CBD may well be replicated by other restaurants around the city.
Chianti head chef and director Tobias Gush said it’s all about making diners feel welcome. It’s more than just a business decision.
“Our big ethos here is to make people feel welcome and that nothing is too much trouble ... so it stems from that," Mr Gush told the ABC.
"If they find English difficult, they can still come — there's the menu, they can order what they want and have a good time.
"We've noticed how grateful and happy the guests are to have their menu, because normally one person takes charge of the table, normally whoever speaks the best English.”
He said Chianti changes its menu five times a year and the business is now evaluating whether the translation costs would deliver more customers. But he said it was already helping staff.
"As a restaurant business, your staff have got a lot of guests to look after and having to translate can take a lot of time," he said.
"Whether it creates more business, we'll have to wait and see but it helps us do what we do."
He said the restaurant is attracting an increasing number of overseas visitors, especially over summer and during Adelaide's festival season, otherwise known as Mad March.
Chianti has notified concierges around the city about the new menu so as to draw more customers.
About 38,000 Chinese visitors came to South Australia in the 12 months to last September. That’s up by almost one-third on a year earlier, all being driven by new direct flights between Adelaide and mainland China.
by Leon Gettler, February 14th 2017
