Fundamental Principles of Restaurant Cost Control

David V. Pavesic. Dr. David V. Pavesic is a second-generation restaurateur. His family owned and operated two Italian restaurants in Chicago from the mid 1940's until 1974. He earned his bachelor of science in business administration from Florida State University and majored in hotel and restaurant management. He received an MBA from Michigan State University, majoring in hotel, restaurant, and institutional management. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State University in higher education administration.

Upon graduation from Michigan State, he served as chairman of the hotel and restaurant program at Metropolitan Junior College in Kansas City, MO. After three years he went to work for Regan's Restaurants, a family-owned chain of six restaurants in the metropolitan Kansas City area as general manager of operations. He later accepted a position as the director of food service at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. He then founded Angelo's Italian Restaurants, Inc. in Casselberry, FL where he opened two casual dining restaurants. He sold his controlling interest in the restaurant to return to academia as an instructor in the Department of Restaurant Management at Florida State University and earned his doctorate while on the faculty.

He joined Georgia State in 1986 as an associate professor in the Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration. In 1988 he was named program director of the Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Administration and served until 1996. He is director emeritus, senior professor, and graduate program director.

Dr. Pavesic has served on the industry boards of the Missouri, Kansas, and Georgia Restaurant Associations, the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, American Hotel and Motel Association, and the Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education.

He has consulted for independent restaurants, private clubs, and contract food service accounts in the areas of kitchen layout, menu analysis, cost controls, menu design and operational analysis. He has delivered presentations to professional associations like the National Restaurant Association, National Association of Catering Executives, American Hotel and Motel Association, and Club Managers Association of America.

He is one of the most prolific authors in hospitality journals. He ranked 9th out of 108 "most influential hospitality management scholars" from 1989-1999, 10th in the top 37 most cited hospitality faculty from 1997-1999 and 17th out of the top 100 authors in terms of publication in the premier hospitality journals. He has written eight books including Menu Pricing and Strategy with the late Jack Miller, this text and the six Restaurant Manager Handbooks on topics ranging from cost control to menu design.

He has had over 30 articles published in refereed journals, eight chapters in books of other hospitality educators, and given numerous speeches, workshops, and seminars at academic and industry association conferences. He received the Southeast CHRIE research award in 1993. He has developed his Cost/Margin Menu Analysis software for menu sales mix analysis which is in use in both academia and industry. His current research is about to explore restaurant failure rates, hoping to dispel the misconception that restaurants have the highest failure rate of all retail service entities.

He is an avid collector of old restaurant and hotel books and magazines and is developing a historical database of materials. He has been married to his college sweetheart for 37 years and has a daughter and son who have blessed him with four beautiful grandchildren. He currently resides in Woodstock, GA and can be reached at 404-651-3678 or hrtdvp@gsu.edu.

Paul F. Magnant. Paul F. Magnant is a native of Central Florida and was the Department Chair and Assistant Professor of the Hospitality Department of Johnson & Wales University-Norfolk, Virginia Campus. He has taught at Valencia Community College, Stetson University, and Daytona Beach Community College. He is a Certified Executive Chef and Culinary Educator (C.E.C., C.C.E.), a Certified Food and Beverage Executive and Foodservice Management Professional (C.F.B.E., F.M.P), a Certified Hospitality Educator and HACCP Auditor/Manger (C.H.E., C.H.M.), and Certified Culinary Instructor (CCI). Magnant has nearly two decades of operational experience in the food service sector, including five years as chef-owner/operator of a full service restaurant and four years in sales and distribution with Pepperidge Farm Inc. (a division of Campbell's Soup Co.) where he was awarded the Super Merit Award and Merit Award for being in the top 1 percent of the national sales force. In addition, he has served as the Food and Beverage Director of Sara Hotels Inc. (Gothenburg, Sweden) and held management positions with Sheraton Corporate Hotels (Seattle, WA and New York City), Red Lion Hotels (Costa Mesa, CA) and The Palace Hotel (Walt Disney World, FL).

Currently in the final stages of pursuing his Ph.D. in Urban Services with a concentration on "Food Safety Training and Management" at Old Dominion University, Magnant has already earned his MBA from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor of science degree in Hospitality Administration and Psychology from Florida State University and is currently working toward obtaining two additional culinary certifications.

He resides in Norfolk, Virginia with his wife of over 12 years, Addie M. Magnant (Ishii), and their daughter Michiko. Magnant has conducted valuable research in the areas of instructional skills for culinary and hospitality students. He is active in the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation as the Educational Committee Director and has conducted consulting and training work for several nationally known foodservice and hospitality organizations. Chef/Professor Magnant along with his wife Addie (who is also a chef), have both distinguished themselves in the classroom by finding methods and techniques for bringing out the best in students.