Hospitality learning, teaching and research. From teaching restaurant to research lab

Academics in higher education are facing increasing teaching funding constraints. For teaching restaurants, that are resource intensive facilities, with limited perceived value to University management, this could mean facing another wave of elimination similar to the one in the beginning of the new millennium. The need to better enable research activity in such establishments is of paramount importance. Research activity has the potential to increase perceived value of training restaurants. This paper presents the case study of an alternative approach that departs from the traditional teaching restaurant model design, and embraces research activity. Rather than focus on a teaching restaurant that enables research, the authors suggest the creation of research labs that may also accommodate food and beverage management teaching and learning. By placing research at the forefront of the agenda, hospitality management academic teams can better secure food and beverage teaching facilities whilst at the same time minimizing costs and maximizing research potential.