In the acknowledgements section, Arthur Manask confides that the motivation for writing this book arose because of an e‐mail he received from a New York university student, who could find no sources of reference on the management of restaurants and catering services in cultural institutions. Manask states that he has worked with museum administrators over a period of 20 years offering consulting services to museums, zoos, aquariums, historic homes and botanical gardens. This book certainly fills this void, but is it needed and how does it help hospitality students?
On the plus side there is no other text that addresses this specialist area and growing area of hospitality management, and it is encouraging to report on a book that is a product of experience and knowledge of this specific sector. It is to be desired that more practitioners would take the trouble to record and capture the fruits of their experience in books and articles. The mainstream literature on food and beverage management is too general to address the specifics of those who visit cultural institutions. In the USA this is big business and the case studies in this book present a cross‐section of cultural institutions from “small” (fewer than 500,000 annual visitors), “medium” (500,000 to one million visitors) and “large” (over one million visitors).
On the other hand, this is a narrow field of study and this book concentrates on the sector in the USA. This suggests that, while the basic concepts of offering food service in cultural institutions may be similar across boundaries, the specific characteristics of the US market, culture and expectations will vary from country to country. Similarly, the final two chapters on food safety and taxation (Unrelated Business Income Taxation) apply only in the USA.
The chapters are an amalgam of the author’s applied consultancy experiences that most focus upon understanding the market, analysing problems and planning for the future. For example, the first three chapters consider food service and the visitor experience, understanding food service requirements in cultural institutions and developing membership and sponsorship. Subsequent chapters address the issues of special events, demand analysis and conducting market research. Seven of the 11 chapters contain a “challenge‐solution case study”, which takes the reader through real problems (although with names missing) and the Arthur M. Manask and associates’ assessment and what actually happened. These are useful sources of reference for hospitality students. The book also contains a helpful 17‐page glossary that explains the technical terms used in the chapters.
In summary, this book is a useful addition to the literature on a hospitality sector that will experience universal growth in the years to come and which has become more professional as well as a useful source of income for cultural institutions. Although it could be argued that the knowledge in this book too comes from one narrow experiential source and applies just to one culture, it at least provides a starting‐point for future writing and research.
